The Nadaswaram

nallanchakra · Post by **nallanchakra** » 22 Apr 2006, 08:46

I think it will be appropriate in this forum to discuss the contribution of Nadaswaram in Carnatic music.

Our very first introduction to this wonderful art has always been through the Nadaswaram.

Several giants have gone by .. TN Rajaratnam pillai, Tiruvengadu subramania pillai, Karakurichi arunanchalam, MPN ponuswamy and sethuraman, Sheik Chinna moulana sahib, namagiripettai krishnan, vedaranyam vedamurthy and so on.

Unfortunately today, the nadaswaram art seems to be in the wane.

Any thoughts about it what can we all do to bring back the glory of this instrument back again?

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 22 Apr 2006, 09:54

I agree that the nadhaswaram is a majestic instrument. Some of the great vidwans like SSI have based their alapanas on renditions of the maestros of the nadhaswaram. In those days, temple festivals and marriages would last for days and would feature several nadhaswaram recitals.

The nadhaswaram is not considered an appropriate instrument for closed auditoriums nowadays and hence hasn't really taken off as concert stage instrument. Marriages are short affairs and the nadhaswaram vidwan has to resort to playing short cathchy songs and the ketti-melam as the priest waives his hand in the air.

meena · Post by **meena** » 29 Dec 2006, 06:38

Nadaswaram a dying art-form:
DELETED

Ananth · Post by **Ananth** » 29 Dec 2006, 10:41

There was a moving short story by Seetha Ravi in Kalki ( Tamil magazine ) couple of weeks back. The story is told from the perspective of a little boy, son of a nadaswaram vidwan at the Kamakshiamman temple, Kanchipuram. His dad plays for the pournami procession at the temple one evening... so goes the story.
(Coolkarni... remember our visit?)

rajumds · Post by **rajumds** » 29 Dec 2006, 10:57

in another perspective, it is only due to nadaswaram , CM is alive in the rural areas. Go to any temple in Thanjavur dist during the evening harathi, you can still listen to extremely good nadaswaram. May be the ambience adds to the experience but divine.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 29 Dec 2006, 12:12

in the few years i spent in kancheepuram ,in the early 90s, i befriended many a nagaswaram / thavil artist in the hair cutting saloons .As the chap would start cutting my hair,he would observe my interest in those old photographs in dark corners - and take some time off to tell stories about the good old days.
looking back on those experiences , i cannot help wondering ,with sadness,the existence of these artists ,on the margins.
yes,ananth, that was a great experience at kancheepuram.
one, that anyone can enjoy even today, if they find time between 7 and 8pm on any friday.at kamakshi temple.
OR BETTER.
if they decide to get a haircut , in one of those vintage shops..

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 29 Dec 2006, 12:20

coolji,

i'm making this request. we need to conduct an exclusive nadaswara veena and venu kalaivizha during summer 2007. if the sabha the forum is planning is taking shape then we all should include in our agenda this also.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 29 Dec 2006, 19:26

yes.i have approx 20 members -from outside the rasikas.org fold lined up already- as well as a nice auditorium on offer, at nominal rates, too.
let the festival taper down and we can get down to business , to include your proposals too.

We already had a great experience at ananths home with the nadaswaram performance...
and with so many artists like mridhangam and others participating here , We will get cracking , in Summer.

I plan to make a detailed proposal here , in this forum, sometime in the second week of February.

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 29 Dec 2006, 19:38

thanks coolji

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 30 Dec 2006, 00:23

Small chamber concerts with a limited audience would serve Nagaswaram's cause well. I was at the Academy inaugural concert and it was a pity that a brilliant Saranga was just too loud to really enjoy....OTOH when I play it at home, it sounds just divine.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 30 Dec 2006, 01:36

But surely you can't put nagaswaram in a small room?

Good news about the sabha! I must have missed recent stuff and thought the idea had got left behind, or met with a stumbling block....

gnanasunyam · Post by **gnanasunyam** » 30 Dec 2006, 06:11

May be Nadaswaram suffers for the lack of support of the powers that be?

May be it requires a Rukmini Arundale to lift it and put on a better pedastal.

Part of the problem may be the attitude and the other may be that the instrument needs some changes to adapt to the modern halls. Even a Saxophone by Kadri in a Hall can be awful if the audio volume is not adjusted properly especially if Thavil is the percussion accompaniment.

BTW, what makes the saxophone acceptable as a primary instrument? Is it the man playing/ popularizing it or that it is a western instrument or that it requires less lung power to play?

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 30 Dec 2006, 06:18

Imho, the saxophone somehow doesn't sound all that suitable for CM. Certain strange sounds mar the experience for me. Clarinet sounds much better suited.

meena · Post by **meena** » 05 Jan 2007, 03:28

Interesting article abt. the making of reeds for the nadaswaram. As with most traditional crafts, the reed-makers hardly earn enough to live on. Its a painstaking process.

DELETED

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 05 Jan 2007, 11:21

Fascinating.

I'm always intrigued by the hows and whats of musical instruments. It never ocurred to me to wonder about the nagaswaram reed before! I always thought it would be a simple thing to make!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Jan 2007, 19:15

Jayaram,
I agree with you. The majesty of the nAdaswaram, the sweet sound of the clarinet, and then the 'piri piri piri' sound of the saxaphone! During the season, I went to a lec-dem early, and the sound men filled the air with the sound of the saxophone before the start of the program, and my head was filled with the sound of (piri piri piri piri) music!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Jan 2007, 19:24

Vijay,
I will let you in on my secret. I would have enjoyed the sound of nAdaswaram even in the confines of a hall. How? I would stuff my ears lightly with pieces of tissue--as I do when it comes to LOUD mridangists when they play the thani. Believe me, I get to enjoy their skillful playing--sans the volume:)

Rajesh, that is one way to spot me in a concert, whether I wear green or not, don't you think?

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 05 Jan 2007, 19:52

arasi wrote:Rajesh, that is one way to spot me in a concert, whether I wear green or not, don't you think?

Green tissue perhaps?

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 05 Jan 2007, 20:01

deleted

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Jan 2007, 21:50

chalanata,
Thank you, for whatever you deleted

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 05 Jan 2007, 21:54

arasi,

it came by mistake here. i had it posted in the appropriate thread. but now that since you have expressed your gratitude i'm having it deleted there too taking cue!

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 07 Jan 2007, 03:11

Hah! Stuffing the ears with tissue! --- takes me back to my rock-music youth

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 07 Jan 2007, 10:32

Nick,
It is a simple solution to filter out noise. This way, I can listen to the mridangist's fascinating tALA patterns without having to put up with the NOISE with which he creates them, for whatever reason. I may not understand it all, but I enjoy them (another example of--you don't have to 'dilute' in order to please the uninitiated). I used to think that the noise element meant that I had to suffer it (with regrets that such fine mridangists have hopped on the noise express taking us along on those deafening rides). Impolite? I don't think so. After all, the mridangist wants us to enjoy his performance more than to see us walk out...

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 07 Jan 2007, 14:03

Not at all impolite!

I know there are some mridangists who think they have to produce huge volume, but usually, if the music (from which ever performer) is hard to listen to I blame the sound man!

In my rock music days it made it possible for me to listen to the music without pain!

Still, somehow, whether it was megawatt rock or noisy factories, my hearing got damaged

...

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 07 Jan 2007, 19:37

meena:
The Hindu article on preparing the seevali for the nAdhaswaram is interesting. I grew up in the area described in the article and in my pre-teen years I used to walk along the sluices branching off from the Cauvery river and playfully pluck some of those reeds (nANal) and throw them in the water while walking alongside the stream. Simple pleasures in those days! I didn't realize those reeds were caplable of producing divine music just like the little bamboo flute.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 13 Jan 2007, 13:58

Nadaswaram festival is ON at Krishna Gana Sabha
Today is the second day.
Will run for a couple of days more only.
two concerts per day
starting at 4.30 pm
todays artist is the the Kancheepuram Temple Vidwan-Selvarathnam - second concert today features H.Palanivel on the thavil.
ALL ARE WELCOME CONCERTS (No entrance fee)

thanjavooran · Post by **thanjavooran** » 27 Nov 2007, 15:23

Is it nadaswaram or nagaswaram? which is correct? Any reference please

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 27 Nov 2007, 15:44

there is a reference to this vadhyam as 'nAgasvaram' in the srI rAgam kriti of Muttuswami Dikshitar 'tyAgarAja mahadvajArOhaNa'.

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 09 Aug 2008, 16:46

Last weekend we had a rathothsavam at the Murugan temple here, and there were 3 nadaswarams + 3 thavils playing lovely music along the journey around the local area. It was a superb experience. Now I can see why the previous generation spoke so much about the nadaswaram maestros of yesteryears.

I feel veena and nadaswaram form the matha-pitha instruments of Carnatic music. And it seems both of them are on the wane on concert circuits.

For nadaswaram enthusiasts, here is a link to 16 full-length concert recordings of the great TN Rajarathnam Pillai:
http://www.sangeethamshare.org/bhosu/TN ... namPillai/

By the way, who are the leading nadaswaram artistes of today?

maniomani · Post by **maniomani** » 10 Aug 2008, 17:20

I understand that an annual market of materials required for Nadaswaram artists is held in Tiruvannmalai every year. This year it is in the middle of August. It appears that this only one of its kind in India

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 10 Aug 2008, 18:46

I wonder if anyone could split those recordings ragam-talam gave into smaller pieces, say each with one song or two. It's difficult to download a file running into scores of MBs at once!