Mrudangam playing vs Mrudangam hitting

laks1972 · Post by **laks1972** » 28 Dec 2009, 10:11

I attended 2 contrasting concerts yesterday.

Smt Vedavalli's concert accompanied by Arun Prakash at MA and Hyderabad Brothers concert accompanied by Harikumar on the mrudangam at Nanganallur.

From mrudangam accompaniment point of view, while with Arunprakash it was so soothing, appropriate and adequate, it was the other extreme with Harikumar.

I would say Arun Prakash is the Vellore Ramabhadran of current generation while accompanying. At the same time, he reserves all maths and calculations for his thani.

I fail to understand why the present generation of mrudangists (spare a few like Arun Prakash) think that more sound and power strokes means better playing.

The cows and goats that gave their skin for the mrudangam will be turning in their graves.

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 28 Dec 2009, 10:19

Probably such mrindagist may be visualizing mrindagam as their .........and taking revenge. hA hA

Rasika911 · Post by **Rasika911** » 28 Dec 2009, 10:48

Many students and teachers dont like the way arun prakash plays, I dont know why :S
I personally like the way he plays.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 28 Dec 2009, 11:13

I can certainly add my vote for Arun Prakash's accompaniment to Vedavalli. It was sensitive and superb. I heard nothing to object to, and never heard anythin that did not enhance.

ganeshkant · Post by **ganeshkant** » 28 Dec 2009, 13:42

I think your sensibility comes from your guru and also there is ample chance for self improvement even if your guru didn't teach the niceties.

For e.g take TBV's disciples.While I find ASR & Delhi Sayeeram bang mercilessly Nyeveli SS is more sensible.

Same case with SRR and disciples.Rarely U come across fine playing.

KNV · Post by **KNV** » 28 Dec 2009, 14:20

Tiruvarur Bakhtavatsalam style is hitting. Arun Prakash style is the opposite. Kuzhanthai vayil Muthamidudal pol. (Kissing the lips of a baby). Both are not acceptable to a good Rasika of CM. I don't blame either of them. Both are dancing to the tune of main artist. Most of the lady artists including seniors donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t prefer accompanists to play any role. They just want them follow unobtrusively. This was not the case with Ariyakudi, Lalgudi etc. Some male artists want banging to create excitement. TVS,TNK etc this must change for enrichment of CM.

laks1972 · Post by **laks1972** » 28 Dec 2009, 15:45

KNV wrote:Tiruvarur Bakhtavatsalam style is hitting. Arun Prakash style is the opposite. Kuzhanthai vayil Muthamidudal pol. (Kissing the lips of a baby). Both are not acceptable to a good Rasika of CM. I don't blame either of them. Both are dancing to the tune of main artist. Most of the lady artists including seniors donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t prefer accompanists to play any role. They just want them follow unobtrusively. This was not the case with Ariyakudi, Lalgudi etc. Some male artists want banging to create excitement. TVS,TNK etc this must change for enrichment of CM.

I disagree on 2 counts

1) Arun Prakash does not dance to anyone's tune. He plays the same way whether it is Vedavalli or whether it is TM Krishna or Sanjay or anyone for that matter.

2) I dont know what your definition of "Good Rasika" is and how you know a "Good rasika" will not like Arun Prakash's style of playing. A rasika has come to listen to a main artist and he/she wants the percussion to embelish the concert and be least distractive or obtrusive. Any day we can relish Vellore Ramabhadran's sarvalagu accompaniment.

Yes, Tiruvarur Bakhtavatsalam's style is hitting but he is not to be blamed. The fountain head of hitting culture started with KM . He initiated this "style" of power playing, non stop playing (without pauses and gaps found in PMI , UKS, PSP etc), unnecessary 2nd speed when not really required, very long avarthanams etc. Tiruvarur Bakhtavatsalam and others are also following the new power playing trend

Recently I was told one of KM's disciple played 40 mins of thani for OST. Sheer nonsense. As the great PMI said in one of the interviews, if a mrudangist can not express something in 10 mins thani, he is unfit to be a mrudangist

dreamer · Post by **dreamer** » 28 Dec 2009, 15:55

laks 1972 wrote
I dont know what your definition of "Good Rasika" is and how you know a "Good rasika" will not like Arun Prakash's style of playing.

Replace Good Rasika by Sensitive Rasika with some appreciation for laya

vmr · Post by **vmr** » 28 Dec 2009, 16:29

Laks 1972,

One can not classify KM's playing as " Non-stop playing or playing very long avarthanams etc" . Atleast I feel so. I have been listening to his concerts for close to 30 years now and he has only given more asthetics and beauty to a concert by his accompanyment. In fact his Tani's have always been Highlight's of any concert he plays. May be because the main singer he accompanies, sing with a higher decibel level, he has to use some amount of power play for the patterns to be heard clearly. The korvais and sarvalaghu patterns that he plays are always new and innovative ( and crystal clear) and can definitely be enjoyed by all.

VMR

laks1972 · Post by **laks1972** » 28 Dec 2009, 16:32

VMR

Let us agree to disagree and leave it there

I know KM is an idol for many, I dont want to prolong this and lead to arguments

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 29 Dec 2009, 01:40

More nonsense is talked about mridangam and mridangists than any other aspect of carnatic music.

Never mind mridangam bashing, there is never a shortage of mridangist bashing!

narayanat · Post by **narayanat** » 29 Dec 2009, 06:45

Talking about beating and hitting, Ysday I was at the Malladi Brothers concert - Shri UKS was accompanying.
Shri UKS was playing as though it was a competition between the Malladi Bothers and him - the thom side of the mrudangam was so loud.....Gatam Kartick was on the other hand was subtle and meshed with the singers....did any one else attend the concert? I will like to know their perception.

laks1972 · Post by **laks1972** » 29 Dec 2009, 08:40

narayanat wrote:the thom side of the mrudangam was so loud

That was perhaps the work of sound man.

ajsriram · Post by **ajsriram** » 29 Dec 2009, 09:35

laks1972 wrote: I disagree on 2 counts

1) Arun Prakash does not dance to anyone's tune. He plays the same way whether it is Vedavalli or whether it is TM Krishna or Sanjay or anyone for that matter.

2) I dont know what your definition of "Good Rasika" is and how you know a "Good rasika" will not like Arun Prakash's style of playing. A rasika has come to listen to a main artist and he/she wants the percussion to embelish the concert and be least distractive or obtrusive. Any day we can relish Vellore Ramabhadran's sarvalagu accompaniment.

Yes, Tiruvarur Bakhtavatsalam's style is hitting but he is not to be blamed. The fountain head of hitting culture started with KM . He initiated this "style" of power playing, non stop playing (without pauses and gaps found in PMI , UKS, PSP etc), unnecessary 2nd speed when not really required, very long avarthanams etc. Tiruvarur Bakhtavatsalam and others are also following the new power playing trend

Recently I was told one of KM's disciple played 40 mins of thani for OST. Sheer nonsense. As the great PMI said in one of the interviews, if a mrudangist can not express something in 10 mins thani, he is unfit to be a mrudangist

I dont know who has given you the information that Manisir is the fountain head of hitting culture.. If you like Arun prakash or VR , there nothing wrong in it.

If you dont like KRM, you should have some ammunitions to cover you bases. I think you gonna fail miserably in that... Mani sir's bhani is completely different and it cannot be compared with other vidwans you mentioned. I think you should listen to lot of concerts and educate YOURSELF first before commenting ...

Listen to more concerts, will give you lots and lots of CD's on how to play for songs / thanis, if you have time i will explain things in detail too, but try to cultivate the learning habbit. I am sure it will help.

Sriram J. Iyer

kharaharapriyajanyam · Post by **kharaharapriyajanyam** » 29 Dec 2009, 10:34

VK RAMAN wrote:Probably such mrindagist may be visualizing mrindagam as their .........and taking revenge. hA hA

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 29 Dec 2009, 11:15

Sirs there are two aspects that we have to look at on a mridangists accompaniment role :

1) Accompaniment to Songs

2) Playing a thani Avartanam

When it comes to accompaniment we have heard most of the main artistes prefer a non-obstrusive, docile and yet effective accompaniment which requires skill of the accompanying artiste in making his presence felt and at the same time not being too obvious to the proceedings. There are others who prefer the weightier accompaniment whose voice and their stature can withstand such style (more than the other pressures of paathanthara, chitta swara, accompaniment styles a mridangist also needs to know the psychology of the main artiste). Even during songs the presence of the mridangist will be felt and also during thani avarthanam. This was the earlier style where we had the doyens who made their presence felt both during song accompaniment and also during their solo versions. Times have changed and there are lakhs and lakhs of artistes to whom a mridangist needs to cater to when an accompaniment comes. As much as the styles have grown individuality has also grown. Some artistes like CD quality accompaniment whereas others like Wild-fire accompaniment and some dont have any preference at all and some dont even recognize that there is a mridangist existing on stage and some dont even know what is happening on the other side. It is the decision of the mridangist to choose his appropriate style and do justice to the music more than anything else.

Names dont matter to me. If the music is enhanced according to the preference of the artiste and the audience the mridangist takes the day ... if the mridangist feels that he is leading the music and takes the music along his lines then the audience will have their say ... that is what i have experienced.

And also one small request please do not rake up names and slander the image of name-earned artistes for the sake of justification of one mridangist.

J.Balaji

beginner · Post by **beginner** » 29 Dec 2009, 11:39

It is a real 'hit' by mridhangam

mssnlayam · Post by **mssnlayam** » 29 Dec 2009, 11:48

It needed mridhangam to come up with a sensible response. Thank you.

Personally, I am amazed at the generation of artists after Palghat Mani Iyer and Palani Subramania Pillai. We have so many unique and different styles in Shri Kamalakar Rao, Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani, Shri T K Murthy, Shri Palghat Raghu, Shri Vellore Ramabadhran, Shri Tichy Sankaran, Shri Umayalpuram Sivaraman, (these are whom come to top of my mind, the list goes on). If you listen to the recordings of the same lead artist, singing the same song, accompanied by a different Mridangist of that era, you will realize they exist in their totally separate universes each more beautiful than the other. These greats have made a name for themselves through a combination of skill, hard work and genius. I find it amusing how easily such a career can get slandered.

dreamer · Post by **dreamer** » 29 Dec 2009, 11:55

nick H wrote:More nonsense is talked about mridangam and mridangists than any other aspect of carnatic music.

Never mind mridangam bashing, there is never a shortage of mridangist bashing!

They deserve the bashing. Mani Iyer brought dignity & prominence to the instrument through his magical playing. Raghu innovated & embellished it further. Sivaraman brought aesthetics to the art with his tuneful playing. I havenÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t heard Palani. But I have heard Raghu talking highly of him. T.K.Murthy & Sankaran maintains a high standard. K.Mani dramatizes. Barring a few like Prasad, Easwaran,Narendran,Anand, J Vaidyanathan, Manoj Siva, others are not a patch of the previous generation.
Infact the main artists sought these mridangists. Raghu & Sivaraman virtually played the songs. Their anticipation was a strength for the vocalists and violinists. They would assist the singer in keeping the tala counts. It is easier for a percussionist to do this as he would be concentrating only on layam whereas the singer will have to concentrate on sruti,sahithyam in addition to layam. But present day main artistes reject even Easwarans & Prasads. They want a maha sarva laghu (if there is one like that) Ramabhadrans. Just a plain Jalra
Last night I attended Visaka Hari Harikatha. Sukanya Ramgopal played Ghatam. She threw the Ghtam in the air in tani. It was comical & cheap. I donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t understand why an artist of Visaka Hari caliber should opt for such artists.
Another aspect I see with present day artists is they cannot conclude with the song. All of them end up playing a loud mini Tani Avartanam after the song is concluded. This completely removes the beauty of the song. The nadai they play is also is different from the tempo maintained for the song.
I have some sympathy for the mridangists of talent. They are at the mercy of the main artists. If they assert their position on or off the stage they will dump them. The female artists are the worst offenders in this respect & the field is dominated by them. The critics also ignore the side men.
The change can only if Rasikas demand. Many changes you see in MA & other sabhas like improved acoustics, seats, cleaner toilet are the result of critics making noise in magazines like Sruthi, Hindu & murmuring of rasikas. I wish sites like this highlight these issues to change the attitude of main artists.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 29 Dec 2009, 12:18

Whilst there are one or two who like to play an extended thiermanum at the end of a song, and I agree that this can easily be overdone, I'd say that you generalise wildly, and according to your own bias.

All of them end up playing a loud mini Tani Avartanam after the song is concluded.

Rubbish.

Most interesting to read Mridhangam's points, which explain a lot. I have noticed, this season, one of the mridangists who is maligned here (and elsewhere), playing in two very different styles for two different artists. For one, he was sensitive and restrained, until he was able to release his power in the thani. For the other he was "loud" throughout the concert and even, to my ears, a little intrusive. It has not occurred to me that he was playing according to the main artist's preference. There is another senior mridangist who I find occasionally intrusive --- again, I guess he must be playing as required.

As to the volume, or lack of it, of any artist, I am fed up (because few listen; they prefer their prejudices) with saying: blame the sound man!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 29 Dec 2009, 12:24

>blame the sound man!

Yes. And the organizers/secretary/whomever for not working with the sound man ahead of time to make things right. Frustrating that a well understood matter can not be implemented properly ( not necessarily perfectly ) as a routine matter.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 29 Dec 2009, 13:01

Sri. Balaji, you have provided a unique dimension to this issue which I was not aware of before. The extent to which the mridangist has to adjust his playing according to the artist's styles, wishes, etc. Quite instructive and informative indeed. That explains a lot about such stage dynamics. Thanks.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 29 Dec 2009, 13:09

Frustrating that a well understood matter ...

Unfortunately, not well understood by the necessary people.

(Here I have to confess to generalising: It does seem to me that a number of halls are improving in the quality of their equipment and in the skill of its use. Would like to see a lot more, though!)

Gamakam · Post by **Gamakam** » 29 Dec 2009, 13:24

I attened TNK's concert at the academy and Suryaprakash's at Parthasarathi Swamy Sabha. Sri. Bhakthavatsalam played in the first one and Sri. Rajarao played in the second. In both concerts, the mridangam artists played with utmost sensitivity. There was not one (mis)hit. While they played some complex patterns during thani, they still were not hitting their intruments.

In the past, I have heard them play a little aggressively too. I guess, it has to do with the singer, artsist's mood, acoustics etc.

aDANA · Post by **aDANA** » 29 Dec 2009, 15:09

Anything is easy to type out on rasikas.org.. SHOW ON PLATFORM.. ON STAGE...

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 29 Dec 2009, 15:32

i think laks1972 started this thread in the interest of promoting one mridangist of his or her liking ... but it turned out differently. instead he or she could have started a separate thread on the mridangist of his or her choice in Vidwans and Vidhushi thread and talked encomiums about the mridangist without making any comparisons with any mridangist living or dead .... comparisons always make controversies since tastes differ. The discussions need to be always healthy without slander and also highlighting the assests of one person without comparing the artistry of one person with another. Art always relates to soul and hence each person's soul is different from one another. Mr.Harikumar of whom laks1972 has mentioned hails from a very high tradition and he is one of the preferred accompaniments of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Shri.T.N.Seshagopalan. I dont think without merits you can play for such stalwarts.
This thread can help a long way in making the rasikas understand the nuances of mridangam accompaniment and the subtlities involved in a highly aesthetic presentation based on a given situation.
I think rasikas can be educated on a different level of understanding through different enlightening methods than these mundane comparisons.

Mannarkoil J Balaji

ajsriram · Post by **ajsriram** » 29 Dec 2009, 17:08

Clean Hit JB! that too about Sri B.Harikumar!
Well said.

Regards

laks1972 · Post by **laks1972** » 29 Dec 2009, 17:45

mridhangam wrote:i think laks1972 started this thread in the interest of promoting one mridangist of his or her liking ...

That is purely perception. I have no agenda to promote Arun prakash, neither he needs any promotion. He is accompanying all top ranked artists and he sought after .

There are few other mrudangists who embelish the concert , such as Ganapathy Raman with non-intrusive playing. Just because I mentioned his name doesn't mean I am promoting him. Neither does he need a certificate from me.

Yet another name that comes to anyone's mind is Sri Easwaran though his seniority is much much higher than other two and he is in a different leauge. No need to jump on me to say that I am promoting Sri Easwaran. Names are mentioned for illustration purpose only. It should be taken as such without much ado about nothing.

Some can't stomach a contemporary artist getting accolades. And the discussing gets hijacked into a different lane.

aspashtam · Post by **aspashtam** » 29 Dec 2009, 18:40

i wish to withdraw from this discussion.

Rasika911 · Post by **Rasika911** » 29 Dec 2009, 20:29

None of us that post here(besides balaji sir

) have even 1% of the knowledge that these mridangam artists have...who are we to judge the way they play???

These artist have trained under highly respected gurus for decades before making it to the concert platfrom and have a much better insight about the art of playing mridangam than any of us

I say we should go to the concerts with artists we like and avoid the others. There is no need to slander the image of these vidwans.

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 29 Dec 2009, 21:09

Comparisions
personal comments on artist
Only -ve comments without any +ve comments
bias
hero worship
confusion over innovation vs samprathayam, sowkyam vs speed

better to avoid these or be conscious about it or take the option to edit later.

vichu1947 · Post by **vichu1947** » 29 Dec 2009, 22:28

laks1972 wrote:
.........
Names are mentioned for illustration purpose only. It should be taken as such without much ado about nothing.
.......
Some can't stomach a contemporary artist getting accolades. And the discussing gets hijacked into a different lane.

Well said . Let us take the point that is made instead of blowing out of proportion and attaching motives.

Rasika911 wrote:
None of us that post here(besides balaji sir ) have even 1% of the knowledge that these mridangam artists have

Let us not make such a sweeping statement. There are many members here who are mrudangists or mrudangam students

aspashtam wrote:
Please mind it, artistes who have come to the level of performing in big stages, like in Chennai, would have gone through lots of hard ships from a very early age.

So ?? People who come to public platform have to be prepared for criticisms.

aspashtam wrote:
It seems most of the people who write in rasikas.org are not vidwans

Another sweeping statement. Assuming this is true, so what?? Only vidwans can comment or criticize ?? If so, most of the music critics will be out of business

A lay rasika has every right to comment or criticize. Concerts are not attended by just vidwans, they are mostly attended by rasikas of various levels of understanding and knowledge.

As long as the criticisms are not personal attacks and are confined to criticisim of their music, it is perfectly fine.

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 29 Dec 2009, 22:36

The question is does mridamgam supplant vocal music or supplement vocal music or complementary to each other?

laks1972 · Post by **laks1972** » 29 Dec 2009, 22:46

DÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â©jÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â vu
http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... music.html

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 29 Dec 2009, 23:07

I have made my complaint about this thread already, in that I think that the bashing is based on bias, generalisation and misconception. There are those who like to bash mridangist, just as there are those who like to bash violinists. I like to bash sound engineers

However... there is nothing wrong with criticism. There is nothing wrong with criticising any given performance, or any given artist. We do not need to be musicians or vidwans to that. Don't forget that, at the end of the day, we are the customers --- without whom the musicians would have to take office jobs and, if they still had a wish to perform, would have to sing to their bathroom walls.

Whilst there is a certain market-force action that is going to play a large part in any artist getting repeat concerts, there is also more than one way to the top. One cannot say that so-and-so has been a top name for so many years, so they must be perfect and we cannot say otherwise. Their status may, or may not, reflect their current ability. It is a complex world!

Let us be realistic. Let us not victimise. Let us also recognize that not everyone has the same criteria for "good"

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 29 Dec 2009, 23:16

Nick,

what you wrote below is a Nice quote.

// Let us be realistic. Let us not victimise. Let us also recognize that not everyone has the same criteria for "good"//

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 29 Dec 2009, 23:53

I liked this bit:

<<I like to bash sound engineers>>

(... but thanks

)

aspashtam · Post by **aspashtam** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:23

i withdraw from further discussion.

Musicfan · Post by **Musicfan** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:25

Adana- I am sure you have heard the names of harsha bhogle or narrotham puri..You can still do good commentary from the commentary box provided you know the game well and a good student of the game. You dont need to play the game or come on the platform or stage as you have indicated.

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:25

Doctors are doctors. Patients are patients.They should know their level. A wrong suggestion by a patient may be detrimental - Patients Bill of Rights cannot be violated by doctors. More over rasikas are not patients needing treatment by artists.

Always_Evolving · Post by **Always_Evolving** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:27

nick H wrote:I have made my complaint about this thread already, in that I think that the bashing is based on bias, generalisation and misconception. There are those who like to bash mridangist, just as there are those who like to bash violinists.

And those who like to bash mridangams

kitathari · Post by **kitathari** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:42

From my personal experience I would like to share this

In general a better understanding of the concept of monitor feedback on stage and how to set up the mic level should be developed.

I don't say that many of the performing artists doesn't know about it but I have personally seen some of them asking for higher decibels and on many occasions I had to just move and sit far away from the speakers. It is also equally applies to the sound engineers working at the halls as well.

In the early 80's and 90's the audio person (I don't know his name) at the sastri hall in mylapore was really good.

I like the style of accompaniment of all artists both old and new. May be because I'm knowledgeable in Mridangam.

Sorry I have to name a few artists here.

When Sri Plaghat Raghu plays for the song Pankacha Lochana, I can't express my joy. It is just my personal opinion. At the same time I also like Sri UKS accompaniment for the same song and Sri Vellore RamaBhadran's as well and the list goes on.
I accept there is a certain degree of predictability in their accompaniment but it will not be the same between two concerts and it depends a lot on the dynamics of interaction among the artists on that particular day.

In one of the Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer's concert, Sri Palghat Mani Iyer would have played a powerful and explosive thani avartanam (includes a masterpiece thisra and misra nadais) for the song Santamulekha. When I say explosive you take my word on it. If people are wondering how come this can correlate with such a soothing song has to listen to the concert. I wish I was there to watch it live!

Similarly Sri Trichy Sankaran once played a piece of his guru Sri Pazhani Subramania Pillai's recording for Sri Madurai Mani Iyer for the song kavava before his lec dem. OMG. What an out of body experience it was. There are no words to describe it. He mentioned it was an academy concert but I never able to listen to it again. But it is etched in my memory.

For people trying to say just sarvalaghu -- I would have to emphasize that just playing the sarvalaghu is not an easy task either. For Mridangist, they will know what I'm talking about. For others imagine trying to keep a steady calm mind and constant heart rhythm for 15 minutes. It is like the mind after yoga or meditation. It is the same when it comes from Sri Vellore Ramabhadran's mrindangam. His meditation is thousands of hours of sadhakam and only through that he can produce such a Nada inbham.

I think the list can go on but I will stop here. All artists are good and just our likings are different. We can critique a particular performance and IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢m not against it and many times it is healthy. IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢m against generalization of particular artists or comparison among them ( that is not non technical comparison).

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:50

I don't agree with the generalization of Harikumar's playing as mridangam hitting. While I'm not qualified enough to comment, I thoroughly enjoyed his playing for this sublime rendition of Vakulabharanam by Prince ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPOqB3rp ... playnext=1 ). I've also enjoyed his playing in the past for TVS and Sanjay.

Disclaimer: I'm not related to Harikumar in any way.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 30 Dec 2009, 01:43

Why ever would you think that we would think that you are?

It is quite permitted to express a positive view of an artist!

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 30 Dec 2009, 01:48

kitathari wrote:For people trying to say just sarvalaghu -- I would have to emphasize that just playing the sarvalaghu is not an easy task either...

A finely-chosen and musically played piece of sarvalaghu is far more likely to bring an "Ahhh

" from me than a string of mathematics. To play very much sarvalaghu nicely, and without repetition, is a huge task. It is this great variety that, for me, is one of the shining aspects of our mridangam music. Almost the moment that something catches one's ear, and one bends to attend --- he is playing something else!

dreamer · Post by **dreamer** » 30 Dec 2009, 08:25

All of them end up playing a loud mini Tani Avartanam after the song is concluded.

Rubbish.

Some more Rubbish
My wild generalization applies to 99% of the present day mridangists. Extended thiermanum or Mini Tani Avartanam, to me is sickening. Imagine doing this for the song like Rangapurvihara a beautiful Dikshitar Kriti in Brindavana Saranga. Sukanya & the Mridangist (I donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t know the name) did this in Visaka Hari prog at MA. She threw the Gatam in Tani. She could have done a Cabaret dance instead & Visaka Hari could have announced that this is modern "Boologa Vaikundam"

dreamer · Post by **dreamer** » 30 Dec 2009, 08:33

Nick H]

kitathari wrote:For people trying to say just sarvalaghu -- I would have to emphasize that just playing the sarvalaghu is not an easy task either
A finely-chosen and musically played piece of sarvalaghu is far more likely to bring an "Ahhh " from me than a string of mathematics. To play very much sarvalaghu nicely, and without repetition, is a huge task. It is this great variety that, for me, is one of the shining aspects of our mridangam music. Almost the moment that something catches one's ear, and one bends to attend --- he is playing something else!

I have a Radio recording of GNB with Raghu. Tani has only Sarvalaghu. What an amount of variety!. My God a Genius. Some of you might have heard Raghu only in the later part of his career. To hear the best of Raghu you must listen to his 60's & 70's concerts with GNB, KVN & Nedunuri. His grandson Anand has the same genetic code. Unfortunately he is not preferred by any artist except his cousin Abhishek. Also he is in US & comes only for the season.

vmr · Post by **vmr** » 30 Dec 2009, 11:50

Hi Dreamer,

Tossing up Ghatam in air and catching it, is by no means a comical or cheap act. I think you are dffinitely seeing it for the first time or understood it wrong. This is part of a Tirmanam or Korvai where it is tossed up and cought within the Tala or Rythm. In fact there are many ghatam artists who have done this earlier. It requires tramendous amount of practice and hard work to catch it within the rythm. Please do not degrade the art by calling it comical or cheap. Alangudi Ramachandran, Vilvadri Iyer, Palghat sundaram and Vikku Vinayakaraman are some of the artists who have done this during their tani.

In fact Dr.T.K.Murthy had specially designed a Korvai together with Sri.Vinayakaraman during MSS's UN concert (in 1966) to display this art. This was confirmed by Dr.Murthy himself during his speach at MA earlier this year.

Pls check with some of the elderly rasikas who attend the concerts and they would recall as seeing this in earlier days.

VMR

Musicfan · Post by **Musicfan** » 30 Dec 2009, 12:21

Adana- Harsha Bhogle is a great cricket commentrator, more articulative and pronounced on cricket than many players. Are you saying that he has to show his playing skills on the PLATFORM which is the cricket field. I think end of the day it is different people's perspective..thats all.
Now if one looks at the discussions on Arun Prakash, again different people will have different perspective...But if you ask an impartial person who has good/fair knowledge of percussion, the point would be he is OK, thats all..he is neither superlative nor bad. He does not figure among the all time greats( does not have all the flair, skills or all round performance/lessons comapred to many of the other greats- one point there would be that he cannot single handedly raise the Main artist's performance like some other Mridangists can ) , at the same time, he is consistent in his performance - par for the course , he will not let down the performance, at times he gives long pauses in between which is difficult to comprehend, sometimes unassuming on stage , net he is consistent but no way superlative by any standards.

On lound sound by some mridangists, I am given to understand that some of them go to the Sabha secretary or the Mikeman and tell them to increase the volume once concert starts and this leads to loud volumes and this is definitely not fine - naturally this gives way to long banging from sound perspective by default.

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 30 Dec 2009, 12:35

dreamer wrote: n Savita Narasimhan concert Erode Nagarajan played extendedddddddd Theirmanums for all songs. Ending with the song requires alertness. Raghu would do this by altering the Korvai swiftly . Perhaps one of the reasons why most of the Mridangists do is that they know only a few patterns which requires atleast going through three rounds to complete.

Dear Dreamer,

(Though what you have written is subjective) In korvais there is silence between phrases and it is a traditional practice to lift ghatam in the air and get it back when the next phrase of the korvai occurs. for intance, if 'tha' and dhi are played and they have a pause in the middle, the ghatam will be on air in the rest and the sound which is got while catching it back sounds along with 'dhi'..

it is no cheap technique and it needs calculation and skill.

I pay theermAnams with the right proportion and sometimes, the endings cannot be played immediately as we should not over write the singer's manO dharmam towards end. In fact, I just played sarva laghu patterns between pallavi and anu pallavi and charanam!

See this link of Ranjani Hebbar's review where I had a special mention for good arudhis: http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/music/article59398.ece

Also see this review I wrote which consists certain things about arudis: http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... 30107.html

"The charanam "Nannu brovu nIku bhAramA" was rendered with bhAvam...

The bhAva that prevails in the lyric is not only in rendering the words in the appropriate swaras that has been composed already, but mainly in the sanchAra which is done in the endings. That is how the artiste should facilitate the rasika to feel the impact of the composers manObhAva along with perfect harmonization to sruthi, the definition and justification that he produces, not only from his gjnaana but also from his ability of performing it on stage.

Thus, a mood matching to the bhAva of sAhithya is maintained in the ending.
Neyveli annA established it.

This is where a mrudangam artiste should be aware of and play endings as an extension.

Umayalpuram sir, who has coined and established lot of philosophies in his bhAni, used to say "thani Avarthanam is an extension of the song". Maestros are one who make you think and not one who act for you.

Every ending in between pallavi-anupallavi, anupallavi-caharanam, charanam-to end of song should also be like that and he demonstrated in his performance. "