The recordings of what we played...

The recordings of what we played in Denovo...
The first is an adaptation of Titanic soundtrack!

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Second is our version of Motherland an adaptation to fusion in Raag Jog...

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Denovo 2007 NITIE's annual cultural day

Denovo - NITIE's annual cultural day happens once the juniors come in and are asked to showcase their cultual talent to the seniors, faculty and staff. Completely different time in the life of an MBA student always into business and money. This Denovo was special as it also marked the launch of the cultural club a concept a few of us have been carrying in our hearts for long.
One of my very few satisfactory performances and definitely a sea change in terms of experience...we played instrumental fusion with Anuj n Jajoo on electric, dawn on harmonica, Sameer on Tabla and Jayanth on mridangam (percussionists after a loooong time!) and yours truly on the violin...The idea was to showcase all the talents as well as present music as a universal language....hence the choice of a Indian base track on Raag Jog and the Titanic track for the western base...
The initial exhilaration of listening to the motherland of L Subramaniam quickly vapored away as it was too hot to handle....then started customizations suiting our standards...greatest challenge for me was I had to lead the track the way Subramaniam had done....and he being who he is, is impossible to replicate...moreover as the track provided ample scope for improvisation, clamping down on that and setting up a nice framework encompassing Jog and within a minute and half, playing a bit of jazz in it as welll....but all's well that ends well and in my opinion it ended really well....
Titanic was something we had played last year and though the output wasnt satisfactory, last year's experience was valuable....Jayanth's addition to this group proved invaluable as his mridangam blended beautifully with the western sounds...there was a time when Titanic sounded like Therukoothu (Tamil folk)!
Appreciation was instantaneous and immense! But quite a lot to learn...most importantly if you put in the effort - in practise as well as in minor things like setting the pitch, accoustics, tuning of instruments- it pays you handsomely...again it boils down to a Game of Quid Pro Quo - you give some you take some!

Classical music fading away?????

Reading through the latest Outlook’s cover story of lack of heirs to ageing musical maestros hit me hard. Apparently, there are a number of gharanas which have become existential through history books only and there is no one to carry the torch ahead. The magazine itself points out through the words of the masters that the younger generation is not willing enough to tread this path. Reasons vary by the multitudes ranging from lack of financial security to lack of interest. Personally one feels the availability of various other entertainments and the arduous path prescribed by the masters over the generations are the major impeding factors. Today practicing and aspiring musicians will simply rubbish the famous “mombatti ka riyaaz” saying that there is no time. For the uninitiated “mombatti ka riyaaz” is a term employed when practice is measured in terms of no of candles that burnt and not in terms of hours. On an average the candles used to burn for four hours and great ustads like Vilayat Khan used to aspire for title of “paanch mombatti riyaazi” (that is the one who practices till 5 candles are completely burnt). These seem fairly tales to us when these are real stories that took place not more than 3 decades back. In a span of 3 decades situations have changed dramatically as is evident from current scenario when we see there are no heir apparent for greats like Bismillah Khan, Bhimsen Joshi and many others.

Today the music is more an entertainment than a path to spirituality and salvation. The better the PR and hype greater the aura surrounding the artiste. Even the standard of the audience is derogating and the demands are more populist rather than classy. It is also evident from the trends in the more popular musical form of Bollywood film music. The purists might wrench their hearts but people are making money in the business. The correlation coefficient between quality product and business capability is fast tending towards zero. So what is the end of all this drama? As always you have to give lot of time sweat and patience to achieve class in the classiest form of classical music that India has maintained over millennia. It is again a game of quid pro quo…you give some you take some…you put in the effort music promises you liberation and peace….