and amplifying it appropriately . Some testing times are when you are travelling between countries or states on a foreign tour and your instrument does not reach there on time or the airline has damaged your instrument and scenarios like this .
The toughest part of being a Carnatic classical instrumentalist ?
Instrumental music is deregional and de-religious . The audiences for instrumental music is worldwide because the barriers of language and understanding the lyrics are crossed . Listeners world over enjoy instrumental music as a beautiful sonic experience . And hence , we also have a lot of performances abroad and a broader variety of audiences . Within India , pretty much , almost all states celebrate instrumental music and have great instrumentalists as ambassadors of Indian music . Sometimes I wonder if in Chennai , they understand instrumental music as much as they understand Vocal music . And if they do , why there are so fewer instrumental concerts as compared to Vocal music .
How do you approach the lyrical expressivity through the instrument ? Was there any composition or 7 that you found quite challenging to express the lyrics on stage ?
There are different layers of learning , understanding and presenting a composition . The Raga Bhava , Sahithya Bhava , Sangathi structure , the rhythmic structure and the actual construction of the song . It really helps if you understand the meaning of the krithi , the importance of the lyrics and its resonance with the raga and the structure of the song , and the mood and pace of the song . I try and understand what the composer is trying to express in each song and try and design it to suit the Veena .. I don ’ t remember any particular instance when the lyrics of a song was challenging . The main weapon of a vocalist is the lyrics . Once the lyrics come in , the music becomes psychological . You need to fit it to a context , to a religion , to a region and the craving to understand the lyrics bothers your psyche . At a certain level , music is existential . If mere sound vibrations can either calm your senses or disturb them , then good music without lyrics can definitely elevate your mind , body and soul and take it to a higher plane of your choice . Instrumental music allows you to fix the narrative according to your imagination . It ’ s not fixed to a particular scenario . It affects you and influences you at the very root of existence .
For instance , the magic on strings created by a resplendent multi-speed Tanam rendition is so unique to the Veena and is understood and expressed best on the Veena . The swara pallavis , vis a vis the lyrical pallavis composed just for the instrumental expressions is another example of expressions without the use of lyrics .
How do you think digitisation has impacted Carnatic Music ? Do you think it ’ s affecting the sanctity of the music form ?
Digitisation has taken the music industry by storm . So many parameters have changed and musicians have learnt to adapt and benefit from the conveniences of digitisation . Of course , for every boon there is also a bane . So real time experiences are being missed . It is always a question of striking the right balance . I don ’ t think anything can affect the sanctity of music per se .. it may alter the experience . A lot of new possibilities have opened up for musicians because of digitisation . Sound quality has improved , presentations have improved , the opportunities to present curated content has increased and the reach of the music has become very widespread .
How was lockdown treating you as an artist ? Were there any interesting musical realisations during that time ?
The lockdown times were the most productive for me in terms of trying out hitherto untraveled paths . I have been doing a web series called Cup O Carnatic for the last four years . This aims at making it more enjoyable to appreciate Carnatic music in general and the Saraswathi Veena in particular . I had done three seasons of Cup O Carnatic and then the lockdown happened . That gave me the opportunity to do three completely new series called the Fun series , the kids series and the Guess the raga series . The Fun series explored a range of popular tunes familiar to most people by connecting them to Indian classical music . These were not covers . These were analogies and drawing parallels between two systems of music . This greatly appealed to a varied audience
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