SOUVIK CHAKRABORT Y
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Thanks to the internet, our musical sensibilities are
evolving by the click, hits and subscriptions every
single day. Content creators are coming up with
content that finds its own market and subscriber
base. Although, appreciating good music is still
remains a grey area.
Many creators are actually eyeing for the kind
of content, which will pre-educate our ears and
sensibilities to appreciate good art and good music.
'Out of the Shruti Box' is one such spark amidst the
many pearls on the internet. The channel is run by
Anuja Kamat, a former scholar and researcher on
classical music of India.
So, what exactly is it ~ Shruti Box is a drone
musical instrument for classical singing.
Reportedly, the idea behind the name is to identify
oneself with the very essence of 'creating music',
just like the way, Shruti Box helps in 'producing' the
sound bed of the composition. The pre phrase 'out
of' actually reinstates the fact that this attempt to
dissect and discern classical music is both radical
and non conventional.
'Music education' is done to death as a genre! If you
actually hang around the Shruti Box videos. You
will understand that the content on the channel is
more directed to creating content which will refine
the taste in classical music. So it is not essentially
focussing on teaching someone how to train in a
musical genre. If you still have doubts read the
disclaimer right at the beginning of her videos and
you will surely find substances in the experience
that follow.
The credibility? Anuja has basked in the greatness
of rich musical crevices and trenches which are
deeper than the run of the mill popular media.
Lessons! Anuja comes up with a necessary dose
of the basic and non-cryptic information on
the amount of variety that the classical music
30
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
in our country boasts of. The lessons
range from something like the audio
visual representation of the saptaswara,
to something which talks greatly about the
history and lineage of good music. Since, Anuja
is vocally trained to a superior stage, there is
a greater incidence of anecdotal and practical
examples all alike. It is beautiful to know that how
easily one can break into an oriental as well as
western rendition of the same swaras and sounds.
Preachy? Classical music needs a lot of dedication
and patience to grasp. There are different gharanas,
stylisations and of course, the nuances which make
it diverse and interesting. It is difficult to hold an
audience who are largely mis-educated or underfed
with a decent sensibility of music. Hence, Shruti
also delves deep into some content which is more
entertaining and less preachy. Something like
picking up a song like Jhanaak jhanaak baaje
payeliya and rendering it into multiple ragas.
Not only is this utmost enlightening but also
entertaining at the same time. The intention
behind making classical music more an
experience that the audience can relate to; is
something that comes across all her videos.
With the host of underground revolution
in hip hop music and the culture of our
times. It is important we don't turn our
face from the exotic beauty we already
have in our hinterlands. From folk
music, to classical music, the breeze
of our lands have heard it all. There
are ways how music has fostered and
instilled hopes in our forefathers,
at a time when language was still
developing. It is only fair that
more and more content creators
like Anuja, come to our rescue
and teach us how to listen to
good music!