Playing to a different beat

The recent spike in COVID19 cases and the resultant lockdowns and regulations across the country has brought on a new cycle of worry fear and hopelessness At this time music provides not only the necessary balm of comfort but also a vital sense of community and strength Singersongwriter Bindu Subramaniam who along with violinist brother Ambi runs the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts SaPa speaks of its crucial contributions to social and emotional learning and developmentldquoIt is not just music for the sake of art but it is also really important for mental health for 21st century skills to help build a sense of community confidence and critical thinking in childrenrdquo she saysFlautist Ronu Majumdar who has performed for SaPa and LiveDaily feels itrsquos challenging to bring energy into a performance without a live audienceThe organisation has been instrumental in introducing music education in schools and has in the past one year collaborated with artistes like Usha Uthup Shantanu Moitra and Ronu Majumdar to offer prerecorded courses live sessions and masterclasses to students of different age groups ldquoInitially the challenge was to get used to the digital format and to convince the senior artistes who have never done this kind of digital recordings on their own that this was going to workrdquo shares violinistcomposer L Subramaniam and renowned playback singer Kavita Krishnamurti who founded the organisation in 2007Flautist Majumdar who has performed for SaPa and LiveDaily values the new audiences he has been able to reach through the new medium but speaks of the challenge of bringing energy into a performance Technology has been the other great barrier and in this the younger generation has been of vital help ldquoI am his flute guru but he is my technology gururdquo says Majumdar of son Hrishikesh SaParsquos versatile platform has also allowed artistes like Shantanu Moitra to offer workshops on scoring films something he believes has for long been left out of serious music conversationsPandit Ajoy Chakrabartyrsquos Shrutinandan was one of the first organisations to host online classes with two studios and a dedicated team of sound engineers recordists and video editorsOthers like vocalist Sudha Ragunathan saw in the slowing down of life an opportunity to tap into other interests Apart from performing in virtual concerts organised by platforms like MadRasanamdashticketed events which generated some revenue in a year with no highpaying concerts or government supportmdashshe launched a talk show titled Expressions Espresso with celebrity guests and also found a way to unite her interests in cooking and singing in Soodarsquos Kitchen a show themed around similarsounding food and ragas ldquoIt was not simply to connect it also takes peoplersquos minds off the pandemicrdquo she notes of these venturesBut going digital has brought the importance of production into focus Artistes have had to quickly learn how to enhance visual and audio qualities of their recordings to make sure that they stand out from the daily sludge of internet contentCarnatic vocalist Sudha Ragunathanrsquos Expressions Espresso hosted conversations and music sessions with artistes from the communityRanjani and Gayatri Carnatic vocal and violin duo speak of the importance of maintaining the purity of sound ldquoIn a live dynamic if your delivery is not perfect it might be missed but when you record the lack of perfection will be noticed When you record something it should translate the same emotions as when you perform live We have learnt to sing with greater accuracyrdquo they share While admitting that they miss the buzz and momentum of live shows the sisters who have been putting up monthly shows on voncertscom say that the intimate setting produced by the absence of crowds has also created meditative spaces allowing them to sing for themselves even while connecting to a global listener baseFor the duo however online classes especially ones which promise to teach ragas in a session are lucrative opportunities doing little in terms of sharing the art with the studentKavita Krishnamurti and L SubramaniamShivani Mirajkar a young musician who launched her own academy Sarang in August also draws attention to how some of these new organisations offering quick lessons exploit their trainers sometimes not paying them at all Mirajkar however speaks highly of her association with music learning platform VoxGuru pointing to the rise in its enrolments since the lockdown last yearFor most traditional musicians however even those who have grown accustomed to teaching through the internet online classes are only an inadequate substitute for the real thing ldquoWe learn and imbibe a lot by sitting in front of our gurus Technology has not advanced enough to make this possible in real timerdquo observe Ranjani and Gayatri who believe that online classes alone cannot complete the knowledge dissemination in classical art formsAjoy Chakrabarty who was one of the first classical musicians to start live streaming classes in the country 11 years ago through his platform Sudarshan Music also agrees that eye contact with and close observation of the teacherrsquos body language are fundamental to learning music His virtual classes are a part of his music academy Shrutinandanrsquos programmeAn issue both Ragunathan and Chakrabarty highlight is the plight of subrhythm artistes ldquoThey survive on live concerts by accompanying the main artistesrdquo notes Chakrabarty as both speak of extreme financial strain resultant suicides and the initiatives undertaken in the past year to help raise funds for them