To the techno beat

From Tanpura apps to carrying their own sound systems to concerts, Carnatic musicians are tuned into the best of technology

Sound alert: Artiste Sriranjani Santhanagopalan adjusts her iTanpura app on stage.

A flourish of Sankarabharanam followed by a Mukhari that brings tears to the eyes. The violin croons with each stroke of the bow. The tha ka dhimi tha of the mridangam balances with the belltone stroke of the ghatam. It’s all in obscure sync and then, suddenly, clarity. Backstage, a sound engineer fiddles with an innumerable number of knobs. Lower the bass, one artist says. The other can’t hear himself over the sound of the other instruments. The concert is bhakti at the swipe of a finger and the flip of a switch. Up front, a gentleman stretches out his iPad while a camcorder broadcasts the neraval halfway across the world. Gone are the days when rasikas enjoyed music in the ambience of a trademark sabha. Now? It’s all digital.

Artistes are experimenting. From bringing their own mics to concerts, to ensure the best sound, to social-media interactions, artistes are no longer just, well, artiste. Now, they’re personalities. They have their own Facebook fan pages and Twitter handles; take selfies backstage and reply to their Facebook messages almost instantly. The minute they leave the sabha they are bombarded with friend requests and feedback. On their way to the next concert, they change the line-up five times, trying to keep up with the growing demand for a spattering of Papanasam Sivan or a rare tukkada . “I get a lot of concert requests on Facebook and have even gotten overseas concert requests. Just the other day, after a request to present Chandrajyothi , I changed my list on the drive to the concert hall. I like that it’s more interactive,” says vocalist Sriranjani Santhanagopalan.

It’s all about convenience, they say. When your day involves two concerts, preparation, and adequate rest, carrying around and tuning a heavy tanpura isn’t time-effective. An artiste favourite? The iTanpura app. “I’ve been using iTanpura for a couple of years now and with each update, I find that the tone gets closer to the rich sound of the manual tanpura. I connect it to a Bluetooth speaker and the feed from it onto the stage mics is very nice,” says artiste Rithvik Raja. Sriranjani finds the iTanpura just as useful. “It’s the only technology I use on stage, actually. Of course, there’s nothing like the sound of a manual tanpura, especially in a concert setting. But the iTanpura is the closest I’ve found as far as sound quality goes, without being a distraction.” Though it’s not always a concert fixture, the iTanpura makes an appearance even in practice sessions or last-minute, pre-concert song run-throughs. Vocalist Nisha Rajagopalan prefers the presence of a manual tambura, saying, “I haven’t yet tried the iTanpura in a concert but I do find it useful otherwise, especially right before a concert.”

Artistes today are giving his audience what they want, even if that means taking an almost separate sound system to each concert for just the right sound. “Those who keep coming to my concerts have a certain expectation.

How do I keep raising the bar every time? Audio quality plays a prime role there,” says Rithvik, who carries his own mics to every one of his Season concerts.

Where do they draw the line? Lyrics. Despite the number of gadgets available, performers still prefer to memorise lyrics rather than have them on stage. “Maybe I’m a little too orthodox to have my lyrics on an iPad while I’m on stage,” laughs Nisha. In an art form where

bhakti and

bhava govern the quality of a concert, having to glance down at lyrics could be more distraction than aid. With Carnatic fusion bands and eclectic new twists cropping up, the world of Carnatic music has a different face.

This time, it’s wearing jeans and sporting a new hairdo. But evidently, the soul hasn’t changed.