INTRODUCTION
T. N. Arunagiri is a strong presence at Smule. He needs no introduction. Read on to his interview where he writes about his music. In the coming year he will be here to write more about Carnatic music and related subjects. He will be here to assess good talents as well.
Arunagiri has a voice training program that any upcoming singers might be interested in, may contact him on the link here. The link has more details about his programs. https://swaradigm.com/about/about-2/
Please tell us about yourself.
I consider myself a work-in-progress – an eclectic amalgamation of an artist, educator, and technologist. I am a trained scientist/technologist and a musician and have been a committed educator for the past few years. Art and Nature have always attracted me, especially the symmetry and aesthetics inherent in them. Music was always playing in my house – sow the seeds of music were sown early on. I have always loved sharing and communicating what I have thoroughly learned and of course, I have never been averse to technology and its use in learning and disseminating knowledge.
A brief description of your growing up and your destiny with music
I was born in New Delhi into a religiously orthodox but fortunately a musically liberal family, which took an active interest in any and every kind of Indian genre of music. That helped me get wired with the nuances and contexts of various genres of music presentation and their aesthetics. While Tamil was spoken at home, being raised in Delhi meant that Hindi was a default medium of communication outside of home. I also went to a unique school system in Delhi, named DTEA Schools (Delhi Tamil Education Association Schools), where English, Hindi, Tamil, Sanskrit were mandatory, till the eighth grade. This helped me deepen my lyrical appreciation in music and poetry and made me fluent in three different languages, one of them being Sanskrit, which is considered the fountainhead of most of the Indic languages.
Are you trained in classical music? If so, describe all the experiences, gurus, what impressions they had on your music.
Right from my early childhood years, there was abundant osmosis of classical music by way of listening opportunities – both active and passive listening, in concerts, temple bhajans, social congregations etc. However formal training in classical Indian music did not begin until I was in grade 3, which was when I was about 8 to 9 years of age.
Mrs. Lakshmi Vasudevan was my first teacher, who would conduct classes after school hours, on school premises. I studied for a year or so with her and stopped.
My father took me to his colleague’s wife, Mrs. Sita Sundararajan, who introduced me to a variety of advanced varnams and compositions, raga alapana, and improvisational aspects of Carnatic music over a period of about 7 years. I would attend classes three times a week, without any books/notes (everything had to be imbibed in the class right then and there and transferred to long term memory). During my 10th class, I would travel twice every week for 1.5 hours for a 45 min class, because my guru moved to a different location. Under Sita mami’s tutelage, I was given a solid platform – both on fundamental and advanced concepts in Carnatic music – that was just incredible, especially in those times and age, that too in a place like Delhi, which was nowhere close to being a cultural locus for Carnatic music (which is true, even today after 35 years!).
The year was 1992 when my music lessons with Sita mami stopped and so did my practice and musical growth. I thought I’d never sing again, and I did not until the year 2008, when I met Ms. Savita Narasimhan, with whom I’d learned Tiruppugazh from Shri. AS Raghavan, in New Delhi Shri. Raghavan set to tune the Tamil poetry of Saint Arunagiri (collectively called Tiruppugazh). Raghavan sir taught us ragas and rhythms that were complex and helped me in insightful understanding of ragas.
Ms. Savita taught me advanced compositions for a few years, and I came to understand that I only had an idea of music and absolutely zero knowledge of any music. I was made to travel inward into utter tunefulness and chiseled aesthetics of note movements.
After a brief period of learning from Ms. Savita, I met Maestro Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty, which was a major turning point for me in my musical journey. He heard my voice and gave me the confidence that I could do whatever I wanted to do with it! I also had the privilege to learn some elementary concepts in Hindustani music from him and Panditji made me realize that (a) there is only one music – Indian music; and (b) that after all, musical notes are the same in both South and North Indian systems…in fact, Guruji would take it further and say that (c) there only 12 notes between lower and upper Shadja (Sa) boundaries in ANY system of world music and that (d) all musical action was between those two bounds! I humbly and respectfully credit Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty for my taking to Smule seriously – to see whether my voice can indeed do justice with various genres and situations, without compromising the core classicism/raga flavor, wherever possible.
The concept of laya – the art of keeping time, like a clock and the mathematical rhythmic possibilities within that periodicity, is a science – that has been explored in as much detail as the raga melody, in Indian classical system of music. I have been fortunate to be learning some advanced rhythmic concepts from Vidwan HS Sudhindra for the past few years, who from time to time, will give me a new RTP (Ragam Tanam Pallavi), set to complex rhythmic structure and take-off points. I am indebted to Sudhindra sir, for making me see the “simplicity” in such complexity of rhythm.
After a 3-year break, I have resumed my Carnatic music lessons from my guru Dr. Ranganatha Sharma. I have admiringly and avidly followed Dr. Sharma’s music for the last 5 years and has been smitten by his deep resonant voice, chaste style, and traditional unhurried presentation. It’s a privilege that Sharma sir, as we all call him, has considered me worthy of teaching some of the most nuanced and involved vintage compositions of Carnatic maestros, which has withstood the test of time. He would ask “enna ragam veNum”, meaning “which raga do you want to learn now” and would proceed to give me a sketch of the raga alaap first and then teach me the composition. I could not have been happier at this stage of my life, immersing myself in so much and so many streams of music, which 30 years ago I thought, had run completely dry!
Here is an exclusive interview and small excerpts from a conversation with Dr. Ranganatha Sharma. Please also read a feature we wrote on Dr. Sharma’s son and great friend to the blog Shravan Narayan here at the following link
Shravan Narayan- a genius musician from a genius lineage
What are your impressions about Smule experience
Smule has restored (my faith in) a most critical of human core values – honesty! Honesty has become a precious and rare element, especially in music presentations in an era of auto-tuners and glitzy music videos where artists lip-sync to prerecorded studio music. An average to mediocre singing can also be projected as a virtuous one by the quality of the music video! In contrast, the live video recording feature in Smule honestly captures a singer’s capabilities and the audience gets a true representation of the same, regardless of the video resolution.
For musicians, who want to improve, Smule thus gives many opportunities to observe and learn. It also encourages and underscores the importance of developing musical skills needed for live performance – viz. pitch alignment (ear training), breath mastery (enhancing lung power), speed singing with accuracy, vocal range and aesthetics, which are the elements of Voice Fitness – a term that I have coined for my voice coaching classes.
The Smule platform has been a highly reliable tool for developing my own musical skills and taste and has shown me ways to improve my handling of various genres, by giving me the ability and flexibility to repeatedly record a song as a solo or as a collaboration and gauge progress with time.
The biggest socio-cultural achievement of Smule has been this: that it has brought to light many unsung musical heroes, who otherwise would have remained hidden forever. It has democratized singing and musicianship in a way that no other social media platform has been able to achieve – by bringing diverse people from various parts of the world and helping them networking through and for a common highest cause – music.
Do you think lyrics are important? yes or no why?
What does a baby know about lyrics when Brahms lullaby is played? Or what lyrics does one understand from an ethereal piece of music emanated from the veena? In the classical systems of both Western and Eastern music, there is a high and fundamental importance given to musical theories, which stand on firm ground without any lyrics to support! Look at Jazz – how exciting a genre it is – to witness a live performance! A cup of coffee tastes even more wonderful in a cafe with light jazz music playing in the background. Doesn’t it?
The more evolved the musical system and thought, the lesser will be its dependence on lyrics. Grand orchestral pieces to nuanced raga alaaps are sans any lyrical content! However, this is not to negate the importance of lyrics, for it lies in carrying the music to the masses. Words can communicate esoteric or mundane poetic thoughts, when set to music.
What is your take on India’s pop music? Contemporary trends?
In my observation, there has been a healthy osmosis between pop and film music in India – even classical music, especially Hindustani genre. While there were ‘strict’ pop/jazz musicians like Louis Banks, who produced many private albums in the eighties, they also scored title music for some popular TV serials and shows in India. There also have been pop artists like Anu Malik and Alisha Chinai, who later went on to make a mark in Bollywood. Ustad Sultan Khan, the Sarangi maestro gave the mega hit non-filmy album ‘Piya Basanti’ with KS Chitra. There were Silk Route, Parikrama, Indian Ocean etc., which I knew of and followed. I am not much aware of newer trends, although there are singles that come out on social media that I happen to glance at once in a while.
What is you take on Karnatic fusion music
If the fusion does not become a confusion, I am all right with it. However, troubles me sometimes, is that the core and grammar of the raga / melody gets compromised. There is one person who has been dishing out inspiring real fusion music for about 4 to 5 decades now – his name is Ilaiyaraaja. I really adore his works. The Shakti ensemble, Ganesh-Kumaresh, Mandolin Srinivas, Ustad Sultan Khan, Dr. L Subramaniam are some of the prominent names that come to mind, who have done remarkable fusion work.
Karnatic music education
There are many Carnatic music schools and academies but in my interactions in the past a decade, there is little or almost no emphasis on ‘education’ when it comes to performing Carnatic music. What I mean by that is that the students are not given an insight into building their vocal prowess (what we may call as voice culture) – it is a nebulous phrase that gets thrown about but any meaningful focus on that is miniscule or woefully absent. Students are taught to sing song after song (complicated in many ways of melodic and rhythmic structures) but not given the ways and methods to prep and equip the singing voice to handle complexities.
I’ve personally struggled for a good part of my life – trying to get my voice to behave and infuse energy and verve into my singing. I learned songs but not the philosophy of learning and / or techniques of voice prep. As an educator, I have made Voice Fitness an indispensable part of my music academy at Swaradigm LLC. In this digital age, music and notations are made available easily by the mere push of a button, but one needs to strive to find one’s own voice – unfortunately, it is not available to download. One must find their own voice in the inner depths of their musical persona.
Comment about the importance of classical music in this era? yes or no why?
It’s been over three centuries, since the raga music evolved in a properly structured fashion, and it does not appear that it will vanish anytime soon. One major reason being that all things classical are based upon principles and philosophies – be it classical physics or classical music, Newton, Mozart, or Tyagaraja will always be remembered and cherished, because they gave us high principles, not just some albums or songs. They have been great teachers and deep thinkers in their chosen subject. Therefore, I am of the opinion that classical music, especially Indian raga music will always be relevant and my video and audio blogs on Smule time and again underscore that fact.
The most important question of all is this.
what is music to you? do give its due respect and answer thoroughly.
Music to me has become a second religion – a ritual and philosophy, to seek and travel inward and know myself better. My whole perspective about music as a mere source of entertainment, stress reliever etc. (which it certainly is) changed when I undertook music teaching about 5 years ago. What I’d taken for granted (pitch and rhythm alignment, raga identification etc.) was questioned and put to scrutiny when it came to teaching others, when I saw that there are so many who yearned for music, but had to overcome so many of cognitive, psychological, and physiological hurdles to produce a tone, breathe properly, vocalize fully etc.
I have observed that a highly psychologically musically evolved child can suffer from severe physiological conditions like asthma and lung constriction, which stifles voice production; and vice-versa. People who think logically and ‘place’ the notes find themselves lost trying to sing, because music transcends intellect and its useful tool – logic. Logic becomes of little use when it comes to music. One cannot logically think or explain biking or walking – one just does these ‘naturally’. So is music.
Music although is sensed through the ears, it however belongs to a different realm altogether, buried deep within the mysterious layers of our subconscious mind. How does the mind/brain (or is it consciousness?) that remembers so many tunes and songs and produces these fantastic ideas with just twelve notes within an octave! If indeed it is true that music brings peace and calm, then I believe it must be seen less as a commodity of entertainment to be consumed voraciously and instead approached with a sense of wonder about its mysterious source and repository, which we can only find deep within ourselves.
Where do you want to go from here in five years?
I would want to take the vision of my organization Swaradigm LLC to reach maximum number of people, to strive for creative leadership through music and other performing arts, for arts provide the easiest avenue for creative expression. Music education is a big part of my life, and I would want to keep propagating the philosophical, psychological, and physiological side of music and singing, especially Carnatic music. I aspire to incorporate varied vocal techniques, improve my repertoire in various genres and perform more to live audiences.
Give a few thoughts here: what are your strengths as a singer and what are the things you want to improve?
My strength is my voice and creativity. I had to strive to achieve a competent voice, which I missed and/or did not know how to discover. Now that I hope and believe I have found it, I put it to maximum use in Smule and live Carnatic performances, to express my creative thoughts to many moods, emotions, genres, languages, and situations. I feel I could still emote better and modulate my voice appropriately, especially when it comes to romantic songs. Every artist is a work in progress, and I am no different.
Ranjish Hi Sahi
Yamuna Theeram
Dil Hai Ke (Unplugged)
Sonnalum
Tu Na jane Khuda
Andholanam
Demo – Scale vs Raga (Bilawal / Shankarabharanam)
Barfaani
Vandhal Mahalakshmiye
Valaosai
