Demand for book on sruthi system

I have been getting enquiries about my work, and requests for my software from people who read about it in your esteemed magazine. Three persons are in regular touch with me asking questions and wanting to know more. All of them want a book in English on this subject. I have replied
to them saying that the English book is yet to be published. It looks like there will be quite a few people (especially those abroad) who will need such a book.

I had mailed my request for funding for India Foundation for the Arts, but I haven't got any response. I was trying to reach a publisher in Chennai through some people but that is getting delayed. But it looks like this is the best time to publish it. The writing of the book also needs to be completed fast.

My paper on my findings (to be sent to Music Academy) is complete and I will be sending it for publication within a day or two. Meanwhile, I found a very useful program called Sound in QBasic, through which I am able to sound every single micro tone and get a feel of it. This has helped me experimentally validate many of my previous analytical observations on our sruthi system.

I must admit that the encouragement given by you has been a major motivating factor for me and I am very grateful to you and your magazine for bringing my work to the notice of serious readers across the world.

Dr K Varadarangan

A complaint about the Vani piece 
 
I  have placed The Music Magazine as my authentic music review site. But today I  felt a little bit of disappointment after reading through the article about Vani Jairam.

The intro was very catchy. It says that Vani talks about a lot of things like movies, gods, mean minds and why Ilaiyaraja calls her a computer. But it was a misleading intro. In the article, into which I plunged with much expectation (as I have read Suchitra Lata's articles earlier), I couldn't see anything about god and why Ilaiyaraja calls her a computer. Please avoid such misleading pieces. They may affect your authenticity.

With  love
Girish Kumar P B

Vasu

Greatness of Mansur

The article on Pt Mallikarjuna Mansur is extremely passionate and tries to paint the divinity of his great music. He was one of the torch-bearers of Hindustani music and, no doubt, a true genius. However, the article
is more passionate than ojective. It does not talk about his sadhana which made him a great master.

The author should also have avoided sentences like 'No other singer matches his intensity and interpretation of a raga' because it implies that all other musicians lack such a capability.

It is true that when one has a deep inner feeling about something, it can not be expressed in a totally dispassionate manner. But what one expects in an article of this nature is a more balanced representation of the personality under consideration.

I have noticed a close similarity in many of the qualities of great masters."His eyes were never focussed. He was always thinking of music, always humming some raga or the other. He was like a child -- completely guileless. I used to observe exactly the same quality in my guru (late T Puttaswamaiah, brother of violin maestro T Chowdiah).

The article brings out the profound impact of classical music on our lives.

I had read your review of Alaap some time back. I feel extremely happy and get a sense of assurance that classical music is going to stay and flourish
when I see people like Vijay and his team take so much of pains  to create an awareness about our music. Really, producing material for 20 CDs is a marathon effort!

I liked your tone while reviewing a massive piece of work like Alaap. It is simply not possible to go into the details of the work in a short review. You have tried to paint a broad picture of the work. The reference to the practice of 'chilla' is interesting. Also the references to some gurus taking undue advantage of their students is a reality. In recent years the situation has  improved and students are being treated more sensibly.

It is intriguing to me how, in such a carefully planned and well executed work, silly mistakes in pronunciation have crept in. Maybe the voiceover does not have a knowledge of our music. As we all know, words in Sanskrit need to be pronounced correctly or their meanings may change totally.

I also read your review of Munnudi . I have not heard the album but I can make out from your article that the lyrics by Mr Boluvaru are very pleasing.

The Music Magazine is really well balanced and is coming out with lots of good articles these days. I am really getting hooked to it!

I sincerely appreciate your dedication and hardwork in bringing out such a wonderful e-zine and wish you and your team a very bright time ahead.

A new label coming up

I read your article on world music reviewing Yanni and Enigma. I found it interesting and provocative, especially when you say, "In any case, it too much to expect Indians to show some pride in their musical heritage? The other day when I remarked that there was no hint of Indianness in an Indian rock singer's music, an acquaintance retorted, 'Why should there be?'"

We are a music company founded by musicians and we are launching very soon a compilation album featuring seven talented and proficient artists who are passionate about their music which is a blend of Indian classical and folk with western progressiveness, and this will be a new genre of music.

Jagadeesh 

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