For finer tunes
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The session on voice culture by R.K. Srikantan at the Gayana Samaja was quite an eye-opener
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PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K
DISCIPLINE Tobacco, alcohol and cold drinks are an absolute no-no to keep the voice in good condition
What astounded most people gathered at R. K. Srikantan's lecture-demonstration for Karnataka Ganakala Parishat (37th Annual Music Conference) at Gayana Samaja recently was his topic, "Shaarira Samskarane." How can you have an entire session on voice-culture, one wondered! Only a senior maestro like R. K. Srikantan could think in so many angles of how to tune one's voice as also the myriad ways to treat the "Dhwani Pettige" to build your signature voice. It was the perspective given by him that helps a musician ponder on the possibilities with so many requisites put together for achieving the goal. The motto should be to possess a "Bhavya Sharira" and "Divya Shaarira," commented the senior vocalist, explaining that a modest outlook and an arresting voice are features that make for a true musician.
And what is the route to developing a good voice? "Naabi Hruth Khanta Rasana" said Tyagaraja in "Shobillu Saptaswara" where the saint-composer explains that the voice should emanate from the lower abdomen, travel through the heart and emerge out of the throat which holds the voice box. Pranayama, with the right kind of breathing exercises, helps one with long-sustaining avarthas, says Srikantan. "You don't need to look for a suitable point to catch a breath and sustain a note. This would only be too jarring."
Biting your teeth while singing or having your mouth half-open would only make your lines queer and funny, explained Srikantan even as his demonstration of the same had the entire hall in splits.
If you can set the four strings of your tanpura to the exact pitch and maintain the shrutis on your voice for half-an-hour before your actual lessons, it helps you acquire a range, says the musician. "In Hindustani music, such initial lessons go on for two years, which is why the singers develop a range and fuel for melodic sustenance on a scale," he says. Early morning rehearsals (usha kaala) is just the perfect way to discipline any kind of voice, he adds.
What makes a good voice? Insists Srikantan: "Clarity of tone, required resonation from larynx, pitch control, and the right punctuations at the right place are factors that go into showcasing a good voice. All these are essentials that a guru has to teach, it's not just saralivarse, geethe, varna and kriti. Only then can one rise up to the tarastayi without speed-breakers!"
While slow-paced vilamba saadhane and low-pitch, mandarastayi practice was demonstrated, he reminded that the quality of gamakas, dhaatu-maatu prayogas, akaara-ukaara usages, raga delineations, kriti renditions and swara patterns are all pre-requisites of a good voice!
The maestro went on to relate the lines in the Chandogya Upanishad where the right food enables one acquire the right tone. Also yoga abhyasa and kaalaabhyaasa (sense of time, frequency and intensity of rendering) were stressed in the gurukulas of olden days, he said. It is important for young learners to note that stressful exercises or sport like cricket or football could come in the way of developing a good voice.
Tobacco, alcohol and cool drinks are an absolute no if one is determined to take on the melodic journey, reminded Srikantan. Melakarta ragas such as Shankarabharana, Kambodhi and Mayamalava Gowla were the best for developing modulations as they contained all the swaras on the scale, he said. "Want a diffused aesthetic experience as you sing along, drag in all these characteristics and savour your voice reaching different planes," was the maestro's parting shot.
RANJANI GOVIND
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