AMPLIFYING FADING MUSICAL SOUNDS

Connecting audiences to tradition, while bringing in new technology, MadRasana and the auditorium at ACJ have become spaces that create an acoustic experience for new rasikas of Carnatic music

- Deepa Chakravarthy

When Indian artistes go abroad to perform, one of the requirements is to visit the auditorium at least two hours prior to the ring up the curtain for a sound check. The process involves a technician who carries a tablet and moves to different parts of the auditorium checking the quality of sound on the graphic equaliser so that every person, sitting in every nook and corner of the auditorium will have the same acoustic experience. In contrast, when our beloved artistes are performing within India, they would arrive at the auditorium more than an hour in advance keeping a sound check in mind; however, the technicians handling the audio system usually will turn up only 15-20 minutes before curtain raise. Often, quite some time of a performance would be eaten up by sound check. In this reality, MadRasana set out to change the concert experience and has become the talk of the town this Margazhi. To understand the story behind their novelty, CE attended one of their concerts.

Mahesh Venkateshwaran, a successful corporate innovator, has been an ardent rasika of Carnatic music from a young age. After retiring, he founded MadRasana to showcase the classical musical tradition in an intimate setting. Since its inception, Mahesh has been exploring various spaces in an effort to promote artistes as well as enhance audience experience without diluting traditions. He shared, "I initially began by surveying what kind of Carnatic music people listened to during their workout in the gym to produce content for their specific needs. Then, concerts featuring seven artistes were specifically curated to record songs in various speeds – slow, medium, and high, keeping the durations of songs to exactly five minutes. This resulted in the