AadiShabd TalkSpot #1 : State of the Carnatic Flute

AadiShabd TalkSpot #1 : State of the Carnatic Flute

T he flute is arguably the oldest musical instrument or at least one of the earliest melodic and non-rhythmic musical instruments invent... 08:22

The flute is arguably the oldest musical instrument or at least one of the earliest melodic and non-rhythmic musical instruments invented by man which can be proven through archaeological findings dating back to the prehistory of human civilisation. The Carnatic flute in particular is the earliest and most developed form of aeroponic instruments known to man with records of flautists competing in Sangam literature dating back several centuries before the Christian era. Much of the information with regard to the Carnatic flute are already discussed in the Lectures and Resources sections in this site. Readers who are new to the technical features or who are eager to find out more about the Carnatic flute can access the materials in these sections.

The objective of this discussion on the Carnatic flute is to analyse and understand the current and as a result the possible future trends of the Carnatic flute. The focus of the art of Carnatic flute playing will begin from the dawn of the performing era of Carnatic music as a professional art form i.e. circa 19th century with some literary references to ancient times where needed. References drawing from commentaries and anecdotes from both flautists and non-flautists will also be touched.

Readers are welcomed to comment critically to challenge some of these findings and observations. Critical commentaries are highly recommended as it will spur intellectually simulating debates among other readers and also add new insights to the discussion.

Reflections from the Early Years of the Performing Era
Much of what we know about the performing era of Carnatic flute music can be traced back to at least to the times of Sharaba Shastri (1872 to 1904 A.D.) or better known as the pre-Mali period, where the instrument first received the due recognition as a concert worthy addition as other instruments like the violin, mridangam (double-barrelled percussion instrument), veena (Indian multi-string lute) and etc. Though much of the pre-Mali era of the Carnatic flute did not receive the same fan fare as the instrument today with its numerous vocal inflections in its fingering techniques, it was still admired as a solo addition in any Carnatic classical concert programme and Palladam Sanjeeva Rao (1882 to 1962 A.D.) was the shining torch bearer of this tradition. 

With the arrival of Mali, much of what we know of the Carnatic flute today through the genius of his innovation is history. Since then, the ability to imitate the vocal style of playing on the flute has become the benchmark for measuring the calibre of any Carnatic flautist and particularly one's grasp of the vocal nuances of Carnatic music. However, this does not mean that the Carnatic flautist is discounted from playing instrumental techniques in the art but instead would need to strike the right balance between both styles of playing. Flute Mali and his disciples imbibed this balance particularly well thereby making the Mali style of playing well suited for both accompanist and soloist roles. The most well known student of Flute Mali is none other than Dr. N. Ramani who developed the style pioneered by Mali into new heights that it is now known globally as the "Ramani bani". 
To understand the origins of Mali's bani or style of flute playing one has to know at most that it was not just the spontaneous genius of Mali that resulted in the style that has become the trend today. In fact, it was Nadaswaram (double-reed Indian woodwind instrument)  artistes who developed the techniques originally and mention of the instrument was already made in the pre-Christian era Tamil literary epic Silapathikaram (Tale of the Anklet) which mentions the instrument as "vangiyam" or "ezhil". His observations from Nadaswaram players unravelled the fingering techniques that is required to produce the vocal style of playing on the Carnatic flute. His close association with Nadaswaram supremos like T. N. Rajarathinam Pillai and his respect for other prominent Nadaswaram artistes in his time had further aided him in pioneering the vocal techniques on the Carnatic flute.

Dr. N. Ramani who developed the Mali bani to unsurpassable heights not reached by anyone till date incorporated both the vocal inflections and the instrumental techniques of vocal Carnatic music popularised by the Carnatic music superstar G. N. Balasubramaniam and his star disciple the maverick Tanjore S. Kalyanaraman whose non-vocal style of singing played an influential role in the shaping of the Ramani bani. Incorporating his own prodigical skill and control in both raga and thala, he had imbibed all of the best vocal and instruments schools of Carnatic music and even expanded his influence to include several Hindustani traditions such as the Maihar and the Gwalior schools well. His frequent collaborations with Hindustani flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (disciplic lineage of Baba Allaudin Khan through this daughter Annapoorna Devi) and Hindustani violinist N Rajam are noteworthy.

He took a liking to the Maihar gharana of Ustad Acharya Baba Allaudin Khan and credits his introduction of the 2.5 pitch or the D Sharp to the pitch used by Hindustani classical flautist Pandit Panalal Ghosh, the direct disciple of Baba Allaudin Khan and better known as the teacher of the world famous sitarists Ravi Shankar and Nikhil Banerjee. It is important to note here that Baba Allaudin Khan was the direct disciple of Ustad Wazir Khan the last great exponent of the "been" or the veena in an unbroken disciplic tradition dating back to Miya Tansen in the Mughal court of Akbar the Great. As such it would not be an understatement to state that Dr N Ramani took the best of both the North and South Indian schools of music while maintaining the Carnatic flute as it is and still giving it a pan-Indian feel that appealed to both his audiences in India and across the world. Some of the greatest musicians of India such as Ravi Shankar and M S Subbulakshmi were his ardent fans.
Given the almost mandatory focus on the Carnatic vocal style of music, it is important to note that learning Carnatic flute is particularly challenging due to the extremity of the complexity in the fingering techniques. To note that, without the close guidance of a competent flautist well versed in the vocal nuances of Carnatic music, it would be very difficult for any budding student of Carnatic flute to learn the art properly.


Reviving Innovations from the Past
Much of the popular techniques in flute playing that are in vogue today such as transposed fingering and the use of multiple flutes to extend the range of the pitch were already developed in the Tamil music of the Sangam era where classical flute was performed at a professional level much of which is well known in the Silapathikaram epic. Even shruthi bedam (tonic note shifting) was mentioned in the text which by today's standards is still considered by many Carnatic musicians to be a very challenging and advanced technique of mathematically shifting tonic notes to morph one raga to another by setting a note from the previous raga as the tonic note.

Both of these techniques (transposed fingering and multiple flutes of the same pitch) were re-introduced by Dr. N. Ramani in the 20th century in the concert circuit after much personal research of historical records. Special mention should be made for his introduction of bass flutes in the Carnatic music scene. Other prodigal flautists like Shashank Subramanyam and J A Jayanth further brought awareness on these techniques by popularising them in the concert circuit with elan.

Though not many Carnatic flautists can claim to have mastered these skills, knowing them would further propel their performance dynamics to new heights by thrilling their audiences with the extraordinary possibilities of the Carnatic flute.

The violin legend and maestro A Kanyakumari once remarked that: 

a single flute can thwart the power of a hundred violins when played in concert.

First Contact with the West
Dr. N. Ramani was and undisputedly the first Carnatic flautist to perform in the West early in his career garnering praise and appraisal from both Jazz and Western classical music fans for his seemingly effortless control of the Carnatic flute and quickly became one of the biggest representative of Carnatic music in the world stage. Such was his schedule that at times he would be performing anywhere between 20 to 30 concerts a month with hundreds of Carnatic classical repertoire at his disposal. Much later, his own teacher and guru Flute Mali came to the US in the eighties and had a very successful overseas tenure in the 80s before retiring back to India.

Impact on World Music
The efforts of several notable flautists like Sri T Viswanathan (who later became a professor at Weslyan University, USA) and Dr N Ramani enriched the global ethnomusical scene with such an impact that frequent collaborations of today's both Carnatic and Hindustani flautists with world music musicians became a possibility. In particular, Jazz and Carnatic music collaborations are very popular. It has also allowed non-Indian audiences and audiences who are not exposed to the vocal form of Carnatic music to better appreciate the vocal nuances of the art without even learning the languages in which the compositions are composed i.e. in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit

Current Challenges
Though Indian classical flute in general is well received in the global music scene as well as in the Indian classical music scene, there are several concerns. 

Firstly, the increasingly commercialised trend of Carnatic music that brings together a competitive streak has compelled many competent Carnatic flautists to take up non-Carnatic music engagements and at times even attempt to foray into music genres that they have not developed professional command. While it is welcoming that Carnatic flautists could easily assimilate most world music genres, attempting any musical genre without a certain level of training and proficiency would mostly yield futile results in its presentation.

Secondly, given the globalised nature of the world music scene and the lure of quick fame and money, most budding Carnatic flautists do not fully develop the skills to be proficient in their art and after a brief streak of success vanish from the music scene to pursue other careers.

Thirdly, the question of overwhelming virtuosity and speed without a good command of the vocal form of Carnatic music has created mixed perceptions on what exactly is Carnatic music. Unlike the top-notch Carnatic flautists who could balance both vocal and instrumental techniques very well, many so-called Carnatic flautists dabbling in such gimmicks without a proper command of the vocal form of Carnatic music cannot be called Carnatic flautists or could even be called pseudo-Carnatic flautists.

Future Trends
While the observations discussed in the earlier section may seem unwelcoming to any interested student of Carnatic flute or any serious student who would want to pursue the art as a career. The trends are poised to be rather surprisingly positive.

Firstly, there is a strong pivot of interest towards authentic Carnatic music in the West with strong institutional support and performance opportunities. Extensive research in Carnatic music is also done in the West knowing very well the scientific and mathematical underscoring in the grammar of the music and its potential benefits in personal health.  Interestingly, non-Indian audiences in the West, due to the informed nature of Indian arts education in Western tertiary institutions, are able to distinguish such flautists from authentic Carnatic flautists who are able to demonstrate the vocal nuances of the art very well. Courses in Carnatic music in many prominent universities in the West also makes such distinctions easier to note.

Secondly, given the power of citizen journalism and the technologies that support them, unrestrained criticism is on the rise on pseudo-Carnatic flautists who declare themselves as Carnatic flautists as audiences including those who are not initiated to Carnatic music are informed of the art through various sources from the Internet to local media which makes it very difficult for unscrupulous pseudo-Carnatic flautists to create a reputation by declaring themselves as Carnatic flautists.

Thirdly, opportunities in teaching and research in Carnatic music are plenty and highly competent Carnatic flautists who are unable to reach the top-level could settle for stable careers in these areas ensuring the continuity of the art to successive generations of Carnatic flautists.

Conclusion
Much of what is discussed in this discussion highlights some of the pivotal issues that surround the Carnatic flute scene today and though it may not cover every issue, commentaries and discussions are welcomed. Needless to say, the much feared crisis of the globalised art scene threatening the existence of the ancient Carnatic flute is instead fuelling its salience in the world music scene and safeguarding its richness from the vagaries of unscrupulous practitioners through the very technologies that ride the global music wave.