New Pictures!

May 28, 2010 Uncategorized

New Pictures added…visit photo page! You can also check more of them out by copy pasting this link below to your browser.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057978&id=1138472806&l=ede682f819

Who are you Mr. Sandeep Das?

May 22, 2010 Uncategorized

One of the biggest and most prestigious of concert venues in Europe.

On stage…Sound check!

Total no.  of artists…about 12. Sound check for an all-play piece!

Sandeep Das…one of them.

Nothing was going correct that sound check and it was soon to be time for the show to start.

Every one had something to say and ask for from the sound engineer. I want more treble said someone. I, more bass, said the other.

Sandeep Das also had something to say, and the chorus of unsatisfied artists was getting louder and louder! No one knew what would happen next.

When suddenly, as Sandeep was also asking for better sound, he realized that there was one man who had not uttered a single word through out all this confusion… that man was sitting next to him on a chair.

And the sheer silence that emanated from that individual taught Sandeep another important lesson of his life!

“ Is the concert hall of 5000 seats sold out for you?” was the first question that seemed so obvious to Sandeep suddenly.

“Who are you,Mr. Sandeep Das?” was the next to hit him.

It is he, who should be shouting the most about sound. It is he, who should be the most worried about the sound…yet it is he, who has been absolutely quite in the entire episode?

Wow! The realization was just killing!

Without uttering a word than man was giving a lesson worth millions for an artist…any artist!

Ever since, as soon as Sandeep Das realizes that this is what he is going to get on a particular night. He remembers this man and steps back with a smile.

The cool and relaxed feeling that follows…makes it easier to play a good concert than not…always!

Don’t take my word, try it!

Does anyone need to know, still, Why Sandeep is just spell bound by this man, Yo-Yo Ma?

No….Sound Check….No…Please!

May 12, 2010 Uncategorized

Many years back I was traveling through a few cities for concerts with a very good female vocalist and a harmonium player.

First concert…the singer and I, had a good time, though disturbed by the loud harmonium playing.

At night after dinner, the two of us sat eagerly and played the recording…Oh, My God! Where is the voice, I exclaimed! And where is the Tabla , she asked?

All that we could hear was the loud harmonium blaring away. It seemed the she was singing somewhere in Andaman and  I on the other side of India, Lakshadweep.

We were stunned into silence!

This sequence repeated itself for the next few shows, till we could not take it anymore.

Next concert I decided to take matters into my own hands…I went to the audio  engineer at the controls before sound check and explained to him how the harmonium player shoule not be given any sound for the actual show. But during the check he should not get to know this plan. The sound engineer, offcourse, nodded his head in  acknowledgement of understanding my plan.

I came back smiling onto the stage and took my position on the Tabla. Hardly before I could even take the next breath, walks in this clown of an assistant ,who very authoritatively sets about putting microphones in front of us.

And before we could even dream about what was coming next. He asked, pointing at the harmonium player, Is this the guy whom we don’t give any sound?

I didn’t even know what had struck me and as I was stuttering and stammering to look for an answer I could see my favorite singer almost dying to stop herself from fainting with laughter!

12 a.m. LIFE and DEATH!

May 6, 2010 Uncategorized

It was a concert I was playing at the age of 14. My Guruji, Pt. Kishan Maharaj and another famous Indian artist Pt. Mani Lal Nag were scheduled to perform after us.

The singing started and I joined in. As I was about to take my first opening solo I was shocked to see Guruji in the audience. With him it was always “do or die”. Meaning either you play well now or you were dead anyway when he gets to see you afterwards!

Without caring for anything else I gave it the best shot of my life. At the back of my mind was all the other senior disciples that I had seen getting a piece of his mind after concerts that they had played, which he didn’t appreciate at all.

The one thing he hated was “timidity” on stage. And that is all that I remembered as I went for it.

So there I was, playing one piece after the other. The harder , more mathematical the better! I didn’t give a damn to what the singer was doing on stage ,  all that mattered was my skin!

Anyway , the concert ended and I felt I had done my guruji proud by playing all that I had learnt. Following concert, Guruji and the sitar artist mesmerized the audience!

12 am Midnight…in his hotel room, I got one of the most important lessons of my music life.

As I entered…his room , one look at his face and I knew what I was in for. He actually refused to look at me and kept watching the news on the T.V. for sometime. Standing there I felt it was easier to die than to keep standing dreading what was coming next.

Finally he looked at me asking me to sit down. Pause…silence, that was deafening!

First sentence out of his mouth, “who do you think you were playing with tonight?”

Second, “You ruined my entire reputation.”

Third, “ If this is how you are going to play, please stop playing Tabla now.”

Fourth, “The moment you played your first piece you knew that this singer was weak in rhythm and you kept playing more and more difficult things?”

Fifth, “If you continue playing like this I can assure you, you won’t get a single concert in the future.”

Pause…another deafening period of silence!

By now I was wondering, well this is not what I have heard you tell other students? I have always heard you scold them for not playing enough, being scared on stage, being scared of the other artist. And here I am now, now that I have played all that I could , scaring the s..t out of the other artist, how could you be upset with me ?  Offcourse , I kept all these thoughts to myself. Not that I would ever have the courage to say all this to him.

Then after one of the longest pauses of my life Guruji spoke again,

“Son, the duty of a good artist is to hide the weaknesses of the fellow artist on stage. Not to expose it further. The moment you realized that this singer was weak. You should have chosen simpler stuff and played according  to her strength. You have to control your playing according to who you are playing with. No matter who is in the audience…your first priority is to produce good music not worry about trying to make some one happy in the audience. Today you were more concerned about me and the Sitarist but not about the music. Never do this again in your life!”

“ Even if you are playing with someone musically weaker than you, never use your strength to demolish them, rather use it to enhance whatever good they have in their music and you will be respected as a true musician!”

Need I say more, today as I write this, I wish Guruji was alive once more to scold me again and teach me more about life and music!