Foreword
It has been a long journey and finally it is time to let “The Celnatic experience fly out to the world. I still remember the excitement in Sahana at Berklee college of Music, Valenica (Spain) when we discussed about the project and she couldn’t wait to start. I must confess I was a bit excited myself as the project was great. After being introduced to Shruti, her sister I knew that they had a powerful chemistry that would take them far in this journey. A journey, that would have a happy ending.
The memory of the day I was given the proposal for the project, still remains fresh in my mind. It had all the details of the timelines and plain of action. These young girls wanted to do a live show during the year. It was commendable to see the confidence and calm that they had, which made me belive, some magic would most likely happen and the event would be a success. It is not an easy affair for students to put up their show from scratch and that too with a time constraint. They would just smile and tell me that things would be fine and go well. They had put up such an amazing show and there were beautiful programs both in English and Spanish that introduced the project to the audience. The show was a great success and many people told me that they were blown away by the quality of the performance. It was a milestone for the project and they reached it with pride and happiness. They loved the moment of success but at the sane they couldn’t wait to get on in this journey. Even today when I look at pictures from the show, I can see the glow on their faces.
They also decided to write a book on the music, which has been developed beautifully. I must appreciate the efforts put in the girls to not only work on the logistics and music, but also take time out and document their insights on the subjects. I have had the great opportunity to guide these girls in their dream projects. Now it is time to celebrate that the Celnatic Experience has reached a new level. It is time for it to go out and live a life of its own, and show a part of hidden Indian history that very few are aware of. As a teacher, it is very inspiring of a projects so close to a students’s heart, set free into this world.
I salute them to an accomplishment and an amazing journey. I am very sure that this piece of work put together by these two individuals will prove to be useful and informative to all the readers.
Music is a medium if expression, equally humbling and uplifting. It makes people happy that ‘s why we like doing it. Having been introduced to Indian classical music form a very early age, learning to appreciate different genres of music , expanding our knowledge and always ready to experiments and innovate, has made us decide to do “The Celnatic Experience “, a term coined by us to signify the amalgamation of Celnatic Music and South Indian Classical Music (Carnatic Music ). This music took shape during the British East India Company rule in India1800s. We intend to present Carnetic Music, in an innovative style, highlight the similarities between Western & Eastern Scales and serve as a platform through which people can appreciate this different style of music. We have presented this field of art, this genre of music.
Why this project? Is a question which is being posed at us whenever this is discussed. I all started when we made the decision to embark upon Master’s in Berklee, while building our SOP for admissions itself we had deliberated and planned to archive a few of these “Nottuswarams “ and perform as part of our Culminating experience. The purpose was to bring to light these long lost (though there are a few who have attempted to revive those) treasure to Global musicians. Carnetic music is found complex due to its framework and language barriers to most musicians. Most Musicians appreciate and enjoy it. We felt that the beauty simplicity of these compositions can be a stepping stone for young musicians all over the world to get familiar in Carnetic music. They can relate this better because they are built on “C Major”. As we went along, what started as a small CE projects became a full blown experience for us thanks to the encouragement of our Berklee faculty Stephen Webber, Emilien Moyon, and our Mentor Alf Olofsson, for their guidance and prototyping, which gave a sense of directions and bought this project to what it is today.
The entire process has been nothing less than being receptive, more exploratory and a good learning. This journey has made us grow as appreciators of art. To take up a project like this, is a big step indeed.
This wouldn’t have been fulfilling without the constant support of our parents, who participated in the evolution of this book, with their constructive feedback and providing valuable insights.
Our special thanks to the studios at Berklee College of Music, Valencia for yielding access to world class recording facilities for the project. Gratitude to all the Global musicians and enginner, Berklee’s Graduate batch of 2015-16 and 2016-17 who have been named in the album details in the book.
We would like to thank Mrs. Harini Kumar for her illustrations. This has given life, understanding and vision and reach better to the target children. Vijay Anand & Team for their exceptional support with the images of historic sites and relics we visited as part of our research visit.
Black & White media team for their incisive editing, design and presentation. There are so many others who have contributed so much of ideas, time and efforts, which has made this possible. Naming all of them will make this Preface a volume by itself. Our special gratitude to all of them.
And friends and readers for keeping the spirit alive.
Acuiring a variety of skills throughout the process, interacting and sharing thoughts and ideas has widened our way of looking at the project.
We want to expand our reach through this music & also through word of mouth serve as an extremely powerful marketing tool. This is just the beginning of our step ahead in music.
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