How far is Carnatic music concerned about the quality of voice?
It appears that Carnatic music is totally myopic to this aspect even though composers like Thyagaraja had dealt with it in many of their kritis. For example, in his composition, `Sobhillu Saptaswara’ in Jaganmohini raga, the saint says, `Worship the beautiful goddesses residing over the seven swaras, which shine through navel, throat, heart, tongue… ‘ This itself was proof enough of our awareness about this branch centuries ago. However, we were more concerned about the science of music than the techniques of voice production and maintenance of its quality. But almost all musicians have had a problem with their voice at one time or the other during their career and a basic training in voice production was imperative for overcoming it. How do you propose to help your fraternity in this area? I have already started voice counselling in Chetana Sangeet Natya Academy, Thrissur. We hope to hold periodic workshops, especially for teachers so as to help them tackle the vocal problems of the
