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 The Music Academy has been low-profile on all counts this year except for its sound system, which has been loud in the extreme.
This was witnessed uniformly in almost all concerts, especially in the evening slots when one presumes that the man at the sound controls generally gets carried away on seeing the crowds. The plight of those sitting in the first few rows and to the extreme left of the hall needs to be seen to be believed.
Many of them were hearing the concert with one ear shut. Others wrapped shawls and mufflers around their heads. Men wearing wigs were praying that a sudden blast should not take away their makeshift hair arrangement.
However, those in the centre rows and those up there in the balcony claimed that the sound was simply perfect and they had no problems whatsoever. Which only leads us to one conclusion. That is that the Academy sound system needs a thorough overhaul so that the sound levels are uniform right across.
Whether it will be loud right across needs to be seen. But what is happening currently is that some speakers are probably not giving their best and others are being kept extra loud to make up for the volume.
It is also customary for the sound man to do his fine-tuning adjustments only after the first song has been rendered. Sometimes he keeps adjusting throughout the concert. It is not surprising to find the first song to be a solo in the truest sense with no output from the mridangam and violin. The upapakkavadyam spends most of his time signalling messages from the others on stage to the person fiddling with the knobs.
 Which raises an important question. The Academy has been in business for years. Its hall has been in action hosting music concerts for many decades now. The artistes have also been performing there for long.
Then why does the sound man not have standard settings for each of the popular artistes, knowing their volume and decibel levels? Also considering that artistes come on to stage at least 15 minutes before their programme (with some exceptions who come late), why is the sound level not checked before the curtain goes up? This will remove the unnecessary tensions that the artistes and audiences face in the first half of the concert.
All this requires only that little extra thinking. Is anybody in the Academy listening?
Sriram.V
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