Animals’ link to swaras become an inspiration for a set design
For this year’s Margazhi music festival, most of the sabhas and organisations are following a hybrid format. Record label company Sound Creed which has been hosting a thematic online festival called Ezhisai - Reign of the Rasas, has created a unique set design to make the online viewing experience more interesting and informative. The design is inspired by animals and their links to swaras. Aditya Balasundaram, one of the co-founders of Sound Creed, tells DT Next, “The seven swaras in Carnatic music - sa (shadjam), ri (rishabam), ga (gandharam), ma (madhyamam), pa (panchamam), da (dhaivatam), ni (nishaadam) - is believed to be originated from the sound of different animals and birds. Sa is associated with the sound of a peacock, ri is bull, ga is the goat, ma is the crane, pa is cuckoo, da is horse and ni is the elephant. Those who are new to Carnatic music might not be aware of this. We wanted to showcase this association of swaras and animals and came up with the idea of creating a unique set design.”
He also adds that there is a relation between swaras and colours. “Our art director Victor Paulraj in discussion with Sumesh Narayanan and Ravi G, my partners ideated the concept and has created a beautiful backdrop where the animal’s images are superimposed with colours associated with the swaras. For eg, for the set backdrop with the swara ‘sa’, we have used light pink colour, for ‘ri’ it is parrot green, gold colour for ‘ga’, white for ‘ma’ and so on. We wanted to keep the backdrop visually appealing so that it gives the viewers, who watch our online festival, a different feel.”