BENGALURU: When acclaimed musician TM Krishna took the online route recently, it was the first time he was venturing into singing only for a virtual audience. “The experience was no different. I sing the same way, both at home and on stage,” says Krishna. He was participating for the fundraiser-- ‘Home and The World #ShutIn Concert’-- specifically for multiple artistes in rural places and small towns, who have been hit by the ongoing pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Owing to internet bandwidth issues, the paid concert was pre-recorded with the help of an iPhone camera, Zoom camera and Zoom audio, which then went live on the Shaale website.
For singer-songwriter Vasu Dixit, live performances online are not something new. The musician has previously adopted this technique during album launches. “With everyone home right now, you get an audience who is eager to listen to you online,” he says, pointing out that in a live audience scenario, the performers get a first-hand idea of the viewers’ reaction, who join in singing and clapping. “And if they are bored, they move away, and you tweak the performance accordingly. But online it is not possible to gauge reactions.
If the number of viewers decrease, it is difficult to tell if they went because they’re not interested or if their network went off,” explains Dixit, who looks at these online live sessions as practice.All an artiste requires is a stage to share their music, believes musician Anmol Malik, who is participating in live digital concert series - #StayAtHome #StayEntertained by Hungama Artist Aloud. Speaking about these “chilled out” performances, she says, “That’s the wonderful part of these gigs – you can’t predict anything. I want to keep it interactive and fun.”
The musician believes this performance will be different, since it is sans her band. “It creates a different energy,” she says. Zarir Warden, on the other hand, points out to the lacking emotions. The musician, who is performing as part of #SOCIALIndoors, says, “In a regular gig, you have a bunch of people in front of you, you’re preparing for a gig before, you’ve got jitters, you’re excited. There’s a bunch of emotions running through you before, during and after the gig. But then again, we’re trying to make the best of the situation,” he says.
Agrees singer Suneeta Rao, who admittedly is a people’s person and thrives on audience participation in her gigs. “I love to chat with them between songs and get their spontaneous reactions. You have a much wider online audience who cannot respond directly, so one has to keep in mind the various types of people, their ages, backgrounds and preferences about what they may like or not like to hear. So choosing the repertoire is a challenge,” she says.