Society of Indian Record Collectors
The Society Of Indian Record Collectors
brings together music lovers and freely disseminates information about early recordings from India, the artistes, and the care and preservation of old discs.
Formed in 1990, the society has 200 members - 70 from India, the rest from US and Europe. Publishes a quarterly journal The Record News (consisting of 50/70 photocopied pages)
which includes the society's proceedings, discographies of Indian artistes and label histories.
Collectors of ethnic music can make excellent contacts here.
We also hold free listening/discussion sessions every month in Mumbai, Calcutta, Goa, Pune, Solapur and Nanded.
Annual Subscription/Membership $30, life $300, includes the magazine The Record News.
E-mail sschand@tifr.res.in or write to:
Suresh Chandvankar, Hon. Sec., 801 Bhaskara, TIFR Housing Colony, Navynagar, Colaba, Mumbai (Bombay) 400-005 India.
Tel - 091-22 - 22 80 49 86, fax - 091-22-215 2110.
Suresh writes: "I would like to be in touch with collectors who would like to collect 78's of Indian music that includes films, classical and folk music of India. "
News from SIRC
The January 1999 Meeting was a great success. St.Xavier's College in Mumbai has a group of music lovers who organise a music festival each year. They were celebrating 25th year. An exhibition of musical instruments,old gramophone records and gramophone machines was held for three days [January 25-28]. Hundreds of music lovers visited this exhibition and apperciated it.
This was most appropriate,since first Indian voice was recorded one
hundred years ago in London.
Message from Partha Chatterjee, Director, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.
There have been recent attempts to discuss the twin areas of the growth and development of the recording industry in India and thehistory of music in the modern period. Both are large themes, offering themselves to various kinds of theoretical and empirical studies: the specific thrust of the current work is the relation between these two areas, and to clarify theoretical positions in this regard.
In recent months, the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences has hosted two discussions. At the first, held in August 1997, Dr. Amitabha Ghosh presented a paper which discussed the role of early recording companies in India, focussing on those competing with
the Gramophone Company of India. The work of the pioneering
industrialist H. Bose was discussed in detail. Of especial
interest was the way in which the discourses of nationalism are
implicated in the promotional strategies of different companies.
The paper was followed by an extended discussion session, in which
the points presented were further discussed and clarified. This was
followed in February 1998 by a three-day international seminar
entitled `The Cultural Consequences of Globalisation: The Case of
Music'. Participants presented a wealth of material on Asian,
Australian and African music, and the general theoretical
implications of globalisation were discussed. Naturally, one of the
major areas of discussion was recording and dissemination of music.
One of the days was reserved for Indian music: papers presented
included those by Dr. Lakshmi Subramaniam (on modernity in Carnatic
music), Dr Tirthankar Roy (on the gharana system), Dr R.Nandakumar
(on changes in the aesthetics of music) and Dr Amlan Das Gupta (on
early recordings of classical music).
In view of the fact that a discussion on the history of music and
the technology of sound reproduction has already been initiated,
it seems appropriate to provide a forum for further discussion and
clarification of these issues. The format should be informal and
participatory, with opportunities for presentation of visual and
musical examples. It also seems necessary to extend the scope of
the discussion beyond its present context, by inviting individuals
connected with the sound recording industry, or with a special
interest in this area; practising musicians and musicologists; and
gramophone record collectors to share their knowledge and
experience with us.
The first gramophone recordings of music and recitation by
Indian artistes appear to have been made in London in 1898. It
seems appropriate, a century ahead, to reflect on its consequences.
The following areas of concern have been identified for future workshops:
- Canons of Indian Music Reconsidering terminology: e.g.,
`classical', `modern', `devotional'. The construction of
categories: Dhrupad-Classical vs Hybrid-Light etc.
- Advent of Recording and the History of Reception. Reshaping
musical canons: the singer-listener reciprocity.
- The Emergence of `Indian' houses of sound-recording and their
relationship with the H M V (Graomophone Company) monopoly
- Changes in the technology of voice recording and their effect
on music and its market The questions of copyright, contractual
obligation of artists and piracy.
- Making music on the editing-desk Comparisons with film-making
(or image-mixing).
- The Advent of Talkies and emergence of `modern songs' Film
songs and basic songs: their interrelationship. Consideration of
the penetration of Gramophone, Radio and Cinema beyond the
metropolis.
- Instrumental Accompaniment The appearance and disappearance of
specific instruments (Eastern and Western): the demands posed by `
modernity'.
- Texts of Recorded Songs The classifications of songs in
catalogues and advertisements; e.g. bhajan, kirtan, bhatiyali,
gramya sangeet, adhunik, Rabindranath, but `Islami' as a separate
category.
- Markets, National and International
The resources for the study of the history of recorded music in India is
quite disorganized. Suggestions and contributions are welcome:
Information about gramophone records, record catalogues, articles
on sound recording, advertisements and brochures, and all other
related material will be warmly appreciated.
Contact addresses: Amitabha Ghosh, Centre for Studies in Social
Sciences, 10 Lake Terrace, Calcutta 700029.
E-mail mailto:abhijit@csssc.ernet.in
or
Amlan Das Gupta, Department of English, Jadavpur University,
Calcutta 700032. E-mail amlan@jueng.clib0.ernet.in
.............................
Abhijit Bhattacharya
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta
10 Lake terrace
Calcutta 700 029
Phone : +91 33 4666472/4665477
Fax : +91 33 4666958
E-mail abhijit@csssc.ernet.in
postmast@csssc.ernet.in
this page first published by John Wright, 13 Dec 1998
last update 15 March 2006vintage@jabw.demon.co.uk