Q. What is the value of Raga Jam and why should I/my child do it?
Raga Jam is a great, cost-effective, and enriching way of learning how to produce a high quality collaboration in the form of a music video. It incorporates several key learnings into one organized learning package, which you otherwise do not get all in one place at such a low cost. Teams learn how to come together as vocalists, instrumentalists and percussionists and work with each other to create a unique, interesting piece. They then develop the skill to record in a studio environment, and develop camera presence for a professional video production.

The benefits of this are several. Firstly the performer develops a skill that is not otherwise taught as part of arts training. From an individual journey of learning material and perfecting their technique, they figure out how to apply that in a group setting while interacting and collaborating – which is critical in the 21st century for any artist to do. Secondly recording in a studio environment to produce a piece that will stay online forever demands high practice and perfection which helps them gauge their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the video becomes part of the artist’s online presence and portfolio and will show up when potential university admissions committees, recruiters, event organizers search for them. This can be an avenue to start developing a professional angle to your training under an iconic brand like Raga Jam that is known for quality and high standards.

Q. What happens after a Raga Jam? OR I’ve already done a Raga Jam, so how would the next one be different?
After a Raga Jam production is released, participants are encouraged to observe the feedback posted by audience on the piece. This can help them understand what worked and what could have been done better, so they can directly relate to the experience and implement for the future. We encourage participants to reply personally to the various comments on the IndianRaga social media channels, so that they can connect directly with audiences.

Many Raga Jam participants develop a strategy with us for building a portfolio of Raga Jam videos that they feature in, based on their interest and focus. For instance, some participants choose to stick with a pure classical domain like Carnatic music. In this case, the series of Raga Jams they do will all be in the same genre, but the style and type of piece they choose, the improvization (manodharmam), the ragams they choose for each will vary. After doing 2-3 such Raga Jams, they are able to start leading parts of the experience such as the creative concept, or the video screenplay, etc to gain more experience in leading entire projects.

Some others on the other hand, choose to build a portfolio involving diverse genres. They may start with one genre, but opt for a jugalbandi next, or a collaboration with a semi-classical or western group thereafter and so on. The style and nature of each piece might vary, thus showcasing the versatility of the artist.

Finally, there are Raga Jam participants who value the opportunity to travel to different cities and collaborate with different musicians. This expands one’s network as well as helps step out of the comfort zone of working with known people. You can talk to the IndianRaga City Partner or email info@indianraga.com to plan out a series of Raga Jams that work best for your interest.

Raga Jam is also best accompanied by the IndianRaga Certification. After doing a few Raga Jams, it would be best to take a suitable certification level to get feedback from an international panel of experts to help identify your strengths and weaknesses.

Raga Jam participants of an advanced level who have done a few Raga Jams and demonstrated high ability to collaborate, be creative, and excel at the recording and video experience should consider applying to the IndianRaga Fellowship. Applicants with Raga Jams experience will have a significant and marked advantage over others when it comes to the Round 3 collaboration round.

Q. Why am I paying a fee and what does it go towards?
As a premium brand, IndianRaga invests in high quality resources through the Raga Jam process. Yet the fee is designed to be similar to your monthly music or dance class fee (Raga Jams are designed as 12 sessions over 3 months usually). Within this, we include a facilitator, feedback from our central creative expert panel on the piece, the entire shooting and post production component, along with 2 iterations to ensure the team is happy with the final draft. Your fee goes towards accounting for these costs and ensuring an output consistent with what you see on the Raga Labs channel.

Q. Can I do a Raga Jam as a solo vocalist with my own accompaniment?
No, since Raga Jam as a project is a collaborative experience, not a solo showcase. If there are 6 musicians and the nature of the piece ends up being such that only one vocalist is needed and there is strong focus on instrumentals then it may so happen that there is only one vocalist, but in general we do not allow for Raga Jam projects to be about showcasing one vocalist with the others as accompaniment. The instrumentalists for us play an equal role and are featured prominently. The videos that are most successful are the ones that have multiple vocalists facing off or interacting with each other musically.

Q. Can I produce a video on my own separately and let Raga Labs promote it?
Sure. If we are happy with the quality of the video, we can certain consider that. Please write a mail to info@indianraga.com. There will be some fee to take care of evaluation of the video, release and promos.

Q. How much screen time will I get?
There is no fixed quantity of time that we are able to commit to. We instruct the facilitators, and the videographers, to focus equally on all participants. It is a combined team collaboration and you can see examples of our other videos to get a sense of what to expect. However, if you are part of a Raga Jam team and you feel that you are not being focused on enough, please make sure to bring it up to the facilitator or the Raga Jam admin team BEFORE the production so we can address it. If you go ahead and do the recording and video shoot without bring it up, we will assume that you are fine with your role in the piece. Likewise if you think in the video you have markedly lower focus, you can indicate in the video editing comments process.

Q. If I am paying a fee, why am I being asked to come up with creative ideas or learn pieces on my own to get ready for the Jam?
The whole point of this process is for it to be a learning experience. Raga Jams are designed using Action Learning principles, where the learning is embedded in the experience itself, and by encouraging participants to take the lead on certain creative elements or on driving various sub-sections of the project. If the participant is unable to implement, the facilitator is there to support of course, but we would encourage all participants to think of this as a hands-on learning experience more than a paid video production opportunity.

Q. I was told I am not ready for a Raga Jam yet and that I should take the IndianRaga Certification. How will that help me?
Participating in a professional production experience, even at a Beginner or Intermediate level, requires perfect command and grasp over foundational concepts. For music these would be pitch, rhythm, control, dynamics, among others and for dance it would be core technique, balance, rhythm, expression and more.

The IndianRaga creative team is tasked with ensuring (to the best of their ability based on the entry that was submitted) that Raga Jam participants are at a level where they can be part of a production and gain meaningful experience from it. If you are not approved for a Raga Jam, it means there is some more work to be done on your end to gain mastery over foundational concepts. To aid you in this process, we direct you to the IndianRaga Certification, where you can methodically get actionable feedback on your strengths and weaknesses from an international panel of experts in an organized and detailed way. This will not only help you improve and get up to speed to participate in a Raga Jam but also ensure that your artistic journey is built on a solid foundation of quality for any performance in general!

My name is Santosh Baynes, and I’ve been part of the IndianRaga Fellowship 2016 programme, held at Boston in August 2016. While my experience may be different from those in earlier or subsequent batches, as well as, for other artists like dancers, and even vocalists, it should give you a good place to start at in your own preparation.

I’m going to outline the fellowship experience and expectations, from those of us who were at Boston. This is a follow-up to the Webinar series hosted for prospective fellows, outlining the programme and answering questions following our session.

You can also catch the webcast featuring Vinod Krishnan, our very talented Carnatic Vocalist, incase you missed it. These blogs and videos should give you an idea of how you can make the best of this programme.

Lets get started with first things first, what is IndianRaga all about, and what the fellowship means :
IndianRaga aims to bring together artists from different backgrounds and locations, to collaborate on interesting ideas. Providing a platform for emerging artists, people with potential. IndianRaga, will invest in audio and video production, as well as marketing.

Yes, you have probably read this at various places, got hooked on and want to know more about us, so where else can we start at than here.

Although it started off primarily with Ragas and Indian classical projects, it has evolved over the years, into fusion with other styles, contemporary work, and now hosts creative ideas that dont have traditional Indian concepts to it.
One such new dimensional project is the “Dangerous-Skyfall” that I was very happy to work on, with Shankar Iyer. This project set of in a completely different direction than other projects you have seen hosted on IndianRaga.

I highlight this, so that you can see the direction in which the fellowship is moving, and align your goals accordingly. Whether you are a pure classical artist, or a contemporary one, you know what you can bring to the table, and what kind of projects and experiments the fellowship looks at. Going forward, the fellowship aims to bring in more diversity through the platform.

At IndianRaga, the goal is not to be yet-another-platform that focuses on traditional performances etc., for which there are already a lot of platforms, nor to go too far in the other direction with just hard-core experimental music only meant for audience with a degree in music!

Why am I telling you this? Because, at first glance, it may seem that this is similar to what Coke Studio, or Kappa TV do with artistic collaborations. While there are similarities because of the nature of creativity involved, at IndianRaga, the focus is on bringing individuals together than getting an existing band to play; providing exposure to folks who have potential, over established artists.

While there are many platforms for pure classical art forms, even in broad categorization such as  Hindustani, Carnatic, Western, Classical, Baroque, Romantic, Jazz, etc., here, we look at complementing the different genres to create interesting pieces. One recent example at the time of this writing, would be the “Cheap Thrills – Desi Cover” Project.

This example, although specific to musicians, indicate the direction that IndianRaga is venturing into from where it originally started off, over the years.

Further note on this subject : IndianRaga does not guarantee that every category will have a Fellow chosen from. The IndianRaga Fellowship only accepts Fellows who cross a threshold of excellence as decided by the selection panel, and if we do not find entries in a given category to match these standards then we may not have anyone selected from that category

Remember that, the preference is for artistic competency over credentials and titles when applying for the fellowship.

We are looking for people who can go beyond traditional structures and rules and create something unique by complimenting other styles of music and dance, our focus will be on what you bring to the table in terms of creativity versus how qualified you are in your field.

Notes on the 2017 Fellowship :

2017 Fellowship will be in Virginia, close to Dulles airport. This will tentatively be for about 9 days in the second half of July and exact dates will be announced within a month from now. It is not mandatory to attend all days, but the number of productions Fellows can do will be directly proportional to how long they stay. This can be discussed and planned with the IndianRaga team once they become a Fellow and doesn’t have to be confirmed right now.

Starting 2017, IndianRaga will invest substantial amount of resources in audio-video production and post production, marketing, and other aspects that are related to the production. Fellows are expected to cover costs of their flights, visa if they need to attend, local transport and meals. IndianRaga will negotiate a discounted rate for Fellows at a good hotel close to the location, and try their best to minimize costs through finding sponsorship support for various costs, but at this time there is no guarantee of the same.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have and we are happy to assist.