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PITCH AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN MUSIC
Pitch is a very important aspect in      Carnatic music. Every musician has his own natural pitch depending on the makeup of their vocal chords. Male voices, as is well known, are lower in pitch than female voices. It is very important that one select the right pitch called sruthi for singing. This is usually done by selecting the basic tone called SA (Sadjam) and every other note will be in relation to this note.

The pitch of a male singer is usually C or C' and that of the female singer is from F' to G in relation to the western note.  But there are quite a few exceptions to this, whereby, female singers go for a higher or lower sruthi. The major factors in selecting the sruthi is the tonal purity one can bring on all swaras and the Octave range. In simpler terms it is the

range in which the artist can produce music without tonal impurities.

In the case of string instruments the pitch is based on the length, construction and timbre. An artist's range, on the other hand, can be determined by the Octave one covers. An octave is the interval between the frequency of the fundamental note and the double of the fundamental frequency component. Some musicians easily cover a greater Octave range. But talent is not everything

Ganesh Sankaranarayanan
(ganeshs@uta.edu)

Mufaddal Laila, our very own IMACS LOGO designer has been busy modifying the logo based on the comments that IMACS received for the first logo that he submitted. This is his second version. Email all comments to imacs_uta@yahoo.com. (To see a color version of logo go to:
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"Citius, altius, fortius"  - swifter, higher, stronger

he ancient Olympics was an International Sports festival that began in ancient Greece. It was the Greek's way of saluting their Gods. The modern Olympics are a manner of saluting the athletic talents of citizens of all participating nations.

Here are a few interesting facts about Olympics .

The earliest Olympics date back to 776 B.C.

It was only in 1912 that all the 6 inhabited continents participated in the Olympics.

Only two countries have the privilege of participating in every Olympics - they are Greece and Australia.

The 2000 Olympics being held in Sydney is only the second time in the Southern hemisphere.

Catch them when they are young-Dominique Moceanu of the USA was the youngest Olympic Gold Medallist at

pause, when the Greeks refused to enter the field again.
First is the Best - Ties in weightlifting are awarded to the lifter with the lighter body weight! If the lifter's body weights also tie the award goes to the lifter who lifted first.

Weightless Gymnasts - The average Olympic gymnast is 16 years of age,    4 ft 6 inches tall and weighs 72 lbs, the size of an average 10 year old.

The Olympics (literally came to light) in the Amsterdam games in 1928 when the Olympic flame was reintroduced!

Canada is the only host country not to win a gold medal.

India may not have performed outstandingly in the Olympics. But, with its unprecedented potential athletes with untapped talents, I am sure she will emerge in the top rung in the future Olympics. Karnam Malleswari is one of them who has already paved the path to glory. Let us salute the lady of steel.

                       Vijay Boovarahamoorthy
                         b_vijay55@hotmail.com