Strings from far and near

the cello and the veena. both stringed, but entirely different. a collaboration of the ancient veena played by geetha navale and the european cello by spanish artiste lourdes pfeiffer has given birth to ocean floor. "it''s not fusion, but collaboration," insists geetha, "since both are classical instruments." she''s been learning the veena for more than 25 years now, but this is the first album she''s put together by herself."earlier i had playedthe veena for an album with my husband gopal navale who is also the producer of this album," says geetha. ocean floor happened without much planning in just four weeks. geetha met lourdes at the bangalore school of music. "i was playing the veena and she just started playing my carnatic ragas on her cello. the idea was born thenand we decided to get together and make some music," says geetha. lourdes is a spontaneous player with a magical touch and that has added a special dimension to the album. later they recorded in their studio. the jacket of the album is designed by geetha and can be added to her list of firsts. "it was a painting i had dabbled in some years ago. we all liked it so decided to use it." modern technology enables artistes to record their own albums, she says. "of course, there are disadvantages in releasing on our own. it is on a very small scale and cannot reach a wide audience. i feel records companies should encourage talented artists," says geetha. her next step will be to approach a music company and sell this unique collaboration. she hopes she''ll find a company will do just that for her music.