Mavericks Of Music

Curious Mix - 1

2011-10-02T01:06:00.001+05:30

I am starting this series that might recur in future, whenever I have an eclectic mix of various interesting songs I’d like to talk about. In this post, I’d like to talk about some of the songs that impressed me in recent times.

1. Kaise Kahen (Film: Yeh Saali Zindagi): This exquisite melody from Sudhir Mishra’s film “Yeh Saali Zindagi” is such a beautiful throwback to the times of Mohd. Rafi. Composed by Nishat Khan, a sitarist (I think), the song is one of the most endearing melodies I have heard in recent times. Sung by Javed Ali, who redeems himself, this song has lyrics by Swanand Kirkire. I felt Javed Ali really put his soul into this song, given the extremely melodious tune and beautiful lyrics. I would rate this as his best song ever. The expansive string orchestra work, mild guitar strums and piano in the first interlude take us back to the vintage era compositions. The 2nd interlude has some fine pieces in violin and string section. I particularly love the 2nd stanza. absolutely well written.

“raatein.. woh seher.. woh sukoon ke peher..

bhool jaayenge hum… bhoolein kyon hum magar?

jee jaao jo tum… jee jaayenge hum

yaadon ke zakhm par… zindagi marhum”

Usually, someone with a flair for poetry would probably prefer to write that ‘memories are the only balm on the wounds of life…’ but here is someone writing that ‘Life is a balm, on the wounds of memories…’ Masterstroke! Quite brilliant!

This is one song that deserved more – for its top class composition, impressive rendition and nice poetry.

2. Haal-E-Dil (Film: Buddaah Hoga Tera Baap): Sung by Amitabh Bacchan, this is a good Yaman based composition, although it falls short in terms of improvisation. The melody and the single stanza are quite appealing, both, in terms of the tune and the rendition, but the could have been elaborated and improvised more. The song does have traces of “Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo” stanzas. Yet, composers Vishal-Sekhar must be commended for trying something different, in a very commercial potboiler film, with Amitabh Bacchan. Bacchan does a fine job.

3. Khwaabon Ke Parindey, Senorita, Dil Dhadakne do (Film: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara): I feel composers Shankar-Ehsan-Loy have become repetitive and predictable, with their choice of films (themes) and the style of music they have been making in the last 2 years. Yet, repetitiveness is just a personal feeling, that makes no sense in the long run, if a song is good. I liked few songs in this album, although they completely reek Shankar-Ehsan-Loy. Khwaabon Ke Parindey is a lovely ballad, executed with the lilt of country music. Much before I even saw the film, I imagined the song on long highways between woods, passing by some lakes and farms. The song carries such images within itself, which makes it instantly likeable. Loy Mendonsa’s daughter Alyssa Mendonsa charms with a very light-y rendition.

Senorita is the song crooned by the lead actors Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol and Hritik Roshan. While Farhan is not new to singing and hence manages quite well, it is surprising to see Hritik Roshan emoting wonderully. I felt Abhay deol was really awful but it is Hritik Roshan who actually leads the pack. He doesn’t sound like a novice at all and adds suitable zing to the composition. Hritik Roshan should try singing – atleast fun songs like these. Dil Dhadkne Do is the typical Shankar-Ehsan-Loy song and sounds like a leftover from Rock On. Yet, I loved the way the tune progress into the anthemic tone.

4. Poraney Poraney & Sara sara Saara (Film: Vaagai Sooda vaa): Who is this composer called Ghibran? These two compositions from this film are as polished and mature as any experienced good composer. Poraney Poraney, a beautiful ballad whose arrangements aptly add to the anthemic feel is one of the most interesting compositions in recent times, that doesn’t carry influences of another composer. And Chinmayi’s Sara Sara Saara is, by any stretch, one of the most imaginative compositions. If this is the debut of this composition, then this debut is a remarkable one. Those western classical brushes to Sara Sara, in tandem with the thavil usage and the undercurrent synth fabric still keep the playfulness of the composition alive. By tune, execution and rendition, this song is a Beauty!

5. Idhazhil, Kaathalane (Film: Naanga): Composer Bala Bharathi is a recent discovery for me. These two songs from this film have left a strong impression upon me that he is a staunch follower of Ilaiyaraaja’s music. Idhazhil, set in Hamsanadam raaga, is one brilliant composition where the stanzas gradually pursue an ascent in the scale, punctuated by guitar notes. Karthik and Chinmayi, both deliver absolutely impressive renditions – complete with intricate pronunciations where an extra sangathi gives a kick. And that 2nd interlude on flute – was it a direct tribute to ilaiyaraaja. If that wasn’t enough, the song Kaadhalane faithfully obeys the DNA of Ilaiyaraaja’s 80s songs. While the tune, set in Kalyani raaga, follows Ilaiyaraaja’s phrases on the tune, without any deviation, the selection of the singer camouflages the whole song itself, making the listener believe that the song could by raaja. Shailaja sounds every bit Uma Ramanan, a voice that crooned many ilaiyaraaja songs back in 80s through mid 90s. These songs are probably the closest clones of Ilaiyaraaja’s songs, I have ever seen in my life.

More songs that can make into to the “Curious Mix”… as and when I find out…

Kashmakash – Sanjoy-Raja

2011-10-01T23:59:00.002+05:30

Kashmakash, a bengali film dubbed into Hindi, is a Rituparno Ghosh film. The music is by Sanjoy-Raja and I have no clue about their repertoire. I got curious about this album because the lyrics of the Hindi version were written by Gulzar. I listened to this album once and I knew that was enough, for me to rank it among the best albums of this year. The album is filled with melodies, whose melodic quotient reminds us of the yesteryear great compositions and masters and also Rabindra Sangeet. My take on them:

1. Mannwaa Aage bhaage re: Shreya Ghoshal sings this exquisite melody that delicately tiptoes on string orchestra, bells, flute and choral work. Rabindra Sangeet oozes out of the tune and the tune takes a beautiful flight with the lines “Saari raat apne sapnon mein…” while descending back into a surprise sub-melody of “din gaya jaise rootha rootha shaam hai ajnaanee… puraanee pal jee raha hai aankhen paani paani…”. Gulzar is in top form and why not, for he himself idolizes Rabindranath Tagore. Shreya Ghoshal inserts befitting expressions that add the effect and you would just want to listen to this again.

2. Khoya Kya: This album is one of those albums where Hariharan sings in low scale and it adds a certain depth to the emotions conveyed in the song. This song is a fine example where Hariharan’s rendition is very controlled. A pathos laden composition, the song makes effective use of Piano, Pakhawaj, a poignant flute and string orchestra. It is intriguing that the string orchestra plays a high note when hariharan is on a lower note. In short, this song is a mood composition.

3. Teri Seemaayen: Another Shreya Ghoshal melody. This song has a tune that almost embraces us in a warmth. It is interesting that the composers decided to do away with interludes in this song. In a way, this song is like singing out a beautiful piece of poetry. There is only a small flute piece in the middle, that punctuates between two eloquently written stanzas. The mild piano strokes, the string orchestra counter melodies charm the song all through. Gulzar’s words just elevate the composition. I love the lines..

“Main aadhi adhoori baithi kinaare…

nadiya nadiya aansoo aansoo rona…

baaton pe rona… nainon ki zubaani..

raat din kehte rehna hai…

aag andhar ki koyi na dekhe…

palak jhapakthe tum jo dekho…

Tujhko paana.. Tujhko Choonaa..

Mukti ka paana hai…”

Only Gulzar can construct such beautiful imageries. The composers did a wonderful job in handling the melody of this composition.

4. Nau Meri: Another pathos melody. Hariharan at his low-scale voice again. The song attains a poignant depth right from the 1st line. The composition, set in raag Sindhu Bhairavi, reminds us of many old melodies. The arrangements in this song are extremely brilliant. Some subtle baselines, string orchestra and a soaring flute. Halfway through the song, Madhushree joins in, again at a very low scale. The unhurried elaboration of the raaga almost indicates that the singers themselves are experiencing the song, instead of plainly singing it. I love the way the charanams are brought back to the pallavi. The bansuri, underplayed during the 1st half, almost becomes another singer towards the end taking the song to its perfect crescendo.

5. Anandloke: This is a bengali song and sounds like a traditional Rabindra Sangeet song. The choral work and minimalistic arrangements leave the listener to understand the melody in Rabindra Sangeet. Many familiar phrases, but it is a short song.

Summary: Teri Seemaayen, Manwaa and Nau Meri are my picks of the album. Brilliant compositions that are handled with extreme care and maturity. Ratuparno Ghosh must be commended for his choice of music and the composers deserve an applause for blending the beautiful melodies with crisp and adequate instrumentation without letting one dominate the other. And Gulzar ofcourse, for his wonderful lyrics. We don’t get albums like these often. Grab it for a mood experience, on some lonely moonlit night. Worth it.

Sri Rama Rajyam - Ilaiyaraaja

2011-10-01T16:29:00.001+05:30

When veteran film-maker Bapu chooses Ilaiyaraaja, to score music for a mythological film, it indeed sets the expectations. Their last collaboration was back in 80s, when Bapu made Manthri gaari Viyyankudu. This time around, the collaboration has 2 more tags to deal with, apart from their own celebrated names - “mythology” and “2011”. How can they strike the balance of tackling the mythology-film requirements with contemporary audience taste, yet sticking out their individual style? Lets see…

1. Jagadaanandakaaraka – Lush vioins, wind instruments and harp initiate the celebratory proceedings. S.P.balasubramanyam and Shreya Ghoshal sing is beautiful composition set in Suddha Dhanyasi raaga. The song has generous usage of saarangi while guitar-strums Tabla-Dholak like percussions laced with guitar strums form the basic layers on which the song is constructed. Synth usage is ornamental and never overpowering. The charanams obey the “Ilaiyaraaja’s Suddha Dhanyasi” syntax so perfectly that one cannot help recollecting the sweet “Ghallu Ghallu” from Swarna Kamalam. Base lines, through on synth, carry the usual Ilaiyaraaja intricate patterns. When the charanam ends, the listener concedes to the composer with the thought - “but ofcourse, there is no other way we can conclude this”. Jonnavitthula’s lyrics are good. Raaja shines. (9/10)

2. Evadunnaadu – This is more of a song-padhyam that the mythological films of 50s-60s used to have. Very simple and straight, nothing much can be written about it since it is very short.

3. Sitarama Charitham – This is a song that reminds us of songs from old mythological films such as Lava-Kusa. The is not a typical song with a pallavi & charanam, but the structure is set to a story-telling form. The music changes according to the situation depicted in the story (Ramayana) that is being sung. Even the percussion patterns change accordingly. This song might have required complete attention because it is constantly changing its course and never returning to the previous phrases. No hooklines, no repeating phrases. And yet, the listener is absorbed in the song because of the turns it takes. Not an easy task. The raagas change a lot. Few portions tread along Chakravakam while few lines almost touch lalitha raagam too. Ilaiyaraaja must be commended for deftly composing the song in unconventional pattern. Jonnavitthula provides non-complex lyrics. (8/10)

4. Sri Rama Lera – Easily the best composition of the album. The song begins on Amrithavarshini scale and the transforms into panthuvaraali/vasantha type raaga. Ilaiyaraaja majestically descends from one raaga to another. Shreya Ghoshal and Sriram Parthasarthy exude lot of maturity in this composition. The first interlude is classic Ilaiyaraaja 80s stuff – veena, string orchestra, flute and synth violins. The piece is effective because of the way it shows the contours of the raaga, with his style. Shreya Ghoshal’s aalaaps at the end of 1st interlude is a surprise (he used to do it in 80s only). The 1st charanam sounds more Panthuvaraali and faithfully builds up to a crescendo, much in his style (complete, with the violins counter-melodies). The 2nd interlude is again a throwback at his 80s wizardy. Meditative. The 2nd charanam, surprisingly, has a different tune from the 1st one. Imaginatively done up. Lyrics are wonderful too. This song, is a classic. (10/10)

5. Devullu Mecchina – Chitra & Shreya Ghoshal sing this composition, that sounds very much tailored for common man, who doesnt care/know about raagas and applications. The duk-duk kind of rhythm and the tune obey the same dictum. While previous compositions appear slightly elevated, because of the complexities woven, this song sounds lighter. Intentionally kept so may be. Simple lyrics again. (6/10)

6. Gaali Ningi Neeru – A pathos laden composition, this Keeravani based song is sung by S.P.Balasubramanyam. The song oozes melodramatic pathos. No subtleties but typically played out pathos. Nice interludes. The percussions are synth. At times, I felt SPB went overboard with his vocal expressions. Yet, given that this is a situational song, Ilaiyaraaja hits the right notes in the tune, to compensate for the melodrama. (7/10)

7. Ramayanamu – Chitra & Shreya Ghoshal team up again for this sindhu bhairavi raaga based composition. The song has typical Bhairavi phrases (as in some bhajans) to begin with, rendering the melody while Ilaiyaraaja experiments with the structure, much like the “Sitharama charitham” composition. And over the course, the turns given to the song are surprising – although the raaga doesnt change much. Both Chitra & Shreya sing with aplomb. There is nothing that can be called as “Typical ilaiyaraaja” and therein lies his genius. He has surrendered to the director’s vision so perfectly and yet left his marks in the way the song is handled. (8/10)

8. Dhandakam – A very small song, this one sounds like maaya Maalavagowla to me. Too short but.

9. Seeta Seemantham – Ilaiyaraaja’s experimental streak again. This Hindolam based composition has a qawwali style tabla percussion. The mridangams, flute, veena, bass-lines and claps – all evoke the celebrative mood in the 1st half. Surprisingly, the 2nd half of the song has lesser number of instruments and as the song approaches its end, the percussions completely vanish (only synth pads appear briefly later). Although the melody remains the same, ilaiyaraaja transforms the mood of the song with the arrangements. absolutely interesting. (8/10)

10. Rama Rama Ane – A folk delight this is. The song has less of Ilaiyaraaja signatures and more of Bapu’s signatures. It is amazing how ilaiyaraaja could weave something that caters exactly to the director’s taste. Bapu has used songs like these in his 70s & 80s films. This playful song about a playful Rama, has a lilting rhythm intermittently stopping before starting again. Ilaiyaraaja’s choice of instruments speak volumes about his understanding about what is needed to project folk music within the film music idiom. The singers – Swetha and Anitha – do a fine job. Definitely an unusual song, in a very good way. (9/10)

11. Kalaya Nijama – Tippu, one of those singers who never impressed me till now, surprised me completely. A beautiful composition that has shades of Hindustani raaga (Pathdeep?), this song has Tippu is fine(est) form. Ilaiyaraaja’s composition is extremely moving and just when the song has begun to take over you, Ilaiyaraaja cheats you by ending it. Unfair, for the quality of the melody instilled in it. (10/10)

12. Idhi Pattabhi – A usual rustic village folk song. Ilaiyaraaja might have done 100s of such kind and this one is no different. While Rama Rama Ane song treads the fine line between folk & Bapu’s class, this one sticks to the former alone. The interludes are typical 80s Ilaiyaraaja. This is probably the weakest song of the albums. Has to be, given that the other songs are more engaging. (4/10)

13. Sapthaswarathamarudham – A small song set in Naata raagam. SPB sounds good, thus reminding that he is the only go-to-singer, when it comes to singers like these, if ever made, by any composer.

14. Mangalam – Too short to write about.

Summary –

A word about the lyricist. Jonnavitthula provides adequate, and at times wonderful, lyrical content that suit the tunes and the premise. The lyrics are not complex but very simple. I dont know if it is intentional or if he couldn’t deliver more intellectually loaded content – but given the director’s preferences in this era, I assume it is the former and his lyrics are just right. He has good a decent job or should I say, a wonderful job, if we compare with kind of lyrics we get to hear these days.

Ilaiyaraaja does a great job in understanding the director’s vision/taste and he catered exactly to that, still retaining the strengths and characteristics of his music. And melding them together isn’t just the job done. Combining the elements that appeal to a larger audience (public) is another task and ilaiyaraaja achieves it perfectly. Rich orchestration, great balance between classy tunes and simple-light-music kind of tunes, a brilliant balance between acoustic instruments and synth usage, good choice of singers, heavy experimentation within the allowed structures – these are some of the enablers that raaja has used to succeed in this endeavour. And that he certainly does, with panache. Ilaiyaraaja’s collaboration with Bapu exceeds expectations. Brilliant!

Kartick & Gotam - Business Class Refugees

2010-07-05T16:05:00.001+05:30

Business Class Refugees is an album produced by EarthSync, a music label that is promoting/marketing World Music. The music produced by EarthSync contains fusion of traditional/regional folk recorded in Asia and Middle-East, classical idioms and electronica.

Business Class Refugees is an album composed by Karthik(Patrick Sebag) & Gotam(Yotam Agam), for Earthsync. The music in the album can be termed as World Music obeying the syntax of fusion music, since the composers have largely used the fusion music textures as the backdrop for their experiments on folk music and electronic music. The album features some famous artists such as Mahesh Vinayakaram, Navin Iyer (flautist).

With tracks that are lively, meditative, exuberant and also peppy, the album has many wonderful musical moments that deserve a wider audience. A take on the compositions:

Bonjour: Bonjour is an unusual title for the first track of an album. It starts with synthesizer riffs and rhythm on snare drums, while the main instrument, which sounds like an oboe with a deeper tone, plays the main melody. The composition seems to be based on Bhairavi scale, only for a brief while though and the engaging moment in the track comes when the keyboard chords, flute and bass guitar stamp their presence, lifting the whole mood of the composition. A brief aalap, while progressing along with the track pauses to break into raag Jog on Flute(chala Naata in carnatic). The flute melody eventually splits into two octaves, each playing its own, though both in the scale of Jog. This track works well in the realm of lounge music for it offers an effective cocktail of electronics and classical music.

Tamil Bossa: Tamil Bossa is an innovative composition, primarily because it has amazing collage of instruments on the electronic canvas. And the element that seals the innovation is the exceptionally intelligent usage of Trombone. I do not recall if anyone has used this neglected instrument in the fusion music genre; not anyone since Hindi film composer duo Shankar Jaikishan, who brought out a fusion album in 60s that married jazz music with indian classical raagas. But after that, none that I recall. Anyway, Tamil Bossa begins on a pulsating note with the synthesizer riffs forming the backdrop while a very venom-ish flute, coupled with bass-guitar set the Bhairavi scale. The string section riffs come as surprise while the xylophone-bell like sounds in the background continue to intrigue, for they actually hold the mood of the composition. The Tabla sounds that drip into the layer add to the energy, for the effect. The rendition of sloka by Mahesh Vinayakram, has a soothing effect, for it is isolated from all the energy, barring that Tabla and keyboard chords, but only for a moment after which it picks up again, now joined by flute. The piece de resistance is the entry of Trombone, playing Bhairavi amply supported by flute played with a frail tone along with it. The improvisation just gets even more mature as the trombone borders between Bhairavi and Jazz while the flute plays its faithful counterpart. Fusion at its best.

Boye Boye: Boye Boye starts off like a new age disco track, with synthesizer riffs sequenced along with electronic drums, while the main melody is played by harmonium - an unusual choice for a track of this kind. The male chorus joins the harmonium melody. Though the usage of sitar and Sarod adds a retro feel, the track gets repetitive with its main melody recurring without many variations. This track is a traditional folk song of Tajikistan.

Heer: From Tajikistan, we move Punjab. The track titled Heer is a traditional Punjabi song, set in the region's favourite raaga - Bhairavi. This track is characterised by thunderous synth sounds forming the backdrop for the male singer & female singer, both having boisterous rustic voices, singing it in meditative mood while a heavy baritone sitar, vichitra veena and violin, forming the arrangements adequately complement the ambience.

Shiva Sheva: Shiva Sheva is a cross between contemporary fusion and Rajasthani folk, given the choice of the instrument - Saarangi. The sound texture is reminiscent of works by eminent fusion artist Prem Joshua, and that is because of the combination of drums, Tabla and claps interspersed into the rhythm, along with bass-guitar. However, the main melody is rendered by chorus. Much like Boye Boye, this track too sounds repetitive to some extent, although the layers in the instrumentation are cleverly mixed in a way that some sounds keep the listener engrossed.

Door Open Door: Door Open Door is another intelligent fusion track in the album. The track starts off with Sarod playing a melody in raag Ahir Bhairav, supported by keyboards which infuse the base. The sitar along with drums and cymbals actually set the fusion sound of the track rolling. While the Sarod and sitar indulge in their own interpretation and exploration of the Ahir Bhairavi scale, separately, a more homage-to-Beatles like chorus emerges between them thus taking this track into a totally different genre - that of ambient music. The sarod pieces are filled with devotion while the bass guitar which gives a more trendy cut to the whole composition. This composition is quite meditative, which is a reason good enough to re-play it again.

Vellai Thamarai: Vellai Thamarai is a traditional tamil song, sung by anuradha Vishwanathan. The composition, in raag Abheri (bheempalasi) starts on a traditional canvas with just a Tanpura and the groovy synth rhythm, seamlessly mixed with Mridangam enhances the experience, without diluting the purity of the composition. Mixing electronic music with traditional songs, preserving the melody and the mood, without making it sound like a cheap remix is a walk on a tight rope that not many can easily pull off. Watch how cleverly Karthik & Gotam add layer by layer, of snare-drum bits, bass-guitar and mridangam bits, which take turns to bounce into your senses, registering their presence and before you realize, the song gains significant synthesizer inputs and yet does not lose its own identity and the mood. The concluding portion of the track, with intermittent pause in the rhythm, is interesting for it packs in all the essence of its cultural identity, in the tune, as well the extremely modern touch of smart synth work that begins after the pause, to drown again. One of the best tracks in this album.

Supreme Chaos: Synthesizer sounds whistling all along, while bass guitars and drums setting the groove and amidst all this - melody on nagaswaram (Indian traditional trumpet). This one is an unusual fusion, for it has a meditation commentary inserted into the track and at a point of time, the track gets so ambient that we hear voices, nagaswaram playing like trumpets and electrical guitar riffs cut through it, making it all the more edgy.

RuTuTu: RuTuTu is another throwback. It employs guitars to start with and suddenly the trumpets and trombone explode on them with the drums. There is some high energy drum work on this track while the keyboard riffs just float along with the wind instruments. the whole composition is like one roller coaster ride, for it is extremely difficult to predict where the tune is going to take a turn and while the track slowly gets latino colours, we hear tin flutes. This track would perfectly fit in the background score for any chase sequence in a slickly shot Hollywood flick.

Here Comes the Funk: I don’t know why the last track is named as "Here Comes the Funk", for it is a completely pleasant melody in raag Mohana (Bhoopali). The song begins with Santoor, instantly transporting us to the land of snow mountains while the earthy tin rhythms and sitar join along. The main melody, played on violin and sitar, is as effervescent as it can get, sounding more like Sri. Lalgudi Jayaraman (violin maestro) at work. As the synth voices say "Here Comes Funk", Santoor flows like a stream of river under the synth master work, from which violin and flute play out their individual interpretations of the raaga taking the composition to blissful heights. This composition is indeed the best composition in the whole album. As the pace of the drums pick up, both flute and violin, entwined in the same raaga and yet holding unto their own, slowly construct the celebrative mood up to a stunning climax. I bet you cannot resist playing this track again, when it is done, for it will leave you exasperated, with a thought "Why did it stop!"

It is difficult to categorize Business Class Refugees in a particular genre. While the composers have significantly used the medium of fusion music to express their music ideas and idioms, there are tracks that work strictly in the lounge genre too. The album is rich, in its arrangements and the composers have touched a fine balance between real instruments and synthesizer sounds, although few tracks sound repetitive because of synth dominance with little variations. However, the charm of this album lies in its beautiful amalgamation of melodies, each holding its identity (of region and of instrument) and yet seamlessly flowing with the overall theme of World Music. Business Class Refugees must not stop here. For an audience that is increasingly appreciating diverse music forms and their confluence, many more of such albums would spell a welcome change, particularly in the spectrum of fusion music where playing an Indian tune on a western instrument has become a definition for Fusion. Business Class Refugees disproves just that and goes much beyond.

Anandamritakarshini

2009-07-06T18:53:00.001+05:30

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eSnips Social DNA

AnandAmritakarshiNi... AnandAmritakarshiNi...
AnandAmritakarshiNi...amritavarshiNi...
harAdi pUjitE shivE bhavAni...
AnandAmritakarsiNi...amritavarshiNi...

shrI nandanAdi samrakSiNi...
shrI guruguha janani...chidrUpiNi...
sAnanda hRidayE Nilaye sadayE...
satya suvRSti hE davEtvAm...
santatam chintayE amRitEshvari salilam...
varshaya varshaya varshaya...
AnandAmritakarshiNi...amritavarshiNi...

Translation:
Oh ShivE! Bhavaani! You charm the nectar like bliss. You cause the rain and you are worshipped by Shiva and others.

You protect Vishnu and others and you are the mother of prosperous Guruguha. You are of the form of knowledge and dwell in the heart of those steeped in bliss. You are the compassionate one. I meditate on you always to shower heavy rain at once. Please send rain more and more abundantly.

Muthuswamy Dikshitar - Take a bow!

MJ! Thrill the other world...

2009-06-28T02:41:00.001+05:30

It was in year 1987, when a cousin of mine played the album 'Thriller' to me. That was the 1st time I heard a music, which was called as Pop music. I fell in love with the album, all, with my zero knowledge in music. Today, if I listen to the same album, I still love it, with different reasons though. Today I wonder about the eclectic styles of songs in the album. The brilliant usage of synthesizers. Fantastic tunes. Ideas. Well, that was Michael Jackson. On one end, the music was about a dance number, while on the other, it was a ballad, or soft-rock, then anthemic etc etc. The album 'Thriller' was one such piece with a fine assortment. While 'Beat It' had rock elements, Wannabe Starting Something had brilliant synth work. Human Nature (my favourite) is one song that can dispel the myth that MJ was all about howling and dancing, for it had such a beautiful melody.

Controversies aside, it is no mean achievement that his music penetrated into the masses, of not just one country but the whole world. Everyone, everywhere knew him and his music. And while his music covered the whole spectrum of 'brilliant compositions' to 'senseless music', it is absolutely phenomenal that his usage of electronic music laid the path for Pop music. Ofcourse, many genres of music had their own place and they all had icons who defined those genres. Yet, the music made by Jackson, was admired by all, even by those icons themselves.

For me, Jackson's music worked, more for the layers, the electronics, new sounds, the ideas on synth elements, rather than his singing. I call only 4 albums from his repertoire as my favourites and yet, they entertained me and still impress me.

1. Thriller (complete album)
2. Bad
3. Dangerous
4. History

Despite all those controversies, it is that music, that somehow clicked for me and it shall continue to, because whats left is not the person or the controversies, but his music, spanning diverse styles, within a single genre - Pop.

R.I.P

Technorati Tags: Michael Jackson

Nan Kadavul

2009-03-25T17:22:00.001+05:30

'Nan Kadavul' is Director Bala's latest effort. After a gritty 'Pithamagan', Bala again takes up an offbeat theme (which is infact a sort of extension from Pithamagan, thought-process-wise) of a man living away from the general civilized society. This time, the protagonist is an Aghori, living in Kaasi. The film, i heard, throws light on the life of Aghoris and beggar mafiadom. The success of Pithamagan, in critics circles and in commercial circles, has only cemented the relationship between Bala and Ilaiyaraaja. Ilaiyaraaja finds Bala's style of film-making to be pathbreaking while Bala swears by Ilaiyaraaja's music, for the theme and visuals conceived by him. The soundtrack of Nan Kadavul, with all the pensive hues, underlines the fact that their collaboration is unique because both appear to be taskmasters at what they want and expect from each other.

1. Maa Ganga Kaasi: Kunal Gunjawala

A hindi song in a tamil film is quite unusual. This song, which appears during the title credits, is a bhajan kind of melody, simple and humble. A typical Yaman-like composition, nicely laced with keyboard-chords which are raaja-like. The only drawback of this composition is the singer. A pop/jingle singer Kunal Gunjawala seemed inappropriate, for his voice sounds like Udit Narayan Version 2.0. A Sonu Nigam could have been a better fit.

2. Kannil Paarvai: Shreya Goshal / Oru Kaatril: Ilaiyaraaja

Right from 'Julie Ganapathy', Ilaiyaraaja has been giving gems to Shreya Ghoshal in many of the films. The genre of the songs ranged from soft haunting melodies (ennakku piditha from Julie Ganapathy) to funky (Ninni Vethiki from Anumanaspadam) to folk (Onnavida from Virumandi) to sugary stuff (Cheeni Kum, Shiva 2006).Kannil Paarvai is a melancholic melody, which is quite difficult to sing. Shreya excels under Maestro's baton. The song's rhythm is peculiar, for it has heavy drum as well a tin percussion whose beat cycle is difficult to decipher. The string section, in the interludes and counter-melodies, is a throw back at the 80s - Maestro's hallmark. The song, in Rasikapriya, transports the listener to a pensive mood, in which one can construct the images of desert and barren land. Ilaiyaraaja shines in every aspect of this composition, be it the tune or arrangements (the bass guitar, faithfully paints his signatures, all along the song). Oru Kaatril is the male version of the song, sung by Ilaiyaraaja. Although age is evident in the voice, the effort to render the gamakas perfectly, is not only visible but also pays off. This song, with all poignancy wrapped in it, is a stealer.

3. Pichaipaathram: Madhu Balakrishnan

This song is actually a rehash of one of Ilaiyaraaja's previous songs, which appeared in a devotional album composed by him. This song too is another pensive composition, reflecting the lives of beggars. Although the composition is haunting, i didn't find it appealing, to me, compared to other songs in the album. The song has Maayamaalavagowla feel to it.

4. Maatha Unkovil: Sadhana Sargam

Another devotional song of Ilaiyaraaja rehashed from this film. This song sounds more devotional because of the Sindhu Bhairavi tones in it and at the same time, the interludes reflect drama. The interludes, heavily resting on string section, have amazing pieces and it is not surprising since they come from the emperor of orchestral music. Maatha Un Kovil can be ranked alongside Kannil Paarvai, as a finest melancholic number from Ilaiyaraaja in recent times.

5. Om Sivoham: Vijay Prakash

Heavy traditional percussion instruments, chants on Lord Shiva, raw energy, gutos - all these mark this composition, in which ilaiyaraaja creates a powerful music atmosphere with strong vibrations. The rendition is wonderful, particularly in the high-pitch points. It could be difficult to count the number of percussions used, and as they dominate, one can also hear a faint strain of keyboard chords supplemented by bass-guitar, while the vocals are on. The song does have an ambience, of deep and wild surrender to the devotion it laces in and Ilaiyaraaja and Vijay Prakash pull it off with an elan.

Although i did not watch this film, the soundtrack does reflect the strong sense of visuality in the music and one can easily comprehend that Ilaiyaraaja has delivered music according to the mood and theme of the film. 'Kannil Paarvai', in my opinion, is one of his classic compositions and it has deserves its own place among the greatest pathos laden poignant compositions ever composed.

After Uliyin Osai, Ilaiyaraaja's score for this film is non-compromising, top-notch and highly intriguing. Hail the Maestro!

Continuum Fingerboard

2009-03-13T14:50:00.001+05:30

The soundtrack of 'Delhi 6' had a track 'Rehnu Tu', in which composer A.R.Rahman used a new instrument called 'Continuum Fingerboard' in the postlude of the song. The sound of the tune played in the piece appeared very 'wind'-y indeed, but what surprised me were the meends felt in that. intriguing. A small google search revealed that the instrument was invented recently and its picture was peculiar, because the instrument did not have keys. Here is a snapshot about the instrument: Continuum Fingerboard.

While a cursory reading about the instrument paints a vague picture about it, a demonstration actually showcases what it actually is. This instrument seems to be having everything in it, to become the next most sought instrument in classical & fusion music circles of India. The wide range of possibilities that this instrument can open up is surely a shot in the arm of people who jam with traditional keyboards and synthesizers. More, it crosses the limitations of keyboards such as gamakas and meends and also offers newer explorative/experimental options in vertical movements, filtered pitch variations.

Kudos to the inventor. And pretty often, some people do argue about the global outlook of A.R.Rahman. While the subject is a matter of discussion in another post, his selection of this obscure instrument (obscure for now atleast, within the realm if Indian Film Music) for playing a medley of Carnatic raagas in the tail-end piece of a Hindi film-song ballad which has traces of 80s Enlgish pop - well, thats global outlook indeed.

For now, I am just imagining the range of possibilities this instrument offers, particularly in the hands of maverick keyboard artists. Louis Banks, Loy Mendonsa, Adnan Sami, Viji Manuel, Brian Silas etc. Are you listening?

Delhi-6: Music Review

2009-01-16T11:33:00.010+05:30

Delhi-6 is a scintillating and refreshingly fresh album from ARR. It marks a great beginning for this year - hope the rest that will come out of his studio can at least be on par with it! ARR creates a great new soundscape palette in this album... at times it is very contemporary, often traditional yet dipping into various world genres. What really makes you notice this album is the sheer variety of its tracks. When was the last time you listened to an album with 10 songs and each seemed like it came from a different film? Probably only in an assorted mix album which you compiled yourself from various genres! Delhi-6 certainly sounds like the best of the crop and is a really funky, groovy, classical, folky, world-music-y album I have heard from ARR in a long long time. Here's my review:

1. Masakali: This song features in the promo. It is a really kicky and peppy song which starts off with vocals, percussions, an accordion, and an ultra cool bass line. The song just takes off so smoothly that you just get lost in it right from the beginning. Some of the orchestra/keyboard-chamber reminds one of the 70's composers (RDB etc.) Mohit Chauhan (silk route fame) is just perfect for this song, mixing required naughtiness with a casual ease. Full points should be given to ARR for giving a free rein to the singer; indeed ARR must have had a lot of faith in Mohit for him to perform with such ease. This song will catch your attentive ear even in the very first listening. Watch out for the really cool and unusual percussion instruments coming in at weird places at various points through out the song. Guitar additions are very interesting too! All in all a great promo song that is really well sung.

2. Genda Phool: This is my personal first-time-listening-favorite in this album. I mean, it usually takes multiple hearings of a newly released ARR album to form a conclusive opinion. No such osmosis required in this case. It starts of as a very folkish song, supported by coolly nasal female vocal chorus...and I am sure before the first minute is over you will be jumping in your cubicle. Rekha Bhardwaj who regularly sings for Vishal Bhardwaj is the leading vocalist in this song and boy! you feel like Vishal and ARR got together over samosa and chai at Panchatan and thought - "heck! why not mix our strengths and genres". The song is indeed a cocktail of peppy folk compositional styles of the two composers (probably the only two that stand apart from a crowd of fruity loopers).

3: Bhor Bhayee: When you look at the credits for the song, you would probably think it is a typo or a misprint, because it reads "Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal in Gurjri Todi". But not to worry, it is absolutely correct. Shreya really does a great catchup job with Ustadji's recording. Although the landing/downward taans (if that is word I am looking for) don't even compare to the late Master's, it still is a commendable effort by Shreya. Most probably the heroine in the movie is an avid hindustani listener and a budding singer who tries to learn compositions from old recordings. In that spirit, it certainly is apt that shreya ghoshal renders this song. For kids of this gen who don't know the great Ustad, this could be a fabulous way of getting to know about him. Fantastic song and the mixing of the recording with the latest version is very smooth.

4: Hey Kaala Bandar: This song starts off like algerian folk/pop (cheb mami influence?) mixed with a Bulgarian women's choir kind of sound to quickly move into a oh-humdum-suniyore (saathiya) kind of groove. It is pretty peppy with rappy lyrics in between and somehow you also detect traces of punjabi folk and 90s boy band chorus in the interlude (and that algerian/bulgarian vocal sounds in between). The second stanza is totally like a punjabi pop song. All in all, a very groovy and upbeat song. Great song to run to. Some flaming lyrics in second half, when song changes mood and tone with 'saare reethi riwaaz hataakar....' particularly with lines 'jaankar bhi anjaan hain hum sab...paagal hai naadaan hai humsab, jaane kaunse rang mein range..hamaam mein hum saare nange'.pricking and funny."

5: Dil Gira Dafatan: This is the absolute top song of this album. No two ways about it. Fantabulous singing by Ash King - particularly the opening "dil mera" is breath-taking (literally). The style of singing in the opening lines is purely contemporary western. As the song progresses through the first stanza it reminds us of "Scarborough Fair" by Simon and Garfunkel in its ambience blended with the trademark keyboard harmony of ARR. The background orchestra (keyboards etc.) leads up to the first interlude which is an amazing mix of Irish folk with an unusual flourish of chinese first violin. Irish and Chinese - it is like mixing premium blend Scotch with herbal tea, with a dash of german chocolate (the harmony); only in this case it tastes deliciously wonderful. The song is unusual in the atmosphere it creates and the elements it utilizes to create it; great lyrics by Prasoon Joshi given ample time to permeate the musical space - this allows the song to be rendered as if it is part movie song part poetry recital. Chinmayee sounds very sweet in the little pieces around the main tune.

6: Delhi-6: Oh yeah. Electronic-bitsy jamaican-rap-funk. The lyrics are interestingly suffused with the delhi-ish culture - words like mehfil etc., show the historicity - the gaali mein pyaar part is contemporary gulli talk - and the vocal renditions are undoubtedly modern capturing the mood of current youth. Appositely gleaned words from various facets of Delhi for the title track.

7: Noor: One word. Phenomenal! Bacchan Sr. thoroughly enjoys it while reciting, and we enjoy every single word as a result. "Ishq hey us se tho sab se ishq kar, is ibaadat ka yahi dastoor hey".

8: Aarti: Interesting blend of singers: Rekha Bhardwaj, Kishori Gowariker, Shraddha Pandit, Sujata Mazumdar. This is the Northern bhajan version of a style reminiscent of "Aparanji Madanude" from Merupu Kalalu. Bollywoodishly serene bhajan song with a dose of church choir sort of humming. Crisp, clean recording enhances the quality of our listening.

9: Rehna Tu: I love this song. A very ballad-like song with a beat reminiscent of modified Paul Mariat's serenade. I particularly enjoyed the guitars in the background of the song not to mention the waw effects that give the additional titillating kick. The interlude starts off in an Arabic style and then moves into vocals briefly in Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy ishtyle (so much like Dil Chahta Hai's Kaisi hey yeh rut). If you were wondering why carnatic was left out till now in the album, rest your fears - it makes an appearance in a long ending piece in an instrument called the continuum. It is fascinating that this piece sounds like a carnatic raaga without actually being any one in particular that I can place. It is probably close to a begada-like raga (only in scale though, deriving from both Shankarabharanam and HariKambhoji; there are bits that sound like kafi, shankarabharanam, khamas, and a minor tonal-shift part that sounds like abheri near the end).

10: Arziyan: This is a carry-on and carry-over from Piya Haji Ali. Very formulaic ARR qawwali/sufi song, but very nice vocals by Jaaved Ali and Kailash kher. The tune for the lines "Jo Bhi tere dar aaya" and the lines "Daraarein Daraarein hai maathe` pe Maula" is reminiscent of melodies of yesteryears. The tunes used within the song carry the signatures of vintage era. Or probably it is because of the 'Yaman'-sque feel given to it.

This album is a smorgasbord of so many different styles of music, it is mouthwatering to just view the feast let alone savor it. Self-similar souls *wink* who were served generous portions of the album still cannot get over the songs after days of listening to it non-stop (I mean they wake up to these songs, listen to them in their car, at work, on the drive back home, and then also talk about it on the phone). Perhaps this is the ideal kind of buffet where you can eat all you want and neither feel too satiated easily nor be conscious of watching second-derivatives appear in the shape field. The final word - A perfect 10 for AR Rahman.

A.R.Rahman's 2008 Roundup

2009-01-15T02:41:00.001+05:30

So A.R.Rahman has won the Golden Globe Award. No, this post is not about extolling his win or the worthiness of the score involved. Criticisms, brickbats and scepticisms about 'if the score really had the merit' or 'if it is Rahman's best' aside and, one must agree that it is a moment of pride for India. The win is definitely a key milestone in his journey, which started almost 17 years ago in 1992, when he scored the music for Maniratnam's Roja for Rs.25,000/-. And his journey is definitely a phenomenal one. His music bounced from Tamil-Telugu to Hindi to Pan-Indian to Hinglish(Vandemataram) to Broadway (Bombay Dreams) to Chinese (Warriors of Heaven & Earth) to British-Scottish (Elizabeth-The Golden Age) to Finnish (The Lord of The Rings) to what not. No Indian composer has managed to pull it off so well. And the run continues...

As i look back, i suddenly see that year 2008 was quite an eventful year for ARR. 7 releases. And i suddenly realized that none of these 7 albums have been reviewed here. So, I thought i will take a quick look at these 7 albums to understand what the Rahman-scape looked like in 2008.

Disclaimer: The merits/demerits of songs mentioned below are purely personal opinions, drawn out of the songs that caught to my liking and ones which didnt.

2008 was characterised by 'planned films' and 'surprises', that added up to 7. Jodha Akbar, Yuvvraaj, Ghajini were planned films, in the sense that the producers/directors knew when they were going to release the film/soundtrack. Surprises were:

1. Ada - a shelved film; a new film with same name was erected. Apparently, the core or much of the music of this film was composed long before 2008. Apparently, it is still unclear whether this film got released.

2. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - a film that changed many hands and was almost shelved. It was revived by Aamir Khan.

3. Sakkarakkatti - The film got delayed a lot and finally released in 2008. Also, some songs from 'Meenaxi' have been used. So, if not completely, but partially, the music was not composed in 2008.

4. Slumdog Millionaire - ARR was given the film's DVD and was then asked to add music to the film. The music was done in 2008, but was a surprise which Rahman had to accommodate.

Apart from these, there is one more surprise which was only partially unveiled and is yet to come out into the music stores. More on that later. Lets move on to these albums:

1. Jodha Akbar - This was ARR's 3rd outing with Ashutosh Gowariker and it is a period film. ARR remarked "We did lot of research and did not use any". The music of this film consciously stayed away from the mounting expectations of another 'Mughal-E-Azam'-sque grandeur, to avoid comparisons. The melodies in the film did not evoke the period it represents, but succeeded in sweeping the listener with simple music. All the songs are worth a mention. 'Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah' was ARR's clever reinterpretation of "Veerabobbili kotalo' from Donga Donga, replete with percussions, trumpets and strains of Indian folk. The minimalistically executed 'Jashn-e-bahaara' got Turkish treatment with 'Oud' while ARR's reinterpretation of vintage era music through 'In Lamhon Ke daaman' clearly stood different. His own sufi-music exploration 'Khwaaja Mere Khwaaja' showed that no other indian composer can come up with songs of that kind. 'ManMohana' with all his fascination for SindhuBhairavi had some great vocals and clean interludes, which reminded me of Naushad's music. Jodha Akbar, had its own sound and convincingly dared not to tread the known paths of music that projected Mughal era.

2. Ada - 'Ishq Ada's changing raagas (from MMG to Kapi to SubhaPanthuvaraali) got me interested. 'Hawa Sun Hawa' was breezy to its title, much like some of his songs from late 90s-early 2000 period. 'Gumsum' and 'Gulfisha' disappointed me for they sounded like just-any-composer's tracks. Tu Mera Hai, while staying hummable, sounded extremely South-Indianish and did not seem to fit well in Hindi. Meherbaan by ARR could be easily adapted into English for its universal croonability. Udit's melancholic 'Hai Dard' failed to impress me as much as 'Milo Jahaan Wahaan' did. The latter was infact a wonderful improvisation from ARR's own Climax BGM piece from 'Kannathil Muthamittal'. Ada, was 'aadha' fine.

3. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - The two variations of the title track were equally engrossing. While the female version was coldly lounge oriented, the male version was anthemic, evocative and expressive. The trendy 'Nazrein Milaana' and ballad-sque` 'Kahi To Hogi', despite being pleasantful failed to hold my attention while ARR's jazz-blues "Tu Bole" reassured me that he is still willing to experiment. The hyped Pappu Cant dance did not impress me much though and nylon string guitar backed 'Kabhi Kabhi' was seriously refreshing. Overall, quite a youthful soundtrack.

4. Sakkarakkatti (Sugar Cubes) - ARR married irish-celtic music to his guitars in 'RuBaRoo Roshni' in "Elay", a song that reminded me of Corrs, clearly proving that he springs up with surprises when you least expect them in a certain film. "I Miss You Da" is something that transcended different genres, atleast for me. "naan Eppodhu" and "Chinnamma" are 'Meenaxi' rehashes and Taxi Taxi, despite being hugely popular failed to catch my fancy. "Marudhaani" became the icing on this sweet cake, which i think was an improvisation from 'Sahana' of 'Sivaji'.

5. Yuvvraaj - ARR - Subhash Ghai have worked before. But Gulzar joining them. Strange. "Main Hoon Yuvraaj" is too small to even comment. "Tu Hi Mera Dost" is a ballad which got completely unpredictable in 2nd stanza. though not a hallmark, the song has that 'hummability' quotient. Shano Shano is for dance floor alone and i didnt get to 'know' if the song works there. 'Mastam Mastam' failed to impress me as much as its parent (a song from ARR's 'Lord of The Rings' Musical) did. The best songs of the album are effervescent "Tu Muskuraa" and ARR's own version of 'Kaise Hai Yeh Rut' (Dil Chahtha Hai) kind of melody in "Zindagi". Not surprisingly, srinivas sang this one too, in which ARR mixed vintage melody with contemporary sound. i always felt that "Dil Ka Rishta"'s lead tune, the signature tune which again repeats towards the end, to be musically handicapped... as if some notes were missing which probably could make it more complete. ARR's lounge-Abheri in "Manmohini' is like an undergrown baby, with lot of potential and still left as it is. Nothing great musically. I know for sure that the songs that would really stay in my mind are 'Tu Hi Mera Dost' 'Tu Muskuraa' and 'Zindagi'. Subhash Ghai, in my opinion, is not a film-maker with whom ARR can produce musically rich output. he might produce hit-music output though.

6. Ghajini - Probably the most commercial of all albums in 2008. Though i usually have better liking for slow songs of ARR usually, this album reversed my phenomenon.'Guzarish' is something which did not need ARR. "Kaise Mujhe" sounded little dragsome while Shreya Ghoshal's lines save it a bit. Still, i end up skipping this song. "Aye Bacchu" is girlily fun-frolicksome and rendition is apt for such mood. "Lattoo" is probably Pritam's track which ARR unknowingly inserted into this Cd. "Behka" has very good rendition and has an interesting mix of instruments, notably Trumpet, jazz-trap kit, saxophone. the song sounds like a throwback at Jazz-blues keeping guitars intact. The interludes stand up superbly but stanzas crash down. Behka is a classic case of a song being both - just beautiful and just bad. Ghajini, as a score, is less hummable and will not be remembered much.

7. Slumdog Millionaire - This film is not ARR's best although it won the Golden Globe. But then, the way we listen and perceive music is different from the way westerners do, which is why, probably this score could catch the attention. We might give an award to probably a Lagaan or Dil Se, but their sensibilities are different. Much of this album is techno music and i find it surprising myself (it is a surprise for ARR too) that the audience abroad, for a change, preferred this kind of music, over the usual orchestral works. The album starts with 'O saya' which boasts of some good percussions and rap. Mausam & Escape has a frenzy sitar piece which is re-played by string section backed by synth beats. 'Paper Planes' is a track by an artist named MIA and not by ARR. So is 'Aaj Ki Raat' (Shankar-Ehsan-Loy...for Don). Riots has an interesting sound, which, by now, got me the message that most of the music makes sense with visuals and not as a standalone album. My another favourite is 'Liquid Dance' which is ARR's re-improvisation from "Spirit of Rangeela". i found the hiphoppish 'Gangsta Blues' annoying while 'Millionaire' is just some work on sequencer, which, as i said, only elevates a certain scene. 'Latika's Theme' and its vocal counterpart 'Dreams on Fire' are both engage-some melodies, much like 'Meherbaan' from Ada - Universally adaptable.ARR's take on 'Choli Ke Peeche' 'Ringa Ringa' is interesting, because it magnifies his improvisation capabilities. The song just reminds us of the former and does nothing less. For a moment, one might even wonder if Rahman bettered it. The grand finale song, "Jai Ho" originally written for 'Yuvvraaj', is just a peppy number with lot of 'hummability' quotient. SDM is purely experimental, for it is a visual-oriented score. As a stand alone album, it has a few hits and a few misses, making it an 'OK' album. But then, I am happy that it fetched an honour.

The last surprise from ARR in 2008 was/is a non-film album called 'Connections', which has got 9 tracks. The album has not yet been released on Cds, but it got released in the form of 'pre-loaded music' in the new Nokia Express Music mobile phones. I got a chance to listen to the songs only once and i must say that they are quite good, rich and lot different from all the above albums. There are both, songs and instrumentals, stretching from traditional classical music to jazz blues to Rajasthani Folk. It is rare that an ARR album sounds impressive in the 1st listening itself and I think the tracks in this album are done to satisfy his own creative urge, free of commercial trappings. I think the cd should be out in couple of months.

So What has ARR planned for 2009? Connections for sure. The promos of 'Delhi 6' too show some promise.I am looking forward to these two albums. I just hope that he strikes a good balance between musically rich albums and commercial albums (the need of his producers) like he did in 2008. For now, the accordian tune from this teaser got stuck in my mind and the only way to release it is... to listen to this album soon.

Shaken, Not Stirred: James Bond Songs Part-II

2008-11-27T02:05:00.001+05:30

Continuing from my previous post about the songs from James Bond films, this post looks at all the Bond songs which came after 1980.

All the songs which came after 1980 had strong pop influence, with more of keyboards, synthesizers rather than usual trumpets, horns and string orchestra used before. I would say the quality graph of Bond songs went down drastically during the 80s, with songs being made only to compete with other pop chartbusters rather than painting the 'Bond Music' feel on them. The 90s, however, improved and significantly that too, with David Arnold taking the helm of the music of Bond series films. The reason why David Arnold clicked, despite changing the Bond Music template to more contemporary techno-based form, is the fact that his sense of observation of John Barry's music for all Bond films prior to 80s was strong. In a way, he did not completely deviated from that school of thought, but only adapted the nuances, to more evolved sound. As you read/hear along, you can know the difference. For now, let us look at how Bond Music plummeted... and then rose.

12. For Your Eyes Only: This 1981 film had music by someone called Bill Conti, and not John Barry. Originally, the producers roped in a band called 'Blondie' for the theme song, but they never used that composition. This unused song by Blondie has few traces of Bond style of music, with chord-shifts that replicate the original Bond theme. By that characteristic atleast, it could have been a better Bond song, rather than the one that has been used in the film, sung by Sheena Easton. Sheena's version is completely stripped off (just like what you see in Bond film titles ;) ) the Bond music elements. The song ends up as a pretty normal conventional pop number.

Blondie Song Rating: 7/10

Sheena Easton Song Rating: 5/10

13. Octopussy: John Barry returned to compose music for this 13th Bond film, which had the title song "All Time High" sung by Rita Coolidge. The song has sensuous overtures, both musically, replete with Saxophone and lyrically too. In my opinion, this song strikes a fine balance between the Pop fever running at that period and the ingredients of Bond songs, changes not withstanding. Yes, the trademark mysterious feel and suspense evoking trumpets are given a miss, but the song definitely captures Bond's another facet - his fascination for women-sensuality. A compellingly teasing tune with wonderful orchestration, makes me rate this song higher, even though it is devoid of the typical John Barry Bond-ish sound.

Rating: 8.5/10

i) Never Say Never Again: This film was not by EON productions (Franchise which produced all Bond films) and the producers got to make this film due to a legal loophole, which prevented EON productions from doing anything about it. This Sean Connery film was a remake of "Thunderball" and was released simultaneously with "Octopussy". Much like the film, the soundtrack was quite bad, making the Bond song into just another Pop song of the 80s, and a very ordinary Pop Song, that is.

Rating: 3/10

14. A View To Kill: This last Bond film by Roger Moore saw John Barry teaming up with a band called Duran Duran for the soundtrack. I regard this theme song among the weakest Bond songs, signaling the declined quality in the Bond Music. Nothing about Bond, its feel or quality or sound. Just another poor imitation of spirit of a Boney M song. I wonder how this song actually became a hit. Trend, may be.

Rating: 2/10

15. The Living Daylights: Evidently, as can be seen with previous two films, the quality of Bond songs witnessed a down trend, in which songs have become mere pop and disco numbers rather than reflecting James Bond aura. This first film of Thimothy Dalton had a song which is a complete misfit, just like the way Dalton was misfit for the Bond role. It is disbelievable that John Barry was at the helm of this soundtrack, which is completely electronic in sound and un-Bondish in execution. A new band called 'A-Ha' crooned this Pop song which probably can fit in a movie like Mad Max and definitely not a Bond film. The end credits had much better song, with orchestral elements such as Piano and string ensemble and a evocative melody.

A-Ha song Rating: 1/10

End credits song rating: 6/10

16. License to Kill: After spiraling down to ordinary pop songs, James Bond songs got back on the track of Bond aura sounds. This film's theme song was composed by Michael Kamen and was sung by Gladys Knight. The song heavily borrows the lead cue from the opening trumpet-horn notes in the title song of 'Goldfinger'. The only difference being that while the elements have been retained, the execution is more synthesizer based. The pace and tone of the song is reminiscent of Bond songs that appeared in 60s. The end credits has a hummable song, which does not have Bond song chaacteristics and yet makes a good listening. Some redemption atleast.

Title song Rating: 7.5/10

End credits song: 5.5/10

17. GoldenEye: Bond films witnessed a never before 6 year gap and a lot has changed in the 6 years. The decade turned. The dark backdrops of films in general have been replaced by more vibrant and colourful pictures.The synthesizer backed pop and disco era has transformed into electronic fusion cum techno sounds. The sounds that ruled the charts, changed significantly. And so did the Bond. Pierce Brosnan stepped in. The theme song was composed by Eric Serra and was sung by Tina Turner. Ranked easily among the best Bond songs ever, this song worked because it married Bond music elements and all elements that is, to modern percussion sounds and brilliant vocal rendition reminiscent of Bond songs in 60s. The song was modern, yet had everything about Bond song..the tune, soundscape and orchestral elements. Originally, pop band 'Ace of Base' was approached for theme song. Their song "The Juvenile"(originally supposed to be GoldenEye), was rejected, although they too did a fair job on the Bond song. The end credits had had "Experience of Love" by Eic Serra, a casual romantic ballad, which is does not need much mention.

GoldenEye Rating: 9.5/10

The Juvenile Rating: 8/10

18. Tomorrow Never Dies: David Arnold stepped in as composer for this flick and went on to compose for subsequent Bond films too. His forte was fusing John Barry's classical style of orchestration with modern electronic music. The title song by Sheryl Crow hit the right notes of Bond song, much like GoldenEye song, capturing the mood of the Bond song to the perfect level. The orchestration and rendition, both are top class. Another song "Surrender", sung by K.D.Lang, used in the end credits, comes quite close to the title song, in execution. This song too, is characteized by John Barry elements and modern electronica, filling the with Bond signature. Meanwhile, several other artists/bands vied for clinching the title song of the film. They include Saint Etienne's version, Swan Lee's version, Pulp's Version (rock interpretation) and Propellerheads version (techno).

Sheryl Crow song Rating: 9/10

Surrender Rating: 8/10

Sain Etienne's Version Rating: 7/10

Swan Lee's Version Rating: 7/10

Pulp's Rating: 6/10

Propellerheads version Rating: 6/10

19. The World is Not Enough: David Arnold continued his interpretation of John Barry's touch and painted exactly the same colours on modern canvas of sound. This film's title song was sung by Garbage and the tune, which has shades of Keeravani raaga, has quite an intoxicating melody. The song's lyrics are quite interesting too. Noticeable is the fact that Arnold has retained the flavour of the Bond song, without using the usual trumpets and horns. Probably the signature tune or rather the lead melody was compellingly Bond-ish enough that he could do away with them. Another version by Straw, was also speculated to be the title song but it never made it, despite it having a lazy rendition and being violently enticing. Scott Walker's "Only Myself to Blame" which appears in the end credits is a jazz number with hardly any semblance with Bond music, although the tune is mildly mysterious.

Garbage song Rating: 9.5/10

Straw version Rating: 6/10

20. Die Another Day: One of the weakest soundtracks, apart from being one of the weakest films. Expectations were high when it was publicized as Madonna's first Bond song. The song turned out to be overly techno, which could have made it end in dance floors rather than in the collection of Bond enthusiasts. After two outstanding songs from previous two Bond films, David Arnold disappoints in this one.

Rating: 6/10

21. Casino Royale: In many ways, the title song of this film seems to be inspired, in spirit, by the themes of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service' and "Live and Let die". However, there is no resemblance. The title song "You know my Name" is quite a deviation from the John Barry and David Arnold mould, but still retains the flavour of enigma all within. The trumpets and horns are replaced by electric guitars for sure, but they too make a grand entry much like wind instruments. The rendition is one of the best among the male renditions of Bond songs and given the story of this film, that of re-booting the entire James Bond story, the music had to be little different, which it was. But yet, it maintained the spirit of the Bond song, though the tune and the lyrics. Quite impressive.

Rating: 9/10

22. Quantum of Solace: This song by Alicia Keys and Jack white disappointment me a lot. It sounded as caricature of Bond music, trapped in the cacophony of modern techno sounds. I heard that the film too, deviates completely from the Bond features such as the sense of humour, the gadgets, the smart one-liners, the charm, bond music, etc. Must be so, because the music too does not seem to be a Bond song at all.

Rating: 1/10

I wish the producers bring back the things that made Bond films, and my expectations include Bond music too. Afterall, with so many wonderful Bond songs so far, whats the point in revamping the concept into something that does not identify with them. If the classic John Barry elements are brought back or even like the ones David Arnold created, therein lies the real quantum of solace, of every bond music buff, like me.

Piya Tose - Actual Version

2008-11-10T18:22:00.001+05:30

One of the first few albums i ever listened to, in my life, was Dev Anand's 'Guide'. I did not know any music back then. Yet, i loved playing the songs, on the LP record my uncle used to have. Later, my Dad bought the tapes. Much later, i happened to watch the film and i realized that the tape versions are not complete, but edited ones. Among the songs that were edited was 'Piya Tose Naina Lage Re', which originally was over 7mins. The tapes, and subsequently the cds, contained versions which are only over 4mins.

Finally, i got the full version, ripped from the VCD of 'Guide'. I listen to this version, probably once in 10-15days, thus making it one of the most revisited songs in my entire collection. I cannot exactly say what draws me towards this composition. Probably it is sheer magic. It is indeed difficult to appreciate just 1-2 aspects of this song. There is always something new popping up, as the song plays on. What really sets this song apart? Is it the tricky rhythm patterns, which change very intricately? Or the highly imaginative interludes? Counter-melodies? Finer nuances in rendition? Lata Mangeshkar? I think this is one of those complete, full-some songs which has 'G-E-N-I-U-S' written all over it. What does it take to compose such a song?

Frankly, i am not qualified enough to review this composition. It still gives me goose bumps, to believe the fact that the entire soundtrack of 'Guide' was composed in, hold-your-breath, 5 days. By every measure, it is not at all an ordinalry achievement, given the fact the soundtrack had nothing but sheer Gems. And among them, shining brightly is this nugget, which leaves listeners spellbound. Can any current-era composer try to compose, if not the similar, but a song of this stature? If yes, how long it could take, for this sng alone? And to understand what all gives the song the stature it deserves, please listen to it atleast 3-4 times, paying attention to every note, instrument and tune running on the forefront and the background. I tried mentioning few master-strokes, as comments in the player-bar. The song, in my opinion, is a monument, much like the man behind it - S.D.Burman.

Piya Tose Naina Laage Re by maverick

A peek into Ilaiyaraaja's Tremelos

2008-11-09T13:46:00.008+05:30

This topic was on my 'yet to blog about' list since long. A wonderful peek into the 'Tremelo effect' on string ensemble, as practised by one of the Indian Grand Masters of orchestra - Ilaiyaraaja. Even before I could blog about it, my friend Vicky came up with his take on his blog. Do read this wonderful post, where he cites few apt examples (if i were to write about same topic, i would also pick the very same songs) in which tremelo effect has been used to fine perfection, putting the painting (song), on a whole different canvas. I completely agree with the last words of Vicky, that no composer from South Asia has used tremelo effect in such evocatve way, holding listeners in a musically rapturous delight. Thanks to Vicky, for citing the right examples.

Is Accordion slowly getting back!

2008-11-08T20:38:00.003+05:30

Last year, A.R.Rahman belted out an impressive melody "Ay Hairath-E-Aashiqi" from Guru which brought back an instrument now extinct in the current technoscape of film music - Accordion. Although the album credits did not mention who actually played it in the song, many believe that it was Rahman himself, because he personally picked it up from a music store in London (or Prague?). And he did play it well too.

Now, again, after a long time, i chanced upon another wonderful song with very good accordion work. The song, 'Muskuraa' from a new film called 'Dasvidaniyan', composed by singer Kailash Kher, reminded me of another exquisite composition, "Fallen from the Sky', from the film 'Once'. Although i cannot say that Kailash Kher copied it, because, to be fair, he did quite commendable job to the complete composition, I am sure that he got inspired from the song from Once. The similarity exists only in the initial lines, for few bars. But then, I must say, Kailesh belted out a very mature composition, simple melody and yet captivating, bringing back the glory of accordion which was once a regular instrument in Hindi Film Music, particularly by Shankar-Jaikishan duo. Listening to that instrument, aptly used in a melodious number calls for an applause. It rarely happens with current crop Hindi films, that a song catches my attention the very 1st time i hear it. This is just one among them. Kudos to Kailash, for this one.

Shaken, Not Stirred: James Bond Songs Part-I

2008-11-08T14:39:00.003+05:30

This post could be seen as an eventful piece, in the wake of 'Quantum of Solace' euphoria that is catching up all over. But in reality, this came up because I recently indulged in a bit of childhood and watched couple of James Bond films, which I had seen earlier when I was a kiddo. And during this adventure, I discovered some beautiful songs, which were used in those films during title credits. So, why not a post about - Bond Music.

The character of Bond Songs - There is a unique quality about most of the Bond songs. Most of them have a mysterious, dark, enigmatic feel attached to them. Over that, they could be either suspense evoking (blaring trumpets using Bond theme motif) or very dreamy (usually sung by a female singer) sensuous melody. The orchestra usually consisted of String Section and Brass elements (trumpets, horn). After the 3rd Bond film, it became a norm to have the title song rendered by a contemporary pop singer. As time progressed, Bond theme songs adapted contemporary genres and sounds, such as more fiercy-rebellious in eary 70s, synth and disco-ish sounds in 1980s and more evolved electronic sounds and trance-based music in 90s and later. Yet, some of the songs managed to keep the inherent character alive, while some other songs had deviations, in the form of experiments and few, utterly failed in all aspects. And not to forget, most of the songs have traces of Indian Raagas most notably Keeravani and Charukesi (Ravi identified about 3 songs based on this raaga). That interested me more and thats why, Here is my take on all the Bond songs so far.

1. Dr. No - Being the first film in the series, the only thing Bond-ish about it is the trademark theme, composed by Monty Norman and orchestrated by John Barry orchestra. However, the soundtrack also had a very non-Bond-ish nursery-rhyme-kind 'Underneath the Mano Tree', with more carribean touch. If we ignore the fact that the music does not have anything to do with James Bond, the song is quite a good one.

Rating - 9/10

2. From Russia With Love - The title song, sung by Matt Monro, appears in the end-credits. A wonderful composition to which Matt Monro's vocal suit the best. His base voice reminded me the base of Jose Feliciano. One of the best Bond songs indeed. Also, John Barry started his stint as full-fledged composer for Bond Films.

Rating 9/10

3. Goldfinger - Goldfinger started the trend of using a pop-singer for the theme song. The song, sung by Shirley Bassey, in a way set the trend for forming the character of the Bond song. With blaring trumpets and slow pace, the song has opera-feel in the way it is rendered, while the tune and orchestration establish the enigma, mystery brutality and suspense, which continued in many other Bond songs.

Rating - 8/10

4. ThunderBall - The song completely runs on the Bond Theme motif, while Tom Jones croons this noticeably difficult song. There is one more song, in the end, titled quite funnily as "Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang". Even this song, sounding all Bond-ish with Trumpets and Horns and string orchestra, has carried the legacy started by Goldfinger.

Thunder Ball song Rating - 7/10;

"Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" song Rating - 6/10

5. You Only Live Twice - Nancy Sinatra was roped in for this phenomenal composition. In my opinion, this is one of the best bond compositions. Starting with a grand ensemble of string arrangements playing a melody, which later becomes an electric guitar melody in the background, while the actual melody of the song runs in a very relaxed tone, backed by guitars. A very sweepy melody. The usage of strong orchestra with horns, steals the show in this phenomenal song. Nancy Sinatra too.

Rating - 10/10.

6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - This film, is the first film after Dr. No, which does not have a theme song during opening titles. Instead, John Barry makes it up with a trendsetting piece, which was not approved initially. It is the first Bond track to feature electronic elements, spiced up along with symphony orchestra. John Barry executed a stunning orchestration. Listen to it in ear-phones and you will realize that probably this track makes up for the quality of the film. The end titles however, had a grumpy ballad by Louis Armstrong, "We have All the Time in the world", melodic tune though. Although there is nothing Bond-ish about the song, the song could be seen as a post-cursor to "From Russia With Love".

Title Piece Rating - 10/10

"We Have All the Time in the World" Rating - 7/10

7. Diamonds Are Forever - Shirley Bassey again. In my opinion, much more than music, the song is interesting for the lyrics it had, comparing Diamonds with Men and a lady preferring former over latter. (At times, i wonder if this song inspired Sahir Ludhianvi to write "Sona Mile tho log aaj kal dil ko kabhi le", in Joshila). The song has a very dreamy rendition, with heavy base and electric guitars mildly mixing with the rhythm. In many ways, this song sounds like a precursor to 'MoonRaker' title song, sung by Shirley Bassey again. Exotic Melody.

Rating - 8/10

8. Live and Let Die - This song is a complete re-interpretation of Bond Music. John Barry took a break and Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney teamed up with a band named Wings, for this unconventional number. While elements of Rock and Ballad type of music are woven with simple piano strokes, the track has much more to it. The colour/mood of the song changes from soft to violent to brutal to spunk. For me, what stands out is sonorous and blaring trumpets, which repeats many times, sounding very eerie, backed up electronic elements. The tune actually potrays tension, intimidatingly.

Rating - 7/10

9. The Man With The Golden Gun - This could be probably one of the weakest songs in the Bond series. John Barry returned to Bond series with this song. The club-disco era has already started and this song imbibes just that. While the opening trumpets start off on the promising Bond motif, the bland disco cum into-the-face pop tune just doesnt work.The lyrics too, bring down Bond to a mere comics-hero.

Rating - 2/10

10. The Spy Who Loved Me - The song, "Nobody Does It Better" by Carl Simon, despite suggestive lyrics, works big time. It was the 1st song in Bond series which had title different from that of the film. Instead of John Barry, it was composed by Marvin Hamlisch. This song puts the Bond songs back into the trademark songs league, something which was missing after 'Diamonds Are Forever'. The song starts off on Piano, in a mere jazzy style and then emerges into the Bond-ish pop ballad. The strong string section and soft percussions with guitars culminate to make it sound like a perfect fusion between pop and opera music.

Rating - 8/10

11. Moonraker - John Barry returns again and so does Shirley Bassey, to create one of the classic Bond songs ever. Horns, String section, keyboards, haunting melody, sensuous rendition... probably it works in all dimensions. The song has two versions. While the slow version appeared in titles, the end-credits had a faster disco-version of the same song, done quite intelligently. In all, both versions are quite intoxicating.

Rating - 10/10

We are left with 11 more films. To be continued...

Rock On

2008-10-21T01:00:00.002+05:30

I know this review is coming in quite late. But heck, i just wanted to write it.
After lot of resistance, i finally listened to this album 'Rock On' and it took quite sometime for me to get into the premise of the album. I remember the day when i heard the track "Pichle saat Dinom mein" and the lyrics "Meri laundry ka ek bill, ek aadhi padi novel..ek ladki ka phone number, mere kaam ka ek paper" put me off completely. What was Javed Akhtar writing there? But later, i gave the whole album a patient hearing, only because Shankar-Ehsan-Loy are among the very few composers whom i admire these days. And the album did impress me quite a bit, which is why i am recording few notes about it, on this blog.

1. Socha Hain - The songs starts off like opening a door to rock music. Guitar tune, playing the main tune and bass guitar, then drums joining in. The song has a very lively flavour and Farhan Akhtar did surprise me with his rendition of the song. Keeping the synth levels to the minimum, the song borrows heavily from the Rock genre, true to the film's name. Javed Akhtar comes up with some thought-provoking lines such as:
"Ped hogaye kum kyon, teen hain mausam kyon..Chaand do kyon nahi.
duniya mein hain Jung kyon, behtha laal rang kyon, sarhadein kyon har kahi".
some very good guitar work, interspersed with nice bass. Rock songs, by nature, have some rebellious tinge in them and the usually, the lyrics tend to reflect the same. This song imbibes elements such as these, in lyrics and the rendition. Watch the way Farhan starts off "Aasmaan Hain Neela" at 3:00mins, a very dragged and coarse way of taking off, which works very well.

2. Pichle Saat Dinon Mein: This is the song i had much problem with. But then, the tune of the song is quite hummable. The song starts off with hardly any instruments and gets groovy when the guitars and drums get on. The charanams are quite short and simple and what keeps the song going is the hummability quality in it. The guitar piece towards the end reminded me of Knopfler. Putting an out and out rock song in the premise of Hindi song is actually difficult and this song justifies exactly that.

3. Zehreelay: Hard Rock is the genre. I couldnt attempt to listen to it more than twice, because the song is a major assault on my ears.

4. Yeh Tumhari Meri Baathein: One of the brilliant songs of this album, which evens out the scales, to match the kicky rock songs on the other side. This one is a pleasant melody, a simple one too. Backed only by a guitar melody, keyboard, bass and jazz-trap kit, the song is a wonderful western melody, with apt rendition by dominique. The song oozes beauty and romance. Javed Akhtar's simple and beautiful lines get into the tune like hand in glove. This is Shankar-Ehsan-Loy's one of the finest compositions.

5. Tum Ho To - This one is a soft romantic ballad, which has been rendered brilliantly by Farhan Akhtar. The melody is vintage, while the instrumentation is modern, although with minimal instruments. The beauty of the song lies in the shift from the slow melody to change in chords and carrying the song in the same pace. and Do watch out when Farhan does a brilliant job at "Tum mile to mili...Yeh Zindagiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii".

6. Sindbad The Sailor: The song starts off very anthemically and it really got me into it there itself. Rock buff would dismiss this song because this is essentially less of a rock song (compared to Socha Hai and Pichle Saat Dinom) and more of a Dance number, much on the lines of 'Koi Kahe kehta Rahe'. But heck, it got me tap my feet and even dance. The song's structure is not the usual mukhda-anthara, but it has 3-4 musical lines, woven into phrases which are sung again and again. Yet, the song doesn't bore a minute. Farhan Akhtar again shines and to his luck, his vocal inconsistencies got lost in the guitars and keyboard riffs which back the song. The best part of the song, is when the whole euphoria slows down and Farhan re-sings 'Tum Ho To' and picks it up to a height, re-igniting the euphoria again. watch the guitars and drums when he goes off "yeh zindagiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii", i could keep my hands silent and air-drummed everytime i listened to it.

7. Phir Dekhiye - Another soft ballad, with acoustic guitars and piano. A very impressive composition which is melodic rather than euphoric. Javed Akhtar's lines shine again here. The song sounds sweet more because it is a simple melody and very simplistic treatment given to it. A wonderful bedtime song, not to be missed at all.

I have many reasons to appreciate Shankar-Ehsan-Loy in this album. the foremost being the fact that they did not stick to pure rock songs alone. neither they gave conventional hindi music. Instead, they gave mellow western numbers such as "yeh Tumhari Meri Baathein" and "Phir Dekhiye", using same guitars and drums, without disturbing the mood or the melody. Then, their choice to make Farhan Akhtar sing actually works. Not that he has a great voice, for it is very coarse. It is only that the voice has been intelligently used be in rock songs or ballad (Tum To Ho). To give due credit, Farhan did not disappoint and did justice to the compositions. and ofcourse the last reasn being the likeable numbers. I liked 6 out of 7 songs and thats quite cool. Isn't It?

Rock On is indeed a very different album, which might not please every music lover, but only those who identify with the genre of Rock Music. Yet, for others, the albums caters with wonderful soft songs. For me, the album gave me much more than i expected - good but not over-done rock music, good instrumentation and soft melodies. Rock On!

My Raaja Experience

2008-09-27T23:28:00.004+05:30

A good friend of mine, Vignesh, who is much more a 'ilaiyaraaja buff' than a mere mortal, has started a 'blog-tag' game and tagged me in it. The idea is to spontaneously write about 5 things concerning ilaiyaraaja's music and me...and then tag people who could be interested in posting the same on his blog.

I am borrowing same aspects/questions from Vignesh's post.

1. The moment that introduced you to Raaja:

I know this would be quite surprising because ilaiyaraaja's music existed, and in tall stature, even before he made this song. The first time i ever heard the name 'Ilaiyaraaja', was when I listened to this song from 'Gharshana' (Agni Nakshatram in Tamil) - 'Ninnu Kori Varnam'. The music was absolutely different from all the music i heard before. My never-ending journey with ilaiyaraaja started with this song. Incidentally, that was the first time i heard another name, who became my favourite - Chitra.

2. Name one occassion where Raaja's music directly/ indirectly influenced your life:

Well, this is a tricky question, especially to someone who listens to atleast 2-3 ilaiyaraaja songs every day. but I think I can get this one. There was one album, which acted as a divisive force on my experience of raaja's music. Before listening to this album, ilaiyaraaja was one of my favourite composers who gave some wonderful music for few Telugu films. After listening to this album, i realized that this man is actually much more a genius than i knew. His capabilities stretch much beyond making good songs for commercial telugu films. I felt that he does not just compose music, but explores it. That album is 'How to Name it'.

3. Lets take Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi into account. Assuming that one of this is either your mother tongue or native language, name a favorite song in each of the other 4 languages that immediately comes to your mind:

My mother tongue is Telugu, so excluding that, i pick from the other four:

Tamil: Hundreds of songs, but for now, lets say 'Vazha Osai' (from Satya). Absolutely brilliant. is it melody? or groovy? gives me goose bumps.

Malayalam: again many; the pick right now would be 'Poonkaattinodu kilikalodum' (film 'Poomukhappadiyil ninneyum kaathu'), it is a classic.

Kannada: 'Jyotheyalli' (film Geetha).

Hindi: Dilwaale Raat Hain (film 'Mahadev')... i think this song was much ahead of its times.

4. One song of Ilaiyaraaja that you consider rare and think a song that many people should have known but don't:

There are many like that, but to think of it..actually i would again quote 'Dilwale Raat' from Mahadev. Sounds disbelieving, but i spent one entire day asking for this album, in the entire music casette shops market of Kothi, hyderabad. i couldn't get it. It is still a rare find infact.

5. Lets keep the last one simple.. Raaja's number that you are hearing right now/ most recently heard..?:

"Vaan Megham" from Punnaghai Mannan, i still find it puzzling, to understand the elements weaved into it. How could he do it?

My (new) tags: Ravi, Divya, Ananth, Prashanth, Raghu, Chinmayi (hoping that they would post their Raaja moments too :) )

A Composer's view of A.R.Rahman

2008-09-01T13:43:00.001+05:30

I came across an interesting post, on this blog, which attempts to comprehensively capture the elements which make A.R.Rahman what he is. For once, I felt that the opinions were very objectivistic instead of being another fan's ramblings. The writer is a composer who works for Marathi films. A very interesting write-up which looks at Rahman's work, from a composer's point-of-view.

Hoton Pe Beeti Baat Aayi Hai

2008-07-13T23:22:00.005+05:30

I wrote this post, in my mind, probably 3-4 months ago...when i revisited this song with a clean slate in my mind. As good as a first listening. The song just took me in.

Angoor was probably the only comedy film made by Gulzar. He adapted the film from Shakespeare's work 'Comedy of Errors'. Some of the films made by him after 1975 had very limited scope for music, or rather, he choose to have only 2-3 songs per film instead of the usual 5 or 6. Angoor was one of them, with only 3 songs. The song which went on to become most popular was 'Roz Roz Daali Daali', a semi-classical number by Asha Bhonsle. This song, however, did not get receive its due attention, despite all its merit.

The most interesting thing about the song, sets off as soon as the songs starts - bass guitar usage interspersed with a very peculiar rhythm cycle. The bass guitar is interspered with a duff like percussion instrument, followed by tabla. Acoustic guitars only support, mildly. Collectively, these sounds enhance the sound canvas of the song enormously. Another testimony of RD's emphasis and fascination for the sound of a song.

Asha's rendition oozes sensuiality particularily when she glides over from 1st line (Hoton Pe beeti Baat aayi hai) to the 2nd (Vaada nibhaane ki raat aayi hai) and then naughtiness when she lets off a 'huh' instead of 'baat', without skipping the beat, at 00.32mins. RD was indeed the last composer who could understand Asha's voice and knew how to tap it.

Flute was always RD's favourite instrument and so was santoor, which he used extensively in many songs right from his first film to his last. Now santoor is a flat-sound instrument, with more number of strings to cover the pitches. The sound from santoor is produced by tapping the string, unlike pulling it, like in a sitar or sarod or veena, to produce a meend. It is precisely here RD defies convention. In the 1st interlude of this song, after a brief interlude between Santoor and Bamboo flute, he gives a 'meend' to the santoor note, at 00:52mins. The santoor in this song was played by Ulhas Bapat, an eminent santoor player. The same idea was again used in his Ijaazat song, 'Mera Kuch Saamaan', 7 years later.

First stanza has the same rhythm cycle continuing through it and one can hear 'oud' like instrument towards its close. The 2nd interlude has the same rhythm, minus the tabla beats and RD's meend on santoor again plays. The acoustic guitars alone stand out when Asha sings 'Yaad hai us din', reminding us about their presence through the song.

It is rather difficult to pinpoint on one high point of the song. RD paints a mood to this song, with minimal usage of instruments and sensuality in Asha's voice giving the song a very 'Nightly' effect. The lyrics just tally with the same, with beautiful lines like 'vaada nibhaane ki raat aayi hai'.Gulzar's brilliant expression of sensual moment comes as the last line of 1st stanza - 'chaand ko chabaane ki raat aayi hai'. Its literal meaning is unimaginative, yet, if one can see moonlight as sweet, then why cant one long for the sugar-cube itself, in a moment of heightened passion.

Hoton Pe Beeti Baat aayi hai...
vaada nibhaane ki raat aayi hai..

Yaad to hogi kuch bhooli bisri...
Aise hi barsi thi..chaand se misri...
Chaand ko chabaane ki raat aayi hai..
Hoton pe beeti baat aayi hai...

Yaad hai us din baarish bhi thi..
chatth pe bheegi khwaahish bhi thi..
Chatth pe jaane ki raat aayi hai..
Hoton pe beeti baat ayi hai..
Vaada nibhaane ki raat aayi hai..

Beautiful lyrics, fantastic rendition and some mind-boggling music makes this song a wonderful listen, particularly in the night time. The song, with all its innovative rhythm pattern, ideas and a defining sound texture, reflects the burning passion, RD had, to be way different from the rest. He was.

R.D.Burman lives on...

2008-06-27T23:49:00.001+05:30

Had R.D.Burman been alive, he would have turned 69 today. Barely a month ago, i was digging out few songs of R.D.Burman and listening to them carefully. I was astonished to discover some of the phenomenal ideas which he had pioneered back then. Some of the ideas are still in vogue. Either he was too ahead of his times, or some of these current generation composers have not moved beyond such ideas.

There are/were/will be many composers whose music not only impressed me but also inspired and influenced me. If i need to list them, particularily from the Indian Film Music arena, the list would be really huge. Yet, R.D.Burman has a special place. There were better and more legendary composers than R.D.Burman, yet what sets him completely apart, in my perspective atleast, is the kind of eccentricity which drove him to create unusual music. It was an eccentricity which only the people close to whom understood, and that included his team-members. To think of it, he was probably one of the foremost composers to have a regular team of musicians around him. and people from that team were/are famously known as Pt.Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma or even Trilok Gurthu.

If we carefully study the works of all yester-year composers, we notice that every composer had a distinct style. I like R.D.Burman not only for his distinct style, but also his out-of-the-box-thought-process. His roots were his legendary father for sure, but he imbibed several other elements and forms thus creating a different brand of music. I usually give different key-words to different composers. if it is Hindustani Music to Naushad, then it has to be Western Classical + folk + Indian classical to Salil Chaudhary. If it is pure sensitive melody to Madan Mohan, then it is folk + indian classical + bengali music to S.D.Burman. Shankar JaiKishan for classical + commercial music and C.Ramchandra would get vintage melody. In the case of R.D.Burman, i do not have any keywords. RD itself is a keyword.

R.D's one of the biggest contributions to Indian Film Music is giving importance to sound. sound of a song or even an instrument. If today, RD's team-members assemble and play his music, it purely out of their love for the man who let them gain their stature, by emphasizing on the crispness of sound. And if we trace the sound of R.D's music, it has many phases during which it evolved. His early and mid 60s had vintage sound with lot of traditional instruments. the sound changed in early 70s. His innovative self broke open and he went on to create energetic numbers, one after another, amply punctuating them with wonderful classical numbers too. As 80s came, he began freaking with electronic instruments and a far crisper bass guitar (bass notes rock). The traditional instruments did not lose their place in his ensemble. it was only that he just went on adding things to his scheme of work.

Lot of people have a wrong notion about RD, that RD means only cabaret numbers or fast songs. One rarely talks about his classical songs or even the many other genres he experimented in. If his debut composition was in Raag Malkunji, his last composition was in ChaayaNatt and all that he created in between spanned variety of raagas interspersed with some brilliant ideas borrowed from either western music or baul music or even nature. There are some songs which run as long as 8 mins, with only a single lead melody phrase and yet the music keeps me engrossed.

During my recent tryst with his collection, i chanced upon many wonderful songs, Hindi and Bengali, which went unnoticed before...all carrying some brilliant ideas. Some composers today might be still groping for such kind of ideas. Incidentally, every decent composer of today, right from Shankar-Ehsan-Loy to A.R.Rahman to Shantanu Moitra to Vishal Bharadwaj swear by RD's music. Why not, when people still try to use his ideas. I recently read an interview of Vishal Bharadwaj in which he spoke about his Omkara's "Beedi" song. The song starts off with a "Di-Ding daang ding di-ding daang ding..." and Vishal remarked, "See, RD pops up somewhere or the other". How true? He was referring to the similar pattern RD used on guitar, with a flanger effect, in the song "Dhannon Ki Aankhon Mein" from the film "Kitaab". One might say that RD's era has ended. One might even say that RD was not that great compared to other composers. Yet, one cannot rule out the existence of RD in the pysche of any composer willing to experiment. R.D.Burman lives on...as long as composers want to try something different. Because he dared to be different and he was and what kept him so was only his acute passionate attitude towards music. I am still discovering it all, opening album after album. I hope to write more about specific songs sometime soon.

I am eagerly waiting for a documentary, which was made by a film-maker who studied R.D.Burman's music. It is yet to the released.

Uliyin Osai

2008-06-23T00:50:00.009+05:30

Music: Maestro Ilaiyaraaja

Uliyin Osai (Sound of a Chisel) is a period film, based on a script written by Karunanidhi. Expectations were quite high among music buffs, because Ilaiyaraaja was scoring music for a period film after a long time. Some of the recent albums by Ilaiyaraaja evoked mixed response, due to repetitiveness at times or excessive usage of technology. While there were occassonal glimmers in many albums, it has been long time since ilaiyaraaja dished out an album in which all the songs bore his style, living up to quality. Uliyin Osai succeeds exactly there, with some fantastic classical songs. Why/How? Here we go:

1. Abinayam Kaatugindra: Bombay Jayasree, Sudha Raghunathan

A classical song which sets off with heavy mridangam and barely in few seconds, it made me think "Is he back to his violins?". Ilaiyaraaja used his trademark violin ensemble, aptly punctuated by veena and his favourite flute in this wonderful Raagavardhini. ilaiyaraaja has his way of using bass-guitar in classical songs, to add weight to the song and he does exactly the same. The rhythm change in the 2nd half to traditional-folk percussions could make us skip the song a bit, although it doesnt take away anything from the quality of the song. Its just that the song becomes little serious in sound, (probably something to do with the picturisation) and the string section maintains the interest.

2. Aganthaiyil Aadu Vandha: SriRam Parthasarathy, Ilaiyaraaja

The song, another classical gem in the album, starts off with a brief tune of the song, after which ilaiyaraaja recites poetry-like stanzas which has the names of few instruments in it. Predictably, he backs it with the sound of same instruments after which the actual songs sets off in Rasikapriya raaga. Mrindangam and violin accompany the singer in the wonderful melody. A short Veena interlude justifies the ambience created in the sound of the song and immediately the raaga changes to Chalanaata (for 4 lines, while bass guitar gives me goosebumps). I am yet to understand his thought-process behind linking Rasikapriya to Chalanaata. Having touched Chalanaata, the raaga soon transforms to Maayamaalavagowla (including change in Rhythm on Mridangam). Keyboard chords support the MMG, in which the charanam completes and then we come back to Rasikapriya again. He then skips the 2nd interlude and jumps directly to 2nd charanam, again changing the raaga, this time to Saveri. Now this where me and Ravi began to look at the bigger picture. The raaga transitions are not as random as they seem. little bit of explorations revealed to us, the genius of Ilaiyaraaja. Sample this:

This song is based in Rasikapriya. Except for a brief venturing into Chalanata, the song moves to MMG in the 1st charanam. Then in 2nd charanam, it moves to Saveri, before coming back to Rasikapriya in the end.

Maayamaalavagowla -----> Shruthi-bhedam (tonal shift of melodic pattern) = Rasikapriya.

Secondly, saveri =Janya Raaga of MMG (with avarohanam being the same for both the raagas).

So, MMG is the epicentre of this song, while Ilaiyaraaja choose to move from one end of it(Rasikapriya) to the other (Saveri). Interesting idea. But why the chalanaata? the mystery remains. Probably the genius himself can reveal it.

3. Kaalaththai Vendra: Bhavatharini, Sriram Parthasarathy

This song bears ilaiyaraaja signature in every sense. String section, chords, unusual bass guitar usage and ofcourse his favourite raaga - Keeravani. The rhythm pattern is quite unusual, time intervals during which a rhythm cycle is established are lengthy, so it would take few moments to get the tala in our head. This song(and one more), however, lack the period-feel, as flt in other songs, although the composition bears the late 80s-early 90s ilaiyaraaja tunes style.The bass usage is groovy and mild piano strains makes this song a must listen during night times. Amidst all classical numbers, this song works like a variety.

4. Kallai Irundhen: SriRam Parthasarathy, Dhaanya

Is it coincidence or did Ilaiyaraaja wantedly try to make this song prophetic for the female singer? In short, this composition is a delight in Suddha Dhanyaasi. In my opinion, all ilaiyaraaja songs in this raaga were delights and this is no exception. Although this song too lacks the period feel, he makes up for it just by dishing out such an endearing melody. The instruments used are modern as well as traditional. Keyboards, veena, flute, guitars, electronic percussions...he does it all, yet the treatment is Ilaiyaraaja. the guitars strumming in the background just keep the pace up while the bass guitar reminds us the man behind the song. 2nd interlude is my favourite, for it looks like a palette of many colours (instruments, both traditional and modern) all taking the shape of a picturesque Suddha Dhanyaasi. I dont care if it doesnt justify the period feel. infact, i dont care anything, as long as Ilaiyaraaja treats his songs in the way he treated in this one. Class.

5. Pularkindra Pozhuthu: Sriram Parthasarathy

Sriram Parthasarathy cannot thank ilaiyaraaja better. He has got stealers in this entire album and he emerges brilliantly in all the songs. This song, in my opinion, is another high-point, not only to the singer but also to the composer. He uses his science again in this classical composition. The song starts off with a dawn-ish raaga and then establishes his identity in Raag Kalyani, backed by mridangam and ghatam. The aalaaps used in the pallavi must have been difficult for the singer, though he managed to sing them with great confidence. Violins and Veena (observation: Most ilaiyaraaja's Kalyanis have Veena) take over the 1st interlude and flute and bass-guitar and flute (standard in any ilaiyaraaja kalyani).

In 1st charanam, the raaga changes to hamsanandi (observation: few kalyani's of ilaiyaraaja have glided into hamsanandi before). The charanam is punctuated by veena while the raaga changes to Dharmavathi and flows back into Kalyani.

2nd interlude is back to Hamsanandi and the charanam changes colour from Hamsanandi to Vasantha or Chaayavathi (yet to ascertain). Now, having understood ilaiyaraaja, there is this natural curiousity to unravel the linkages between these raagas and their usage. Here is the science:

Watch this Symmetry

R2 changes to R1 = stepdown
G3 changes to G2 = stepdown
M2 changes to M1 = stepdown

So if 1st charanam was about transformation into Hamsanandi into Dharmavathi...

2nd charanam was about transforming Hamsanandi into Vasanthaa/Chaayavathi(sister raagas). Ravi felt it was vasantha while i presume it is chaayavathi, given the symmetry used by ilaiyaraaja. we did not have instruments to play and check it out. Whats more interesting is that though there is symmetry, ilaiyaraaja likes to throw a surprise. after changing R2 to R1 and G3 to G2, one can expect a similar step down to Ma. Although it occurs, the change is done not to Kalyani, as expected, but to Hamsanandi. Idea is same, but the object is different. Now thats an intelligent trick. Not to forget, Ilaiyaraaja has experimented in similar way to another illustrious Kalyani of his, "Vaidehi Raaman" , way back in 80s. This song again reminds that his attitude/soul towards Kalyani is still the same. Its just that we need to look within. Undoubtedly one of his best Kalyanis this song is.

Uliyin Osai has another 2 songs which i didnt find much interesting. Neverthless, these 5 songs were enough for me to sit back ponder about the genius. It is not a new experience to me that whenever i begin to tell myself - 'Perhaps i prefer that ilaiyaraaja over this ilaiyaraaja' , he is there smiling with a pleasant surprise, assuring me - 'I am the same'.

Yes sir! You are...the same...Genius!

My Thanks to:

1. Ilaiyaraaja for composing.

2. Mr. Velramanan for giving me initial cues/threads.

3. Ravi for de-composing.

An Ode to Art by SiriVennela

2007-09-27T19:22:00.000+05:30

I am usually drawn more by music, than by words. Not to demean the beauty of wordplay as such, but for me, lyrics come after the music. But when good music is laced with some exceptionally beautiful poetry, the song is complete by all respects. This is the reason why songs from 1950s, 1960s and to some extent few of the numbers from 1970s appeal to me completely.

This post of mine is aimed at highlighting the lyrics of a song, instead of music, which i usually do. Quite surprisingly, the composition is by my favourite, Ilaiyaraaja. But i wish not to talk about the musicial genius in his song. instead, through this post, i want the readers to pause and take a note of wonderful imageries created by the lyricist, Sirivennela Seetha Rama Sasthry.

The song is from the film - 'Swarna Kamalam'. The song is 'Sivapoojaku chigurinchina siri siri muvva'

If you remember this film 'Swarna Kamalam', the hero is a worshipper of art(dance) and literally coaxes the heroine to take it up more seriously. She, on the otherhand, is fascinated by worldly pleasures. She wants to breakfree from the shackles. She dreams of materialistic pleasures. She says in one scene - "the world is marching ahead at a rapid pace but we are still stuck somewhere else".

This song is like an argument between both of them in a duet. It's a challenge for the writer to potray both the schools of thought, of hero and heroine, and in a way that both have a valid point to make. The writer didn't just manage, but actually came out as a winner in potraying profound thoughts wonderfully.

He:

Siva poojaku chigurinchina (blossomed/sprouted) Siri Siri muvva (anklets used by dancers)

mrudu (soft) manjula (pleasing, beautiful) pada (words) manjari (spring out) poochina (to flower) puvvaa

yatiraajuku (the best of the ascetics) jati swaramula (the musical-swaras used for dancers) parimaLamivva (give the fragrance)

naTanaanjalito (dance offering) bratukunu (life) tarinchaneevaa (fulfill)

The above paragraph means - your anklet-bells have blossomed to offer pooja to lord Shiva (through Dance). These soft-pleasing words springing out are like flowers. Wont you lure the best of ascetics with the fragrances of these dance-swaras(ascetics cannot be lured by anything, ideally…so, here he says even Yatiraj could be lured by dance)…wont you fulfill your life by dance-offering!

It's great imagination to bring the concept of yatiraj in a line..yatiraj is referred to as the best ascetic, who is not lured by any worldly pleasure (typically represented by women, money, things which intoxicate..like fragrances)..but here, he says even yatiraj could be lured by one fragrance..called dance..

She:

parugaapaga payaninchave(do travel) talapula(of thoughts) naava(o boat)

keraTaalaku(to waves of sea) tala(head) vanchite(bow down) taragadu trOva (your path wont pass)

edirinchina(against) suDi gaalini (strorm) jayinchi(win) raavaa(come)

madi(mind) kOrina(desired) madhu(sweet) seemalu(land/regions) varinchi(conquer) raavaa(come)

O boat of my thoughts, do travel further, if you bow down to the waves of the sea, you can never cross your paths, come, win over the storms against you…and come, lets conquer the sweet lands desired by your mind.
I just loved the lines - 'madi korina madhuseemalu varinchi raava' ; infact every line is a classic.

He:

paDamara(west) paDagalapai(on the hoods) merisE(shining) taaralakai (for the stars)

raatrini(night) varinchake(don't choose) sandhyaa sundari (o evening beauty)

toorupu(of east) vEdikapai(on the stage) vEkuva nartakivai(becoming a dance of the dawn)

dhaatrini(earth) muripinche(delight) kaantini(light) chindani(let sprinkle)

Nee kadalika(your movements) chaitanyapu(of consciousness) sreekaaram kaani (let them be an initiation for)

nidurinchina (slept) hRudaya (heart) ravaLi (eeshwara) Okaaram kaani (let it be Omkaaram)

For the sake of shining stars on the hoods of the west(heroine wants to go to foreign country in this film), don't embrace the night(darkness) o evening beauty; on the stage of the east, by becoming a dance of the dawn, do delight the earth by sprinkling light; let your movements be an initiation for consciousness; let the sleeping eeshwara (lord of dance) in your heart become an omkaaram (symbol of piousness, god, ultimate)

Watch the way he maintained the rhyme - 2nd line ending is 'sundari' and 4th line ending is 'chindhani'..its not just endings but even beginnings; 2nd line beginning is 'Raathri' and 4th line beginning is ''Dhaathri' …and he conveyed such profound thought

She:

tana (her) vELLE(roots) sankeLLai (hand-cuffs or chains) kadalalEni (which cant move) mokkalaa (like a plant)

Aamanikai (for the spring season) eduru choostu aagipOdu ekkaDaa (it wont stop anything waiting..)

Avadhi lEni (no barriers) andamundi (there is beauty) avaniki (on earth) nalu dikkulaa (in 4 directions)

aanandapu (of happiness) gaali vaalu (breezes) naDapani ninnilaa (let them drive you along)

prati rOjoka (everyday) nava geetika (a new song) swaagatinchagaa (let it welcome)

vennela (moonlight) kinnera gaanam (song of river kinnera) neeku tODugaa (will be your companion)

A plant chained to the ground by her own roots; wont wait for the spring; there are boundless beauties on earth everywhere; let the breezes of happiness take you there; let a new song welcome you everyday; let the moonlight and songs of kinnera (free flowing rever) be your companion
The words 'avadhi'; 'andamu' ; 'avani' all have phoenetically similar sounds

He:

Lalita (playful) charaNa (feet) janitam (cause) nee sahaja (natural) vilaasam (way of life)

Jwalita (embers) kiraNa (rays) kalitam (filled with) soundarya (beauty) vikaasam (grow, blossom)

nee abhinaya (expression, act) ushOdayam (dawn) tilakinchina (watched) ravi (sun) nayanam (eyes)

Gagana (sky) sarasi (lake) hRudayamlO (in heart) vikaSita (bloom) Sata (100) daLa (leaves) Sobhala (of beauty) suvarNa kamalam (golden lotus)

Let your natural way of life be caused by your playful feet; like the embers which blossom into beautiful rays; even the eyes of the sun watched the dawn of your expressional dance; in the hearts of sky and the lake; a hundred leaves shall bloom on the beautiful golden lotus.

Again, every word in 1st rhymes with everry corresponding word in 2nd line. and It takes a genius to write 'nee abhinaya ushodayam thilakinchina ravi nayanam

He: SwadharmE midhanam shrEyaha para dharmO bhayaavaha (from bhagavadgeetha)

Meaning: It is better to die while following one's own faith rather than adopt other's faith; the latter shall lead one to disaster

In my opinion, this song is perhaps one of the best writings of Sirivennela. Because the song not only captures lyrical splendour, but touches the intellectual depths too, overcoming the challenge of speaking two minds in the same song, without disturbing the flow of language.

Interesting to note that Ilaiyaraaja composed this song in Raaga 'Kalaavathi' (Kala=art, Kalaavathi=a lady who is impeccable in art). Was it intentional? or coincidental?
The thoughts of film-maker (K.Vishwanath), Lyricist (seetha Rama Sasthry) and Composer (Ilaiyaraaja) melding together to create a phenomenal song, stands as an example of what intellectual team work is.

And as the song itself summarizes, Art preceeds (and even supercedes) any mundaneness (work).
I am glad to be a art Lover.

Adnan Sami's Raag Yaman

2007-09-09T10:05:00.000+05:30

I have always felt that Adnan Sami is wasting is career, by trying to emulate R.D.Burman's style of composing and Kishore Kumar's style of singing. Instead, he should focus on what he is best at... Playing Piano. Not many have the speed which he has got and his command over the instrument is phenomenal. He can do with his fingers, what Ustad Zakir Hussain does with his fingers on Tabla. His understanding of Indian Classical Music is no less. This video gives a small peek into what he is capable of and the magic of his fingers, when he plays Indian Classical. Interestingly, i have an album featuring both, outdoing each other. I wish Adnan does more of this, so that he can also join the league of Ustads.

Shrutibhedam made easy (hopefully...)

2007-08-20T11:34:00.000+05:30

In his post on Vaidehi Raman, PRC wrote in one of his comments---

I realized there is a way of communicating sruthi bhedam to engineers.
Assume sa = 1, ri=2, ga = 3, ma=4, pa=5, dha=6, ni=7 (assuming all swaras are in kalyani)

If f(1)=Kalyani then
f(2) = hari kambhoji
f(3) = nata bhairavi
f(4) = is a null set
f(5) = shankaraabharanam
f(6) = kharaharapriya
f(7) = hanumathodi

if it is of any help!

This post elaborates more on the procedure and hopefully makes it simpler.

To me, this seems like a three step procedure to find out which ragas can be obtained by applying shrutibhedam on a given raga:

Consider Kalyani as above (since we already knowthe final answers... so no doubts there!)

Kalyani: S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S

STEP-I:
Drawing the swara line, analogous to the number line of the Mathematics, we can get the distances between two successive swaras:

So Kalyani can be represented as 2 2 2 1 2 2 1.

STEP-II:
Now, keep applying left shift to this sequence to make each successive note as the base note (Shadjamam). We get the following series of sequences:
In the above series, sequence no. II represents the scale when Rishabham of Kalyani is made as the base note, i.e., Shadjamam; III represents the scale when GAndhAram of Kalyani is made Shadjamam, etc.

STEP-III:
Now let us see what raga each of the above sequences turns out to be—
The last column lists the name of the scale hence obtained as a result of transformation.

So there we are!

Similarly, shruti-bhedam can be performed on janya ragas as well:

Consider Mohanam: S R2 G3 P D2 S. It can be encoded as 2 2 3 2 3 from the swara line in step- I. Now, we can apply the same procedure as above to Mohanam and see what ragas we can get out of it!

There are similar methods given on various websites related to Carnatic and this post is based on what I have learned from those websites.

So it turns out that this shrutibhedam concept is not too difficult atleast to understand... to sing or to play using Shrutibhedam is another matter though...

Kedar.

De-composing IR: Discoveries through Saara yeh aalam - revisited

2007-06-28T01:56:00.000+05:30

The following post uses snippets of music through streaming audio. Please be patient after clicking the play button and give the player some time.

Our master reviewer Aakarsh had, a couple of posts ago, reviewed Shiva (2006) album by Maestro IlaiyaRaaja, where he mentioned that the song Saara Yeh Aalam requires a separate post (inspite of his very enthusiastic review of the song/album). This is that post. I think the rest of the songs don't merit such an analysis.

This post will require you to wear your "selective hearing" cap at multiple sections. This will have pieces of music strewn all over and is for people who don't just love music - it is for those who would rather figure out the mind of the composer and revel in that knowledge (because IR is equally a layman's as well as a connoisseur's delight) - like mavericks. Therefore, let's begin...at the end... because the beginning cannot be really appreciated until some things are really elucidated at the end. Confusing? Think parity operation (you'll understand!). After that you may judge the level of IR.

So the end:

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The clip above was cut and meddled with so as to make it easy to notice the bass line in juxtaposition with the main tune. To make it even more easier to narrow down, I played the tune and the bass line only on piano and bass. Here is that clip (you may have to reduce the volume a bit - and yes I know it is not perfect):

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If you noticed the bass line, it is:

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Now let us begin here... and ponder. Why does this sound so familar? You dont think so? Listen to this:

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The above piece is the song "Ivvu Ivvu" from Prema (1980s).
But still what's the big deal? Let us just look at this structure. The bass line of Saara Yeh Aalam and the main tune for Ivvu Ivvu are very similar in tune and structure. Only a small parity operation was called for. Also, Ivvu Ivvu is in a different pitch in the original song. I played it in the pitch of Sara Yeh Alam for simplicity. Ok, so they share a structural and tonal simlarity so what? Still don't get it? Are you ready?

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It is the mighty famous Beethoven's 5th. But the connection wont be clear very easily. Just concentrate on the first three notes. And you'll see what I mean.. the pitch of the 5th is different from the pitch of the song. And you might think that they are not similar at all... but they are changed in pitch and changed in time.

Remember the quality and tremulous nature of Beethoven's fifth? Now with that in mind listen to the beginning of Sara Yeh Alam:

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In this little snippet from the beginning of Sara Yeh Alam one thing is clear, the tension is created right at the word go not unlike the famous Fifth. The quality of the tension is maintained the same... so... beginning at the end is a valuable way to understand this song. But is it all we can learn from the beginnning... oops end? The way the bass lines are constructed, many would argue, it is typical IR. But, IR is an ekalavya disciple of a gentleman named Bach. J.S. Bach. Bach's bourree has inspired IR so much that in "How to name it" he used Bourree as a background piece for which he overlayed a tune. But what is so scintillating about the harmony of Bourree and how does it apply to our discussion here? Bourree's first three notes have lines in bass that are inverted. That is, the tune in E starts as E F# G where as the bass lines go G F# E in the lower octave. Bach is a genius in such wondrous symmetrical constructions (for the brave hearted - read Douglas Hofstadter's "Godel, Escher, Bach - the eternal golden braid" for more details). And IR learned well. Here is a small snippet of Bourree - pay particular attention to the bass notes and the main line:

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In Sara Yeh Alam as well the main tune's beginning notes and the bass lines are mirror images with slightly different time values. So we have Bach here. We had Beethoven before (and don't worry he loves Mozart too - remember "Mozart I love you" from Nothing but Wind?). Of course that is not a fair inclusion or comparison. IR is nowhere near the masters but he applies these concepts in a delightfully unconventional style in a pathetic run-of-the-mill movie like Shiva. That's the point. IR has always been about giving great musical ideas in not so good movies. AR Rahman on the other hand judiciously applies them for the right director's movie. Even then, I always wonder, why does the sound of IR fill my senses where as in some pieces ARR's music seems a little empty? It is because IR weaves a fabric of exquisite fineness with equal finesse, because he weaves those innumerable patterns in different instruments around tunes that the whole piece has a seamless quality. It isn't tailored, it is created.

I urge you to listen to the song many more times, each time paying attention to a different instrument behind the main tune. I have grown so used to listening to the bass lines or "color" lines in music that sometimes (read most of the times) I don't pay any attention to the lyrics. And I don't think this song has great lyrics anyway. So why not concentrate on the music?

Aakarsh had already described many of the key ideas for this song in his review in a "feelscape" way (compared to soundscape way). I'm not going to give you a second by second analysis of the song... instead I want you to direct your attention to the following questions - and when you find out the answers (if you haven't already) see how you feel. These are not complete.. but only to point in the direction of selective hearing.

- Where and how do the percussions start in the song?
- between time frame 0.22 to 0.29 behind the violins what high pitched instrument is adding an extra dimension?
- When Shreya Ghoshal starts singing, other than the bass and the percussions what other instrument is playing? How is its construction different from the tune's? Notice how the volume of this instrument is raised and lowered to fill in the gaps of the tune's first lines? and in the whole pallavi? Its role is just unbelievable.
- Notice how layers of violins are added sequentially in non-linear fashion slowly with melodies other than the main tune? Can you think of the number of such layers?

- in the first charanam when the male singer is singing notice how the violins are backing up
- what is the key difference between the first interlude and the second interlude of the song?

- when the male singer is singing "pyasi pyasi" 's beginning what is the bell like instrument doing?
- how are the brass instruments and violins interspersed all through the second charanam? How are they sprayed in the time scale of the song?

If you have patience notice all the above (and more!) and may be apply this kind of listening to other IR songs... and suddenly all those songs with ridiculous lyrics turn into lessons for more musical ponderings.

Happy listening!
The song:

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Cheeni Kum - Music Review

2007-05-28T01:22:00.000+05:30

Disclaimer: It is a well-known fact that the songs of Cheeni Kum are new versions of original compositions of Ilaiyaraaja. The original songs are classic compositions and i purposefully do not wish to talk about original compositions here because one is likely to compare the new versions with the originals. When compared, the originals stand on a higher pedestal for sure. This album is listened to/analyzed/reviewed purely on the merits of its own and not by comparing it with originals.

Cheeni Kum is the directorial debut of Ad-maverick Balakrishnan, who is famously known as 'Balki'. He confesses that he is a very great fan of ilaiyaraaja, which is why most of the advertisements designed by him have ilaiyaraaja tunes, the most famous being the signature tune of Idea Cellular, which is "Naguva Nayana" from "Pallavi Anupallavi". Its no surprise that Balki chose Ilaiyaraaja to compose the music for his film. While Ilaiyaraaja was ready to compose fresh tunes, Balki insisted that he wanted some of his favourites to be re-composed so that they would cater to a wider audience. Everything is fine till there. The only mistake Balki made was chosing the highly commercial Sameer as lyricist. In my opinion, Sameer to lyrics is same as what anu malik is, to hindi film music. Especially when the movie's story had a sensitive theme around the romance of a 64 year old man with a 34 year old lady, couldnt Balki chose a lyricist with better sensibilities, such as a Javed Akhtar or a Gulzar!

The compositions of Cheeni Kum are adapted from the originals which were handpicked by Balki. And Ilaiyaraaja chose his (and my) current favourite Shreya Goshal to render them. The entire album has a wonderful blend of electronic(synthesizer) music and acoustic music, something which made ilaiyaraaja what he is today!

Cheeni Kum: Shreya Goshal

The song starts off with Shreya Goshal's vocals and lively synthesizer back-up with playful sounds. Right in the beginning the keyboard chord(his favourite) movement surprised me..at 0:14 to 0:17 mins. The actual Pallavi(mukhda) has the same funky yet melodious feel and before you conclude that this is a techno song, ilaiyaraaja introduces his first string section passage..when Shreya finishes "Dil ki Sadaa Bhi..".Reassuringly, the 1st interlude has 80s feel to it, with his violins and saxophone laced with keyboard chords. The charanam/anthara has interesting elements too.Whats striking to me are the bass-lines..very short and abrupt but continuously stretching along the charanam. Ilaiyaraaja's bass lines have always been very distinct from the actual song and its the same here too. the lagging saxophone gives that Salil chaudhary-ish touch. the cascading of strings (with cellos too) when she sings "Dekhle..dekhle..aazmaake" simply infuses more vigour at that moment. the chords change upon when the charanam is drawing to a close and just when you expect that she would take a high pitch, ilaiyaraaja makes her mellow down at a lower octave. The 2nd interlude sounds little serious..with string section and keyboards, all following the chord structure. The 2nd charanam/anthara has the same ideas as the 1st one. Shreya Goshal does decent job with this song while the the key strength's of the song are the tune and the funkyness given to the melody. The song is predominantly set in Raag Keeravani although ilaiyaraaja changes the notes in the charanams/antharas.

Baathein Hawa: Shreya Goshal

This song appears twice in the album. One version is interspersed with some as-a-matter-of-fact oneliners by Amitabh Bacchan. Right the word go, ilaiyaraaja gets on with his unique bass notes which extend above the keyboard chords used. the rhythm is pretty straight and simple. the string section used in this song reminds of symphonies, because of the sound texture maintained. Quite interesting, Bacchan quotes about Royal Albert Hall music when ilaiyaraaja plays around with his violins ensemble ending with flute to which the cellos suffix every musical brief phrase. For me, the likeable pat of the song comes in charanams/antharas. When Shreya Goshal sings the 1st line of the charanam/anthara, the violins mildly takeover and make her connect to 2nd line. the combination of keyboards and violins is interesting, so much that when the octave changes the sound simply evolves and transforms..slowly into flute. and the grandeur of violins is very much intact as countermelody when the charanam/anthara approaches to its end. The 2nd interlude has a rocky guitar phrase dissolving into african rhythms and saxophone and suddenly the piano lights up. this song has many finer elements, such as bass-work, which engages a listener when it is heard in earphones.

Jaane Do na: Shreya Goshal

This is my most favourite song in the album. i have a feeling that this song is set in Kapi. I may be wrong though. The song starts with a slow prelude by shreya Goshal and Piano. Ilaiyaraaja adds a cello and a rhythm to it and the song actually starts. ilaiayaraaja seemed to have embedded a synth-guitar to the rhythm of this song. and when shreya sing "naa aise zid na karo"..my hands automatically reach for the chords on the invisible keyboard infront of me. probably i have studied his music so much that i could atleast know when he would gives those chord-changes.The 1st interlude starts with a very leisure string piece which gets into background while keyboards come on the forefront. typical ilaiyaraaja. Then 2 sections of violins play a phrase together and then diverge away into lead-tune and the base. this reminded me of his ideas used in his album How to name It?. The charanam/anthara starts with some electronic music and synth bass playing on fast movements. intricate bass notes there again. For me the melody in this song is sweetest(other than the 'naa..aise zid na karo' part in pallavi/mukhda)when she sings "tehro tehro abhi..karo thoda yakeen..aisi bethaabiaan..acchi hothee nahii". thats because ilaiyaraaja again uses keyboard at right places in the background and not stopping there, he fills the sounscape with a violins countermelody.thats vintage raaja. and the bass climbs its way to the forefront..to the peak between the lines "roko zaraa jazbaat ko..samjha karo haalaath ko". The charanam/athara ends with strings completing the crescendo and cymbals concluding the grand sounscape, coming back to the pallavi/mukhda of the song. The 2nd interlude is more violins-ly charged up in the beginning and reaches a upper scale where you feel the entire violin orchestra was made to play and fill a beautiful painting. Shreya Goshal is at her best in this song, tantalizingly mischevious tone and emoting to the lyrics (listen to her during the charanams/antharas) With this song ilaiyaraaja proves that a beautiful melody can still be packaged with these electronic gadgetry, without losing the essence of the acoustic instruments. thats fusion of another kind!

Sooni Sooni: Vijay Prakash

My only complaint to ilaiyaraaja is this song. The tune is same as "Cheeni Kum". This song, by characteristic, sticks to the actual original tamil song ie. it is a ballad. But the singer's voice is quite pale. Also, since it is a sad ballad, like the original tamil one, ilaiyaraaja could have and should have used the same interludes/orchestration as in the original. This version does have some beautiful string sections in the interludes. But when the accompanying saxophone during the charanams/antharas and that extraordinary basswork is missing, the flavour of the song turns pale.

Theme Melody

This theme track is not composed exclusively as a theme composition. It is a piece which appears manytimes in the background score of the film. A very soft instrumental kind, this piece starts off with piano which slowly changes colours as the strings join them and the mood changes to little tense & serious, when the electronic instruments play a shorter-cut-piece of "cheeni kum". Why?? no idea, but the summer-morning freshness feel associated to this track suddenly changes colour with that and i couldn't quite like it there.

Melody Saxophone

Even this piece is taken from the background score of the film. This more electronic in sound with lot of bass-ups and funky sounds. However, the saxophone plays a nice tune which actually could be made into a song too. lot of synthsizer stuff has been used in this track, with the rhythms mostly on loops. the funky sounds bubble up in between the saxophone phrases, adding a little groovy feel.

In all, the album is definitely one of the best we have seen in recent times. Some people complain that old tunes have been rehashed or remixed. But a friend of mine recently said that it is better to use the word "Rebirth" instead of Remix, given the fact that Remixes do not contain any melody. Ilaiyaraaja's strengths spanning what is called as orchestrational excellence, are very much evident in this album. The album's sound texture is good and the songs are unlike what we get to hear in Hindi film music these days. The lead singer, Shreya Goshal, again delivers her best to Ilaiyaraaja, not just in rendering them perfectly but also emoting them, according to both tune & lyrics, Particularly in 'Jaane Do' and 'Cheeni Kum' . Sameer's lyrics are average and ilaiyaraaja's music simply overpowers the pretty ordinary lyrics.

Barring Sadma, Ilaiyaraaja has somehow failed to make an impression in Hindi film music. This cheeni-se-bhara album however, cuts-across such hindrances and could draw an applause from hindi audience. I wish Ilaiyaraaja does more Hindi films, even if he retunes his old compositions. Cheeni Kum left me asking for more. I heard that Balki is now scripting another movie. i wish, he goes to ilaiyaraaja again and i wish ilaiyaraaja does his act again....that of being a Maestro. He indeed is.

Shiva 2006 - A music review

2007-03-04T23:02:00.000+05:30

Shiva(2006)

In 1990, RamGopal Varma made his debut as film-maker with "Shiva", which went on become one of the cult films.The music of that film was by Ilaiyaraaja, who was the most sought composer in those days.The music was a superhit although i feel the Background score of that film was much better than the songs composed. Yet, RamGopal Varma never worked with Ilaiyaraaja again. So, after a full 16 years,when he announced that Ilaiyaraaja would compose music for his new film "Shiva(2006),", it surprised many. So, what the does new album offer?

The album has 6 songs, each having a different mood.A small review of each song:-

1. Dheeme Dheeme: Shyeya Goshal

Shreya Goshal might credit Ismail Darbar for dicovering her, but i feel that no composer has extracted her best and showcased her talent better than Ilaiyaraaja. Right from 'Julie Ganapathy', she is the only female singer who is seen in all ilaiyaraaja's albums till date. Coming to this song, she shines as usual. Ilaiyaraaja uses his typical violin layers and keyboard chords. Any ilaiyaraaja fan would like this song for two reasons:(a) it is set in 'Suddha Dhanyasi' and (b)ilaiyaraaja's trademark embellishments.

this is probably the first distinctly sounding 'suddha dhanyasi' hindi song i have come across. the song is soft-mellow, mainly because of Shreya Goshal.

2. Kaise Kahen: Sadhana Sargam, Roop Kumar Rathod

the prelude of this song are borrowed from the opening lines of "Edhalo tholi valape" from 'Erra Gulaabeelu", a late 70s film of Ilaiyaraaja.Lookslike thats Varma's favourite song.The main tune of Kaise Kahen is "emani nee cheli" from "Manthri gaari viyyankudu", an 80s film of chiranjeevi directed by Bapu.The music was by Ilaiyaraaja himself.The old version is one of the very good and less remembered songs of ilaiyaraaja and this is probably his attempt to revive it. The keyboard chords, with which he backs up the mukhda of the song remind the early 90s ilaiyaraaja.If there is anything that is misfit in this song, its only the "I Love You" part. The 1st interlude has complete ilaiyaraaja character. it sounds little irish in execution but then, the violins have his stamp.

I like the background synth guitar sound which glides over the 1st two lines of anthara and ofcourse the tune of the lines "kya kya hum kehthe hain...khwaabon mein rehthe hai"(this is something which i like in the original version too..sounds melodious). The bass lines pick up towards the closing lines of anthara.and its ilaiyaraaja's signature to bring the end of anthara to standstill silence. So, he is very much in touch with his ideas.

The 2nd interlude is a very innovative one.it starts with simple harmonium sound (on keyboards) and builds a loop.it replays and does one more. The last time, a solo-violin and bassguitar join the loop. brilliant sound there.

Overall, the song is impressive anough, except for the 'I Love You' part. and though Sadhana Sargam seems perforct choice, Roop Kumar Rathod fails to strike a chord. or proably i am biased, because i never liked his pale voice.

3. Josh Mein: Yesudas and Chorus

I am seeing ilaiyaraaja working with Yesudas after a very longtime. This song is built from the main tune of "Jagada Jagada" from "Geetanjali".well, definitely you would like to hear the original itself, even after ilaiyaraaja makes an attempt to improvise it on new sound. this song fails to replace the original.However, this song execution has few plus-points. Firstly, some amazing keyboard work has been done on this song. that ofcourse, could be credited to technology. And the song ventures into the same mood as "Ram Ram! hey Ram" from the film "Hey! Ram". Its not the chorus alone, but the execution, the soundscape and the overall feel potrayed.

I dont know why Yesudas was given such a high-pitch in the antharas.the basslines take a different plane while the singer tries his best to maintain the sur right, inspite of the high-pitch.the 2nd interlude evokes the early 90s ilaiyaraaja because of the he gives the same treatment to the chords. Despite his best attempts to maintain the fire in the song, somehow the song fails to register.

4. Police Police: Shweta Pandit & Minad Kamat

The least we talk about this song, the better.its revival of "Botany Class" from original Shiva and lets admit, the original was better.

5. Shapath: Ilaiyaraaja

This is probably the 1st hindi song by ilaiyaraaja. it tries to take the anthemic way but the tune doesnt linger even after you switch it off. nothing great can be written about this song and you can conveniently skip it.

6. Saara Yeh Aalam: Shreya Goshal & Roop Kumar Rathod

This song probably requires a separate post.This song stands as an example for his mastery over orchestration and compells you to call him "Maestro Ilaiyaraaja".right from the 1st second, ilaiyaraaja proves what he is capable of, even today, in this technology-computer-gadgetry driven music world.although he uses synthesizers, he plays more on his strengths - Acoustic music.Brilliance is the only word that is apt to describe this song.

The song is a rehash of "Aanandha Raagam" from an 80s tamil film "Paneer Pushpangal".ilaiyaraaja retained some portions and improvised a lot.and mind you, this song is really a fantastic improvisation. Try to listen to original and you will know the difference.

The song prelude will be one of my textbooks, if ever i want to compose music.it starts off with 4 different sections of violins, each starting in a cascade and they are joined by the wind-section. By the time, the wind-section emerges, you are convinced that it is a philharmonic orchestra.i just love the mathematics he shows in the structure of wind sections and string sections. the wind-section overtakes strings and plays the perfectly structured loops(symmetry here) and then gives the baton back to strings, which play the main melody of the song in short and then violently complete the elaborate loop.Shreya Goshal is right choice again. the synthesizer sounds backing her vocals are typical ilaiyaraaja, and so are the counter-melodies on strings.Its all there, the vintage raaja.

the 1st interlude has an impressive array of instruments. Starting from synthesizer and bass notes(these deviate from the tune, and thats what he is famous for). The string sections play. I cant review this piece. all i can write is that 2-3 sections(violins and cellos) play different tunes, overlapping with each other. they sound together but when u listen keenly, there are 3 tunes. One is on cellos giving the base, the 2nd section is the 2nd layer potraying violent emotions and a solo-violin passing through them all and joining with a flute. whoa! ideas! the flute again ends and the violins take an extenstive (no short-cuts with ilaiyaraaja) crescendo, violently.

The anthara has counter-melodies, which the listen by now can predict because the song is already filled with lot of violins and thats natural.ilaiyaraaja raises the colour with the tune "Milne lage hai yeh dono jism-o-jaan" (see the violin play in the background) and then gives a completely unexpected/new twist to the tune bringing down the flight to join the main tune. this is an exquisite piece.

Ilaiyaraaja gives a small peek into western classical music with his 2nd interlude. String sections again, backed by keyboards. the same tune with different scales is something westerners identify a lot and everything gets back to indian violins, his trademark stuff.the 2nd anthara replicates the 1st one, in all ideas.

With this song, ilaiyaraaja proves that even a rehash of an old song can be done with new better ideas without boring the listener who has heard the original one. Infact, i wish he reworks on many such old songs of his, if he can really polish them with such immaculate orchestration. every piece of music in this song, be it the magical prelude or the astounding interludes and even the counter-melodies - every piece is a polished diamond. and thats ilaiyaraaja!

Overall, the album could be termed as 'average' but then, one 'saara yeh aalam' is enough to raise the worth of the album. the other two good numbers "dheeme dheeme" and "kaise kahen" also sound musically good, with interesting ideas. Ilaiyaraaja once again shows what orchestration really is and we listeners must admit it that he is the best in orchestration. Who says ilaiyaraaja's talent has fizzed out.his capabilities are very much on high notes and this album is just a sneak-peek into that.Waiting for more!!!!

Hamsadhvani-- my ecstasy pill

2006-10-04T23:39:00.000+05:30

Scene 1:
Its one mild late july afternoon and I am about to lose my funding in ECE dept because of some new stupidly weird rule (by the way, I had got the funding in the first place because of another weird reason). The mind is agitated. Should I bring in fund-reinforcements from home? Should I swipe credit cards? Should I try for funding elsewhere?

What do I do? I do the only thing that I can do at this time. I rush to the library, take out my $5 headphones--which I still preserve (Someone I know has a set of $300 worth Bose headphones), and start listening to Hamsadhvani. Instantly, harmones of ecstasy get released in the brain, and it forgets everything and floats away in some some other world of elation, and by the time I come to BMK's 'GAyathi vanamAli', I am swooning with contentment and peace in me..a new strength hitherto unknown... a feeling that all this is but mAya.

Scene 2:
Returning from Wal-mart in the car, I am extremely hungry, with yet another attack of hyper-metabolism, and hands and legs start shaking and body starts sweating. Lucky me that precisely at this moment, The King's "InAde yEdo aiyyindi" is on. What happened for the next 4 minutes or so might be characterised as OOB (Out Of Body experience).

Hamsadhvani, not surprisingly, was one of the first ragas that revealed themselves to me, perhaps it was the first, followed closely by Yaman. It is verily a dear raga, more than a raga to me. It has a personality of itself and I hold converse . Even now, at this hour, as I listen to Hamsadhvani (Pt.Shiv Kumar Sharma's, this time), the mind offers smilar reactions, once again reminding me of those times, when Hamsadhvani was my only friend, philospher, guide, and of course stress counsellor.

Who needs the ecstasy pill anyway when you can have the mother-of-all-ecstasies ?

Dhrupad overdrive

2006-09-16T08:11:00.000+05:30

On one late sunday afternoon in fall 2002 near a remote town called Starkville in Mississippi, I had come across, in my T.A. cubicle, a few names totally new to me-- first was the raga Shankara, next was the word Dhrupad, and next was 'Gundecha brothers'. After listening to the clip of their vArUri Mrig drighan kO' in Shankara at SAWF, I had already become a fan of all the three. That was the age of discovery.
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When I came to know that the Gundechas are coming to perform for SPICMACAY, Bangalore, a random thought occured to me-- why not request them to sing 'Adbhut Kalyan' (NiroshTha in carnatic-- it is Kalyani without ma and pa... a really special and unique raga)? One of the DAgars had sung it long back, and the Gundechas belong to DAgar tradition-- so they must be knowing it. So, I sent a rather senti (yet, honest) mail to them. I got an equivocal reply that they would see if they can make it.

Saturday 9th sep. 2006:
The Gundechas were coming to Bangalore for someother concert as well, so some of SPICMACAY money was saved there. Their first concert was on Saturday, 9th Sept. at Chowdaiah Hall. I had to pleasure of meeting them along with another member Vinay before concert, courtesy GAyathri, the convener of SPICMACAY, Bangalore. They were practising Rageshree (close to carnatic Natakurinji). They pleasantly inquired who was the one that asked for Adbhut Kalyan. That evening, they sang an elborate Rageshree alap (about 50 mins) and then a Dhrupad 'NirAkAra niranjana' and then a fast paced Bhairavi Dhrupad based on Kabir's verses 'Hum sab mahi'. I daresay that any person with a little interest in classical music would have loved this one!

Sunday 10th sep. 2006:
The sunday was a very odd one. There is something called a 'Forum' in Bangalore which does warrant much attention, except for the fact that it houses a posh book store called 'Landmark'. Even that might have escaped the displeasure of my acquaintance if not for Gundacha brothers' workshop-- right in the book-store! It was a surreal sight-- a stage with a red carpet; some room for the small gathering (lets not denigrate the word 'audience' by using it here); all the cups, cutlrey, books, etc arranged all round us. Go through this article for more:
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/09/16/stories/2006091600920100.htm
The gathering, as usual, was made of only enthusiasts and die-hard listeners, and of course, 2 SPICMACAY members. They sang Durga Dhrupad 'Adi Shiva Shakti' first and started answering those basic FAQs, intermittently singing some Hameer ('Abeera GulAla', misreported in the Hindu article), and Kedar ('Radhika Aj Anand mein dOlE'), and then wound up with their trademark, much loved, CharukESi 'jheeni jheeni' based on Kabir verse.

And then, Arijit and I (SPICMACAYites) took them to woody's, and during the time we were there, we did have some time to establish our credentials as serious Dhrupad listeners, and of course, I was always on to my not-so-hidden agenda of Adbhut Kalyan. I also asked them why they dont do any sargam upo which they smiled and said they dont do it. (I paid the bill and lost the receipt!). And while returning home, I had the pleasure of the company of two of their lady disciples (one of whom has already spent 3 years in training, and the other, might well be on-road to become the first female Tamizhian Dhrupad singer!).

Monday 11th sep. 2006:
In a nice open room (not an auditorium for God's sake!) with large windows on sides, and breeze flowing in, it was the inaugural concert for Virasat 2006, the SPICMACAY Bangalore concert series at MES college, MalleSwaram. One of the best concerts ever attended, perhaps because I was sitting on ground and the artistes were hardly 10 feet away. In fact, I dont remember enjoying a concert sitting on those cushioned chairs. They sang an elaborate AlAp in Khamaj and then a Sadra (a lighter form of Dhrupad) 'Sudh bisarath gayI' in Khamaj. Absolutely mesmerising-- I never knew Khamaj, a folksy raga can be sung this way by the DhrupadiyAs. After that,they sang a Dhrupad in Shahana (remember 'Radha kaise ne jale' interlude?) 'AvaguNA bhayO sakala'.

Tuesday 12th sep. 2006:
I received an inside information from GAyathri that afternoon, and I was restless from then on. The venue this time was IISc. I went to the green room and listened to their practice from outside, and smiling, I came back.
When the artistes entered and took their places, they announed-- "We are going to sing a very beautiful and special raga called Adbhut Kalyan. It is a type of Kalyan without madhyam and pancham. First we are going to sing an elaborate AlAp and then a DhamAr [a form of Dhrupad piece set to 14-beat Dhamar taal]". And they sang the AlAp for more than an hour. Surprisingly, they did some nice sargam (perhaps to introduce the raga to the audience ) and then picked up on a Dhamar that they had just composed that afternoon; lyrics are from Sumitranandan Pant's poem 'Mein nahin chAhtA chir sukh'.

Needless to say, I was floored! Just on some random request, they spent a whole day composing and practising in that raga, and made it the main piece! And what raga! What extemporisation! The output may have been sub-optimal (mostly because of the sound-system quality, and the fact that it was not a thoroughly rehearsed one), nevertheless, it was no mean effort, and I cannot thank them enough. More importantly, I think they are making a great effort not to get 'stereotyped'. In 4 days, I got introduced to listening dhrupads 'live', in chautaal, sooltal, a dhamar, a sadra, their experimentation with a rare (and unprepared) raga, and their newly introduced sargam singing. Their zeal for trying new things and still be within the prescribed parameters of Dhrupad is amazing. They are making a more than wonderful effort at taking the Dhrupad to the average classical music listener.

After that, they started on CharukeSi AlAp. Though short (may be 10 mins), it was truly heavenly, and there was not a soul that was not moved. The way the two brothers moved and coordinated with each other reflected the amount of practice that went by. Truly awe-inspiring! And they employed sargam here to a terrific effect. After that, they went to their customary 'Jheeni, jheeni'.

My next stop: raga Durga of Khamaj thaat (S G3 M1 D2 N3 S" : S" N2 D2 M1 G3 S).

Dhrupad Update:
Attended the Gundechas' last concert of their Bangalore circuit today evening. The elaborated AlAp was in Jayanth Malhar-- a delicious cocktail of Jayjaywanti and Miyan-ki-malhar, follwed by the Dhrupad 'Mayi rI barkhA kO Agam'. It was followed by Shankara (quite coincidentally I must add, for I was thinking about it wistfully just today morning while typing this post) Dhrupad in 9-beats 'Shankara Pancha Vadana PannagabhushaNa', and then they wound up with their Adana 'Shiva Shiva Shiva'. The AlAps seemed all top-notch with their meeNds and all, but the execution of the first two Dhrupads indicated that they were new and they could get enough time for a thorough rehearsal together. Or may be the continuous travelling and performance has tired them a tad.

Kedar.

A cassette case

2006-09-01T07:19:00.000+05:30

I have never written a post here on Mavericks. And I have now decided to break some traditions (yes, be a maverick and such). Content-wise, be adviced, this does not border anywhere on the brilliant & intricate music analyses done by my colleagues, yet my own five rupees and seventy five paise for Music Mavericks!

The first time when I listened to "Video killed the Radio star" by The Buggles, probably I was not in the right time and place for some soul searching. Ok, I will say, I was a lot younger. I now allow myself more often to go into the symbolic spirals of a flashback, a redux.

Getting to the point now, Audio Cassettes. I will be making a case FOR them today.

Though I have managed a monstrous collection of "Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 protocol compressed audio" (cough cough) or 'mp3s' of all imaginable genres, audio cassettes remain my favourite for the following reasons.

1. A cost-quality trade-off does not exist here.
What I preach - A cassette (say, Sony/BMG Crescendo/Magnasound) for 120 Rs and a CD (say, 200 Rs). I would not even bother a second thought for the CD. And knowing that an audio CD bit rate is a maximum of 44.1 kHz does not help your cause too. If it is a cassette, your listening experience is limited by your music system, not by the quality of the cassette (except of course some Echo, Supreme or Aditya releases)
What I do - I will buy a CD, so I can dump those songs in my computer and still share the joy with others. I believe it is akin to the choice between an ink-pen and a ball point pen. Damn me.
Rationale - So, I need to be more resolute in this case, which Iam sure will directly result, partly from my obstinacy and partly from my love for the old school.

2. I have too many of them to get rid of (if I ever plan to).
I have bought, begged, stole and acquired a few hundred cassettes until now. This would be nothing compared to the collections of Aakarsh or PRC, but a decent one in that.

3. Chromium Oxide wins over high bit rate.
Pitch a DVD quality audio, increase the bit rate, do whatever, it cannot beat the tape any day. Simply put in HMV's words - 'digital is like wearing a condom, nothing like the real thing' (they were referring to LP records though), but it applies here.

4. No playlists, Yes credits.
With due respect to the audio connoisseur in us, I understand that we like to sustain our mood by dumping our favourites in one list, conjuring up a mish-mash of Beatles, Devi Sri Prasad, Ilayaraja, Chopin and Ousepachan (sincerely, I did not make that up for the rhyme, he is a good Malayalam music director). But with cassettes, the plus is we dont forget great songs just because we did not like it or do not want to hear them so often. And proper audio warrants its own attention, no Skip, Next or even worse, Buffer! And if you are like me, while I enjoy the songs in my 'walkman', I keep staring at it and 'battify' the cassette credits. I digress here but if the cassette is from Echo or Sangeeta, I try to figure how bad/good the cut-paste patchwork is on the cassette. If it is ARR's there is whole compendium of credits telling us who played the 15 second oboe piece in that third song. That is good, and that we like, no?

5. Very Important. My proud acquired skill of rewinding cassettes with Reynold pens.
The standard white coloured 045 REYNOLDS FINE CARBURE has an eight-faced outer body and fits perfectly into an audio cassette wheel. I just need to know the side (A or B) and which way I want to go. Hold the pen and let the cassette rotate around it, in the right direction. I did this so much over the years, that I would stop between songs, such precision and intuition (*pats his own back). The feeling is that of a monk rotating his prayer drum. Good karma in the end. Its faster and it saves batteries.

6. Iam a sentimental and nostalgic bugger.
-- I like the scratchy noise and clucks when the cassette ages.

-- I like the experience when the batteries are running out.
[At about four-fifths of their life, the playing speed begins to drop, but is still inconspicuous. You ignore, but not long after, it is slower and you can tell, also by the little delay and the drag when you stop and start the walkman. You smile, insist, keep it running and then the sound balance slowly shifts towards one side until the stereo turns into a mono. You breathe deep, switch ears with the one phone but carry on. You then roll the cells vigorously between your palms to warm them up, later keep them in the sun for an hour. There is spring in the song one last time when the whining starts and then they die a slow death, finally! - new batteries? Yes, a new day and for a new song. Fellow Mavericks, since you all never found time nor could take up the case for the sentimental self in you, and put your feeling in words, I did it for you. You can thank me now (snigger)]

-- As I listen, share, exchange, make abstract art work on the cassette, I get attached to it. The look, the feel, the weight, the screech of the cassette cover when I close it, the smell, the cellophane tape that holds together broken pieces. It becomes a chronicle gently reminding me of times gone by. The same song feels different after a while. Songs dont change, we do. All in all it teaches us some big lessons which we often forget. To not let go of things just because they are old, to realise the beauty of what is in your hand rather than going after something that is virtual, easy, yet not retentive and most importantly that life goes around in circles.

*Iam banking on the comments section for some interesting opinions.

Saaz ki aawaaz

2006-08-22T01:45:00.000+05:30

Ustaadji nahin rahe. Shehnai will never sound the same.

Some banter from past

2006-08-01T22:29:00.000+05:30

"At the risk of bullying you, r u referring to SS's devi brova samayamide?(chintamani - shanmukhapriya)" asked PRC once when I was referring to that kriti sung by Raghavan Manian, not in Chintamani but in quite a different raga in this post. Chakri had told me that this kriti was in RAmapriya after listening to it for a short while.

One more twist to the tale. A book called "Raganidhi" by B.Subba Rao is with me for a few days courtesy the senior-most member of the Bangalore chapter of SPIC-MACAY. That book has this under ChintAmani:

"There is a raga Chintaramani which is a janya of the 52nd Melakarta Ramapriya. This is altogether different from Chintamani."

Did Raghavan Manian actually sing 'Devi Brova' in ChintarAmani, instead of ChintAmani??

May be He, who surveys the highest heavens surely knows, or may be even He does not! (RigVeda, X.129-7)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sketchy once wrote a review of the audio of "Taj Mahal". Regd. the song 'Mumtaz tujhe dekha', Sketchy guessed that it was Kamavardhini scale andI had opined that the song also had a pinch of Behag. It turns out that the main raga of the Poorvi thaat (Kamavardhini, 51st Mela), the raga Poorvi, does have M1 (Shuddha Madhyam) in its midst. Only, the uccharana of the final g3 (p m2 g3 m1 g3) in the song is rather un-Poorvi-ish. So the song is neither in Puriya Dhanashree (with a pinch of behag), nor in Shree, or in Kamavardhini. It seems to be in Poorvi.

But wait! Come to the charaNam and you will notice the usage of the two Madhyams "m1 m2 m1"-- this is raga Lalith, another raga of Poorvi thaat! Wonderful!

All in all, most of the ragas in the movie album, except for the Ajoyda's effort at producing an uncommentable piece, hail from Poorvi that. Hmm!!

Barkha Rithu - Rains & Raagas

2006-07-22T23:49:00.000+05:30

Date: 21st July 2006.

Venue: Ravindra Bharathi Hyderabad

Event: Barkha Rithu - Rains & Raagas

Artistes:

Pt.Shiv Kumar Sharma (Santoor)

Ustad Rashid Khan (Vocal)

Vijay Ghate (Tabla)

Bhawani Shankar (Pakhawaj)

Another concert in hyderabad. Probably nature wanted to welcome the artistes or perhaps the raagas were already looming in their mind, that there was a slight drizzle before the concert started.

The concert started with Pt.Shiv Kumar Sharma's Santoor. Needless to say, it has always been one of my favourite instruments and this live-concert brought me more close to the instrument. Panditji choose the apt raaga for the evening "Megh Malhar" for the 1st track. The beauty of Hindhustani Music, more particularily instrumental music, is the aalaap part where the artiste explores all the corners of the raaga thereby developing the mood. It is like taking the listener to a journey and almost halfway through the aalaap, the listener is completely trapped in that raaga. exactly the same happened with me. The soothing and soft-serene notes/sounds of santoor recreated the mood of rain, clouds drifiting along in the sky...

This instrument santoor has one advantage and one disadvantage. The disadvantage is that the real Gamaka is impossible since the sound is by vibration of various strings closely knit together. Yet, the advantage is that it is like a Piano. At any instant, it can produce two(or more) Sounds at various pitches/Scales since it is played with both the hands. In the case of other string instruments like Sitar, Sarod, veena or even Guitar, the science involved is that a single note is produced when it is struck with finger. Santoor on the other hand, can give both, base & lead tunes. Also, the low-scale ( or say the base section) of this instrument lies on the left side of the trapezium(its shape).Panditji showcased all these elements in his aalaap and one could listen to the minutest vibration of each string where he could produce a Gamaka, though not with the meend but atleast on a flat escalation from minute vibration-1 to minute vibration-2, for example. the music was indded a great treat.

pakhawaj is the hindhusthani counterpart of Mridhangam. The sound of this instrument is little different from Mridhangam in the sense that the Bass element involved in the sound of pakhawaj is quite different from taht of Mridhangam. And Bhawani Shankar's fingers produced some of the fantastic sounds like cloud-burst, thunders to depict the rain. His JugalBandi with Vijay Ghate's Tabla was something phenomenal. Another greatest element of Indian Classical music is the extent of freedom/scope the music leaves for a composer to improvise. especially in the case of jugalbandis, it is amazing to see how these artists play with such awesome precision without any score-sheet in front of them. Improvisation is the only wave on which the music rides and yet, with the cycle of beats constantly changing, it leaves the audeince spellbound. How can they bang the right rhythms (which are again changing)? Indeed, a confluence of mind preceeds the real confluence of music, which is the meaning of jugalbandi.

The Trio treated us with another 30minute piece which was ambrosia for ears. it was a raagamaalika in which i could identify raag Madhyamavathi and raag Malhar, among 2-3 other raagas he improvised upon. When he completed the crescendos each time, one could really feel the rush of adrenalin, even though the sound & instrument pertain to fragile feeling and not fiercy ones. At a point of time, i felt as if a calm trance has taken me over. The music simply flowed...like water...and rain.

Ustad Rashid Khan was the next artiste to take over the stage. He too sang a khayaal in Raag Malhar. The Aalaap was excruciatingly slow with lot of intricate notes structured within the raaga,after which he paced up and played around with his voice. Needless to say, the vocal control was mindboggling, especially during the Sangathis (juggling of Swaras).

In all, it was not just another evening, but a memorable one during which divine music poured down...just like rain...for my soul.

Maestro goes Hindi

2006-07-16T20:20:00.000+05:30

Composer Ilaiyaraaja has composed music for just a handful of Hindi films.But now, he seems to be taking Hindi films bit more seriously than before. He is dishing out about 2 films (there is one more i guess) very soon. Both the film-makers hail from South - RamGopal Varma & Balkrishnan.
While RamGopal Varma's film is titled as "Shiva"(a retro) , Balkrishnan's film, starring Big-B and Tabu, has a very strange title-"Cheeni Kum".

Two recent articles :
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=192659
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1041187

Waiting to see how well he does a Hindi film.

Of ARR and Hindustani

2006-06-30T15:11:00.000+05:30

1.Kukubh Bilawal:
I had been listening to a Kukubh Bilawal piece a few times composed by Ali Akbar Khan and sung by Asha Bhosle about 6 months ago. The piece stayed in my mind, and suddenly one early morning afterwards, it threw up a thought! The song "Sona nahi na sahi" from "One two ka four" conformed to those notes.

Kukubh Bilawal is just normal Bilawal with a special uccharana in the puravanga:
g3 r2 g3 p, p m1 g3, m1 g3 r2 s [g3] r2-- the Kukubh Bilawal anga is expressed in the last part (s [g3] r2).
--the chalan is taken from On the Bilawal trail

To understand what I am trying to say, listen to the song and concentrate on the words "Fikar kya hai, main hoon na tere liye", the last two syllables (liye) are clearly articulated in the Kukubh Bilawal style (s [g3] r2)!

2.Shahana Kaanada:
A well known Bhimpalasi is our good ol' "Radha kaise na jale". But in the second interlude (3:20), listen to the distinct sarod with pakhawaj in the background. That is NOT Bhimpalasi!

The swaras (roughly!) in the song are:
g2 m1 d2, m1 d2 n2 [s] d2 p,
m1 p g2 m1 d2, m1 d2 n2 [s] d2 p,
n2 [s] D p, g2 m1 (g2) r2, g2 m1 p.

This is exactly what is called as Shahana Kanada! A beautiful midnight raga.

-------------------------------------
ARR...
dont know how much more he knows...
dont know when would we be fortunate enough to revel in his brilliance again!

Jugal Bandi

2006-06-15T01:31:00.000+05:30

This one is like completing a Trilogy. After 2 wonderful concerts i attended recently, i felt my appetite for fusion music is picking up well. and to meet up, one more came along. Thanks to Divya, i could attend one more Phenomenal Fusion Music Concert today.
She somehow managed to grab 2 passes for a concert by "Jugal Bandi", a french band which plays world music.The band consists of 6 people.One vocalist & 5 instrumentalists. The instruments array was tempting enough to immediately say YES when she asked if i would like to attend.
Sarod-Tabla-Jazz drums-Trumpet-Bass Guitar.
Venue: Taj Krishna
Time: 7:30pm

The concert turned out to be one of the best ones i ever heard. honestly,after coming to know that the band members are from France (except the Tabla Player,who is a bengali),i thought that their fusion would be mostly be on folkish lines.But their compositions beat my expectations and they came out with excellent performance highlighting the beauty of Indian Classical music and Indian Raagas.
As always,the combination of Tabla & Drums pumped my adrenalin(cliche`). Soundwise, it was a terriffic combination because Sarod & Trumpet were the main instruments while Bass-guitar had its own play. The trumpet player did excellent job with the nuances. Sarod player did go Off-key while playing a composition in Raag 'Bhairavi'. This raaga seems to be their favourite;they played two compositions in this raaga. Similarily, another raaga which hit off very well is Raag 'Desh'. They were accompanied by an African folk singer and she oozed great energy.They experimented with raagas like 'Subha Panthuvaraali' and 'Pahadi', in which the Trumpet emerged out as a fantastic blending instrument. To give an analogy, the tracks were like "Do anything" track from Ilaiyaraaja's "How To Name It", in which he used trumpet as main instrument for raag 'sohini'.ofcourse, these guys put up a more crisp sound with fantastic co-ordination, given the fact that they hail from France and are still amateurs with Hindusthani Classical Music, though the compositions reflected a decent maturity. Not just me and Divya, but the entire audience thoroughly enjoyed each and every composition and must admit that they have stuff.

To Sum up, the experience was quite satisfying, musically and i wish i could get the recording of this concert, for this was a unique fusion which really had that multicultural characteristic, yet retaining the beauty of Indian Music. An experience which is unforgettable for both myself and Divya,whom i should thank for such a lovely evening.

Panchatatva - A Celebration Of Elements

2006-06-11T22:41:00.000+05:30

I didnt want to post anything till i post this.

Celebrating 200yrs of Secunderabad, many shows were being organised recently. The one i was looking forward for, was a fusion concert.

Event: 'Panchatatva' - A celebration of 5 elements.
Date: 7th June 2006.
Time: 7:00pm.
Venue: Harihara Kala Bhavan, Sec'd.
Artists:
Pt.Hari Prasad Chaurasia-Bansuri
Pt.Jasraj - Vocal
U.Srinivas - Mandolin.
Vijay Ghate - Tabla.
Uma Shankar - Ghatam.
Sivamani - Drums & Percussions.
Durga Jasraj - Recitation of Poetry.

The events lined up for secunderabad celebrations were many and most of them were supposedly free-for-all, in Parade Grounds. This event,however, was different. The invitation passes (not tickets) were for only elite VIPs. I tried my best for the passes but couldnt get them. Finally when the D-Day arrived, i almost gave up trying for passes and instead resolved to listen to the concert atleast by standing close to the auditorium premises. But i gave a last minute try by contacting a friend of mine, who promised that she would try to get some passes. After reaching there, i saw that a huge screen has been erected outside the auditorium hall for people who dont have passes. Nice luck, i felt.
Meanwhile, my friend spoke to some security personnels and police guys, citing some influential contact she had and before i could find a good place to sit and enjoy the concert on the screen erected outside, we were being led inside. I immediately contacted few friends who, i thought , could make it but none of them could.

To cut the crap, i was glad to be seated there, after almost giving up.

The concert had a good, though not new, concept. Representing the 5 elements with music. Though Music-Today did come out with a brilliant series "Elements" earlier, this one was different as the concert showcased a conlfuence of all these elements. Durga Jasraj recited Poetry(about each element) during the aalaap piece of every composition played.The poetry, which was in Hindi, was very well written, although i couldnt understand some words.

Sky: Sivamani was in fullform. He carried every possible hollow-3dimensional object one can look around. His jazz-drum ensemble occupied almost 1/4th of the stage and there were many unknown instruments too, digital ones.one particular electronic pad , which he tapped with his hands(as if it is a congo-drum) emitted a bass-y vroom kind of sound...very peculiar. He played around with many percussions backed up electronic sounds,hearing which, one could visualize clouds,meteors, planets and space-travel.

Water: U.Srinivas spelled magic. I watched him play, earlier in a Shakti concert. His ease is totally out-of-the-world. His fingers roll on the mandolin with such a finesse that anything he plays sounds pure and stunning. He choose Raag "Desh" and it flowed just like a stream from a mountain. Needless to say, i drowned in the rasa. One of the rare moments because i heard only Carnatic Music on Mandolin till now, and this was probably the 1st time i could listen to Hindhustani music on that instrument.

Wind(Air): Not surprisingly, Pt.Hari Prasad Chaurasia choose one of the best raagas ever, "HamsaDhwani". I always felt that this particular raaga is made for Flute, because the raaga has a very mellow-happy feel to it and flute is one such instrument whose sound puts a listener in a cradle of similar joy. Uma Shankar & Vijay Ghate threw up some really powerful stunts with their fingers while 70yr old(or more) Flute maestro showed why he is a maestro. His breath control super-awed everyone. The aalap mesmerized the audience and he played around with the raaga imaginatively. The finale stretched for a full 10minutes when he accelerated his 'bandish' into a fast-paced 'tarana'. Hamsadhwani blissed.He blessed.

Fire: This was a complete percussion segment. Uma Shankar(if you didnt know, he is the son of Vikku Vinayakaram) and Vijay Ghate thrashed the instruments they had while Sivamani counter-attacked with his own ensemble. The very fusion of jazz trap-kit + electronic beats and Tabla pumped up my adrenalin. The tremor-ish feel evoked out of the percussions symbolizing the wild rage of Fire.

Earth: Pt.Jasraj came up with a "Khayal" kind of song, set in a raaga unknown to me. It sounded similar to raag "Behag" but i could feel traces of raag "Chaaya Natt" also. Pt.Jasraj's rendition mainly traversed the pitch-scale spectrum. His low(est) Base-to-High Base exploration of Swaras surprised me.This was the 2nd time i heard such a feat (first being: S.P.BalaSubramaniam trying his base vocals in the Prelude of "Suvvi Suvvi" song under Ilaiyaraaja's baton in the film "Swathi Muthyam". ofcourse, there is no comparision but Pt.Jasraj performed the same feat and one could literally listen to the vibration of his vocal chords). I wondered how these aged masters can still retain their tonal control. Not a single note flew on wrong chord.

The Confluence: This was a masterpiece. More so, because the entire composition is set in one of my most-favourite raagas - "Bhairavi"(i couldnt control my enthu, and yelled "BHAIRAVI").Pt.Hari Prasad Chaurasia set the premise while Pt.Jasraj backed him with Aalaaps in Bhairavi.U.Srinivas brought up some amazing gamakams, which challenged Pt.Jasraj.What followed was more of a jugalBandi between Pt.Jasraj and Srinivas in which Srinivas answered every mindboggling gamakam/sangathi threw by Pt.Jasraj. His fingers moved across all the strings and frets with great speed. At one point, when Srinivas didnt understand how to bring out an out-of-the-world Gamakam,which covered the entire high-end to low-end notes of any instrument, he simply banged one of the strings and simultaneously loosened the Hinge of the string. The gamakam broke out exactly as what Pt.Jasraj sang, without even a minor offkey.The entire audience and every artiste on the stage overwhelmed by that feat, clapped for that. i never saw such a trick till in my life. Think of it, to maintain the same scale and raaga, he should have twisted the hinge synchronously at a pace which wouldnt give an off-key note. Having such a command on the instrument floored is no mean joke and it simply justifies his dedication towards that instrument and the years of practice he has put in.Pt.Jasraj couldnt help but only showered respectful blessing on the mandolin wizard with a namaskaaram.
Tha grand finale was again a fast-paced Tarana by the entire ensemble. Bhairavi oozed out taking me into a trance, and as always, the last concluding part and finishing touch brought out a musical-orgasm.

The best thing about this concert was that all the artists were in fullform, thanks to the audience who clapped during all those moments, when the artists showcased their dexterity and and their grasp on the nuances of the instruments they were playing. Even artists like Vijay Ghate and Uma Shankar proved that they are keeping up the legacies of their predecessors. Sivamani was probably the only artist whose image is way different from that of other artists, yet, he could pull off with some stunning moments especially when Pt.Jasraj was singing. Before everyone left, his casual comment, "Ee Roju Chaala Baundhi" reminded me of his "hello Sandhya! Nenu chaala chandaalanga...dharidhrangaa chacchaanu kadhoo...aedho naa bondha".

In all, Another unforgettable concert in my life and i can only thank my luck(and my friend) for having got the oppurtunity to feast the outstanding musical fiesta. Concerts like these also remind us (me especially) how small and insignificant we are , compared to greats like these and how much we are losing by choosing a mundane-life chasing god-knows-what, over the rich and soul-stirring music.

(If only tapes/cds are released, i shall buy it without looking at the price-Tag)

Khamaj

2006-05-26T09:15:00.000+05:30

You would know what I am talking about if you were in India...
---------------------------------------
roop ki ghani hoo main
prem ke liye bani hoo main
saiyyan more gappi
dede na mohe pappi

log chlormint kyon khaatein hain??

g3 m1 d2 n2 s, p d2 p, g3 m1 g3,

dobara mat poocho.
----------------------------------------
Super Khamaj!

Sangeet Saritha

2006-03-03T10:56:00.000+05:30

Yesterday morning, I was listening to Sangeet Saritha on Vividha Bhaarathi at 7:30 AM, and a gentleman was explaining raga Basanth Mukhaari:

Basanth Mukhaari corresponds to Vakulaabharanam, the 14th Melakartha of carnatic music-- one can identify it as a close kin of MaayaaMaalava Gowla (called Bhairav in Hindustani)-- only the nishaadam is different.
Basanth Mukhaari has the puurvaanga (s r2 g3 m1) of Bhairav, and the uttaraanga of Bhairavi (Sindhu Bhairavi-- p d1 n2 s). In that sense, this raga depicts the coming together of Shiva and Parvathi into one Ardhanaareeshwara roopa of Shiva.

A beautiful thought!

Kedar.

Pagal Nilavu: Rounding up

2006-01-27T23:31:00.000+05:30

Pagal Nilavu (1985)

A couple of mentions remain in this album. Poovilae Medai. and Vaarayo Vanmathi..

Poovilae is a small song with running time less than 3 mins. The beginning is sure to remind one of a duet from one of the WCM masters. Simple yet very delightful. The song itself has a very simple tune. I believe one of the keys to unlocking IR's genius is to also view his compositions as if they were purely WCM orchestrations. This kind of imagination takes a while to grow to a level where you can appreciate some of Guru's compositions. At first hearing a song like this would sound probably unattractive. But if you imagine a solo violin and orchestra with the exact same tune and support... it creates an entirely different effect. IR does give hints of the orchestral parallel universes. The interlude folowing the Pallavi may remind one of parallel tunes to Endhan Nenjil (by KJY). However IR quickly comes back to the song. Unusually enough this song has just one charanam. The beat pattern might kill the beauty of the song... I wonder why he used any perceptible rhythm instrument at all. Atleast it doesn't appeal much to my sensibilities in these kinds of compositions.

Vaarayo is a totally different song. One cannot exactly place what it is with this song... for example the singers are not upto the mark or it sounds very much like one of the hindi songs of that era (if you imagine a drum kit playing instead of a tabla)... the song still somehow manages to be mentioned here. May be it is the resemblance to other pearls Ennadhaa sugamo or En vaaniley . But it remains an imitation. It is upto you to decide if it is cheap. The only salient feature of this song is the interlude magic. If you can survive the most cliche'd tabla rhythm (IR has used it in some N number of songs --N being almost all of the near-trash songs he ever gave--which is huge! -- fortunately he also gave us a huuuge number of songs of a very high order) then make a note of the first interlude's second half that leads to the charanam 1. There is a pocket of a semblance of good instrumentation there. The second interlude is also decent forming the other cool part of the song. Music India Online recording somehow stopped the song abruptly as if what we have heard is enough.

Actually the other song Maina Maina from the album (sang by guru himself) is the trashiest number... but...(there is always a 'but' associated with his songs.. one cannot dismiss them as not having any knowledge) in one of the interludes he uses ideas from 'bluegrass' and 'country' styles very effectively with simple guitars. If you have nothing better to do -- do check it out.

----
P.S.
Aakarsh has remained particularly patient (and silent) with my promises to finish writing this section (i.e., ... he's been conveniently missing action these days). We'll try to combo-up a draft for Idhaya Kovil or Mouna Ragam as soon as I find out if he's alive.

Of Raj Kalyan

2006-01-03T08:26:00.000+05:30

I was listening to the song "Katril varum geethame" again and I found that more than sometimes, the panchamam is skipped while sliding through the avarohana, which gives the raga a slight haunting feeling, eg: -- n3-d2-m2-g3. This is esp. noticed first in the short alapana in the first interlude and then in the notes sung in the second interlude (s- n3-d2-m2-g3-r2-s).

There is a raga by Vasant Rao Deshpande called Raj Kalyan which is basically Kalyan without the panchamam: http://www.sawf.org/audio/kalyan/vasantrao_rajkalyan.ram

That same effect is obtained in Tukaram's Abhang "Sundar te dhyaan" sung by Lata. Though the pallavi seems to be rooted in Maru Bihag (the background music for Raincoat), the second and third charanams register a spike near this "Raj Kalyan" frequency.

Great tool this can be for people like Ilayaraja who specialise in haunting tunes.

Rang De Basanthi

2005-12-22T14:55:00.000+05:30

Rang De Basanti

This is the 2nd film of director,"Rakesh Mehra", who earlier made Anu Malik to come up with phenomenally different score with his debut "Aks". I still rate Aks as one of the very few best albums of Anu Malik because he gave a very unconventional score, steeped in contemporary-techno sound.I shall cover that album in another post.

For Rang De Basanthi,Rakesh Mehra ropes in Aamir Khan for lead-role,A.R.Rahman for music and Prasoon Joshi (ad-maker) for lyrics.Though the title reflects a period-film-revolutionary feel(bhagath singh song),the film actually is very modern and has lot of hep-look.The music reflects exactly the same.

Ek Onkar-- it is a short song, a punjabi Bhajan infact. just a recitation of some stanzas.

Khalbali-- its a techno song...no great tune...Rahman sings it with two new singers.The song is too repetitive and doesnt boast of any compositional skills.after some time, it simply irritates.

Khoon Chala-Khoon Chala is a short song, but a slow one...sung by Mohit Chauhan, who was the lead singer of the band "Silk-Route". this song begins softly and rahman gives anthemic feel as the song progresses, with his instrumentation.However, the song doesnt linger in your mind for long..

Lalkaar is another short one..but it is not a song..it is a recitation of poetry by Aamir Khan..backed by chorus.

Lukka Chupi--Rahman does the unexpected. He,as a singer, teams up with Lata Mangeshkar.This song is a "mother-son" song.The song has nice guitar strumming..with even the tweaks of guitar. Tune is good. Its typical rahman-experiment..with just one charanam instead of conventional pattern.Nice orchestration..bass-work..tabla and all..everything about this song is good, except the vocals. Since, its mother singing for/with son, probably Lata Mangeshkar suits (picturised on waheeda Rehman) it, but rahman spoilt the song with his vocals.He sounds like Lucky Ali with his terrible nasal twang and overly accentuated Tamil/South-Indian Accent (the way he sings "nayaa nayaa"..in charanam).Probably the only song of rahman, in which he screwed the song with his own vocals.The ending of the song is interesting though..rahman raises the tempo by classicalisation with swaras and Lata ends it with completion of crescendo.a better song of the album.

Paathshaala--this song has two versions, one of them being a remix.this is ultra-techno-heppy song..which is aimed at discotheques...not a single word is audible clearly during 1st hearing (u will eventually get the lyrics during 2nd or 3rd listening)except "apni tho paathshaala..masti ki paathshaala..."..laced with some people yelling "lose control" and "be a rebel"(in its remix version)...this song might become a rage with youth...college going chaps and all..after repeated hearings, even you might hum this tune bcoz its hummable..however, the bottomline is that the song is meaningless and doesnt qualify as a composition..All we need to compose songs like these is a computer with a good music software.

Rang De Basanti title song is typical punjabi bhangra song with techno stuff thrown in, sung by Daler Mehendi.Chitra makes a guest appearance. There is nothing different about this song..same punjabi string sounds..but overlapped on synth sounds.and i dont like those punjabi beats with single string stuff and all..hence, this song didnt appeal to me.

Roobaroo--this song again has simple guitar strumming and very simple tune..this song has lot of Indi-Pop kind of sound...nothing extra-ordinary but you will eventually like this song, compared to all the others in the album...the song at times, reminds you of "Smiyaai" from kandukondein..because of the multiple-vocal effect used for a jingle-like tune..this song again might become a hit because its too simple ..for the college-youth to sing/play with a guitar in hand...

Tu Bin Bathaaye-- This is the only romantic song of this album...the main melody, which is reminiscent of some hindi oldie, keeps playing and slowly instruments are added one by one...Nice rendition by madhushree...Though the tune sounds very simple without many variations,even in charanam(again single charanam only), it has that likeable quality because of that Breezy feeling stamped to it...The last saving grace of the album.

The album is certainly not rahman's one-of-the-best.It reflects his increasing-dependence on technology/computers to compose music and most of the music is synthesised using loops and other effects. except for few guitars and string section in 1-2 songs,i dont see any acoustic stuff at all.It may justify with the theme of the film but it doesnt showcase the compositional genius of Rahman.Given such resources, anyone can experiment with sounds and can come up with a score like this one...Some argue that techno albums cannot be that classy.My example would be "thiruda thiruda"(thee thee theeyani song is still ahead of present-times..its very techno..but laced with wonderful ideas) or even the more recent "Yuva"...

Also, unlike all other rahman albums, here, the soul is missing..there are many albums in which his hard-work is underlined by the raagas used,the innovative ideas interwoven, and the over-all feel he paints to the sound of the album.He infact makes an album into a beautiful pot-pourri of various genres of songs.Rang De Basanti lacks those elements and turns out to be just another techno-album on the block, which may become instant hit during film's release..but would be definitely forgotten 2 years down the lane...
Rahman!Its time for some retrospection.

Of Hindustani

2005-12-15T19:59:00.000+05:30

The enlightening discussions by prc and aakarsh on mavericks forced me into thinking(literally!! I had stopped thinking for a while now!) about this...

Hindustani system has a definite signature for each raga, called the raagaanga, and a singer wishing to elaborate on a raga first provides the signature and then launches into in-depth analysis and experimentation on the raga ("Nee RaaNi chacchindi po!" types).

The signatures of some of the very well-known ragas are very very interesting:

ex: Yaman(Kalyani) and Bilawal(Sankarabharanam) have only a difference of madhyamam...

It seems quite obvious that their signatures have madhyamam in the starting phrases as well... but surprise surprise!!

yaman: n3 r2 g3, p--r2 s, m2 d2 n3 d2 p.

bilawal: g3 r2 g3 p, n3 d2 n3 s, d2 n2(uses both n s, n2 optional though) d2 p m1 g3.

In the above example, both m1 and m2 are not exactly necessary for fairly acquainted listeners to identify them as the respective ragas. In fact, just n3-r2-g3 is sufficient to dump a raga into the yaman catalogue.

Also, Todi (Shubhapanthuvarali) needs only 3 swaras as its signature: s-r1->g2->r1-s.
Of course, uccharana is of utmost importance.

The Hindustani system provides ample opportunity for-

1) having more than one raga with the same notes:

ex 1: Bhoopali, Deshkar, Jait Kalyan, and Audav Devgiri (never heard that one!) have same notes but since they have different raagaangas prominent, they sound differently. Since I am only an amateur, I can only guide you where to find the exact solution:
http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit08052002/musicarts.asp

ex 2: just the intonation of the meend from p to r2 differentiates 3 ragas: Chhaaya, goud-sarang, and of course yaman:
http://www.sawf.org/audio/kalyan/jha_panchamrishabspeak.ram

2) creating composite ragas, called jod-ragas: Since each raga (well, most!) has its corresponding raagaanga, it is possible to interface two ragas and create a unique phrase for the composite raga borne out of the two parent-ragas. Of course it requires tremendous talent and skill to catch hold of the right parent ragas and the right sewing points-- points where shift of ragas occurs.

ex: Malhar anga is : m1 r2 p
i) malhar anga + Kaanada anga (deergha kampitha g2 m1 r2 s)= miya ki malhar (of course it also has some other ornaments such as both the n s),
ii) malhar anga + nat anga (s r2, r2 g3, g3 m1)= nat-malhar
iii)malhar anga + kedar anga (s m1, m1 p, p d->(m2)->m1, s r2 s) = kedar-malhar

There are more than 25 malhars...
http://www.sawf.org/Newedit/edit10162000/musicarts.asp

Similarly, nat anga and Kedar anga are very popular and are a part of many jod-ragas.

I wonder if Carnatic music has raga-signatures, or does it leave to the performer on using the notes to create the required bhava. I just know that varnams are used to provide the basic support on what swara-phrases impart that characteristic colour to the raga.

Kedar.

Pagal Nilavu-2: Vaidehi Raman

2005-12-10T00:56:00.000+05:30

Pagal Nilavu

Analysis is a journey whose beginning is delight and the destination - a delightful revelation. The purpose of analysis is that revelation... a "goosebump"y feeling... which makes life livelier. The song "Vaidehi Raman" from Pagali Nilavu gives me such delight and joy that I'm already jumping in the chair just writing about it. However, some technical issues need to be mentioned upfront if I have to get through the writing and manage to convey some meaning across. In other words, imagine a bee sucking nectar from a blooming flower. The scene does not require a conscious being to think about it to make it beautiful... it is beautiful already... consciousness just recognizes it - but put an observer in the scene and he/she will enjoy the nectar vicariously. I hope the talk on tech issues will serve this purpose - as a conscious observer to be a guide to enjoy the beauty of this song.

Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Sa constitute the notes of any melakartha scale (chromatic scale in the Indian system akin to do re mi fa so la ti do in WCM using all seven notes). Each raaga therefore takes different pitches for Ri, Ga, Ma, Dha, Ni to establish its scale (scale only not its essence). Raagam Kalyaani follows the scale - Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma2 Pa Dha2 Ni3 Sa (refer to Carnatic Ragalist)(in WCM notation, in the scale of C, that translates to - C D E F# G A B C). Sa is called the aadhara shruthi or the root note of a scale (which plays on in the tanpura along with the fifth note Pa and higher octave Sa). From this elementary concept we jump to a relatively advanced idea. If the root note of a scale is changed, for example from C to G or Sa to Pa in the above Kalyaani scale, while still playing the same keys/notes- it sometimes becomes another Raaga (not always the case- in some cases it might not be any raaga at all). That is if the root note is changed from C to G/Sa to Pa (hence making G/Pa the aadhara shruthi or the root droning note but still using the exact same notes of Kalyaani), Kalyaani changes into a different raaga (in this case Shankaraabharanam). In fact, this exercise can be done to each note of a scale to see what raaga results from it. This is called Sruthi bhedam in the classical circle. Kalyaani is one of those wonderful scales which produces a different Melakartha raaga on sruthi bhedam with almost every note. Almost. In fact, Kalyaani (Melakartha number -abbr. as M#- 65); Hari Kambhoji (change shruthi to Ri or D; M# 28); Nata Bhairavi (to Ga/E; M# 20); ( change of shruthi to the 4th note F# or Ma2 does not produce a melakartha raaga); Shankaraabharanam (change to Pa/G; M# 29); Kharaharapriya (change to Dha/A; M# 22); and Hanuma Thodi (Ni/B; M# 08) form this set of raagas which can be derived from each other just by Shruthi Bhedam . With this knowledge let's proceed fearlessly into magical "Vaidehi Raman".

The song Vaidehi Raman is in the scale of D# (also represented as Eb). It just means that the Sa is D#. That's all. We shall talk about the song in the Indian Classical System notation, i.e., sa ri ga etc.

The song begins with the sound of Ghungroo (Gajjalu/dancer's anklets) and Bells/Xylophone leading to an orchestral string section piece. The delight has already begun to take shape. We know here that the harmonically sound piece is pointing to the development of the Raaga Kalyaani. A mridangam solo follows the orchestral piece. This idea of using mridangam next to an orchestral piece might sound ridiculous. But the execution in the song's intro is almost unbelievable. The idea is simple - use the rhythm of the orchestral piece. Follow it and build it up to a crescendo with the Mridangam. The genius is in that simplicity. From melody to rhythm and viceversa. If Kalyani didn't spring up in the mind of the listener yet, IR plays the scale in bells immediately following the mridangam solo. Sa ri ga ma pa da ni sa on bells and then vocals begin "Vaidehi Raaman"... and we definitely know now that it is the blissful Kalyaani beyond all doubt. IR uses all the instruments that are most perfectly suited to bring out the joyous flavor of Kalyaani - Bells and Bass combo, the ecstatic pair of mridangam and tabla, Sitar, Flute, Violin Orchestra, and a female voice! So we bask in Kalyaani's divine beauty and the images of brightly lit huge temple alleys suggest themselves to my mind (I donno how Mani picturized it! never seen the song). A beautiful Kalyaani interlude follows the pallavi on Sitar and flute (mainly) leading to the charanam.

The charanams in this song are goldmines of musical information. The composer takes the leading vocal close to the note "Ni" toward the end of the charanam. Ordinary composers might have left it at that and returned to the pallavi (cuz the beginning note of Pallavi is Sa). But IR, being the maverick he is, uses this as the perfect time to change the sruthi to "Ni". But if you've observed there is no tanpura in the song. He accomplishes this Sruthi Bhedam through the use of Bass guitar and strumming the note Ni (where Janaki sings "ni sa ni ni sa sa").
So the phrases - ni sa ninisa sa - ni sa ri ninisa sa - ni sa ga ri sanidapa dapamapa;
pa da mama pa pa - pa ni damama pa pa - sagama- gamada- madani-danisa-belong to Hanumathodi scale with the Ni of Kalyaani being droned with the Bass (If you look up our Sruthi Bhedam scheme for Kalyaani above you will notice that the scale that is produced by a tonal shift to Ni is Hanuma Thodi. ) Numerous other posts on this blog have devoted themselves to the bass lines in the compositions of IR so there is no need to dwell on that subject anymore. He hints at "Hindolam" by the use of the phrases "gamada-madani-danisa" (hindolam uses the same notes in its scale sa ga ma da ni sa but is not a derivative of Hanumathodi)...and he joins back to the Pallavi via a simple phrase "ni sa ga ri" and a shift to Sa in Kalyaani. The devil of an idea! For an unintiated listener it might definitely sound like voodoo... but we know its only sruthi bhedam. Also the use of hindolam phrases is not an accident. It is a hint that he is going to use hindolam again.

After a single rendition of the pallavi, IR uses an unusual format. Swaras follow the Pallavi. The primary idea he uses to join to the Kalyaani in the second charanam is the use of pentatonics. Or ragas that use only 5 notes. Similar to melakartha ragas sruthi bhedam can also be applied to the pentatonics. Saving you much calculation and trouble, mohanam, hindolam, suddha dhanyasi, suddha saveri, madhyamavathi all form a sruthi bhedam set (all derived from the melakartha ragas mentioned previously). IR touches every one except suddha saveri in this song.

With the swaras they are -
ga ga gaga riri- ga ga gagagaga - ri gapaga ri sa ni sa ni (they still are in Kalyaani , but note the use of the swaras as if deriving a pentatonic from Kalyaani using sa ri ga pa ni which actually is hamsa dhwani but the swaras dont do justice to hamsadhwani) and conecting to a real pentatonic
ma ma mama - saga mamamama - gamadanidamadasama (in Hindolam - by sruthi change to Ni ; as mentioned earlier hindolam shares its notes with hanumathodi)
ga ri ga papapa- magamada (alternating between kalyaani and hindolam)
ga ri ga papapa - ga ma da ni ( " )
sa sasasa- ni ni sa sasasasasa - nisasa nisasa nisasa nisasa nisa nisa nisaga gagasanipa - pa ni sa sasa ni pa ga ( all of this in suddha dhanyaasi - tonal shift to Dha of Kalyaani - suddha dhanyaasi is a derivative of kharaharapriya as expected from the shruthi change to Dha -refer to the list of melakartha ragas mentioned above which are sruthi bhedam partners of kalyani)
sa ri ga papapa ri ga pa da sa gapadasaa (in mohanam - sruthi change to Ri gives HariKambhoji - Mohanam is a derivative of HariKambhoji--- end of story!) And join back to the actual second charanam in Kalyani.

So the movements in the song can be described as going from Sa (Kalyaani) to Ni (Hanumathodi/hindolam) to Dha (Suddhadhanyaasi) to Ri (Mohanam). It is the play with these movements that creates the beautiful effect which is the trademark of this jewel of a song in Kalyaani. All that is left for us is to enjoy the song in the light of this observation opening up a new world of ideas and more joy.

P.S: Apologies for the size of the post. Believe me if I could make it any shorter I would.

--Random Walker.

To add my observations(or to make it more lengthier..):

1.The blend of sitar+violins in the 1st interlude and towards the end of 1st interlude..Intermittent Usage..How to name it?a classical symphony!!!well!Only the Emperor can name it.

2. the Violin pieces used in the charanams are simply master-strokes. A restricted single stroke on violins,after 1st line of charanam adds beauty and what is restricted to a single stroke in those lines..is given a freehand to finish the crescendo..as counter melody in the next lines..thats Killer of an Idea..and these are my fav pieces.

3. Not just the beat(mridangam) but even the Sound of it changes as soon as she takes over the swaras from charanam lyrics. infact, he brings in Tabla also which swaps its place with Mridangam and vice-versa..for very short duration that too.

4.There is no 2nd interlude, as Ravi implied...only vocals play with swaras..backed by mridangam+tabla...and he effortlessly pulls into 2nd charanam.

5.I have heard many Kalyanis(classically sounding ones..) of IR and i have observed that, in majority of them, he has used Sitar/Veena.(this discussion will form another post).As far as i remember,the latest "kaatril Varum Geethame" (oru naal oru kanavu) is the only exception.

6.I think this song is the first song of Mani-IR combo which falls in pure-classical category..i mean..a song which has more traditional instruments like Mridangam etc.,.

The song is definitely a mile-stone among IR songs(among his Raagamaalikas too..) and hence, we are compelled to come up with a post this Big.so, Blame it on Maestro.

--Aakarsh.

Maniratnam - Ilaiyaraaja....Pagal Nilavu-1

2005-12-05T18:06:00.000+05:30

Pagal Nilavu (1985)

Pagal Nilavu is Maniratnam's third film and debut tamil film. Starcast comprised of Revathy,Murali & Sathyaraj. The story was about a Village Dictator, his henchman and a Police Officer & his sister. I read somewhere that this film was a flop but it has got couple of fantastic songs like "poomaalaye", "Vaidehi Raaman" & "Vaaraayo".

In this post, I would like to discuss the song "Poo Maalaye...Thol Seravaa", sung by Janaki & Ilaiyaraaja himself.This song is regarded as one of the best songs of Ilaiyaraaja, for the innovative ideas he has used musically.

The prelude of this song is very interesting. A section of Violins play on , which are overlapped with another section. His facsination for WCM is stamped right from word GO...This string ensemble ends with keyboards with flute which play alternatively and then together, as in a Symphony style.But they are immediately cut by Sitar notes, which are replayed by Flute. The most notable element here is Bass which takes over the background when the flute plays the final lines.The rhythm is on Jazz+Dholak kind of instrument and Janaki starts off the pallavi. When she sings the 1st line for the 2nd time, Ilaiyaraaja cuts in with a different connecting tune in background which comes into foreground as next lines of pallavi.When he sings it in base,she catches the higher scale and vice-versa.and Pallavi ends with a lenghty line as ilaiyaraaja's voice fades into background. Infact, this song catches your attention right in the first hearing because these alternative humming in lower and higher scales sounds interesting.

Another wonderful aspect of this song is the pace. There is hardly any gap between one instrument and another. The instruments take over the interlude, the very moment the pallavi ends.And Ilaiyaraaja's first preference is always String Section.The ensemble of Violins, Cellos and Bass aptly fill that class feel.The flute and guitars play a tune which has nostalgic feel after which the sitars end the interlude.

Here comes the tricky part. The rhythm shifts to a more traditional Tabla and ilaiyaraaja starts off the charanam.After singing the first line once, he repeats it again...but now, it is interspersed with Janaki singing a totally different tune but of same length. Her humming ends with a note on higher scale, which forms the starting note for his next line.This exercise is repeated one more time.The 1st time i heard this part, i was really baffled by the idea as such, given the fact that Ilaiyaraaja conceives the entire score in his mind first.And here, you can virtually see a mixing of vocals in two different tunes.How could he do it? its only a revelation that there is a mixer & sequencer in his mind. Anyways, the following lines highlight the guitars and bass work in the background and the charanam completes in the same way..like the pallavi ends..like a complettion of a loop.the tabla piece ends and only here , u get to hear a very small pause in background..before the main rhythm takes up.

The 2nd interlude is not that behind..a guitar melody plays on, which is dominated by Key-board.This sound is very peculiar..i mean..it isindeed a peculiar sound to be used in a conventional romantic song because generally this kind of sound is used in comical situations as BGM.The string section plays a very brief piece after which the sitar plays a tune, which is a very fast descent of notes.This piece is immediately (no time gap) hummed by ilaiyaraaja as an initiation for charanam-2.this idea has been used several times by ilaiyaraaja where he signals the listener about the tune you are about to listen, by playing that bit on an instrument just before it is actually sung/hummed.

The 2nd charanam has the same Blending of tunes idea but in role-reversal. Another interesting idea is mxing the last word and first word of lines: "poo maalye thol seravaa." and connecting line is "vaasam oru Poo"..but he connects it as "poo maalaye..thol seravaa..Vaasam oru poomaalaye thol seravaa..".
i dont know if the credit should go to composer or lyricist but definitely Ilaiyaraaja has displayed his compositional skills and more so, the mixing skills by weaving very beautiful musical phrases, which made this song a memorable one, among the best of ilaiyaraaja gems.

Flawless Harmony in his Music.

2005-11-20T18:21:00.000+05:30

I came across a nice article on Salil Chaudhary, in today's HINDU newspaper. and thought of sharing it with you. But when we are talking about him, why not remember a nice song as well.

I choose a relatively not-so-famous composition from the Film "Honeymoon". This fantastic song by Mukesh, once again dismisses the myth that mukesh was good only in sad songs. Infact, Salilda was one of the few composers who tapped the other-side of Mukesh.Remember, even in Madhumati, he gave a lilting melody "dil tadap tadap" to mukesh and a SAD song "Toote hue khwaabo ne" to Mohd.Rafi (not to forget, to the same rafi,he gave a comic song "jungle mein mor nacha"..in the same film..), instead of Mukesh, who already made a mark in singing sad songs.
The song "Mere Khwaabo mein " from this "Honeymoon" has a really peculiar tune. Salilda was famous for composing strange tunes like these, which would baffle the instrumentalists. i mean, if you plot a graph for the tune of this song, it would be an unusual curve, with many uthar-chadaos. The Salilda song we discussed last time ," aansoo samajh ke" from Chaaya, also has similar property. At the first earing, you cannot understand where he is starting and where he is heading to. The very prelude displays his fascination for WCM. And he restricted Lata only to a brief humming during interludes.
My favourite part lies in the 2nd line of the Pallavi (the tune of which repeats in the endings of charanams as well). the line " ek din meet mere...meri gali aap chale aayenge" is the crux, according to me. the words "ek din meet mere" is sung in base while "mere gali " is given a lift and the words "chale aayenge" have an unconventional end-up tune. ..as if..suddenly he switched over to a black-key, after many white-keys..on a key-board. I am not knowledgeable to explain what he did..but i can feel the change he brings out during those last two words.it is quite unusual and only Salil-da could walk away with such different strokes. and Mukesh too did 100% justice to that composition. i have tried singing it and myself felt "what an odd composition"!
anyways, let me not write too much that you guys forget reading that article. Just play on and Read on, remembering the Genius of Salil Chaudhary.

Main Dil hoon ek armaan bharaa...

2005-11-18T20:07:00.000+05:30

Anhonee

This film belongs to 50s era. One of my most favourite songs of composer Roshan, is in this film. The song,"Main Dil Hoon ek Armaan Bharaa" , has been a favourite of mine since i was a kid. I dont know how my Dad got this lesser-known song but all i remember is that sony tape..which had a vinyl record version of this song.

Roshan was, perhaps, one genius of composer who was overshadowed by icons like Naushad,S.D.Burman,O.P.Nayyar,Salil Chaudhary etc.,. though his compositions were very popular, his name was never considered among the likes of these Dhiggajaas. One reason could be that there was never a Roshan-Style. Though he created marvelous gems, they were all different and didnt follow any particular trait of the composer. For some, it is versatality while for others, its lack of signature...whatever! its all perception. For me, he was one of the most fantastic composers of yester-years. This song by Silkvoiced Talat Mahmood underlines his genius.

main dil hoon ek armaan bharaa..
tu aake mujhe pehchaan zaraa..

khud maine husn ke haathon mein..
shaukheen kaa chalakataa jaam diyaa..
gaalon ko gulaabon kaa ruthbaa..
kaliyon ko labon kaa naam diyaaaa..
khon ko diyaa saagar gaharaa..
tu aake mujhe pehchaan zaraa..

ye sach hain teri mehfil mein..
mere afsaane kuchh bhi nahee..
par dil ki daulat ke aage..
duniyaa ke khazaane kuchh bhi nahee..
yun mujhse nigaahon ko naa churaa..
tu aake mujhe pehchaan zaraa..
Main dil hoon ek armaan bharaa..

Nice lyrics there, by an unknown Satyendra.

Roshan comes up with wonderful piano-work aptly backing a heart-touching Tune which forms the melody of the song. the entire song is carried only on the piano primarily.beautiful notes.Not to forget the most appropriate rendition by the fitting singer Talat. Tunes like these have left the world of indian film music long ago. Now and then, when i dig out some or rewind(and thereby remind) back to listen to them, apart from nostalgia, i feel the loss of such fine melody in today's music. and ofcourse,the dearth..or infact the absence of composers like Roshan too...
If only they and those times come back...thats what i wish..."main dil hoon ek Armaan bharaa".

Pallavi-Anupallavi Part-3

2005-11-08T09:44:00.000+05:30

No Discussion about Ilaiyaraaja's music is complete without talking about his Bass-work. And there is no composer who can write tricky Bass notes like the way he does. If you follow the bass-work in his songs, it will take you to a different world, as Ravi mentioned in the previous post.And needless to say that Bach keeps popping up now and then.

The third/last song from Pallavi Anupallavi, "Nagu Enthidhey" needs as much discussion as the previous songs did. i can use only one word to describe this song. It is "Stylish", in genre.i mean, its not down-to-earth kind...but has quite sophisticated feel to it, be it the tune of pallavi or that of charanams.somehow, i am led to believe that this is Raag "Nata-Bhairavi"(for it sounds similar and also, IR composed 2-3 Natabhairavi's which sound similarly styish). but experts, plzz clarify.

But, first, take my observation: All the songs(taken for discussion) of this film have lengthy and wonderful Preludes. I may not be wrong to say that they themselves are enough to give a glimpse of what this man is capable of. this song ,"Nagu Enthidhey" does just that.

Prelude: it starts with key-board Santoor-ish sound coupled with Bass on a higher scale. we have, basically 2 lines...which repeated again...making it four, before the rhythm is introduced. and the end of first line & third line here is highlighted by a single note of Flute, which joins the bass. and for that last note, the santoor-ish sound is missing. then, when the rhythm is introduced, only Flute & Bass take over. Do listen to the bass-work carefully, it is more split while the flute flows(Its Bach again). When the flute piece ends, string section takes over..in two sections infact. One which scales from low notes to higher ones and the other which takes the exactly opposite direction. and even when the string section concludes the prelude, the bass work does its part by drawing your attention towards it.This idea has been used many times, in many songs. Now you know why actor Kamal Haasan said, " people call him Isai-Gnani(scholar of music) while i think he should be called "Isai-Vignani(scientist of music)".

Janaki sings the first line. quite alright. Now, she repeats it..and violin counter-melody fills in the background. he doesnt believe in unidimensional compositions i think. and then, as if thats not enough, just as that line ends, the bass-volume rises..as if its saying ,"even i am here.."..which continues as the 2nd line progresses..after which it completes its loop. Observe the bass structure.Amazing & Unconventional. also, when she starts singing, some electronic sound constantly plays in the background..which comes to the forefront (along with bass) only after that 2nd line. How can he write all these things in one-go?

The first interlude: i like the way it starts..two sections...the 2nd following the first one. the bass work, till the string section finishes its part is again captivating ( IR<=>Bach).the oboe kind of sound, having a dialogue with guitar is probably to suit the picturisation. one interesting combination of instruments follow here...Flute has a dialogue with violin section (now this is fusion), while bass and Ek-taara(how weird to use it here) complement in the background. totally diverse instruments..but playing together to create a wonderful effect. thats Raaja.

Charanam: i love the timing where he starts the percussion(exactly after 1st two words). the extra-ordinary guitar work in the background supports main melody very well, (the 1st two lines of charanam have that stylish feel..even in rendition too..). and from the 3rd lines, the same violin counter-melody starts off in the background (salil chaudhary here..). The charanam ends with his usual trade-mark loop-ends..on jazz kit and bass/electronica.

2nd interlude: this has a brief aalaap, which tends to take pathos-feel at the end(raaga change)..after which violins play over to teh scale given by Bell-like sound.. i think this song is more situatonal, which IR must have depicted through these sudden changes.

the 2nd charanam is similar to first one. but the counter-melody of violins which start half-way trhough the 2nd charanam seamlessly continue into the pallavi repetition till the end of the song.

Maniratnam, as i said before, has struck great chord(s) with IR right in the first film, which made him repeat him in all the subsequent films. But i still wonder why the music of all other films have gained much more recognition than Pallavi-Anupallavi, which is equally phenomenal.

Anyways, we now give in for some other posts, after which , the next film "pagal Nilavu" would be discussed. Ideally, the next film should be "Onaru" but the soundtrack of this film is rare and unavailable. I heard that it has only 2 songs which are extremely good but...could never get them.So, shall skip it and write about "Pagal Nilavu" sometime soon.Meanwhile Digest this one.

PS:
If one (fantastic)song of IR can take so much to write, then what would it take to cover all his fantastic compositions, given the fact that his work is highly prolific.

Pallavi-Anupallavi-2

2005-11-02T22:31:00.000+05:30

IR worships Thyagaraja. Idolizes Bach. Is enslaved by the compositions of Mozart and Beethoven. Let me dispel any doubts that you may have regarding IR's inspirations through "Naguva Nayana" from Pallavi Anupallavi. This one showing the connection between IR and Bach. (If we are lucky we'll get to his other inspirations soon)

Listen (and very keenly so) to the beginning of the song. Janaki (pronounced Jana'gee' ;)) hums the tune to chords played on the guitar. After a successful digestion of that tune, remember J.S. Bach's "Bourree" (everyone knows this piece - one only has to hear it to remember). I believe Bourree (go to the link and search for the name) has inspired IR so much that I find traces of it in almost all my fav songs of his. Compare the lines of main voice with those of bass in the beginning lines of "Aakasam enatidho" from Nireekshana; "Ennulle Ennulle" from Valli - to illustrate, the main voice's notes are played in the reverse order for the bass--ah! the genius of Bach. The beginning notes are all the same as that for Bourree but the time values are different.
Then SPB sings/hums the second part of the tune. Then a small silence- a rest (read 'arrest'). A full blown orchestra follows. To understand the Bach connection one has to listen to the bass lines (remember this mantra!). Each instrument's notes in this beginning orchestral piece can be separated and played as a distinct musical piece in itself. Not a big deal right? Wrong. To be able to conceive four distinct tunes (and in this case with different timing) and mesh them together in the mind is nothing short of mindblowing. The only connection between them is they are all harmonic siblings. A trait J.S. Bach nurtured to its pinnacle which IR embraced and preserved. The leading violins are complemented by a second set of violins (requires some selective hearing). There is a bass following in it's own time scheme (like 1234-1234-12345678). And you will have no doubt that each of them can be a main voice in itself. OK that's just the stuff even before the song has actually started (atleast for most people).

SPB starts the part that Janaki hummed and Janaki sings the part that SPB hummed in the prelude. This is the acid test for Bach's influence on IR. In Bach's canons - instruments change their roles from main voices to supporting ones. Tunes complement each other. It's so symmetric that if you write down the notes and code it into a different alien language and give it to an intelligent decoder, he might not be able to come up with Bach's canon- but he would have definitely decoded a beautiful theorem on symmetry. In fact, Bach's Crab Canon is the nth orbital state a musical piece can achieve in symmetry and beauty. The simple switching of voices by IR is an illustration that the seeds of his musical thoughts were planted by Bach (for an unbelievable discussion on symmetry in Bach's music read Douglas Hofstadter's "Godel, Escher, Bach - The eternal golden braid").

In the interlude that follows, IR takes you from Germany to Mohana with such flair that one might wonder how a geographical location could end up in a raga? The charanams are similar in format. Mohana ending with a touch of kalyani. This song has such an evolution in its development and concept! He starts with harmony and ends up in melody. He starts with a few notes well placed with respect to other notes, and goes to touching a classical raga (if you have to name five most important ragas in carnatic I bet Kalyani will be one of them in the list).

A final note on the ending. The humming of SPB is hemmed by a faster one by Janaki. This is another of Bach's ideas. The main voice complemented by bass or other voice lines are used in recursively evolving ways. One of such ways is to separate the main voice lines and the complementing voice lines by a specific time gap. And second, using the secondary lines in a faster pace, both of which are employed to finish the song. Does one need to say more?

I hope we can get to Thyagaraja very soon. The next post will about "Nagu enthithe" (hopefully by Aakarsh).

- Ravi Chandra (randomwalker)

And to add my part :

This tune is being used as the theme music(or Logo-music) for the brand "Tata-Idea cellular". i am not sure if they have paid any royalty to IR but i learnt that the CEO of "LOWE", (one of the top ad-agencies in the country), Balakrishnan or "Balki' -as he is famously known, uses/used many IR tunes for his Jingles. When enquired, he confessed to be a very big die-hard fan of IR.( see this page) So, next time if u see a IR tune in a jingle, remember, its by Balki.

-Aakarsh.

Ilaiyaraaja-Maniratnam : Pallavi Anupallavi-1

2005-11-02T22:03:00.000+05:30

Pallavi Anupallavi

About the film:

Maniratnam set the ball (or his reel) rolling with Kannada film Pallavi Anupallavi, in the year 1983. Anil Kapoor played the lead role. With great difficulty, maniratnam managed to persuade the already established film-maker,Balu Mahendra, to handle the camera-work. BM was apprehensive about working with a newbie(with no prior tryst with Cinema), that too,a management graduate from the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Inst of Management studies, Mumbai. But, Maniratnam's zeal & screenplay compelled him to shoot the film. Maniratnam recollects in reference to his business school background,"When I started `Pallavi Anupallavi,' I had flow charts, budgets and cash flows all written up, One week later, I tore it all apart".
The story is interesting too. Lakshmi's husband,an estate manager, deserts her, unable to face her, when she finds him with another woman.that forms the pallavi i suppose. Anupallavi is when Anil kapoor, a young man, visits a neighbouring estate, for work, and meets her. a friendship is born between them, which is mistaken by people, including his girl friend. I heard that the focus of the story is more on the relationship between the young man and the middle-aged lady. whatever! this film was dubbed into telugu & tamil also, the soundtracks of which are not available anywhere. i watched the songs on E-Tv, which have typical Maniratnam picturisation.

Maniratnam got Ilaiyaraaja,who was already a phenomenon, to score the music. And together, they just nailed it right! mani couldnt ask for more, for ilaiyaraaja came up with fantastic numbers, though, the score didnt become very popular in tamil/telugu circles. Many believe that mani-IR combo began to excel from mounaraagam, which i completely disagree. In my opinion, every film had a different touch and the first film is no exception. The album has 4 songs, of which, i will be writing about 3 songs(the 4th one is ignorable).

I wish start my discussion with the song, "hrudhaya Rangoli".
Situation: picturised on anil kapoor's girl friend, after she mistakes him & lakshmi.

The song begins with heavy violins, in two sets..the 2nd one starts after 1st is reaching lower note. they end with piano backed by violins again..with cello work. The flute followed by violins... this brief prelude itself is very ilaiyaraaja-ish.very majestic entry.S.P.Sailaja starts off in a sad mood. the tune is closer to hindhusthani style, including the rhythm part on tabla. its classy no doubt, but what i like is the piano keys when she sings the word "manadhale"..he starts a piano loop exactly at the end of that word, the loop continues till "nauvondhu thanthu" and the last note of piano ends exactly after the last syllable of "thanthu" has been sung. i mean, the over-all placing of those set of piano-notes...i was floored when i heard for the 1st time.

The 1st interlude opens with flute and guitar strumming, giving way for violins..which play along with flute..but in different tune, reaching a high note. the electronic passage in between, connecting to charanam is his signature ofcourse. Charanam starts with same rhythm again, on tabla, which is S.D.Burmansque..i like the violin counter-melody which takes off when she sings the words "valumeyanu meetidhey" and "kanasugala thumbidhey"..and then..the violins play as counterpart to her rendition, while she scales to higher notes. here, somehow i am led to believe that S.D.Burman's high-pitched"chupke chupke" hovered in some corner of IR's mind.

The 2nd interlude is very heavy and tedious. Major part is played on sitar & veena with repetitive notes, thus testing the skill of the player (btw, do u know: Veena Gayathri used to play for IR). after touching high notes, exploring the raaga, the tune comes down and IR weaves his piano chords. same notes..played again and again..overlapped by a melody on string section. 2nd charanam has same ideas, same counter-melody..which acts like counterpoint..till she reaches high note of the song.

By all counts, the composition is very mature and difficult to perform kind. should we clap for maniratnam,for extracting such a song from IR or for IR,for dishing out such a wonderfully orchestrated song,which, unfortunately didnt get the applause it deserved.

Other songs of pallavi anupallavi : to be continued...

Fantastic Combinations : Ilaiyaraaja-Maniratnam - A Intro...

2005-11-01T19:05:00.000+05:30

I have been planning a series of write-ups on various terrific combinations, which produced phenomenal music scores in Indian cinema. And my eye was on the composers/film-makers/lyricists/singers of Yester-era, like “Naushad-Mehboob Khan” or “Naushad-Shakheel Badayuni” or “Madan Mohan-Rajinder Kishen” or “O.P.Nayyar-Asha Bhonsle” etc.,. but the output of such combinations was so prolific that it will take ages for me to track down the gems and write about them. However, I haven’t discarded the idea yet. I just need more time to probe more & collect interesting snippets, which is a continuous process ofcourse.
Even down south, there are such wonderful combinations, like “Ghantasala-Vijaya Productions”, “Rajeswara Rao-Pendyala”, or even Ilaiyaraaja’s films with Balu mahendra, Mahendran(tamil director), K.Balachander etc.,.

Only yesterday, it occurred to me that a comprehensive set of posts, as in a thread, could be posted about the fantastic combination “Maniratnam-Ilaiyaraaja”. This is one combination, in south-indian films, which gave some fantastic songs, in each and every film they collaborated.
When I shared this idea with Ravi, he green-signalled to come up with combined-write-ups ie.,. both of us would be adding our part to each post. Also, each post can be about a complete film or could be restricted to a single song alone. This is because the output of this combination is a phenomenal one and there are many songs, which deserve a detailed write-up individually. We hope to take up discussions on Background scores too, for Ilaiyaraaja is a king when it comes to background score. However, it wouldn’t take ages to complete this series as myself and ravi are geared-up, to make this blog more active, by writing more frequently.

So, before we shoot the first post, let me trace back the filmography of this brilliant combination. There are ten films which Ilaiyaraaja did with Maniratnam.

1.Pallavi Anu Pallavi(*ing: Anil kapoor,lakshmi)
2.Onaru(*ing: Mohanlal)
3.Pagal Nilavu(*ing: Revathy,Murali)
4.Idhaya Kovil(*ing: Mohan)
5.Mouna Raagam(*ing: Mohan, Revathy,Karthik)
6.Naayakan(*ing: Kamal Haasan)
7.Agni Nakshthram(*ing: Prabhu,Karthik,Amala)
8.Geethanjali(*ing: Nagarjuna,Girija)
9.Anjali(*ing: Raghuvaran,Revathy,kids)
10.Thalapathi(*ing: Rajnikanth,Mammootty,Shobana,Arvind Swamy,Bhanupriya)

The next post, on the music of “pallavi anu-pallavi”, will be up shortly. Do peep in.

Naushad still lives

2005-10-25T19:09:00.000+05:30

Album: Taj Mahal (2005)

Singers: Hariharan, Preeti Uttam, Kavita Subrahmanyam
Lyrics: Naqsh Lyallpuri, Syed Gulrez

I have no idea how they convinced the maestro to let Preeti Uttam sing for him. Her deadpan style, reminescent of the drab "light music" shows on Doordarshan, succeeds in only one thing - reminding us that Mumtaz is dead. Of course, Hariharan more than makes up for her."Apni Zulfein", "Dilruba Dilruba" and "Mumtaz Tujhe Dekha" are in my opinion the pick of the album (see optional tracks below).

"Apni Zulfein" is a ghazal in the truest sense, with simple, gentle and subtle lyrics, and a leisurely, masterful rendering by Hariharan (except when he says "ghumaan" with a strong G). The track leading to it is also simple and beautiful (the symphonic aspects of which the more qualified members of this blog can elaborate on), and the song carries all the majesty of a past era.

"Dilruba" is (unfortunately) a duet. Preeti Uttam shows up like somebody shanghaied out of a disco to sing sweet ballads. But the background score is the saving grace of this track. The "Allah, Allah" chant gives one goose-bumps, and the supporting instruments effortlessly create the imagery of long camel-back caravans in the desert. The lyrics are otherwise pedestrian.

"Mumtaz Tujhe" again belongs to Hariharan. Composed in the Hindustani equivalent of Kaamavardhini (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong), it begins where "Dilruba" ends, with a simple avarohana. Haunting (despite Preeti Uttam) and, once again, leisurely in its stately exploration of a bereaved romantic's heart, it effectively makes a statement for the listener trying to re-capture the glory of a bygone time:
"Phir aaj ki aankhon se guzra huaa kal dekha."

Optional tracks:
"Tareef-e-Meena Baazar" is somewhat interesting, especially for a lovely saarangi piece.
"Taj Mahal": Theme for the movie, borrows from "Dilruba" and "Mumtaz". Feels kind of reduntant.
"Yeh Kaun": Ajoy Chakraborty's very laborious attempt at reviving something of what Ustad Bade did for Mughale-Azam. Features more heavy breathing than music.
"Ishq ki Daastaan": A very lack-lustre qawwali. Preeti Uttam sounds like a dancing troupe lead and Mrs. Subrahmanyam like she'd rather be somewhere else.

Naushad's command over music still seeps through, though a little anachronistic, which I believe is expressed in the sentiment of "Mumtaz tujhe". In all, the album is worth a visit, if just to pay a tribute to the legend that is Naushad; just to think about a man who directed the likes of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan; whose ethereal tunes make jokers of today's Ismail Durbars and others with delusions of grandeur.

An unedited discussion on Tam Tana

2005-10-18T06:01:00.000+05:30

Thanks are due to Sketchy AKA Chandu for hosting the song.

Kottha Jeevithalu: All I know about this movie is that it was made by Bharatirajaa and Ilaiyaraja scored music for it. I guess it’s a remake or dub of the Tamil movie “Pudhiya Vaarpugal” from preliminary searches on the web. From the start to the finish this song is packed with elements of interest for every kind of listener (to listen to the song go to the post below by Sketchy). We’ll look at it from a composition POV.
The voices: Chimes, veena, tabla, chorus, bass guitar, chamber and vocals with touches of mridangam. The beginning of the song might as well have been the ending, but IR uses it to build up ‘tension’ right from the word go. Shanmukhapriya is established right by the time the intro finishes. The “Tam Tana” chorus starts after a very brief and effective use of silence, and the chorus in the intro also ends with a brief silence before the song begins (symmetry). The main tune starts as a further improvement of the already established intro. Prominently visible additions are a bass guitar backing and a mridangam touch. Bass embellishments for the lines fall exactly at the ½ beat before the count.

One of the interesting elements is the Tala scheme. If you start counting from the beginning (assuming it is adi tala or 8 beat cycle) the song’s pallavi starts exactly in the middle of the tala (precisely the 5th beat) and each line takes up exactly 12 beats. Which makes one wonder if the tala scheme is indeed 12. But wait till the first interlude – it has 8 cycles of 8 beats which is 64 (64 is indivisible by 12). Mm hmm. So if you start to count the total number of 8 beat cycles for the song – it is 50 (which is a space of 400 (=50*8) individual beats). Which are divided as Intro (7 ½ cycles = 60), Pallavi (5 ½ cycles = 44), Interlude 1 (8 cycles = 64) Charanam 1 (8 ½ cycles = 68) Interlude 2 ( 8 ½ cycles = 68) Charanam 2 (7 cycles = 56) and pallavi repeat to ending (5 cycles = 40) (which is 60+44+64+68+68+56+40 = 400). This 400 number of beats therefore cannot be a 12 beat cycle (12 doesn’t divide 400). So it is an eight beat cycle tala but the division of each part of the composition follows a different order. This opens a whole set of possibilities with the 8 beat cycle (lyrics need not start or end on the exact starting of the count – but the song should).

That aside, at every moment in the composition there is a carnatic classical-influenced element and a western classical-influenced element in almost equal proportion. To elucidate, the tune in general is in the shanmukha priya scale (although this must not be confused with shanmukhapriya raga itself – think of it like lego blocks to make up your dream (kiddy) home – just the lego blocks don’t give you the exact feel of the structure – one has to add cornices, friezes, etc to give it the aesthetically pleasing look – IR however manages to sketch some of broader ideas of the raga through this song) and the harmony part of the song is in the western classical mode (you might say what’s so great about this? every other Indian movie song follows and takes elements from a variety of systems – the answer lies in how much justice the composer does to both the systems – what I am driving at is the transition from one system to the other system is completely fluid not discrete which cannot be said for a lot of other south Indian composers) the tabla and mridangam do both Indian and Western beat patterns, there is a brush kit involved somewhere all merged smoothly.

Another blog can be started just to describe the usage of harmonical elements in the song. All I will say here is that the way the bass lines are laid with respect to the song lines, change their character as being supportive to both the Indian classical as well as the western classical elements of the song. One superb feature which is probably IRs pet subject is Sruthi Bhedam. He uses the idea in the second interlude before the second charanam. Shanmukha priya becomes dhenuka if the sruthi is changed to pa. By leaving some swaras, and application of proper gamakas, one could get gambheera nattai/nata (to be technically correct it is the janya of Chala Nata) which occurs in the interlude for a very brief period of time and is used to brilliant effect.

After all this, the song ends after the 400th count. Just as a reminder to folks that count and bash your head any way you like its still an 8 beat cycle…

tam tana tam tana by illayaraja

2005-10-18T00:26:00.000+05:30

Unsung Maverick - Prem Joshua.

2005-10-15T20:39:00.000+05:30

One year ago, i was watching NDTV news after having dinner. As the bulletin was about to finish, they showed a newsbit about the release of a new album "YATRI" by Prem Joshua. At the first glance, i was curoius because the man there appeared to be a foreigner but was playing Sitar. And the pieces he played were amazing. It did (infact he did..) register in my brain.

15 days later, i was at sangeet sagar, secunderabad. Again, for the nth time, i was in the same position of breaking the resolution(everytime i enter a music/book shoppe, i resolve that i wouldnt buy anything..but eventually..i could never come out empty-handed..). By sheer trial, i bought Prem Joshua's "Secret of The Wind". And when i played it at home, i liked it immensely. I was more surprised/shocked because Prem Joshua is a foreigner and his compositions have their roots in Hindustani Classical Music.

Background : A german( i think..) by origin, he was an instrumentalist with many jazz/rock-bands. After his teens, he began to search for his own spiritual & musical roots. By sheer chance, one day, He came across a Record of Pt.Ravi Shankar's sitar concert and the next thing on his mind was Destination India. Since then, he's been in India, studying/performing Indian Classical music. Learnt sitar under Ustad Usman Khan. There were Occassions when Pt.Ravi Shankar himself graced Joshua's concerts and blessed him. He plays a variety of instruments like Sitar, Saxophones, Bamboo Flutes, Santoor, Harp, Dilruba and few percussion instruments. He is into spirituality & meditation. Dedicates all albums to Osho.

Later on , i bought another album " Mudra", which had lounge music feel. Then, One evening, i went to Music world. i found 2 albums by Joshua there,each costing 95 bucks. unfortunately, i had only 100 bucks in my pocket though i wanted both the tapes.after much dilemma, i choose one and landed at the counter to pay the bill. there i saw a poster which read , " Special Offer- Buy 2 Music-today albums..for the price of one" ( i told u right..when it comes to good music...i have been fortunate ..). i ran across the showroom and got the other one too. Both the albums " Desert Visions" & "Humsafar" were fantastic. Later on i bought his other albums " Tales of A Dancing River", " Sky kisses the Earth"(lounge music again), " Water Down The Ganges" , and got "Yatri" burnt on CD.

After listening to all his compositions, i still cannot understand why he is not that famous among the fusion artists. Though he is quite popular in the north, people down south hardly know him or his compositions.Though many composers have liberally lifted( or cut-copy-pasted) some of his tracks,( The sitar piece in "hare krishna" song from Mani Sharma's Okkadu is pasted from a joshua's album..it is not even a lift..but it is copy-paste..) many of his albums lie unsold here in hyderabad. i could procure eight albums of Joshua. And the remaining ones and unavailable here.

Though he draws the roots from Hindustani Classical Music, Fusion is his style. And in few albums, he ventured into Lounge/Trance kind of music (sky kisses earth/mudra/dance of shakti etc..,.). i would love to buy his entire collection (CDs..not even Tapes) because he has got his own unique style...of composition..and even his own unique sound, which is marvellous. i would rate him far ahead of Indian Ocean and i wont be surprised if anyday, he collaborates with Shakti (Zakir Hussain, McLaughin & co. ).

I have just noticed that a couple of his albums are hosted by MIO. I would suggest the very first album i heard "Secret of The Wind". The compositions which enthralled me are : New Kafi, East Wind(chalanaata), Kites, From Across The Water, etc.,. just play on while u r working or relaxing..and i am sure u too will start buying his music...just like me. And mind you, he being a foreigner could compose(and even Play) these fantastic albums, while the youth today in our country swoon to 3rd rate remixes. Thats our shame.

New contributor

2005-10-12T19:01:00.000+05:30

Hey!, how come no one is attempting to answer the quiz..c'mon guys! try ..

and welcome to the new contributor Smt.Padmasani.

Rare Shyaam Kalyan

2005-10-09T22:08:00.000+05:30

Though the Quiz-1 is still on (assuming that rest of the guys didnt visit the blog yet...), i couldnt contain my enthusiasm to continue.

Today, i was casually browsing through www.sawf.org and in the page http://sawf.org/newedit/edit07222002/musicarts.asp , i came across this song "yun neend se" from the film Dard Ka rishta. The music is composed by R.D.Burman. though i have a decent collection of R.D.Burman songs, i never knew about this song before and was pleasantly surprised at the beauty of this song. R.D used raag "shyaam Kalyaan" in this song and the dominant features which give the classical effect are :

1.his tune basically. brilliant tune.
2. Kishore.
3. Tabla ( typical Burmansque style)

Kishore Kumar once again..or as always, excelled in the rendition. And R.D has used his typical violin-section+sitar interludes backed by fantastic Tabla. After the 1st line of charanam, he uses a flute aalaap (with single rhythm of tabla), which i liked a lot. he doesnt repeat the same idea during 2nd charanam. actually the interludes are quite short. But the role of tabla is not restricted to interlude or charanam alone. Even in pallavi, he changes the taala.

another interesting aspect is the counter-melody on violins. during pallavi,the violins counter-melody start at the words "jaane chaman" and they take a different ascent while kishore classicalises the tune.Even as the charanams end,the last lines, which are in the the tune of pallavi, have the same counter-melody structure, which speaks the composer's genius.
Awesome composition plus Awesome rendition, makes this song the most-wanted for me. Unfortunately, only half of the song is available there. i guess there is one more charanam , because the song here fades out with tar-shehnai piece.

Now the purpose of posting this blog : I Want this song. Complete Song. Anyone???

Quiz-1- Answer

2005-10-07T02:03:00.000+05:30

In the post-independence era, Name the first Indian Motion-picture Soundtrack (including songs and Background Score),which was played/aired on BBC Radio,London. What was the speciality of this soundtrack? try your guesses, fairly. and yes, it is implied that you need to crack the name of the composer too.. good luck.

Answer:

The film is Aan (released in 1952), directed by Mehboob Khan.
Composer is Naushad Ali.
Speciality of the Background score : Symphony by Naushad.

(chandhu! U came close..but missed the film-name. It was Naushad and Mehboob Khan combination, but not Mother India.)

A month ago, i happen to watch a programme on TV, on Maestro Naushad and was surprised to know some snippets. Aan's soundtrack being the first-one being played on BBC, was one such snippet. They showed a clipping from the film which had phenomenal background music.

Aan also happens to be the 1st colour(technicolour) film of India.

Also, i found this in the internet -->
Speaking of Aan, Naushad says “I created a symphony for Aan on stage with a hundred musicians. I had a special tent... made of blankets... on the surface, I laid out coir carpets, so that the sound wouldn't echo. The final recording was done in London. We worked day in and day out for three months. We were under enormous pressure when we received news that the Liberty cinema in Bombay would open with this film. People slept for days outside the theatre to book tickets in advance. My symphony was widely appreciated in Britain, it was played on BBC. Orson Welles who was busy with his Othello also happened to see the rushes of Aan and loved the music.”

The extravagant opulence of the sets, the spectacular visuals and the universal appeal of good triumphing over evil propelled Aan to elicit notice even beyond Indian frontiers. Edited to 129 minutes, it was released all over Europe, titled ‘Mangala, the Rose of India’. The enchanting epic prompted Cecil B. Demille write to Mehboob Khan, “I found it an important piece of work, not only because I enjoyed it but also because it shows the tremendous potential of Indian motion pictures for securing world markets. I believe it is quite possible to make pictures in your great country which will be understood and enjoyed by all nations and without sacrificing the culture and customs of India. We look forward to the day when you will be regular contributors to our screen fare with many fine stories bringing the romance and magic of India.”

By Chance...

2005-10-06T00:37:00.000+05:30

"If you are passionate about something, luck is always beside you"--said one wise man. i dont know about the merit of this statement, but it holds completely true, when it comes to music & me.

i have had innumerable experiences when i could get some brilliant music, by sheer chance or luck, without any effort. take this--> tired of studying for long-time ( which means 1 hr, in my dictionary), i switch on the TV @ 1:15am and i get to listen to a brilliant tamil song of ilaiyaraaja. (this happened hundreds of times).
or this--> i was fortunate to grab the last piece of Thiruvasakam, before it got sold out.
well, i cant remember many..but i am quite convinced that some force has always been/is/will be (hopefully) guiding me towards avenues where i can collect some nice music.

today i had an unsual encounter with some long-awaited music. i was casually browsing through many links & chanced upon a site where this much-awaited album had been put up for sale. i was shocked, in disbelief..because the album hasnt been released in the market yet. and to my surprise, it was there, not only for sale, but also for online-listening. within a second, i started playing each of the songs & realized that they are indeed from that album.
but the twist in the tale came 2 hours later. that album had been pulled out of that web-page. i think they put it up only for some testing-purpose.and i am sure they are going to put it up back there , once the date of audio-release is out. now, if you are wondering which album it, let me break it.

The album : "Water", a film directed by Deepa Mehta
Music : A.R.Rahman.

And this is the chance-link for the audio-files.

I did have quite some expectations from this album because Deepa Mehta did extract some fantastic music from rahman for her previous film 1947-Earth. Also, rahman himself said long ago ( the music was composed/recorded during 1999-2000) that he moved out from the commercial-clutches to compose music for this film.now, before you shoot your questions, let me write what i felt after listening to the album. in one statement, i think what he said was right. the albums sounds as if its a shyam Benegal film( arty-kind) .

the album has 5 compositions of rahman plus one more song, "vaishnava janatho".All the songs have minimal usage of instruments. and the tunes are such that you cannot even believe that they have been composed by a guy from south-india(given the fact that rahman usually blends all flavours). My picks are two songs sung by a female (i dont know whose voice it was..but i have often noticed that rahman seems to reserve the best songs for female singers...be it harini or sadhana sargam or sujatha bhattacharya-tehzeeb or reena bharadwaj-yeh rishta kya kehlaatha hai...& many more).

"Naina Neer Bahaaye" is one brilliant composition which has shades of two hindustani raagas (one being lalit i think).the lyrics reminded me of madan mohan classic from Bawarchi -more naina bahaaye neer.anyways,this song boasts about some wonderful rendition, without any major interlude music, leaving a flute piece. this song definitely showcases a different rahman, the one we rarely get to see.

"Piya Ho" is another classic composition, in league with the above mentioned song. the character of this song too is very similar to that one, in the sense that more emphasis has been given on vocals only. This one too has a mixture of 2 raagas.one raaga is same as the one used in "koi nahi hai..mera yahaan ..tere binaa", in shankar mahadevan's Breathless.But rahman lets you to enjoy the raaga with elaborate aalaap-ic effects.i think these 2, are the best songs of the album & both these songs do reflect the maturity of the composer & you will wonder why he is being wasted these days ..friends..just watch on..listen to these 2 songs when the album is out..
The other songs are"bangri marori" & "aayo re sakhi", "shaam rang" which are folk numbers. though rahman's typical "hindustani+folk" formula has been used, this time, he didnt let the instruments dominate.these songs are by sukhwinder singh(somehow i dont like this fellow's voice), Richa sharma. Though not-so-great, they sound quite OK for 1st hearing atleast.in "bangro marori" , sukhwinder tries to do the same what the female did to "piya ho" & "naina neer bahaaye"..but his being a folk-ish voice, the song doesnt captivate the listener that much, that too with no instruments to back-up.

the last song "vaishnava janatho" by Pt.Ajoy Chakroborthy & Kaushaki Chakroborthy has the usual traditional tune of the song.

This album is an unsual one, especially because it hardly has any orchestra in any of the songs & rahman is known for some beautiful instrumentation.however, the songs do speak about his musical sensibilties & most importantly his capabilities which are rarely utilised effectively by the film-makers these days. but the catch is that, even when he comes out with some classy music, there are no takers, like in the case of Shyam Benegal's "Bose".i hope it doesnt discourage him from making good sensible music.
For the meantime, wait for this album...exclusively for those 2 songs.

Amar Bhoopali

2005-10-03T10:01:00.000+05:30

No Maharashtrian can call himself one, until and unless he has listened to "Jyothi Kalash chhalake" from "Bhabhi ki Chudiyan" and "Ghanashyama Sundara" of the movie "Amar Bhoopali".

Raga Bhoop or Bhoopali (Mohanam), is immensely adored in Maharashtra and some lovely pieces have been wrought as a result of this attachment to the raga. Till recently, even the layman of Pune would have told you if a song is in Bhoop. No wonder, when I heard the full version of the song for the first time (I had only a part of it till now), there was no need to ask for tears.. they obliged on their own!

The movie Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan had Late Sudhir Phadke as the music director. One of the most creative musicians of the Ghatiland, he was both an excellent music director as well as a beloved singer. I simply cannot forget the softness of his mellifluous voice.

Bhoopali is such a great raga that I, being only an aspirant to be an amateur, cannot dare comment on the lakshanas of this raga (in fact, I can only recognise it!) ... but you can find them here:
http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit08052002/musicarts.asp

You will be surprised to know that though Bhoopali is a fairly common raga, very few compositions in light classical exist (atleast in Hindi cinema)

Lets what other songs are there in Bhoopali:

Marathi:
1) "Kusha Lava Ramayana gaathi" from album "Geet Ramayan"--Sudhir Phadke.
2) "Ghanashyama Sundara" from "Amar Bhoopali" --music by Vasanth Desai.
3) "Dehachi Tijori" from "Aamhi Jaato amcha gaava"-- music by Sudhir Phadke.
These three can be found at http://www.geetsargam.net/bhakti_geete/
4) "Vimoha Tyaguna" from "Samadhi Saadhana"--Sudhir Phadke. (My fav!)
I have this one.

Hindi:
1) "On Namah Shivay"--Bhairavi(1995): This is a pure beauty. A tarana (thillana) of similar notes exists in the Hindustani. Laxmikanth Pyarelal (confirm plz!) have done a really commendable job. The raga can be as majestic and royal as it can be and at the same time, can be sweet and tender.

2) "Jai Jagadeesh Hare"--Anand Math (1951): Jayadeva's Geetagovindam is set to music by Hemath Kumar. This is partly Bhoop... only the part sung by Hemanth Kumar is in Bhoop, the part sung by Geeta Dutt is very beautiful, but I couldnt figure out what raga (sounds typical bongish)... Nevertheless, everytime I listen to it, the sheer power of the composition engulfs me and goosebumps and tears are a norm.

vessel of light

2005-10-02T08:40:00.000+05:30

An analysis of this song would be much appreciated -- if necessary in a new post (posts). Thanks!

Salil-da's Chhaya

2005-09-28T20:17:00.000+05:30

To this day, people (musically sensible) regard 1950s & 60s as the Golden Period in Indian Film Music. The number of composers who created legendary compositions were many. And compositions too. Naushad, S.D.B, Anil Biswas, Shankar-Jaikishan, Jaidev, Madan Mohan, Sajjad Hussain, C.Ramchandra, Hemanth Kumar, O.P.Nayyar, Kalyani-Anandji, Roshan...and many more. Each had a very distinct style. One composer who was a cut different from the entire lot, when it came to innovative ideas, was Salil Chaudhary.
Salilda's combination was unique. Infact, he was one of the pioneers of Fusion, as his elements were Indian Classical+Bengali-Folk blended with his Favourite Genre "Western Classical Music".try "O'sajna" from "parakh", the tune is indian classical while his counter-melody ideas are western. Many people in those times, felt that, when it came to western classical, Salilda was a player. He was mad about symphonies and had the biggest collection in those times. Infact, if any of you heard "itna na mujhse pyaar bada", from the film "chhaya",you realize that it is borrowed from chopin's symphony. also, his characteristic style was that the notes of song used to be very tricky and difficult, sometimes to the extent that instrumentalists+singers wondered if the notes belonged to the same song they were playing.also, the music tested their skill.

I recollect a lesser-known song from the same film,"chhaya"(dir:Hrishikesh Mukherjee). the song,"aansoo samajh ke" sung by Talat Mahmood ranks among my most favourite songs of salilda. The song opens with a typical western harmony. the tabla beat is simple. the complexity lies in the tune of the song itself.before that, check the lyrics.Rajinder Kishen came up with some fantastic lines...

aansoo samajh ke kyon mujhe..aankh se tune giraa diyaa..
moti kisee ke pyaar kaa mittee mein kyon milaa diyaa..

jo naa chaman mein khil sakaa,
main woh gareeb phool hoo..
jo kuchh bhi hoon bahaar kee,
chhoti si ek bhool hoon..
jis ne khilaa ke khud mujhe.. khud hee mujhe bhulaa diyaa..

aansoo samajh ke kyon mujhe..

nagma hoon kab magar mujhe..
apne pe koii naaz thaa..
gaayaa gayaa hoon jis pe main..
Toota hua woh saaz thaa..
jis ne sunaa woh hans diyaa, hans ke mujhe rulaa diyaa..

aansoo samajh ke kyon mujhe..

meri khataa maaf hai,
bhoole se aa gayaa yahaan..
warna mujhe bhi hain khabar,
meraa nahii hain yeh jahaan..
doob chalaa thaa neend mein, achchhaa kiyaa jagaa diyaa..

aansoo samajh ke kyon mujhe.....aankh se tune giraa diyaa..
moti kisee ke pyaar kaa mittee mein kyon milaa diyaa..

The complexity of the tune is the classicalization. "aansoo samajhke" is ok..but the way Talat sings "kyon mujhe"..salilda made him ascend the notes in spiral at the word "kyon"..and then "aankh se tune giraa diya" is logical end to give the beauty.."moti kisee ke pyar kaa" again tests talat's careful ascent to higher note..and immediately in the line "mitti mein kyon milaa diya"..its an odd descent..as compared to the descent in previous line. also, check the violin counter melodies in between..(u can hear them in-between the words..background).
The interlude is western-classical again with violins and cellos. i just wonder "what is this man giving and how is he going to arrive back to main-melody?". and he does. The charanams are so beautifully composed. Talat is the most-apt singer to this song because the tune, as such, touches you at a different level and it can be supplemented by only a velvety kind of voice which belonged to only Talat Mahmood(then..or even now...). Even the ending lines of charanams have that peculair descent. Infact, being a non-musician, i cannot explain the logistics involved but i do believe that people who can play any instrument or atleast understand the notations can appreciate the genius of Salilda.try singing it or playing it.i tried singing it and i always went wrong at the "kyon" in the opening line itself.

when i heard this song for the 1st time in my life, i felt that if a person cannot appreciate/feel the beauty of this song, then his ignorance is irrepairable.Salil Chaudhary was one real maverick who broke the conventional styles. when i listen to any song of his, i think,"what is there up in his brain..how does he get these unconventional ideas?". this song is one of them.

Also try : cham cham nachthi aayi bahaar (a classical song by lata..can anyone analyze this one?)

The Sunday Kalyani..

2005-09-25T10:36:00.000+05:30

Recently, Ilaiyaraaja composed music for a tamil film,"Oru Naal Oru Kanavu". My sunday morning began with this album.i had this album in my previous hard-disk which crashed. thankfully, i remembered the film name and immediately got hold of it yesterday.

i jumped out of my bed and played the best song of the album ," Kaatril Varum Geethamae". Sung by ilaiyaraaja's current favourite shreya Goshal, along with his previous fav sadhana sargam,bhavatharini & hariharan, this fantastic song is set in "kalyani" and very beautifully crafted with simple chords. the instruments used in this song are keyboards(synthesizers) & flute only..along with the basic rhythm(percussion instruments) like tabla.

the wonderful start, sets the feel followed by a very simple 1st interlude(quite Un-ilaiyaraaja-like) on keyboards.then,1st charanam..this charanam is backed by key-board chords intelligently..if what i have noticed is right..the keyboard just supports the vocal part..after 1st line(which connects the 2nd line with a s.d.burmansque flute) the aalaap just elevates the classical feel in the song. and the way he ends the charanam(logically)..it is as if he is completing the crescendo.

the 2nd interlude has flute playing basic notes of this raaga.the tune of 2nd charanam is different from the first one..yet, so beautifully composed...there is some sense of maturity reflecting in it..the charanam gets into some swara-jugglery finally coming back to Pallavi.

the beauty of this song lies in its simplicity in handling the raaga..forget purists, even a lay man feels so cool listening to this song that he just wants to sit back..close his eyes and enjoy the rasa.there are no heavy/elaborate orchestrations..no frills...with more emphasis on vocals and the composition as such..
the 1st time i heard this song, i was really dumb and folded my hands bowing to the invisible ilaiyaraaja infront of me. i bet, u will keep humming this tune, after listening to it only once.and then, you would be playing it..on & on...
(check it @ raaga )

Today, Ilaiyaraaja has reached a stage where he doesnt need to prove things to anyone.Yet, he does...
Salute the Emperor

Gulzar's Nostalgia

2005-09-24T22:02:00.000+05:30

Filmmaker and lyricist Gulzar is happy with his new anthology Mera Kuch Samaan, which features hit songs Dil dhoondta hai from Mausam and Chaiyyan chaiyyan (Dil Se).

The compilers have "managed to pack in some surprises" in the album, says Gulzar.
"When HMV expressed a desire to do a compilation of my songs for my birthday I was skeptical. 'Not another anthology. Hasn't the public had enough of my compilations already?' But they were adamant.
"I'm glad I went along. What I like about Mera Kuch Samaan is that it has been very beautifully produced and packaged," Gulzar said in an interview, reminiscing about old friends and favourite singers.
"I had nothing to do with the selections. The compilers have taken whatever they wanted. Of course the selections are familiar.
"After all listeners do expect to hear certain songs when they pick up an album of my lyrics. You can't get away from Dil dhoondta hai or Chaiyyan chaiyyan. These are songs that are too closely associated with me to be given the miss.

"However, they've managed to pack in some surprises, like a very old song of Hemantda (Kumar) Abhi na parda girao. It's interesting to know how HMV got hold of this rarity... Because neither they nor I had a copy of this song.
"I suggested they try Pavan Jha, a gentleman who manages a website called gulzaronline.com. This website contains information about my songs and films that even I don't know. I often go there to collect information on myself."

On Hemant Kumar, Gulzar says: "Hemantda brings back a flood of memories. He was as tall in physique as he was in temperament. God's chosen one, is how I remember him. What a fabulous human being!
"When our team - Hrishida (Mukherjee), Salilda (Chowdhary), Asit Sen - broke up after the death of Bimalda (Roy), Hemantda rehabilitated us. He picked up the broken pieces of our camaraderie and gave us the courage to go on.
"From Ganga aaye kahan se to Tum pukar lo... I worked in close collaboration with him throughout his life. In fact HMV is going to bring out an album of Hemantda's songs with me...."

On the Mangeshkar sisters, Lata and Asha Bhosle, he says: "What can I say about their contribution to my songs? As Pancham (RD Burman) would say, they are like the Gary Sobers and Don Bradman of music. Lataji's numbers for me say it all.
"Pancham, Lataji and I shared many golden moments. I remember during the recording of 'Aapki aankhon mein kuch mehke huey se raaz hain' ... Pancham was petrified to show the word 'badmashiyon' (mischief) to Lataji. 'It's not a proper word for her. You do it,' he said and ran off.
"When Lataji read the word she not only smiled but also added her own inimitable 'harkat' while singing it...

"As for Asha I've never treated her as in any way inferior to the elder sister. In fact I'm partial to her. I have to be. I've no choice. She's my Boudi (sister-in-law) ... married to my dear friend and confidant Pancham.
"I've always maintained that Neil Armstrong got to the moon first. Asha is the one who got there second. It doesn't make her achievement any less remarkable.

"If Lataji has sung all the songs in my Aandhi, Mausam and Libaas, Asha did the entire score in Namkeen and Ijaazat and of course our collaborative effort Dil Padosi Hai with Pancham which is a personal favourite."
On Kishore Kumar, he says: "He was a dear friend of Pancham, and therefore mine too. To wriggle out of answering who his favourite singer was (Lata or Asha) Pancham would quickly name Kishore Kumar.
"He sang some of my best songs like Musafir hoon yaaron and O majhi re. Terrific company and a great entertainer."
On RD Burman: "Not a day passes when I don't think about this friend of mine. What he gave to my films was of course crucial. But what he gave to me as a friend is irreplaceable. Of course I miss him all the time. How can I not?
"Pancham and I spent hours and hours together. My lyrics would drive him up the wall. But he'd finally come up with just the right tune for even those lines that he didn't understand.

"After Pancham I've enjoyed my tuning with Vishal Bharadwaj and AR Rahman immensely. Vishal's songs in my Maachis and Rahman's tracks in Dil Se and Saathiya are outstanding. Of the newer lot Shankar-Ehsan-Loy has got what it takes.
"I hope Mera Kuch Samaan strikes a chord in music listeners' hearts. To assume that today's generations have lost touch with poetry and music is unfair. Let's not make excuses for mediocrity. Didn't MM Kreem come up with some fine music in Paheli recently?"

Link : http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1499455,00110005.htm

Jaane Kya Soch Kar...Nahi Guzra..

2005-09-06T18:24:00.000+05:30

The "Kinaara" continues :

"Jaane Kya soch kar nahi Guzra" happens to be one of the best songs of R.D.Burman-Kishore Kumar.When i heard the song for the first time, i felt that it was Dada Burman's composition. The composition as such is very mature and made only for kishore kumar. or i must say he proves that it was only for him.
R.D.Burman uses "Khamaj" -flavour (if i am right!! experts..plz clarify) in this song, which is again difficult to categorize into a particular genre. Is this semi-classical or ballad or what? Gulzar came up with some fantastic lines. and R.D adorned with the best music. i particularily like the way he changes the taala of tabla when the line "ek pal raat bhar nahi guzra". even in the charanams, he changes the taala between two lines.the song starts off with a santoor descent...

jaane kya soch kar nahi guzraa..
ek pal raat bhar..nahi guzraa..

The 1st interlude is beautifully woven..with violins, santoor and a tar-shehnai..

Apni tanhaayi ka auron se na shikwa karna..
the saarangi piece is the logical extension (like an aalaap) of the previous line.

Apni tanhaayi ka auron se na shikwa karna..

(the way kishore uses gamakas for word "auron se"...he should have been called pt.kishore kumar)

Tum akele hi nahi ho sabhi akele hain..(tabla beat changes)
Yeh akelaa safar nahi guzraaa....(and he connnects guzraa with gamakas to jaane kya..wah!R.D..)
jaane kya soch kar nahi guzra..
ek pal raat bhar nahi guzra..

the 2nd interlude is one helluva piece..the guitars change the mood as if it is some energy-filled song..overlapped by santoor ( R.D loves santoor a lot..) and everything end with xylophone..followed by saxophone which gets ack to the mood..the notes of saxophone are peculiar with uthar-chadao (high-low) notes..

Do Ghadi jeene ki mohlath tho mili hain sabko..
again that saarangi..
Do Ghadi jeene ki mohlath tho mili hain sabko..(same gamakas by pt.kishore)
tum bhi miljaao..ghadi-bhar eh kam hotha hain..(table beat changes..)
yeh ghadi kaa safar..nahi guzraaaaaaaa...

jaane kya..(tabla..) soch kar ..nahi guzra...
ek pal raat bhar nahi guzra...

every time i listen to this song..i just wonder at the way R.D gave importance to each and every instrument..like tabla changing beat for a brief duration..for just 1 line..that actually doesnt get noticed much because of the weight of Kishore's voice..and the santoor..saxophone..
today, i cannot just imagine any other singer this song...that heavy reverb of Kishore's voice...that was the time when R.D composed only for kishore...
today so many singers duplicate kishore's voice..i dont see them reaching atleast 1/10th level of what kishore has achieved in a song like this. And there are so many composers...but why not another R.D.

Pulp Fiction -- Mayamalavagowla

2005-08-31T03:07:00.000+05:30

The theme of Pulp Fiction --

western music, indian soul

2005-08-29T09:20:00.000+05:30

2 movies.
2 pieces.
2 ragas.

1) Mask of Zorro: "I want to spend my lifetime loving you"

Superb piece! Almost completely set in Charukeshi.. a hauntingly intense raga that symbolises the intensity of expression in love. Here is the song. The lyrics are not bad either:

Moon so bright, night so fine,
Keep your heart here with mine
Life's a dream we are dreaming
Race the moon, catch the wind,
Ride the night to the end,
Seize the day, stand up for the light

I want to spend my lifetime loving you
If that is all in life I ever do

Heroes rise, heroes fall,Rise again, win it all,
In your heart, can't you feel the glory?
Through our joy, through our pain,
We can move worlds again
Take my hand, dance with me

I want to spend my lifetime loving you
If that is all in life I ever do
I will want nothing else to see me through
If I can spend my lifetime loving you

Though we know we will never come again
Where there is love, life begins
Over and over again
Save the night, save the day,
Save the love, come what may,Love is worth everything we pay

I want to spend my lifetime loving you
If that is all in life I ever do
I want to spend my lifetime loving you
If that is all in life I ever do
I will want nothing else to see me through
If I can spend my lifetime loving you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Pulp Fiction: Main theme.

The theme starts with a conversation which is produced here, just for the readers' (in)convenience:

man: "I love you honey-bunny"
woman: "I love you pumpkin"
man: "Everybody cool! This is a robbery!"
woman: "Any of you $@#^ing pricks move and I'll execute every mother$@#^ing last one of you!"

And then, the most pristine Mayamalavagowla I ever heard from a spanish guitar, accurate to a single note, ensues! You have to listen to it to understand how suprisingly faithful the tune is to the raga!

Kedar.

gowrimanohari

2005-08-19T09:23:00.000+05:30

Well, let me attempt to write abt Gowimanohari as well, since I am this semi-classical mode these days, and I already had a small discussion abt Gowrimanohari. I am sure junta will add to the list.

As Ravi put it, this is one of the most under-rated ragas. Also, its very catchy and easy to identify!

To me, the melodic- expression "d2-n3---d2---p---, m1-p---g2---m1---p" defines the raga.

Let me start with tamil, because the following song is the one that got me into identifying the raga--

Tamil:
1)Paatum naane-- Thiruvilayadal: T.M.Soundararajan starts off with a rather boisterous note, and then takes off on a vigourous voyage. Only one word describes this one-- energy. This raga can carry any amount of energy on its shoulders with such ease!! Listen to it!

Of course, you can watch the whole movie... its good.. some other songs from it are good as well --pazham neeyappa: Jaunpuri, Oru Naal Pothuma: ragamaalika(mostly maand.. needs a post of its own).

Telugu:
1) Vennello Godaari andam: The King at work again... this one exposes the softer, yet more intense expression of pathos. .. has a very weirdly catchy start.

If anyone can find any other song in telugu, I will be grateful!

Hindi:
In Hindustani, this raga goes by the name "Patdeep".. it is basically viewed as Bhimpalasi (Abheri) with a shuddh nishad (n3) instead of komal nishad (n2).. for the same reason, r2 and d2 are not used in Arohana. (anyone get it?? r2d2!!!)

1)Megha chhaaye adhi raat: Camena Immortalis (Immortal song) if one ever existed! To talk abt the composer or the lyrics, let me leave it to the learned. The song begins with a sort of "differnt" guitar and drums of a normal duet.. and then the sitar restores order and gently nudges the mood into the pensive, thats characteristic of patdeep. The song seems to have been set in Khanda Chaapu taalam.

2)Chhodo mori baaiyya: This was a completely unexpected one, but then ARR did have his moments!! This is from Zubeidaa. Starts off with an alap in a different raga.. prehaps chandrakauns (if not, some kauns-anga raga that sounds like Kalyana-Vasantam--remember the duet theme by Kadri??) ... and then switches to Patdeep... A very decent and consistent composition.

Kedar.

Gar Yaad Rahe..

2005-08-16T19:41:00.000+05:30

i am haunted by a song since morning. The song is from the film "Kinaara".This film, made by Gulzar, is one of the well-made films by him with the not-so-great actor jeetendra. Gulzar signed his favourite R.D.Burman for music.
Gulzar emphasized many times that he worked with many other great composers like Salil Chaudhary, Hemanth Kumar etc.,. but it was R.D.Burman who adorned his unusual poetry with some great music. this fact is evident in this song from the film.

naam gum jaayegaa,
cheharaa yeh badal jaayegaa
meri aawaaz hee pehchaan hai..
gar yaad rahe.

waqt ke sitam kam haseen nahee,
aaj hain yahaan.. kal kahee nahee..
waqt ke pare agar mil gaye kahee,
meri aawaaz hee pehchaan hain..
gar yaad rahe ..

jo guzr gayee, kal kee baat thee,
umar to naheen ek raat ki,
raat kaa siraa agar phir mile kahee,
meri aawaaz hee pehchaan hain...
gar yaad rahe

din dhale jahaan raat paas ho,
zindagee ki lau unchee kar chalo..
yaad aaye gar kabhee jee udaas ho,
meri aawaaz hee pehchaan hain..
gar yaad rahe..

naam gum jaayegaa,
chehra yeh badal jaayegaa
meri aawaaz hee pehchaan hai,
gar yaad rahe..

the mukhuda(pallavi) of this song doesnt have a meter..especially with las line "gar yaad rahe"..it's length is very odd compared tothat of previous lines..Only R.D could do it.. i dont know the raaga on which this song is based but this definitely falls into semi-classical genre. the wonderfully woven interludes..with instruments like sitar, sarod or haunting (hill-kind) flute ..with echo at tail-end(his stamp)...till 2nd charanam, the song is picturised on jeetendra and hema malini..but just before last anthara(charanam), he uses pakhwaj along with guitars. the mood here varies..compared to previous interludes...on the screen, the variation is shown with dharmendra (guest role) entering the scene(dream sequence)...

wonderful lyrics..looks like gulzar wrote it just for Lata(meri aawaaz hi..pehchaan hain!!), because she just nailed it. even bhupinder(male singer) is dwarfed.R.D knew the range of Lata's voice and tapped it eloquently.and musically, it is excellent craftmanship by him.who says R.D means only club songs..infact, this genre of songs (of semi-classical kind) faded out with R.D. today we dont have such songs...and such composers.

PS: i sincerely/strictly suggest all the readers to listen to this song keenly...after reading this.

GrahabalamAEmee

2005-08-04T02:06:00.000+05:30

P: grahabalamAEmee...
sree rAmAnugrahabalamAE balamU (nava)

A: grahabalamAEmee aa thejOmayA
vigrahamunU dhyAninchu vAriki (nava)

C: grahapeedala pancha pApamulanAgrahamulukala
kAmAdhiripula nigrahamu seyu
harinee bhajinchAE thyaagarajunikee rasikaagresarulaku (grahabalamAEmee)

To listen to the song sung by Guru T. R. Subramaniam go to Grahabalamemi

New Stuff on the Bloc

2005-07-16T19:04:00.000+05:30

Two soundtracks which i got to listen to:

1. The Rising : A.R.Rahman

not so great album except for 2 songs...atleast i didnt like...during 1st hearing (i dont know my opinion changes...as with every rahman album). not so impressive..especially if we consider the fantastic combination of Rahman-Javed Akhtar...this one surely disappoints..

2 . Yahaan : Shantanu Moitra

Two songs are damn good..especially "naam adhaa likhna"..by shaan and shreya goshal...guys! she is surpassing herself with every album..no recent singer has been so consistent... When i first heard her in Devdas, i knew she will go places...then Jism(chalo tumko lekar chale), Julie Ganapathy..and couple of Tamil songs for Raaja, Parineeta etc.,,. and now Yahaan..

Close Encounters

2005-07-09T12:52:00.000+05:30

though i have lot to write, i just came across an interesting blog... one damn lucky guy wrote abt his wonderful experience...of meeting & interacting with Ilaiyaraaja.
for the nth time, i asked myself "mera number kab aayega?"..anyways..read on...

http://thoppus.blogspot.com/2004/06/isaignani-ilaiyaraaja-as-close-as-it.html

when will i get a chance machaa!!!

An Ode to a Master-piece

2005-07-05T17:12:00.000+05:30

it will be raining ilaiyaraaja this month.i want to write about the "live @ Italy" concert cd which i got just yesterday..but wait..there is more...

Ilaiyaraaja's oratorio has been released. though i didnt get my copy yet, i have asked some people who already listened to it. most of them used abstract phrases like "1000v shock", "1440v shock" to define the album. for me, the eagerness pumped up more when c.raghu called me up today morning. i was in the class-room..listening to a lecture. he yelled that the tracks are out of the world. the collector's edition which i ordered is going to arrive next monday..but i cant wait. someone just mailed me that the album is available in sangeet sagar i am going to try my luck today.

meanwhile, i got a mail from an online friend of mine, in which she posted a piece of poetry written by her daughter. when i read the poetry..i felt " shitt!!! what am i.." i am humbled. i better post the mail itself.here it goes:

After listening to the symphony for the first time my daughter left for the terrace with paper and pen and came back after 20 minutes, and she surprised us with the following.

AN ODE TO A MASTERPIECE(TIS)

O thou ! Divine masterpiece
Were thou made to be,
The aim of my life?
Thou on whose flow
My body wages war
Within itself
My mouth pleads me 'Speak no more!
'My eyes crave
To visualize thy making
My skin crackles
Under thy flowMy nose drooles
Unable to do anything
Though hath made my earsVital,
supreme and blessed
For all my parts long to be one
They turn instead to the king
Who struggles to withstand
The tumult of thy harmonies
Oh! Thou hath poured
New meaning into my soul
Blessed are those who Feel as I feel,
Hear as I hear
But find thy soul
In thy confines!
For I am cursed
Not to know your tongue
Oh! Thy creator,
A boon to mankind
Hath purified me
Art thou the answer
To the mysteries of universe?
Then I pray god
"Lift my curse
Let me be free
Let its thoughts flow through me
"Oh thou! on whose face
This stands no chance.

Penned By B.K.Harini (Standard 10)

Dheere se jaana Bagiyan mein

2005-06-27T15:15:00.000+05:30

Recently, i got to download a private song composed and sung by S.D.Burman. the song "Dheere se Jaana Bagiyan mein", was/is one of the rare songs, yet famous, in his illustrious career and this one, in particular, is from the early stage of his career.
There is nothing new to write about S.D.Burman's rendition as he was one of the most accomplished composer-singers in that era.For me, he was not only a great composer but also a great singer.he had a characteristic style of his own,..the nasal twang and unconventional gamakams.he had a typical Boat-man kind of voice..perfectly suitable for folk-baul kind of ballads.and his rendition was always flawless.Lata Mangeshkar herself mentioned many times that she(and other singers) always had tough time singing exactly like him and have given up many times.He sang many private songs , some of which are popular and most of them..lying in some cans today..somewhere..probably All India Radio.
Though this song "dheere se jaana" is a private song, it is very popular. the 1st time i heard this song was in "chalthi ka naam gaadi". in the song " paanch rupaiyya baarah anaa", kishore kumar suddenly breaks into "dheere se jaana" , imitating the characteristic style of SDB(the nasal twang and all). Incidentally, the music for chalthi ka naam gaadi was scored by SDB himself. isnt it strange that Kishore had the audacity to mock at SDB under the baton of SDB.well, only kishore had such liberty with SDB( as SDB was his godfather). Kishore Kumar idolised artists like Saigal, SDB, before coming into films and there are many songs in which he imitated them adding his own touch of humor."paanch rupaiyya" was one such brilliant composition by SDB.

years after, in 1973...same kishore kumar teamed up with SDB's son Rahul Dev Burman to recreate same punch, using same tune. and both of them dished out "dheere se jaana khatiyan mein" in the movie "chupa rustom". this time, Kishore Kumar sings it in his own style..the weighty voice reverbed...but the tribute to SDB was inevitable...the rendition of last line, in this version, is truly SDBurman-ish. S.D.Burman might have chuckled , listening to that.
but for me, getting the original version of this gem brought more joy. The rendition of S.D.Burman, in this song, as always, is par excellence.
try to get it, if you can...

Trailor of TBI

2005-06-27T00:38:00.000+05:30

one mr.Karthik was fortunate enough to have got an invitation to a meeting in chennai, where a clipping of "thiruvasakam" by ilaiyaraaja was played. Infact, recently, a special meet was organised, to which all composers/singers in chennai were invited to taste the preview of TBI. It is very rare that you get to see all composers on single frame..especially like M.S.Vishwanathan, Ilaiyaraaja, A.R.Rahman , Kaarthikraaja and others. Everyone, i am told, was mesmerised and congratulated Ilaiyaraaja. anyways, read this on..

http://soonapaana.blogspot.com/2005/06/20-minutes-of-electric-shock.html

Spirit of Living

2005-06-21T18:53:00.000+05:30

Coming up is one of my favourite songs from Dev Anand's "Humdono". this album had wonderful songs..and greatest aspect about the songs is that all songs are brilliant..musically and lyrically... One which reflects the Spirit of Living is :

Main Zindagi ka saath nibhaatha chalaa gayaa...
har fikr ko dhue mein udaathaa chalaa gaya..

barbaadiyon ka sor manaana fuzool tha..
barbaadiyon ka jashn manaatha chalaa gayaa..
har fikr ko dhue mein udaathaa chalaa gaya..

jo milgaya usiko muqaddar samajhliya..
jo khogaya tha usko bhulaathaa chalaa gayaa..
har fikr ko dhue mein udaathaa chalaa gaya..

gham aur khushi ke pharaq na mehsoos ho jahaan..
main dil ko us maqaam pe laathaa chalaa gayaa..
har fikr ko dhue mein udaathaa chalaa gaya..
Main Zindagi ka saath nibhaatha chalaa gayaa...

=====
look at the lines which say that he celebrates his own troubles/problems etc.,. his own definition or Nirvana in lines .."gham aur khushi ke pharaq na mehsoos ho jahaan.."..simply Awesome!!

Lyrics written by Sahir. Wonderfully composed by Jaidev and mohd.rafi's over-the-top rendition. lastly, clap for the man behind this song, Dev Anand, for he is the producer.
can anyone write/compose/sing a song like this today?

An Interview abt TBI

2005-06-10T13:22:00.000+05:30

i think all this month, my blogs would feature only TBI..cant help it..just like to share..to keep the enthu on..

given below is an interview with Ilaiyaraaja.

When Shri Illayraaja soulfully sings "Nama shivaya Vazhga " ,thespiritual vibrations of it fills the whole house.When hefinishes singing and comes out of that state ,his eyes are moistedwith tears .

Says Ilayraaja " This Thiruvasagam project is a result of my intensedesire to do something for the youth generation.(Gives an example ) If you don't clean a house for days ,dust startsaccumulating ;If it is left as it is for four days ,then spiders anddirt starts accumulating ;Left unclean for a month ,rats and mousesettle there ;If its unattended for a year ,even if its a palace itwill be ruined !"(Having Known this fact) ,we haven't preserved our cultural treasureswe have for centuries together !Our precious cultural treasures havewithstood for centuries inspite of our ignorance and negligence -thatstheir power .Having known these facts ,we should keep our house clean .We should prevent our culture getting damaged by external infleunces and so called new-civilization inputs from the outside world.
Well ,i thought on these lines and Thiruvasagam project was born !"This project is a journey that continued for four years -But theactual work(composition ) was done in just 12 days .During those 12days ,i used to start writing music from 4 in the morning to 10:30 inthe night .The day on which i completed writing the score was the guruPoornima day of Manikka Vasagar ( who wrote thiruvasagam) -Thanks toGod ,thanks to his blessings !

Film Music ,Thiruvasagam music - which one gives you thesoulful satisfaction ?

Both appears to be the same .I have done Thiruvasagam kind ofmusic in films and vice versa.You perceive the difference .It appearsthe same for me .Like the breeze is the same everywhere

What attracted you to Thiruvasagam so much ?

As the snow melts and disappears when sunshine pours in , aman's lower form of ego ,selfishness flies away when he readsThiruvasagam.A person of the stature of Manikka Vasagar ,who hasrealized god and is always in union with god ,describes himself as aperson 'who is inferior to dog ' and he surrenders to god.When youread this in our wonderful tamizh language ,you are shaken by the humility and you are moved to tears -It will be surprising if one isnot attracted to this wonderful treasure!

How did you turn your mind towards god ,when your youth wasspent in Communist meetings ? ( as a musician )

I don't have to search anything now .Having known where is'God' .what is there to search now ?People search only those thingsthat they don't have !God has blessed me with its unique gift of musicto immerse in the 7 swaras of music and compose music for others ! Itis a blessing from god that i will be immersed in it and forgeteverything else!

How was the expereince of working with musicians of othercountries ?(like hungary ,US )

This is not the first time that iam working with them .Butthis project has one primary difference-thiruvasagam is atreasure that represents Indian culture -I have to make them feel theIndian culture in thiruvasagam and they have to work with me havingunderstood its importance and essence .Tamil Maiyaam decided that theywill use world class technicians for this project.The sound engineering was done by Five Time grammy award winner Mr.Richard Kingand the orchestra was conducted by world famous conductor Mr.LasloKovacs.He (Laso Kovacs) commented that i write notes in such a speedthat this ( speed of writing notes) will find a place in Guinnes bookof world records !I was concerned that they might play withoutunderstanding the beauty of this treaure(Thiruvasagam) .But ,everybodyperformed wonderfully .I was happy when they said " We never knew thatsuch a treasure exists in India

" How was the experience of working with a christian priest( Fr.Jegath Gasper ) for composing a symphony for hindu literature ?

This musical form which is used in this project is not of'symphony' type .This form is called 'Oratorio' .perhaps ,this is thefirst time in India that a musical piece of this form is coming.But weused a full fledged orchestra for this and hence they started calling this as symphony.I was involved in this projectfor the past five years .Well ,this project required good financial backup .And my nature did not allow me to sell this commercially .Somepeople approached me with some commercial gains in mind and hence the delay ( as i don't prefer that ) .Catholic Father has huge intrest in Tamizh Literature and devotionalrespect for Thiruvasagam. By chance ,i mentioned to him about this idea -Its divine play that who says what and who does what !After hewas ready to manage the project financially ,the one thought thatflashed in my mind " God is above all religions ' !

Do you have any plans to compose for any other tamizhliterature works ?

(Gives an example) Thiruvalluvar did not pre plan to writeThiru Kurral.It just happened naturally ,without any consciouseffort.This is how any good work will come .I don't carry a list of'to-do' items and then execute it.To be open ,this format of music (in which Thiruvasagam is composed) is new to you .When i first readThiruvasagam ,i did'nt read it literally -instead ,thiruvasagam versesappeared to me in a musical form that you are going to hear in this !

After you ,so many peopel from the current generation havecome to the cine music field !-What do you think about that ?

Its a good thing ! Whetever passion i have for music is frommy (music ) ancestors .With no conscious effort ,quite naturally ,myveins are filled with the music of Pavalar Vardha Rajan ( his latebrother ). I appear tall if i stand on the shoulders of myancestors.If they keep me down ,iam just as like anybody .Like anillayraaja came from Pavalar ,a Yuvan Shankar Raaja from Illayraaja !Illayaraaja's Thiruvasagam is going to get released in the 'MusicAcademy' on Jun 30 rd th .Raaja says that 'This is the penance of mylife .My dream '