You would know what I am talking about if you were in India...
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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.
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Super Khamaj!
Friday, May 26, 2006
Friday, March 03, 2006
Sangeet Saritha
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.
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.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Pagal Nilavu: Rounding up
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.
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.
Labels:
Maestro Ilaiyaraaja
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Of Raj Kalyan
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.
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.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Rang De Basanthi
Rang De Basanti
Ek Onkar-- it is a short song, a punjabi Bhajan infact. just a recitation of some stanzas.
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.
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.
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