OCTAVES

2011: Music and me

2011-12-26T14:01:00.005-09:00

Just thought I'd share some quick notes on how this year has been for me, musically. Not that I do this customarily every year and not that I have any tremendous accomplishments to report this time; but 2011 has been fulfilling in many ways and I just felt like jotting down some thoughts here. I had my first article on music published (in Sruti). Gruhabhedam having been a pet subject for many years whereas cognitive science being a whole new ball game, it was exciting and intimidating at the same time. It seems like the article was well received overall and I hope I did some justice to the subject.

In October last year I mustered some guts and started to write some elaborate concert reviews on rasikas.org (unfortunately haven't been able to keep up with it much post May 2011 as I haven't attended many concerts since - hopefully 2012 is better). It's been a great learning experience to say the least (a small digression: the mere fact that SO much debate and discussion happens around it with such fiery makes me very proud to be part of this Carnatic tradition - not many traditional art forms can boast of such strong, academic involvement from connoisseurs). One of my reviews is leading to a larger project in the pipeline about which hopefully I'll soon be able to write here. Moving on... I got involved in an interesting movie project in the summer. Wish I could write more about it but again, will have to wait until it sees the light of the day. Hmm.

Ha, and a random post on my synesthesia resulted in some pleasantly surprising responses. First, I didn't expect the post to resonate with that many people and second, it led to getting acquainted with a talented filmmaker interested in the subject! It's a strangely satisfying feeling to talk in detail about something (especially as surreal as synesthesia) you've experienced all your life, for the first time - with someone you've never met/ talked to before. Thank god for blogging.

It's always a nice feeling to perform on stage a blockbuster number that you've grown up listening to - I sang Chandralekha at a Tamil New Years event in SD. I don't care how it came out but I thoroughly enjoyed myself :P Talking of performances, a more serious one happened a few months later, in October - with the blessings of my guru, I did my first full length Carnatic concert in the US at Shri Mandir, SD. I'm nitpicking my performance to this day- nevertheless, it was an eyeopener and a very valuable learning experience in many ways; many thanks to the accompanists.

One of the most exciting things this year has been a song I've composed - it's exciting because it's my first non-Carnatic: a ghazal. I'm usually extremely hard on myself but I must say I'm quite pleased with this one. With all the encouraging feedback it got from friends and family, I'm hopeful that it will soon be completed and up here. The fact that I'm handing it over to someone else to sing is even more exciting. More, soon!

Last but surely not the least, thanks to an eight year old bundle of incessant energy and talent, I discovered the teacher in me and I can only say that it has been an immensely gratifying experience!

Octaves hasn't seen a lot of audio posts from me this year (and I'm beginning to think it's going to continue to be like this) but I've enjoyed writing here and hope you've enjoyed reading as well.

Okay, time to get back to whining about not being at the Madras music season now. Signing off, and wishing you a fulfilling and fruitful 2012.

Concert at Shri Mandir, San Diego

2011-11-18T11:32:00.004-09:00

Alapanais need to be more crisp and "tighter"; neraval less restrained, swaras more free flowing... I could go on. Heck, anyway- here are some videos from a concert I did at Shri Mandir, San Diego last month with Radhakrishnan on the flute and Sanath Kumar on the mridangam. Feedback would be much appreciated.

Santhana Gopala: Khamas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD_WfN66MXY

Sriramachandro: Sriranjani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeO9kjk7aPg

Dayarani: Mohanam and Sarideno: Vidapi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZLBEE0PrsI

Thillana: Rageshri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfZy7pXQhe0

Kannodu Kaanbadhellam: Revisiting after a decade

2011-11-05T19:49:00.022-09:00

Kannodu Kaanbadhellaam was the first film song I covered. Ever. On a casette, with the help of the "karaoke" button on the music system that would suppress the original voice (the casette was then supposed to go to ARR - but ah, well that's another story). That was ten years ago, but the memories are still fresh. "Jeans" had released a couple of years ago and although a ludicrous movie for the most part, it was a laugh riot in our family and we all loved it. In fact if I remember right, we watched it multiple times in the theatre. I was at the peak of my ARR craze then and every time I would see his name appear in the credits on the screen, with the ni-sa-ri-sa track playing in the background, I would melt. We loved the songs so much and I almost damaged the casette by playing it too many times. And my uncle would joke that his car just wouldn't move if he didn't play Jeans songs =) Ah, those were the days...

This song, kannodu, surprisingly wasn't a favorite at first. It was Nithyasree's first film song and I found it.. er.. funny - for lack of a better word. The visuals were hilarious and that added to the comic factor. But it slowly grew on me and as the influence of the movie waned, I started seeing the classical richness of the song. And then in 2001, something came over me suddenly and I wanted to explore that "karaoke" button on our music system (although we'd had the system for a while before that) and kannodu was the first that came to mind. Everything was simpler back then - from the process of recording to my process of thinking. It was a more naive, carefree mind, not super intent on self-nitpicking. And I surprise myself every time I think of how I recorded back then: the whole song done at a stretch (coz you see, I couldn't cut-copy-paste on a casette).

Fast forward to 2011. The spontaneity, the unbridled enthusiasm, the uninhibited singing - all muted. I like to call it maturity - to keep my sanity. But there's also one other huge difference now: "cooler" gadgets and recording softwares that seem to mock you and exaggerate the smallest flaw. And these things only make it that much harder to achieve complacency.

Anyway... I've had this karoake track for quite sometime now and I somehow never wanted to try recording it- I just wanted to be content with my decade-old recording and not venture into it again. But venture I did, and here's the result. I wanted to sing some actual "kalpana" swarams at the end but the karaoke track had an annoying loud flute sound playing the original swarams, so I couldn't sing anything else there, hmph.

So here goes...

Song: Kannodu kaanbadhellaam
Film: Jeans
Music: A. R. Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singer: Nithyasree Mahadevan

And here's the old one (which I'd posted here some years ago) again, for the record (I think the tempo got increased somehow as a result of which my voice is kinda distorted, but anyway)

My article on raga recognition in Sruti Magazine

2011-09-19T15:53:00.013-09:00

I'm happy to share that my article on the neurophilosophy of raga recognition appeared in the September 2011 issue of Sruti. What started as a term paper for a class I took long ago (more than a year now) with Paul Churchland has resulted in this. Thanks to Swaroop who first spotted it on my blog when I'd posted it for a very brief period last year; and of course, to the editor Ramnarayan.

As Octaves completes five years this month (that's right, five! hard to believe for me); it's a nice feeling to be writing musicology/ music theory related posts back to back. After all, I've always primarily been a theorist at heart.

Here's the article.
(Disclaimer: the model I discuss as I conceived of it in this context is just that: a model; a kind of an artificial neural network for heuristic purposes only)

PS: Please do subscribe to Sruti if you're interested in the Indian classical arts. It's an immensely valuable resource!

Raga recognition

Colored Ragas: Synesthesia and Carnatic Music

2011-09-11T17:21:00.013-09:00

Here's something very curious - and very personal in some ways - I wanted to put out there so that hopefully, I get to hear what people have to say about this and even better would be to know if there are other people who have similar experiences.

I associate colors with ragas. Yes. And swaras too. Kharaharapriya is greenish; Kalyani is yellowish; Bahudhari is purplish; Nalinakanthi is orangish... Sa is yellowish, ri is greenish, ga is majenta, ma is reddish... I could go on. You might think either a) I'm making it all up, or b) I'm crazy. Well for now in my defense, I can only say neither is the case, unless you can jump into my brain (which, trust me, you likely wouldn't want to do). I've experienced this raga/ swara - color correlation since childhood. In fact, I associate colors with abstract things much more fundamental than colors and ragas in some sense: I see letters of the alphabet as well as numbers, as colored. I have always been very curious about this and among the handful of people I shared this with when I was growing up, no one seemed to experience anything similar. It was only a couple of years ago that I learned about synesthesia from this extremely insightful and engaging talk by V.S Ramachandran (and shamefully, I go to the very university he teaches at and I haven't had a chance to meet him yet). In brief, synesthesia is a neurological condition where multiple (usually two) senses/ perceptions get mixed up.

The correspondence (between the color and say, a raga) in my case seems to be completely random: there doesn't seem to be a pattern in the correlation between say, the frequency of a swara or the mood of a raga and the colors I associate with them respectively. Same goes with numbers and letters: I see no pattern (for instance, higher the number, darker the color). My initial suspicion was that this had its roots in the fact that I had colored plastic letters and numbers to play with when I was a kid; but now I doubt it, for I don't even seem to remember the colors of most of the pieces. But may be the colors, in their abstract, stuck on subconsciously and I lost the ability to actively recall what color each piece was. But even if all this began with my playing with these colored pieces of letters and numbers, how did it catch on to music as well? May be it's all linguistic after all? May be the color of a raga for me is the color I associate with the first letter of the name of the raga? For I see 'N' as orange, and Nalinakanthi is indeed orange too. But this cannot be the case: the foregoing example has to be a coincidence, for other ragas starting with N are not necessarily orange for me. In fact, I don't seem to always perceive ordinary words as colored (although letters are colored) and even when I do, the color seems to have little to do with the color I associate with not just the first, but any of the constituent letters (and similarly, the color of a raga seems to have little to do with the colors of the constituent swaras).

Two clarifications are in order. First, I think letters or numbers or ragas or whatever - produce a sensation of color only when they're "inside" and not "outside". I mean, when I look at a number or hear someone say a letter; or for that matter even hear someone sing a raga or a swara or sing it myself; I don't think the color sensation shows up. Or if it does, it certainly is not very strong. It is rather the thinking of these entities (for lack of a better word); that conjures up the colors for me. And second, it's extremely hard to put a name to each color I see! It's usually a haze and while I'm sure that I'm having a color sensation, I'm not sure what color it is. I think it's usually not even a well defined color (which is why the "ish-s" suffixed to names of all the colors I mentioned above)

I don't know if what I've described above is characteristic of synesthetes in general. May be I'm not synesthetic at all. One goal for this year is to go to a Cognitive Science lab and get a test done. How interesting that would be!

Sorry for the ramble. I've been wanting to write about this for so long now and finally, just dashed it off while in a restless mode :( Hope it all made at least some sense, and I'm very eager to hear your reactions.

Sanga thamizh kaviye

2011-08-09T13:50:00.004-09:00

To me, sanga thamizh kaviye is a song in which KJY and Chitra epitomize the ultimate immaculateness of rendering classical based songs. Every nuance in every briga and every sangathi seems to have been ever so carefully sculpted and delicately put in place. Of course, maestro Ilaiyaraja's magic is seen through and through - in the choice of ragas (Abheri, Sriranjani, Sumanesaranjani), the structure of the interludes, the talam which seems to have a seamless gathibhedam, alternating between tishram and chaturshram; and so on. But I feel the rendition itself is so integral to the song that I wonder if it would have sounded as good if anyone else had sung it (and excuse my bias- can't help saying, "especially Chitra" :) ) Although not a big fan of the lyrics, I simply love this song for the music and the voices.
Here's my "unplugged" version of the song. I haven't ventured into trying any modifications or improvisations- I simply didn't want to. So here's a modest attempt of the textbook version.
As always, very much looking forward to your feedback.

(PS: I'd be glad and grateful if you could use headphones)

Song: sangaththamizh kaviye
Film: manadhil urudhi vendum
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Vaali
Singers: K.J.Yesudas; K.S. Chitra

Crazy Kiya Re

2011-06-24T09:00:00.002-09:00

A break from my long drawn Carnatic/ Classical spell. Here's a racy bollywood number, a favorite of the husband - this one's for you, Karthik!

Not my usual kinda song choice, but thoroughly enjoyed singing it! Feedback would be much appreciated.

Song: Crazy Kiya Re
Movie: Dhoom 2
Music: Pritam
Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan

Wish list for my dream concert experience

2011-05-17T02:17:00.002-09:00

I don't have a specific artist in mind; but I'd just LOVE to experience this dream (vocal/ instrumental) concert sometime. And I'm restricting myself here to the standard concert format- I could come up with other wish lists for other concert formats, but one's enough for now- when the probability of hearing such a concert is already incredibly close to 0, the least I could do to increase it is making it a standard one rather than a non-standard one!

1. Maathe - Dharu Varnam - Khamas, Adi
2. Shankaram Abhirami - Kamalamanohari - Rupakam (swaram)
3. Ranjani Niranjani - Ranjani - Adi (ragam, swaram)
4. Chittam irangaadhenaiyya - Sahana - Khanda Chapu
5. Pirava varam thaarum - Latangi - Adi (ragam, neraval, swaram)
6. Niravatisukha - Ravichandrika - Adi
7. Inta sowkhya - Kapi - Adi (ragam, neraval, swaram)
8. RTP Nalinakanthi with swaras in Bahudhari, Hamsanadam, Valaji, Nattakurinji, Varamu, Behag.... you get the idea :P
9. Entha muddho - Bindumalini - Adi
10. Aliveni - Kurunji - Mishra Chapu
11. Thillana - Rageshri - Adi
12. Mangalam

Payaliya Jhankar

2011-05-08T13:57:00.008-09:00

For a while now, I've been having what a friend rightly called "singer's block"- I simply haven't been able to sing. Not been practicing, abandoned music classes constantly feeling I don't have time for it, and worse, reinforcing in myself that I simply cannot do it. Grad school has indeed been exhausting, but I can't conscientiously convince myself that I don't have time to sing- it's rather just been a different avatar of plain procrastination I guess. I finally resumed music classes with a lot of push from self and the husband and it feels very rejuvenating! Anyway, all the ranting apart, here's a new song finally. Motivation: a brand new mic my husband got me!

I first heard Payaliya Jhankaar, a popular "chota khayal" in Raag Puriya Dhanashri (Pantuvarali in Carnatic), when I was probably 6 or 7- sung by my cousin who was learning Hindustani. My sister and me used to love this song... And then after many years, there was the silken voice of Hariharan rendering a few lines of the song as a prelude to A.R.Rahman's "Hai Rama yeh kya hua"- what a magical piece of music that was! And then came Ajay Pohankar's very classy "indipop" version which has a natural "instant appeal" factor to it. I'd been wanting to cover his version for a long time but somehow never got around to doing it. It's here now; finally. Thanks to Vijay Narayanan for the vocal-cut track. (I had to then play around with the track to reduce the pitch, so it probably isn't as good as it could've been).

Song: Payaliya Jhankaar
Artist: Ajay Pohankar
Album: Piya Bavari Again
Covered by: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam
Mixing by: Karthik Gomadam

Download here.

PS: Hope you like the new look of this blog! :)

Concert reviews/ discussions

2011-04-19T12:24:00.008-09:00

Here are some reviews/ reports I wrote at Rasikas- just thought I should post the links for the record:

Malladi Bros, Oct 2010

Shashank, April 2011

Ganesh-Kumaresh, April 2011

T.M. Krishna, May 2011

Sankari Krishnan, May 2011

(The third on the list has generated some interesting discussions on instrumental music in Carnatic)

Feature on Sound Box

2011-03-27T12:47:00.007-09:00

Thanks to Joseph Thomas (whom I'd like to refer to as the "father of Indian audioblogging" :) ), I along with a few other audiobloggers was featured in the March edition of the music trade magazine, Sound Box, in an article written by Jo on the Indian audioblogging culture. Here is a reproduction of it. Click on the images to enlarge.

Monsoon Wedding

2011-01-17T11:30:00.023-09:00

December 2010 will always be an unforgettable vacation for many reasons: for one, I got married ("??!!" to self: its yet to sink in...) - to Karthik Gomadam. It was almost just the way I'd imagined and wanted it to be (but for the jet lag for the most part- sigh!): amidst festive family times - with my one year old nephew being at the center of attention most of the time; lots of cousins and their kids (yes- with each one being in a different part of the globe, its a blessing to be able to have even half of them) dear friends, and of course, last but not the least, pristine music. Our wedding eve will remain ever so precious and dear to me: following our engagement, we had my guru Smt Lalgudi Rajalakshmi and her daughter and veena vidushi Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh perform together for us. It was an amazing feeling that these two wonderful people could be there and play for us. Their Bhavanuta and the ragamalika kalpana swarams are still ringing in my ears...

And well; to add to the eventfulness, before they concluded the concert, I was made to sing a composition of my own! It made me nervous, elated, dazed and of course, emotional, all at once... Here's the story behind the song in brief: for many months before the wedding, Jayanthi akka, who had heard my earlier compositions had been telling me that I should compose something for my wedding. "It will be a special feeling to look back at it after many years" she said. Although I'd composed a few songs earlier, including one thillana, this time it was a different feeling. I was overwhelmed but at the same time enthusiastic to take Jayanthi akka's task seriously. As I was thinking of what to compose, it occurred to me that a thillana would be the best choice- it would have a joyous feel to it owing to the rhythmic syllables. I was then wondering what raga it should be in- after ruling out many, I decided it would be Vivahapriya (aka Saranga Tharangini)- the name was just apt for the occasion and so was the feel; and I was also quite familiar with it thanks to Ilaiyaraja and TFM. But what about the lyrics for the charanam? My knowledge of any language is too deficient to allow me to write lyrics. Usually my mom writes the words for my songs, but this time, I thought it should be Karthik. It was our wedding after all; and Karthik has a deep penchant for thamizh anyway. So I asked him to write some lines, and finally, about 2 weeks before our wedding, we finished the song. My mom- my usual partner in crime- was overjoyed :) My guru, Jayanthi akka and Kumaresh anna all expressed their appreciation for it and I was quite happy. They all urged me to sing it at the wedding- I was very hesitant at the beginning, but managed to finally perform it...

So here are two videos from the wedding concert: first, a small sample of my guru's and Jayanthi akka's playing (Mohanam aalaapanai) ; and second, my rendition of the thillana. Eager to hear what you have to say! (The audio is not great. Please bear with the noise)

And here is a home-studio recording of the thillana:
Ragam: Vivahapriya/ Saranga Tharangini
Thalam: Adi
Tune and jathis: Self
Lyrics: Karthik Gomadam

Post wedding was a great time too! Apart from getting to spend some quality time with both our families, Karthik and I attended a good number of concerts in the Chennai season- the city was at its best, true to what I had heard: great weather- cool with light rains; over 3500 concerts going on at various venues (gasp!)- the city was at its festive peak. Despite having been there a zillion times- and I find it so hard to say this- I'd NEVER been there during the music season! Quite a pity... Anyway, this time in Chennai, I felt like a kid in a candy store, spoilt for choices. Almost everyday Karthik and I would debate on which concert to go to and come to a consensus with considerable difficulty. And that would be followed up with further heated debates on how the concert was... I was so spoilt by the end of it that I just didn't want to leave! Some unforgettable ones are Abhishek Raghuram's historic Thodi and Hamsavinodhini RTP at Music Academy, TNS Krishna's mindblowing Mohanam at Krishna Gana Sabha, Jayanthi akka's brilliant Charukeshi RTP again at Academy, Jayanthi and Kumaresh's Hamsanandi at Meenakshi College, and TM Krishna's RTP on Jan 1 at Academy. He sang a simple yet beautiful line which was like a New Years message: "anbinaal ivvulaginai naam aaLalaam" in Begada, Hamir Kalyani, Sahana, Khamas, and Kaapi. One concert I really wish I could've attended was Ranjani-Gayathri's at Rani Seethai Hall- they were to sing for 4 hours! :( Next time....

All in all, a fantastic December!

My recording for Swaralahari

2011-01-17T08:34:00.007-09:00

Here's the first of two parts of a recording I did for Swaralahari in October last year. With no experience before a camera, I was super duper nervous, to say the least- and it shows very well. I had decided against blogging about this, but then thought it should be here along with all my other musical endeavors- for the record. Hopefully there's a better next time!

http://www.swaralahari.org/site/playvideo.php?concertid=158

Celebrating GNB: (5) Santhathamu Ninne in Valaji

2010-11-11T15:04:00.009-09:00

Ram writes...
------
I've been thinking for quite a while about what is unique about the song. Honestly, except for pointing out the 'Dvitiyakshara Prasam' I mentioned in earlier songs too, I couldn't come up with much. This is a typical Valaji. Of course, that doesn't mean this isn't a good composition. In fact, this is a great composition that completely relaxes a listener even before the pallavi is over. For all the GNB critics who think his music is nothing but speed, this composition is a fine example of his idea of melody. (And this point is reinforced by his other composition Mamakuleswaram in Thodi, a very slow piece)

There are two striking features in GNB's kriti rendition. One is Briga and the Other is Bigu. The two features are often juxtaposed one after another, creating a stunning effect. In the Pallavi of this Kriti, the 'Briga' at 'NinnE' and the cascasding 'Bigus' 'nIvEyani' is an example of this effect. I'm not sure if Sindhu's swarakshara usage at 'Ga dhA' in Anu Pallavi was conceived by GNB. It sounds fantastic and that is what matters. And I think 'Vanditha muni jana' is a wonderful place for neraval. If it is Valaji, I would any day swap the kalpana swarams for 'first speed' neraval.
--------

Song: santhathamu ninne
Ragam: Valaji
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB

Download here.

Celebrating GNB: (4) Kamalacharane in Amritabehag

2010-10-06T04:50:00.007-09:00

Here's the next in the ongoing GNB series.
-----
Ram writes...

The Amritabehag kriti, "Kamala Charane", is another example of GNB's genius. This raga, like Sivashakti is a creation of GNB. The twisted arohanam goes like, "Sa Ma Ga Pa Ni Da Sa" and the avarohanam is "Sa Ni Da Ma Ga Sa" and the raga is classified as a Janyam of 65th Melakartha, Mechakalyani.

According to hearsay, GNB conceived this raga inspired by some vakra/varja phrases in Kalyani played by the legendary Rajaratnam Pillai. I feel that could have been true only if Ragas were just scales with Swaras. Many ragas, especially ones like Kalyani are much more than a scale. While the scale certainly forms the skeleton of the raga, the life of a raga is much more than a scale. While we can say Amruta Behag is derived from the Kalyani scale for all practical purposes, it has nothing to do with the Kalyani Raga (lakshana). In fact, it seems to have some resemblance to amrutavarshini (which in turn has little to do with Kalyani).

The composition "Kamala CharanE" set in Madhyama Kala is often sung as a brisk filler before than main piece in a concert. There is a genre (or shall we say sub-genre) of songs that are suited for rendering at a high speed and are good vehicles for projecting the capabilities of voice. (It is interesting to note many such Adi-tala songs have an eduppu after 1.5 beats). It is needless to say "Kamala CharanE" is among them. The song is a joyous outburst with several sangatis. Some sangatis revolving around the dhaivatam are very moving too.

The beautifully coined chitta swarams helps the listener get a proper understanding of the characteristics of the raga.

GNB's family say this is one rare song were GNB has left a Mudra. The name "Vimarsanananda" in the Charanam is apparently GNB's "Diksha name".

Sindhu has done justice to this wonderful composition by rendering at a liesurely pace. This speed, unlike the often heard break-neck speed, helps the listener appreciate the beauty of the raga better.

----
Read in Tamil here.

Song: kamalacharane
Ragam: Amritabehag
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB

Download here.

Celebrating GNB: (3) Ni padame gathi in Nalinakanthi

2010-09-19T13:13:00.022-09:00

As Octaves turns four this month, I present one of my favorite ragas today- Nalinakanthi. After a hiatus (Ram just had a baby girl- yay!), we return to the GNB series, and I'll let Ram do most of the talking (or writing!), but would just like to reiterate that I'm grateful to all the visitors here who've kept this blog going. I've turned my focus largely to Carnatic over the last one year or so and I'm totally enjoying this phase. I'm deeply indebted to my guru for this and I hope I constantly get better at it.
September is a very eventful month in our family- dad's, sister's and nephew's birthdays, and sister's anniversary- so this goes out to all of them! :) Hope I've done some justice to this piece...

----------------------------
Ram writes...

The kriti 'Ni PadamE' is probably the most famous composition of GNB. An article by BVK Sastri, written in the 1950s mentions that this song along with 'Sada Palaya' was very popular even then.

Despite being a popular raga, there aren't many compositions in Nalinakanthi. During GNB's time 'Manivanala' was probably the only composition known in this raga. Later compositions of GNB and Lalgudi Jayaraman are welcome additions to this wonderful raga.

While Tyagaraja's composition oozes with exuberance and brings out the briskness with its 'duritha kala' sangathis, GNB's "Ni PadamE' is set in 'reNdu kettAn' kaalapramaNam and that in my opinion adds more 'rakthi' to the raga without compromising on the briskness. The 'eduppu' or the starting phrase too is significantly different from 'Manavinala'.

GNB has embellished several famous kritis with new sangatis that contain beautiful swaraksharams. One stunning example is 'sa ma ni ga ma ga sudha' in the kriti 'Samaja Varagamana'. While all the 'aksharams' are right in front of our eyes, I still wonder why it takes such geniuses like GNB and Balamurali to unearth such swarakshara gems, while an ordinary mortal just reads the line and at the most appreciates the saahithya bhava.

GNB's compositions too are adorned with beautiful swaraksharams. Like in the Mohanam (Sada Palaya) and Khamas (Pada Bhajana) compositions, in the Nalinakanthi composition too, the kriti begins with a wonderful swarakshara phrase in 'Ni Pa'. Another attribute that elevates the composition is the 'dvitiyakshara prasam'(explained earlier in this series). While in the Sivasakthi composition, the lines in the anu-pallavi and charanam are adorned with 'Dvitiyakshara prAsam', in this composition along with those two parts even the pallavi contains DvitiyAkshara prAsam.

While usage of such rhyming words is common, occurance for such 'prAsam' in all the lines of a composition is rare. The greatness of this composition is that, at no place we feel that the 'rhyming word' is a forced fit. Like Dikshitar, GNB too has interweaved the raga name beautifully into the composition.

Despite several innovations and embellishments, the composition structure remains fairly simple and sounds uncontrived. Which, by the way, is not a simple task to come up with. (I'm sure Sindhu will vouch for that).

While Sindhu has rendered the composition nicely, probably for the first time in this series, I felt the 'absence' of Mridangam accompaniement. Also, the choice of the line 'nA pApamu' for swaraprastaram doesn't gel with the mood of the ragam. In my opinion, the pleading 'bhava' of the lyrics contradicts the raga bhava of Nalinakanti.
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Song: ni paadame gathi
Ragam: Nalinakanthi
Thalam: Rupakam
Composer: GNB

Download here.

RIP Swarnalatha

2010-09-13T14:31:00.009-09:00

It still isn't sinking in. Swarnalatha is not with us any more. One of the most expressive, mellifluous voices, I'm sure she's been an inspiration to lots and lots of aspiring singers like myself. What I adore about her is the impeccable note precision while at the same time being so expressive! A sonorous tinge to her voice makes it all the more attractive. At the risk of sounding cliched, I say with all my heart that she continues to live with us through her songs. Its indeed a strange feeling when artists leave us with their works behind them- it brings to us lessons about permanence and impermanence at the same time...

ennuLLE ennuLLE pala minnal Ezhum nEram... RIP Swarnalatha. You shall be sorely and deeply missed.

Here's an old recording, now dedicating to her...

(Reposting from http://octaves.blogspot.com/2009/05/oru-naal-oru-pozhudhu.html )

Reminiscing...

2010-06-03T18:25:00.005-09:00

Here's a song that I'd posted on this blog about 3.5 years ago. I'd just gotten to know Karthik Gomadam back then and this was his favorite. He now happens to be my fiance :) so here goes again... :)

Song: Jhumka Gira Re
Film: Mera Saaya
Music: Madan Mohan
Singer: Asha Bhonsle
Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan

Time sure flies!

Celebrating GNB: (2) Varnam in Andholika

2010-05-20T18:52:00.016-09:00

Here is our second in the GNB series started here last month.
--------------------------

Ram writes...

Andolika, a Karaharapriya janyam, has an asymmetric structure to its scale, despite having the same number of swarams in the arohanam and avarohanam. Tyagaraja's 'Raga Sudha Rasa' is the most famous composition in this raga. While Tyagaraja beautifully brings out the essence of the raga in the very first phrase of the kriti, GNB's varnam builds on it and showcases several new facets.

Before getting into a discussion on the varnam, a few lines about GNB and Andholika:

It is interesting to note that several of GNB's favourites belong to the Karaharapriya family. GNB has handled ragas like Abhogi, Jayamanohari, Reethigowlai, Andholika elaborately. However, he has hardly sung Karaharapriya.

The modern day Andolika is based on the framework conceived by GNB. (Although Sri. S.Rajam once told me that Andolika was among the favourites of the legendary Naina Pillai and Muthiah Bhagavathar). On GNB's 81st birthday, Sri. T.M.Tyagarajan spoke at a function at Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai; about GNB's first concert in Thanjavur. GNB was yet to establish himself at Thanjavur, the (then) Mecca of Carnatic Music. His appearance in movies had hampered his reputation as a Carnatic musician. While the Thanjavur audience were sceptical about the 'Talkie Vidwan', GNB launched into an alapanai in Andolika. Even as the experts were trying to identify the raga, GNB had delved into the depths of the raga through his brilliant brikas. (TMT's recount left such a deep impact on my mind that I used the same as the opening chapter of my book on GNB)

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was so impressed with GNB's delineation of Andolika that he started singing them in his concerts too. (While GNB started singing Gavathi due to the Ustad's influence. He even composed a varnam in Gavathi.)

Onto this varnam: There is a popular notion that Varnams are practice pieces - widely used for warming up. While it is true in the case of some elementary varnams, in many cases they turn out to be a brilliant medium to project both the composer's as well as the performer's innovative musical ideas. I would even go to the extent of saying that the Bhairavi varnam and the Nattakurunji varnam are each the most beautiful piece in the respective ragas. Such varnams give us deep insight into the various facets of the raga. One can also add this particular varnam in Andholika (along with the GNB varnams in Kadanakuthuhalam and Gavathi)- which is probably the most popular among the GNB varnams- to this list. While his other varnams are predominantly sung by the GNB school singers, this varnam is widely performed by musicians of other schools too. In my opinion, Sri. DK Jayaraman's rendition of this varnam is the best.

This brisk Adi Tala varnam is on GNB's Ishta Devatha 'Nadarupasundari'. Musicologist SAK Durga notes that, "The term 'Nadarupasundari' is very unique. Usually 'Naada Rupam' is associated with Lord Shiva. Tyagaraja says, "Nada Thanum anisham shankaram". GNB was probably the first person to concieve Shakthi as "Nadarupini".

Several interesting patterns can be noticed in the chitta-swarams of the varnam. Various porthams such as,

Ri Ma Pa Nadarupa
Ma Pa Ni Sa Nadarupa
Ri Ma Ri Sa Nadarupa

reflect GNB's style of singing Kalpanaswarams.

The phrase without Sa and Pa in the third chittaswaram (ririma niniri mamani ririma niririma) is rendered almost completely without gamakams. Such prayogams are truly ahead of his times. One can find such usages today in ragas like Madhyamavathi too.

Although GNB does not indulge in complex arithmetics, he uses several interesting patterns. One example would be the Gopucha Yati in the fourth Chitta Swaram (sanidhamari nidhamari dhamari mari..)

While Sindhuja does justice to this composition through her rendition, the listener is invariably left longing for more. GNB, when rendering varnams, usually compliments the chittaswarams with a few brisk rounds of kalpana swarams. Probably a few rounds of spontaneous swarams from Sindhuja would have served as the icing on the cake :-)

Lalitha Ram

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

Song: nee dayaradha (thana varnam)
Ragam: Andholika (S R2 M1 P N2 S, S N2 D2 M1 R2 S)
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB

Download here.

Sahithyam:-
Pallavi: nee dayaradha neerajaakshi naa taramerigi nanneluko
Anupallavi: kadhamba dhaNda sumachara paashaankusha, sitaamsu kalaadhariNi
Charanam: naadaroopasundari naaraayaNi

As always, feedback most welcome. We hope you continue to support our efforts in this series.

Celebrating GNB: (1) Sri chakra raja in Shivashakthi

2010-04-10T10:11:00.021-09:00

As many of you would know, this year is being celebrated world over as G.N.Balasubramanyam's birth centenary year (He was born on Jan 6 1910). As a contribution to the celebrations, I wanted to do my own small bit in dedicating this year to GNB. Towards this effort is a GNB series on my blog starting today. I intend to sing some of his famous compositions once every 2-3 weeks and upload here. And I want to thank here my guru Smt. Lakshmi Raghavan (who belongs to the GNB school and was a student of Charumathi Ramachandran) who taught me all these songs.

I'm collaborating in this effort with a long time friend, Lalitha Ram (Ramachandran Mahadevan), the author of a popular Tamil book on GNB "isaiulaga iLavarasar" and GNB scholar. Ram also contributed extensively with research inputs to the making of a documentary and co-edited a commemorative volume on GNB (which was also featured this year at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana), both released for this centenary year.
In this series we plan to have a short write up by Ram about each song I present. Thanks to him, this series will also be parallely featured in the tamil e-zine, tamiloviyam.com. This being the very first in the series, Ram has for us a brief introduction to GNB's compositions, followed by the write up on the song.
I hope you enjoy the series and support our efforts till the end.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Ram writes...

First, I congratulate Sindhuja for coming up with this fitting tribute to GNB on his centenary year. I would also like to thank her for letting me be a part of it.

GNB's compositions - a brief introduction
GNB belongs to the elite list of top notch musicians who were composers too. Like GNB's concerts, his compositions too are amalgamations of intellect and aesthetics. Prof. Sambamurti writes, "His vast experience on the concert platform and his knowledge of the likes and dislikes of concert goers have provided a useful background for the shape of the compositions". It is usually thought that too much of an intellectual approach can kill the aesthetics. Highly technical attempts often sound contrived. GNB incorporated several technical aspects in his compositions like the swaraksharams, complex chittaswarams, unconventional eduppus, new musical scales etc. Yet, all his compositions sound pleasing and graceful.

To quote GNB, "Whenever I was in a contemplative mood, I used to get visions of musical forms. I desired to give them a permanent form by shaping them into kirtanas. But thereafter, I did not give them a second look. I left it to my disciples to make the best use of them." Although, GNB didn't give them a second look (S.Rajam termed GNB's decision to not sing his compositions as a great 'Sangita drOgam'), some of his compositions gained immense popularity even in his life time, thanks to his disciples TR Balasubramniyam and ML Vasanthakumari.

There are several references that mention that GNB composed more than 250 pieces. In a letter to 'Sudesa Mitran', written in 1948, GNB mentions that he composed more than 50 songs. MLV, in an interview, mentions that majority of his compositions were composed in the 1950s. In his foreword to Gana Baskara Manimalai (the first volume of GNB compositions), Mysore Vasudevacharya says, "GNB has composed hundreds of songs in praise of Rajarajeswari". The first volume, Gana Baskara Mani Malai, was published in 1956. Subsequently, two more volumes have been published in 1971 and 2005. In all, 7 varnams, 72 kritis and 1 thillana are available with complete notation. While we have lost more than 50% of his compositions, the available ones suffice to convey to us GNB's genius.

Many of GNB's compositions are in ragas that do not boast of a large number of kritis (for. example in Raga Kadanakuthuhalam, the only famous kriti is 'Raghuvamsa Sudha'. The structure of the Patnam Subramaniya Iyer composition is more suited for portraying an instrumentalist's virtuosity. On the other hand, GNB's two compositions in the raga (along with Muthiah Bagavathar's 'Giripriyam') bring out the melody in an aesthetic way. Malavi, Chenchu Kambodhi, Narayani, Veenadhari, Saranga Tarangini are other ragas that belong to this category.) The chittaswarams, especially in the rare ragas are of great use in understanding the essence of such ragams. Some of them have interesting swara patterns (for e.g. dAtu prayogam) and laya patterns (for. e.g. Gopucha Yati). Even his kritis in ragas that have a large number of composition (e.g. thodi) his usages are unique (e.g. G G RS eduppu in thodi for Mamakuleswaram or the eduppu at tAra shadjam for bahudari in the kriti 'unnadiyE').
GNB has composed in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. In an article, GNB writes, "Dikshitar's kritis are detached, impersonal descriptions and sthotras of the hindu pantheon while those of Tyagaraja are records of his personal and emotional experience of God". One finds both approaches in GNB's compositions - although one cannot be sure if the compositions written in 'first person' do actually reflect GNB's personal experience. More than the lyrical content, GNB's compositions are known for their musical beauty.

While majority of the kritis are set Adi or Rupaka tala, some kritis are set in talas like Misra Jampa and Kanda Triputa. Many of the compositions are simple in structure reflecting the composing style of Tyagaraja. Some compositions have madhyama kala sahithyam and inter-weaving of raga mudra like that of a Dikshitar composition. The other musician-composer who was of great inspiration to GNB was Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar. Muthiah Bhagavathar was one of the few composers to have come up with new ragas. GNB followed his foot steps in creating new ragas viz. Sivasakthi and Amruta Behag. Although many of his compositions reflect his singing style, it must be noted that his songs are sung widely by musicians belonging to other schools (e.g. OST, N.Ramani, Sowmya, TNS) too. It is said that GNB did not have any mudra in his compositions. (His family says 'vimarsana nanda' in the kriti 'Kamala CharanE' is said to be his 'Diksha Namam'). On a keener look, as beautifully pointed out in a seminar by musicologist SAK Durga, one will realise that the entire composition is his mudra. His compositions stand out unique and do not require a 'verbal mudra' for identification.

Srichakraraja nilaye

With the above general introduction to GNB's compositions, let us take a deeper look at the first composition featured in this series.
Sivasakthi, a GNB creation, is a janya raga of Karaharapriya. The scale is interesting as it is not traditional. Traditional ragas would compulsorily have at least five swaras in the arohanam and avarohanam. Siva Sakthi has just four swaras, 'Sa Ga Ma and Dha' in the arOhanam and has 'Ni' in addition to the aforementioned swarams. When Balamuralikrishna came up with ragas like Mahathi, there were several criticisms for not following the 'five swara' principle. It is interesting to note that GNB didn't face any such criticism. The reason is probably the way he dealt with the raga. Upon listening to the composition, it is difficult to associate the raga with an unconventional or non-traditional scale- the raga is easy on the ears and sounds perfectly "natural".
Veena Maestro S.Balachander once described the concept behind the scale: the 9 swaras (four in the arohanam and five the avarohanam) depict the nine faces of the 'Sri chakram' (widely used in Devi upasana). Of the nine faces, four represent Siva and five represent his female counterpart Shakthi. Appropriately the arOhanam has four swarams representing the faces of siva and the avarOhanam has five faces representing shakthi's five faces. The phrases, 'Sri chakra Raja nilayE' and 'Sivashakthi aikya rUpini' are consistent with the above described concept.

Although a madhyama kala composition, I've heard this song being sung as a filler between two heavy pieces. The composition, especially in the anupallavi has ample scope for duritha kala sangatis. I've also heard this composition rendered in a elaborate manner. The moving 'hindholam-ish' phrases in the pUrvagam and the more ebullient 'abhogi-ish' phrases on the utrAngam makes this raga (and varamu, a close cousin) a unique blend of swaras.

Another notable feature in this kriti is the 'dvitIyAkshara prAsam' , i.e. is the rhyming syllable on the second letter. (e.g. Ethavunara and Seetha gowri in Tyagaraja's kalyani kriti). Each of the lines in anu-pallavi and charanam are adorned with 'dvitIyAkshara prAsam'. According to Prof. TRS says, "It is uncommon to find a composer using 'dvitIyAkshara prAsam' on all lines of a compositions. In the case of GNB, it is a regular feature".

This song was a part of the popular gramaphone record of MLV, 'Guru Vandanam' , and is now regularly sung by Sudha Ragunathan. GNB has composed one more composition in this ragam, 'Vinuthapalini". Hopefully, in the coming years, this composition too will attain the popularity level of 'Sri Chakra Raja".

Lalitha Ram

--------------------------------------------------------
Here's the song. Tried an aalapana, followed by the song and then some swaras. As always, feedback much appreciated!

Song: Sri chakra raja nilaye
Raga: Shivashakthi (S G2 M1 D2 S; S N2 D2 M1 G2 S)
Thalam: Adi
Composer: GNB

Download here.

Profuse apologies for some mistakes in the lyrics. I will definitely be more careful in future. Below are the *correct* lyrics:

Pallavi: sri chakra raja nilaye shivashakthi aikya rUpiNi

Anupallavi: pAshAnkusha bANEkshudhaNda bEsakalAdhari pAhi pAhi

Charanam: asurakula nAshini sreesha kEshava sahajAmini
IshaguNa gAnathOshini kOshAnthara sthithapOshini

Reflection....

2010-03-23T22:07:00.020-09:00

I recently came to a realization- it seems to me like I'm not an artiste in the true sense of the word at all. Here's why: I think a key characteristic for an artiste is to be spontaneous. And I'm the least spontaneous person with respect to almost everything. I don't talk spontaneously, I don't write spontaneously and I don't SING spontaneously. I don't do anything on impulse. Everything needs to be reasoned and planned out. I never surprise myself or anyone around me. When I think about it, it's such an irony that I'm into as spontaneous an art as music. I sat down to think one day, why I love composing Carnatic songs. And it dawned on me that that has to do with my lack of spontaneity as well! May be if I were a natural talent, I would tend to do alaapanais with ease and rattle away kalpana swaras. Why compose? Coz it involves careful thought, construction and coming up with a concrete form. It's so much easier than doing an aalaapanai or singing swaras.... for the simple reason that it doesn't require spontaneity and is not extempore!

I've always firmly believed that with singing, Carnatic is much tougher than film songs, but with composing, it's exactly the other way round. Why? coz true singing in Carnatic involves manodharma- or imagination (in the form of aalaapanai, neraval, swaram etc), and if you want to be good, it better not be "pre-meditated imagination"! And composing Carnatic I believe is easy since SO much of it comes ready made in the form of ragas. So if you pick a raga in which to compose, it has its standard usages and nuances and you just go with the flow. There are boundaries. There are rules. And with limited pieces to move around in the game, its not too hard to come up with a standard classical composition. (There's at least a small challenge only if you pick rare ragas, but that's not all too tough either) Where as with "filmi" songs, a whole new range of possibilites arise. Chords. Harmonies. Overlays. Variety of instruments. There's lesser rules, so it's that much tougher to produce a good piece with not much to follow.

Anyway, coming back to me- if art means spontaneity, then I must admit I'm hardly an artiste. I'm so regimented in my thoughts... Sometimes, the thought that I'm fundamentally wired this way scares me. But many times, I feel good as well. I find immense pleasure in analyzing a piece of music like philosophy. So if this is what is "natural" to me, then is this art as well? I don't know.

endha mugam with Lalitharam

2010-03-11T20:30:00.024-09:00

I have a lot to thank tfmpage for. Back in the day, that was my point of entry into the online world of musically like minded people. The Raga-Of-Song page (or ROS) was like home for a good 2-3 years and that's where I made some of my best musical associations. The song I'm presenting here today is the result of one such association- with Ram. Ram wrote the lyrics for which I composed the tune. This was one of my first compositions , and my very first experience with online collaboration (back then, Ram was in the US and me in India), which has become the order of the day today. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun! Although the song made its rounds within part of the ROS community and was quite well received, I think people were just being nice to me- probably because I was this kid just out of high school :P I now think the song was such an immature composition- half baked and cliched in a lot of ways despite some moving lines by Ram... (Not that I'm great now...!) Nevertheless, wanted to post it just for records- and to revisit those old ROS days... I can't believe it's been 9 years!!

Today, Ram is a noted music critic in the Chennai circles and the author of a book on the Carnatic music stalwart, G.N.Balasubramanyam titled "isaiulaga iLavarasar". I can only say I'm so pleased and proud! Way to go, Ram :)

This song goes out to my three good friends from ROS - Ram, Murali and Sheela. Glad to have met you all.

And dear blog visitor, will be glad to know what you thought of this piece!

Song: endha mugam
Ragam: Ragamalika (Darbari Kanada, Sahana, Ranjani, Charukeshi, Behag)
Thalam: Rupakam
Lyrics: Ramachandran Mahadevan
Tune: Self

And here are the lyrics:

entha mugam nOkkinaalum unthan mugam thOnRuvathEn
enthan manam thudippathaiyE unthan manam uNarnthidumO?
thanthai thaay thamakkai muthal entha mugam kaNda pOthum
chinthai ellaam silirkkachcheiyyum vinthai mugam therigiRathE!!!

munnam pala piRavigaLil kaLiththu kaziththu magizhnthathupOl
innum pala eNNam en agththil vazivathu En?
pongum un karuNai veLLam pagarndhidumE naan maRaiyum
Engum en mananilaiayi nee paarthaalthaanE thuyar maRaiyum

thEdum en manam kaNdum irangaamal oLivathEnO
naadum nOkkaththudan naanirukkum thavam veeNO
pathiyenRu koNdEn unnai,sathi seithu thaviRkkalaamO
mathimayakkum maayavanE,vithi maaRRa thayakkamEnO

nithamunnai piriyEnena muththamittuth thazhuvi ennai
eththanayO kURiyathu aththanaiyum poiyaachchuthO?
meththamaiyal koNda intha kuRRamaRra pEthathanai
saththaminRi neengkiyathu uththamanuk-kazhagaagumO?

pannagaththil paduththurungum ennagaththu naayaganE
viNNavarum maNNavarum vaNangum anbar-kaavalanE
paNNisaiththu kathaRum intha pEthaithanai paaraayO
ennilaiayi uNarnthu enthan idarneekka vaaraayO

Download here.

innum ennai - Singaravelan

2010-02-06T12:31:00.009-09:00

If I were asked to use the word "grand" for any one Tamil film song, it would be for this one. True to the name of the raga of this song - Gambheera Nattai - that's what this song is: majestic. Of course, what else can we expect when all the pillars of Tamil film music come together - the maestro, SPB and S. Janaki...
One song whose prelude alone can give goosebumps, one song which is such a magnificent combination of intelligence and aesthetics, one song I can never tire listening to.

(If there's something I don't like about this song, its probably the lyrics and the visuals - but the music more than makes up for both of these!)

I've collaborated on this song - for the first time - with Vivek Mahadevan. I think he's done a beautiful job of this! It was a pleasure working with him. And as many of you may know, he's getting married very soon! So Vivek, here's wishing you and your wife-to-be a very happy married life and the best of everything! :)

A little about the mix: the k-track is something I created by a simple voice-removal from the original and I was pleasantly surprised to hear the result - I thought it wasn't bad at all, for a voice-cut track! However, it can never equal a properly made karaoke in quality, and that in turn has a bearing on the effects we use for the voices as well, so as to make them blend with the track. Vivek and me have tried our best in making this sound reasonably good. Let us know what you thought!

Song: innum ennai enna seyya pogiraai
Film: Singaravelan
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Vali
Singers: SPB, S. Janaki

OR

Download here.

The Japanese connection

2010-01-30T00:01:00.008-09:00

Here's a non-Carnatic song from me after a while!

Ajay Chandran passed on this absolutely beautiful Japanese song from Final Fantasy to me quite a while back, and told me he was writing alternate lyrics for it which he wanted me to sing. The idea really excited me- for one, the song was so beautiful and two, by past experience, working on Ajay's lyrics was always a pleasure... Like with many other projects in the past this too got stalled and stalled... but finally here it is!

Many many thanks to Meera who mixed this for us in no time and making me sound better than I actually do perhaps :P

Here's the original song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlwSPMwAqbM

It might be interesting for you to note that Ajay has tried to make many of the Hindi words rhyme or sound similar in some way, to the original Japanese lyrics! Great job Ajay, to come up with something completely on your own and make it fit in so beautifully with an existing tune, that too with some resemblance to the original words which were in a totally unrelated language! Enjoyed doing this :)

Here are Ajay's lyrics:

________________________________________

udti pirun main to aasmaan mein yoon
main chanchal, hawaa ki tarah
gum hai kahaan
teri aashiqui mein
kaash ye dil ko..hosh aaye

sajna main yoon
teri raah khadi
dekh zara..
kabhi to yahaan
hosh nahin.. mujhe.. tu jo mila..
tuu hi magar ye jaane naa..

dil kii aahen....kahe maahi thaamo baahen
aaa yoon, jiya na jalaaa
yahaan jaltii hoon
kahaan jaane aankhen teri
aise to.. naa jaa...

so jaaoon mai
kho jaaoon aaj mein
aaun phir aankhon mein
banke aansoon

kahin se sada
teri dil ne suni
aankh khuli.. kuch bhi nahiin
haqeekat kya.. jaane kyaa sapnaa
kaun se sach ko maanu mai

kehna kabhi
hoon mai kaun teri
khel nahiin ..
pyaar mera
umeed to hai.. jaane.. kyon dil mein..
laut ke tum phir aaoge..

dil kii aahen....kahe maahi thaamo baahen
aaa yoon, jiya na jalaaa
yahaan jaltii hoon
kahaan jaane aankhen teri
aise to.. naa jaa...

so jaaoon main
kho jaaoon aaj main
aaun phir aankhon mein
banke aansoo

_____________________________________

So here it is, for you to appraise!

Song: udti phirun
Music: Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano (for the original "Suteki da ne" in Final Fantasy X)
Lyrics: Ajay Chandran
Singer (lead and harmonies): Self
Mixing: Meera Manohar

Download here.

Thillana - Raagam Bindumalini

2010-01-21T18:24:00.010-09:00

Here's a new composition from mom and me- a thillana in Bindumalini. Thillanas have always attracted me and needless to say, Lalgudi thillanas have been some of the most inspiring ones, as I'm sure any Lalgudi rasika would agree. I feel blessed and fortunate to have learned some of his pieces from his own sister.

I was under the impression that there was no thillana in Bindumalini- it was only after I finished this piece that I got to know (thanks to Jayanthi akka) that there were at least three more, one of them by the maestro Lalgudi himself! Still haven't had a chance to listen to any of them though, and I hope to do so sometime soon. (Links/ references in this regard most welcome!)

This piece was done a couple of months ago and I wasn't planning on blogging this anytime now, but the abundant, incessant rains in San Diego now prompted me to :) The lyrics by my mom are about rain- a tribute to the Rain God, if you will. As always, loved collaborating with amma :) This is my first attempt at composing a thillana- feedback with pointers/ critiques most welcome. Please do let us know your thoughts!

Special thanks to my Guru and Jayanthi akka for their constant encouragement for my compositions!

And rain on, San Diego!

Thillana
Ragam: Bindumalini
Thalam: Adi
Tune (Jathis, swarms): Self
Lyrics: Vijayalakshmi Bhakthavatsalam

Download here.

Carnatic on Keyboard

2010-01-06T14:15:00.022-09:00

Happy New Year people!

Its been a while since I updated this space with any music. Hopefully, I'll do so soon.
Couple of weeks ago when I was on vacation, I passed on a youtube link to Sathya's rendition of Kaapi on keyboard to my dad, in response to which he told me of T.M.Krishna's article in The Hindu against the use of keyboard and certain other instruments in Carnatic music. Thanks to a friend, I got the link to the article on The Hindu's website. Here it is: http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/music/article67245.ece

Quite an interesting perspective sparking off a debate for this season, I thought.

I read it and my immediate reaction was complete disagreement. I started thinking about what it means to preserve a tradition, what purpose do labels serve (could Carnatic keyboardists for instance just get off the hook by saying "If your problem is that the keyboard cannot handle Carnatic, then just take it that what I play is not labeled "Carnatic"- its some new genre"??), what defines a tradition and so on. Soon enough, found Anil Srinivasan's reponse to TMK reflecting a lot of my views: http://www.hindu.com/mag/2009/12/27/stories/2009122750110300.htm

And then came TMK's rejoinder (this was getting more and more interesting!) : http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/music/article70899.ece

The rejoinder made me revise some of my earlier thoughts. I found it to make a lot of sense. It seemed to me that TMK's main point was that the keyboard is not suited to handle *certain ragas* satisfactorily and NOT that it cannot play *any* raga satisfactorily:

"Let me give you an example. Let's say that certain ragas are not played in an instrument because the instrument cannot accommodate them. What do we then do? Just ignore them and let them become irrelevant over a period of time? This way we only narrow down the mural of Carnatic music. Carnatic music is not only about scales like Gamanashrama and Dharmavathi, it's also about Dhanyasi, Sahana, Ahiri, Anandabharavi, Devagandhari, Manji, Varali, Nayaki, Narayanagoula, Surutti and these are only samples. There are so many more ragas like these that every instrument should be able to express represent." - Words of TMK taken from The Hindu dated Dec 26 '09.

What was the difference between the former and latter sets of ragas? I think it is that the latter set of ragas are all gamakam-intensive, relying little on the arohanam avarohanam. That is, characteristic phrases involving certain very specific gamakams speak more for the raga than the arohanam avarohanam. Where as for the former, the arohanam avarohanam can bring out the essense of the raga reasonably well- and it is always easier to play the former on an instrument such as a keyboard since they are not gamakam-intensive and can be played reasonably well with just the use of phrases from the arohanam-avarohanam.

Since his references seemed indirect, I had to infer that he meant the keyboard/ saxophone cannot handle these ragas the way they should be. I may be wrong- I'm not sure if he exactly has keyboard in mind when he talks about these ragas. I then did a youtube search for Sahana by Sathya and sure enough, found one :) And to my ears, it sounded quite pleasant (may be not as good as some of his other renditions though, but I don't think that's because of the inability of the instrument- I see lot of potential for a better rendition). I'm yet to look for Carnatic keyboard renditions of the other ragas that TMK has mentioned, although I have heard (IMO) very good keyboard renditions of ragas like Bhairavi (Viriboni) and Nattakurunji (Chalamela) which are out and out gamakam based.

Throughout, I was left with this one nagging question: Why is TMK not talking about the modern keyboard with the pitch bender??? Like a friend said, "the idea that the keyboard is not suited to Carnatic is as old as the mountains"- for the simple reason that it can only produce straight notes and not gamakams. This having been the case for so many years, in my opinion the introduction of the pitch bender in the keyboard was a great revolution- one could now produce gamakams on the keyboard! And I imagine this to be the kind of keyboard that serious performing Carnatic keyboard artistes would use. If there are some who don't use a keyboard with a pitch bender and if TMK's arguments are only directed at them, then I have absolutely no problem with his views. And, if on the other hand there are some who do use a keyboard with a bender but don't use the bender well enough, then the issue is just about talent and not about an inherent shortcoming of the instrument (since to me, Sathya's instrument and playing are testimony to the possibility of superlative rendering of Carnatic music on keyboard). I'm pretty sure though, that the disagreement (between my and TMK's views) lies in the effectiveness of even the best pitch bender used by the best Carnatic keyboardist. I think TMK wants to say that even the best pitch bender cannot render the gamakas intrinsic to certain ragas. Then the issue really comes down to ignorance on my side with respect to authenticity and sufficiency of gamaka rendition.... All that said, I'm nevertheless curious about why TMK did not talk about the bender at all.

I don't mean to contest a stalwart such as TMK's views (I don't think I have the credentials to do that) and my sample space of Carnatic keyboard renditions is probably too small. I need to listen to more. So as always, comments, insights most, most welcome!

Anyway, lets just enjoy some music for now :) I find this kid Sathya- all of fourteen years- highly talented!!

Here's the Sahana I was talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XATq9qMzVi4&feature=related

And here's a malika of five "SGMDNS" ragams- a duet with his uncle Embar Kannan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l18DXRhhjtQ

This kid is amazing.

Oh, what a coincidence- today happens to be the birthday of one of the most brilliant composers we have today- who started off as an ace keyboardist! (not Carnatic, though :) ) Here's to all fellow Rahman fans: HAPPY RAHMAN'S BIRTHDAY!!

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Last Edit: 01/22/2012

Saarideno- Raaga Vidapi

2009-11-19T20:44:00.009-09:00

Here's a Vadiraja composition in a rare raga called Vidapi. This was tuned in this raga by my guru Smt. Lalgudi Rajalakshmi ("mami" as we fondly call her :) ). Mami celebrated her birthday recently (Nov 5) and this is dedicated to her. Sorry that I'm late, mami and here's a belated Happy Birthday to you once again! And thank you so much for all the wealth you've shared.
Please excuse me for any mistakes in the rendition!

Vidapi I think is similar to the Hindustani Raag Bhatiyar in the feel, although the latter includes ga3 and ni3.

Here's an abhang in Bhatiyar by Ranjani-Gayathri: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiT7Hqk_uwg
Priya sisters have also sung a bhajan in this raag, "maare ghar aaoji"...

(I remember a documentary that used to come on Doordarshan years back- on the National Literacy Mission - in the voice of Kavitha Krishnamurthy, and I think that was also Bhatiyar... was a lovely tune and brings back fond memories of the DD days...)

Song: Saarideno
Raga: Vidapi (S R1 M1 P D2 S, S D2 P M1 R1 S)
Thalam: Adi
Lyrics: Sri Vadiraja
Tune: Smt Lalgudi Rajalakshmi

OR

Download here

Dwijavanthi

2009-10-28T22:12:00.008-09:00

Here's Dwijavanthi on impulse: A short aalapanai followed by a song I learnt from a Bombay Jayashree recording years back. (Source of inspiration of the sudden impulse: TNS's mind-blowing RTP that I've lately been listening to like crazy)

Song: engu naan selvaen aiyya
Ragam: Dwijavanthi (Jaijaivanthi in Hindustani)
Thalam: Khanda Chaapu
Composer: Periasamy Thooran

A week with Pt Ravi Shankar: India Calling! at Hollywood Bowl

2009-10-12T20:51:00.030-09:00

(Pictures courtesy: Anu Sood and Flickr)

That life springs surprises on you may sound cliched, but it is not until it happens to you that you actually know what it feels like... Couple of months ago, I had what I can easily call the biggest surprise till date. Little did I expect a random intro email I sent long ago to a contact here in the Carnatic Music circle; to get me an opportunity to be part of a musical ensemble curated by Pt Ravi Shankar, to perform at "India Calling!" in Hollywood Bowl, LA! It was the tail end of my vacation in India when all of a sudden I heard from a Bharatanatyam artiste, Divya Devaguptapu of Indian Fine Arts Academy, SD, that Pt. Ravi Shankar was looking for vocalists to join his ensemble. I was asked to send a vocal sample for audition, and the rest just fell in place :)

September 12th 2009 is a day I can never forget: the day I first met and spent an evening learning some music with the Sitar legend Pt. Ravi Shankar at his house. I was elated, nervous, excited and dazed, all at the same time. I was at a loss for words for a while... Guruji- as everyone there calls him- was ever so warm, affectionate and encouraging though. Nearing 90, his energy and drive are unbelievable. Sukanyaji and Anoushka Shankar were also so very nice and super friendly! (So was their cute little dog Sukhee :))There were four other singers, one flutist and one violinist that day. We were going to meet the rest of the artistes in a couple of days, from when all-day rehearsals for a week would start at Guruji's house.

September 14 was when the rehearsals started full swing. Ah, what an atmosphere! I'd never felt so fortunate before... Here, before me, were some of the finest artistes- many from India, some from US. About twenty of us put together in a room doing music all day... I have no words for the experience- felt blessed :) Guruji would sit in front and teach us the songs with Anoushka beside him, helping him out. (She was going to conduct the ensemble at the show) Every piece was composed and hand-picked by him and such a beauty! All of them were wonderful raags including Khamaj, Pilu, Bihag, Maj Khamaj, Yaman..And not to mention a small Carnatic piece from "Raghunayaka" in Hamsadhwani :)

What I loved most about the experience was that I had the opportunity to spend a whole week with these wonderful artistes, listening to their renditions all day long. I am so glad that the whole thing was an amazing learning experience for me: I'm now able to appreciate Hindustani music a lot, lot more! About half of us were from Carnatic background and the other half, Hindustani. It was a beautiful exchange of ideas and styles. I could clearly see, beyond a point, the two genres seamlessly merging into one another when you could no longer tell the difference.

Same with the people :) Keeping with the spirit of Guruji's household (with Sukanyaji being a Tamilian) the two languages we could predominantly hear among the artistes as well, were Bengali and Tamil :) It was a lot of fun, each pulling the others' leg now and then. And out of the blue, Guruji and Anoushka would surprise us with a a word or two in Tamil! :) Ah... I could go on and on about the rehearsals.

We were taken to LA a couple of days prior to the day of the show. Between rehearsals, a bunch of us would go on long walks looking around Hollywood and we had a great time.

September 20th, the day of the event, finally dawned. That morning we had a couple of sound checks in the bowl and that was a tremendous experience! If the empty auditorium could give me goosebumps, I was wondering what it would be like that evening, with the seats full. Even a seemingly insignificant thing like the sound check proved to be an absolutely delightful experience, with each artiste getting to sing/ play anything they wanted, individually for a couple of minutes. Everyone was at their creative best and for once I actually wished the sound check never got over!

Soon it was evening- and we were all finally on the stage. As the dais turned around facing the audience, Guruji was right there in the front, smiling... Finally we were there, ready to present his creations in front of a 25-30,000 strong audience- the feeling I had is indescribable. Never before had I faced such a large crowd. The half hour of our performance went off very well with Anoushka conducting it. The end had a kind of "thani avarthanam" with the dhol and dhaak and was amazing, making all of us want to get off stage and start dancing! The resounding applause after each item was exhilarating- however small a part of the ensemble I was.
And oh, my evening was made extra special by my mom who made it to the show :)) And thanks so much Karthik for being there :))

Unfortunately, we could not record the event, but some good soul in the audience ("bharathwaj" on youtube) has recorded and uploaded on youtube. Thanks to him, here is a small sample of the event. (You can find most of the other parts too on youtube) Since I guess this was shot from the left side, the right half of the stage is not very well covered. Nevertheless, many thanks to the person who uploaded all the videos.

The rest of the event had Kailash Kher, a Rajasthani folk dance and music, Anoushka Shankar's solo performance and a Bollywood dance item. They were all very enjoyable and needless to say, Anoushka's was a stunner.

At the end of it, I was left wondering if I deserved any of it... anyway, I'll profusely thank my stars (or whatever!) for this totally beautiful, memorable experience with one of the greatest legends of our times, Pt. Ravi Shankar.

These are from the Khamaj piece- my favorite!

Artistes:

Anoushka Shankar, conductor

Subhamita Bannerjee, vocal
Tarun Bhattacharya, santoor
Sudakshina Alagia, vocal
Tanmoy Bose, tabla and dhol
Sandhya Mohan, vocal
Nishanth Chandran, violin
Samir Chatterjee, tabla and pakhawaj
Gokul Das, folk drums (dhaak)
Ravichandra Kulur, flute
Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, sarod
Ramesh Mishra, sarangi
Anil Narasimha, vocal
Kenji Ota, tanpura
Shalini Patnaik, tanpura
Barry Phillips, cello
Aditya Prakash, vocal
Radhakrishnan Ramachandran, flute
Easwar Ramakrishnan, violin
Nirmalya Roy, vocal
Parimal Sadaphal, sitar
Sanjeev Shankar, shahnai
Pirasanna Thevarajah, mridangam and morching
Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam, vocal

poo vaasam- with Karthik Nagarajan

2009-09-01T15:03:00.027-09:00

Octaves turns three and I couldn't have found a better song for today.
Its usually hard to pick out a single favorite song for anyone, but I think if I'm asked to do that, its very likely that I'll pick poo vaasam most of the time.
I usually say that once a composer picks a good raga, half the job is done- for the beauty of the raga itself takes care of much of it. But this song, despite being in one of THE most beatiful ragas (vivahapriya/ shudhdha sarang) stands as a wonderful composition in its own right. I'll be ever so thankful to Vidyasagar for creating such an outstanding melody. Everytime I listen to it, I feel so much thought and care has gone into making each and every bit of it. And of course, can't forget the beautiful lyrics!

Not to mention everything else associated with the song: anbe sivam, one of the classiest and brilliant movies in Tamil cinema- and one with which I really relate to; Kamal Hassan- what an absolute genius... and of course, Madhavan :)

For this song, I could only think of Karthik's voice... and when I heard his recording, I was just amazed. His parts can really pass off as the original, I would say. (I totally loved Vijay Prakash's rendition by the way!)
I've been wanting to do this song for long but never found a good karaoke... So thanks, Karthik for the patience to fix the karaoke track to make it sound as good as the original, and of course for all the efforts in mixing.

This one's probably the most fulfilling cover I've done till date. Here's hoping that you enjoy it too.

And as this blog completes three years today, many thanks to friends, fellow bloggers and well meaning critics who have kept it going through all the hits and misses :)

Song: poo vaasam
Film: anbe sivam
Music: Vidyasagar
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singers: Vijay Prakash/ Sriram Parthasarathy (two versions), Sadhana Sargam

Mixing of this version: Karthik Nagarajan

Download here.

Interview at Audio India

2009-08-30T19:07:00.007-09:00

Jo has been conducting interviews with music bloggers at Audio India. Check out mine here when you get a chance!

anbendra mazhaiyile with Rashmi Nair

2009-08-28T17:13:00.012-09:00

Murali suggested I do this song and created a karaoke for it. Then thought it would sound nice as a duet. Asked Rashmi and she was immediately up for it.

Can't resist mentioning Meera's eagerness to do the mix and and especially her super fast completion of it!

Thanks Murali for spearheading this and valuable inputs on doing overlays, backing vocals and such; Rashmi, for joining in and lending your lovely voice; and Meera for a very fine finish!

Here's how we've divided the portions: (S is me and R Rashmi)

(BG humming: S & R)

S: anbenRa mazhaiyilae agilangaL nanaiyavae adhiroopan thoanRinaanae
S: vaikkoalin maeloru vairamaay vairamaay vandhavan minninaanae

R: viNmeengaL kaNpaarkka sooriyan thoanRumoa pugazhmaindhan thoanRinaanae
R: kaNNeerin kaayaththai senneeril aatravae sisubaalan thoanRinaanae
R: anbenRa mazhaiyilae agilangaL nanaiyavae adhiroopan thoanRinaanae
S: (adhiroopan thoanRinaanae)
R: poarkoNda boomiyil pookkaadu kaaNavae pugazhmaindhan thoanRinaanae
S: (pugazhmaindhan thoanRinaanae)

S: kalvaari malaiyilae kallonRu pookkavum karuNaimagan thoanRinaanae
S: nootraandu iraivinai nodiyoadu poakkidum oLiyaagath thoanRinaanae
S & R: irumbaana nenjilum eerangaL kasiyavae iraibaalan thoanRinaanae
S & R: mutkaadu engilum pookkaadu pookkavae puviraajan thoanRinaanae

R: anbenRa mazhaiyilae agilangaL nanaiyavae adhiroopan thoanRinaanae
S: (adhiroopan thoanrinaanae)
R: vaikkoalin maeloru vairamaay vairamaay vandhavan minninaanae
S: (vandhavan minninaanae)
S: anbenRa mazhaiyilae agilangaL nanaiyavae adhiroopan thoanRinaanae
R: (adhiroopan thoanRinaanae)
S: vaikkoalin maeloru vairamaay vairamaay vandhavan minninaanae
R: (vandhavan minninaanae)

And here we go...

Song: anbendra mazhaiyile
Film: minsaara kanavu
Music: A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singer: Anuradha Sriram

Karaoke track created by Murali Venkatraman
Mixing by Meera Manohar

OR

Anbendra Mazhayile (Tamil Cover) Duet with Sindhuja | Upload Music

khamoshiyan gungunane lagiin

2009-08-09T03:12:00.008-09:00

This is a relatively less known number by Rahman from 1-2-ka-4. The movie bombed at the box office I guess, but had some good melodies- including this one and sona nahi na sahi.
Found an excellent karaoke track for this one on an esnips page... and it was a long pending idea to do a duet with fellow blogger Rajesh Raman and it somehow never took off until this one.
Needless to say, Rajesh is remarkable. One of those singers who we should be lucky to have here, among us.
A little about the original: A sensational duo, Sonu and Lata have sung this. Lata, despite the shake and all other age related factors sounds so expressive. I wish I could isolate her singing from her voice...
Sonu: Amaaazing as always. Check out a live version by them at the Unity of Lights concerts with Rahman here: Sonu is adorable! :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gsmoWEsvpo&feature=PlayList&p=BFBDCF7A7807CBBF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37

Now, here's our's :) Let us know what you thought. This was recorded a long time back- we kept going back and forth on mixes... finally decided to pick the best one and put it up... Many thanks to Rajesh's friend Arun Varma for his efforts in mixing this.

Song: Khamoshiyan gungunane lagiin
Movie: 1-2-ka-4
Music: A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Sonu Nigam

This version mixed by: Arun Varma

Vande Mataram

2009-07-14T19:47:00.004-09:00

Here's a short piece also recorded with my sister couple of weeks back. Its vande mataram in raga Khamas as rendered by four of the best Carnatic musicians of our times. Listen to that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YpxQRVOpdU

Here's our version:

vande mataram in khamas | Upload Music

Seattle- Episode 2 :)

2009-06-29T22:04:00.006-09:00

Enjoying my summer break with my sister... after albela sajan last time, we recorded this old Kannada song from the 80's today. Beautiful song set primarily in Shuddha sarang/ Brindavana saranga.
Thanks Sumi, for the choice of song.

Do let us know what you thought about this :) And whether you could tell who's who ;)

Here goes...

Song: Theredhidhe mane
Movie: Hosabelaku
Music: Ranga Rao L M
Lyrics: Kuvempu
Singers: Janaki S, Vani Jairam

OR

Download here.

I cannot...

2009-06-26T00:58:00.004-09:00

I am writing this on impulse, but I shall go on...

Its all been about screaming out to people what I CAN do. "Listen to me!", "I can sing too!" and about "getting an audience". Bah!
How egotistical.
Some days back, a dear friend from high school- Janani- requested me to sing the song "bhor bhayi" by bade ghulam ali khan. Very enthusiastically, I checked out the youtube link she gave me, of the Delhi 6 version rendered by Shreya Ghoshal. I heard the song and was dazed for a while. Then I heard it again. And then again.
The next day, with a lot of reluctance, I started to try singing it. I am glad I did that, for two reasons: one, it made me realize the greatness of the singers even more, and two, it made me realize, all over again, how grossly inadequate I was. After a whole day of trying to perfect it, I'm left feeling so angry and disappointed with myself. So angry that I want to say out loud, that here is something I CANNOT do.
All this while, I respected Shreya for the golden, silken, flawless voice she had. And that was it. People had often told me that my tone was similar to her's, and having covered some of her songs, I thought I wasn't too far behind. HAHAHAHAHA.
This song- bhor bhayi just made my respect for her go up ten times. This girl can SING! Wish I could do half as well as her.
Okay, time I stopped and gave the link to I am talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM2NkPOOd84&feature=related

You know what's worse: the mind knows it all- this is Gujari Thodi- Thodi minus pa (i.e Shubhapantuvarali in Carnatic minus pa); so there's no grounding, M2 to D1 transition is difficult; starting phrase itself is dmdndmgrs at lightning speed. The mind understands it completely. But the vocal chords don't. It is SO annoying.

Janani- I'm sorry; I hope there comes a day when I've mastered this song.
On the other hand, sometimes (many a time actually), I feel I should just get into music research and stop singing. Or at least stop till I get somewhere close to where I want to be, with my singing. But no, the Ego won't let me do that. I'll be happy if my ego even lets this post remain to see the next day.

Michael Jackson- RIP

2009-06-25T22:58:00.003-09:00

I can't believe a world phenomenon can just end like that. So soon.
MJ brings back a lot of childhood memories. Thanks to my sister, I would listen to a lot of his music as a kid. I still remember lazy Sunday afternoons playing Heal the World or Dangerous or Jam. Often, a bunch of us, neighbour kids would get together and dance to Black or White- trying to do that famous step crisscrossing arms and legs :)
I still love listening to his songs. Wish he had the chance to make that come-back!
The world sure will sorely miss him...
Michael Jackson- RIP.

oru naal oru pozhudhu

2009-05-22T19:48:00.008-09:00

This is a relatively rare song, one of Rahman's earliest. Swarnalatha's serene voice enhances the beauty of this song. I love the way the song meanders on, in a most pleasing, soothing manner.
Having unearthed this song recently, I realized kannaamoochi was not after all Rahman's only nattaikurunji :)
Ripped off portion of the "interlude" and created a "karaoke" :)
I hope I've done some justice to this lovely song.

Song: oru naal oru pozhudhu
Movie: andhimandhaarai
Music: A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singer: Swarnalatha

OR

Download here.

Kurukku Siruththavale

2009-05-03T10:22:00.013-09:00

Our own blogger Star -Murali Ramanathan- is back to active blogging :)
After Uyire- my very first duet in this blog, and then kaaththirundhaen, here's another duet with him, a Rahman number again- kurukku chiruththavale. Set in ragam Vaasanthi (with some slips into Mohanam) this is a beautiful rustic/ folkish song and has two of the most beautiful voices- Hariharan and Mahalakshmi.
Here's our version. Hope you like it.

Song: Kurukku Siruththavale
Film: Mudhalvan
Music: A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singers: Hariharan, Mahalakshmi Iyer

This version mixed by: Murali Ramanathan

Download here.

Wish this weekend never ended...

2009-04-05T21:07:00.004-09:00

So rejuvenated with all the beautiful music that I've been getting to hear in the past three days along with a bunch of good friends...
The Indian Fine Arts Academy, San Diego has been doing a wonderful job of getting some of the best artistes from India to perform here. My first year here, and I thoroughly enjoyed it- felt like home away from home.
The highlights this time were M.S.Gopalakrishnan and Dr.M.Narmada - violin duet, S.Sowmya and Sudha Raghunathan - vocal solo concerts and Ravikiran and Irshad Khan with a jugalbandhi. While they were all fantastic, some particular pieces deserve a special mention in my opinion.
While Narmada's purvikalyani was outstanding, Irshad Khan played a beautiful solo in Rakeshri- one of his own compositions. I loved the choice of raag! The jugalbandhi defied tradition and they chose the unconventional Kharaharapriya/ Kaafi thaat. Needless to say, absolutely brilliant performance (although I wish Irshad Khan rested his hands for a bit more, allowing the others to play :) )
What I liked best about Sowmya was the piece in Varali (Ka va va)- although not a favourite for me, I loved the way she handled it. The swarams were so intelligently structured, alternating between different gathis/ nadais.
The grand finale was Sudha Raghunathan. I don't have to do more than just mention the name to convey anything about how the concert was. Perfect choice of songs/ ragas- most were favourites :) Maathe in Khamas, Shrichakraraja in Shivashakthi, elaboration of Shankarabharanam followed by Swararagasudha, innudayabarade, bhavayami gopalabalam and kurai ondrum illai were the highlights. The last two nearly moved me to tears and left me craving M.S.Subbulakshmi's voice (which I am listening to as I type this). Some songs are immortalized by some people and you don't want to hear them in anyone else's voice. Nevertheless, Sudha of course did an amazing job.
Sigh... all good things come to an end.

Sonnaalum with Karthik Nagarajan

2009-03-26T09:17:00.013-09:00

sonnaalum kaetpadhillai is one of those mesmerizing songs that I call "black holes" - once you start listening to it, it just sucks you in deeper and deeper till the point of no return. What a brilliant song with two of TFM's very best voices- Harini and Unnikrishnan. When it comes to female singers in TFM, the two that I simply adore and worship and Chitra and Harini (who to me is "Shreya of the South" ). While I've sung a quite a few of Chitra's songs, I've sung only one of Harini's so far (manam virumbudhae), that too in the good old days when I hadn't started recording digitally. I'm so glad I finally got to do one more.

Welcome Karthik Nagarajan- with whom I've sung this song- to the world of audioblogging. He's an incredibly talented singer I got introduced to, through a common friend. Do visit his blog that he's started recently to listen to some more of his songs.

Many thanks to Swati and Anil.B.S for the karaoke track. Anil had created this track for Swati and Ali who did a beautiful Hindi version of this song sometime back. Do listen to that one too,here.

So here is our version, up for you.
This song goes out especially to my dad- he totally loves this song, lyrics and all, and listens to it with the same involvement that he has while listening to a Carnatic concert :)

Song: sonnaalum kaetpadhillai
Movie: Kadhal Virus
Music: A.R.Rahman (ONE AND ONLY!)
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singers: Harini, Unnikrishnan

This version mixed by: Karthik Nagarajan

Download here.

Jotheyali

2009-03-16T09:01:00.012-09:00

Pity that hailing from Bangalore, I haven't done a Kannada song till now... Growing up, Kannada was the second language I learnt and having lived in Bangalore all my life, Kannada holds a special place for me :)
I've finally managed to do a Kannada number now with Jo - Jotheyali. This is a HUGE hit from the 80's and till today, any important function in the city like Rajyotsava day, and this is the song that blares out through loudspeakers. The late Shankar Nag who was the hero in this film still has a huge dedicated fan following and almost every Kannadiga adores him.
I've always loved this song, and long after I got a karaoke track for it (thanks to Madhu), requested Jo to do it thinking his voice would suit the song. I think he has done a great job of it, taking care to get the pronunciations right. Let us know what you think of this one!
(The tune was recycled by Raja recently in a song in the Hindi movie Cheeni Kum-like all the other songs in the movie- called Jaane do na. Hope to record that sometime as well...)

Here goes- Jotheyali- dedicated to all the Kannadigas out there! How I miss home...

Song: Jotheyali
Film: Geetha
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Udayashankar
Singers: SPB, S. Janaki

This version mixed by: Joseph Thomas

Download here.

E Shwasalo

2009-02-27T16:43:00.016-09:00

"M.S.Shankar's Supremes" was a popular light music troupe in Chennai in the 70's and 80's, started by their lead drummer Shankar, and my uncle Devanathan who was the lead singer and accordion player. In 2007 the troupe revived its music and did a couple of shows- after twenty five years or so. One of them was in September 2007 at the Madras Music Academy, for an event put together by the Indian Telugu Association to felicitate veteran Telugu actor Chandra Mohan. I performed with them at the event, and one of the songs given to me was E Shwasalo. I heard the song and decided it was impossible to do it- given Chitra's pitch and the complexity of the swaras at the end. I somehow managed to pull it off there and got some good feedback too. (I imagine though, that people were probably just being nice to me :P)

I find a lot of similarities between this song and ThaththiththOm from Azhagan (what I recorded some three years ago). To start off, its the same team - Keeravani (aka Maragathamani aka M.M.Kreem) and Chitra. Also, both are classical/ raga based and both have very complex swaras at the end and both conclude with slow, soft lines. I have no words for Chitra's singing and this is yet another song that reinforces the belief in me that she is not human! I don't understand how a human voice can have this much breath control and flexibility and ease at such high notes. Like Murali was saying, music directors seem to have used Asha's, Lata's and Chitra's voices like a violin!

I stumbled upon a very good karaoke track for the song recently. Although am not exactly a huge fan of this song, I decided to try recording it just for kicks. So here it is. Obvious disclaimers apply :P
Also, this is my first song in Telugu, a language I don't know, so I apologize for any goof-ups in diction.

Song: E Shwasalo
Movie: Nenunnanu
Music: Keeravani
Lyrics: Sirivennela
Singer: Chitra

Download here.

Rahman- the phenomenon

2009-02-26T21:18:00.002-09:00

It feels like yesterday- the fresh sound of a simple, beautiful, innocent melody: "chinna chinna aasai"... What an absolutely fantastic journey it has been!
All this worldwide attention was long due and I'm elated that he's finally got so much of it now!
Although I think Slumdog is certainly not his best (we all know the phenomenal music he's produced earlier in Tamil and Hindi films), I see the Oscars as a sort of cumulative reward for his 15 or so magnificent years in music and stand up to him in awe, admiration and adoration.
Love you, Allah Rakha Rahman!!

Happy Birthday, Ma

2009-02-13T18:50:00.014-09:00

Two songs for the occasion.
One, for her and another, composed by her :)

For the love of Khamas... :)
Song: uyirum neeye
Music: A.R. Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singer: Unnikrishnan
Movie: Pavithra

Download here.

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

Song: ariyadhoru karu nisiyil
Composition and lyrics: Vijayalakshmi Bhakthavatsalam
Raagam: Ragamalika (Behag, Sindhubhairavi, Chandrakauns, Simhendramadhyamam, Darbari Kanada)
Thaalam: Khanda Chaapu

Download here.

Lyrics:

பெஹாக்:

அரியதொரு கரு நிசியில் என் மனக்கண்முன்னே
கரியநிற சிறுவன் வந்து பாட்டொன்று கேட்டான்
யாரை நான் பாட? யார் வந்ததென்றேன் ...
பேரைக்கேள் அதுசொல்வேன், கண்ணன் நான் என்றான்!
ஆலிலையில் படுத்துறங்கும் இடையன் நான் என்றான்
மாலும் நான், மாயன் நான் - என்னை பாடென்றான்

சிந்துபைரவி:

முன்னை வினைதீர்க்கும் முதல்வன் அவன் அறிந்தேன்
பின்னை வினை போக்கிடும் பரமன் என்றுணர்ந்தேன்
இடை ஜாதியில் வளர்ந்த வசுதேவன் மகன் அவன்
குடையாக குன்றெடுத்து மழையினின்று குடி காத்தான்
பேய்முலை நஞ்சுண்டு மாயய் தாயை மாய்த்தான்
வேய்ங்குழலில் கானம் செய்து ஆவினம் மெய் மறக்க செய்தான்

சந்திரகௌன்ஸ்:

கன்றெறிந்து கயவனை கண்டழித்த பாலனவன்
காளிங்க நர்தனத்தால் கடியதொரு விஷம் களைந்தான்
வெண்ணையுண்டு மண்ணையுண்டு அன்னையிடம் கட்டுண்டு
உண்ட வாயில் அண்டம் காட்டி அற்புதம் செய்தான்
பல பெண்டிர் துகில் மறைத்து புளகாங்கிதம் அடைந்தான்
ஒரு பெண்ணின் மானம் காக்க துகில் மிகவே கொடுத்தான்

சிம்மேந்திரமத்யமம்:

தூது சென்று தூயவரை துணை நின்று காத்திட்டான்
தீது செய்த தீயவரை தோல்வியை தழுவச்செய்தான்
வேதாந்தம் தனை உரைத்து விஜயனை வெல்லவைத்தான்
விஷ்வரூபம் காட்டி அவனை ஆட்கொண்டான்
அன்றவன் அவனி காக்க ஆயனாய் அவதரித்தான்
தொன்று தொட்டு இருப்பவன் இன்றென்னை பாடச்சொன்னான்

தர்பாரி கானடா:

விளையாட்டு பிள்ளையாய் வினையெல்லாம் களைந்தவன்
வேதாந்தியாய் நின்றான் வாய்மை வெல்ல வழி சொன்னான்
ஆதி அந்தம் இல்லா ஆண்டவன் இவனே
அண்ட சராசரங்களும் ஐம்பூதங்களும் இவனே
யாதுமாகி நின்றவனை நான் பாடினேன்
காலன் என்னை தீண்டும்போது கடுகி வந்து கரை சேர்ப்பான்
என்னை பாடச்சொன்னவன் கடுகி வந்து கரை சேர்ப்பான்
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ma and Pa, my music is all yours'.

If I were shut in a dark room...

2009-02-03T23:39:00.002-09:00

The worst thing to do when you have a deadline approaching is go to bed with headphones on, playing "serious" music. I think the music will put me to sleep in time, but it engulfs me...chasing sleep out of my system...
Anyway, great- here I am, at 1 am craving for more of Harini... (its a pity she doesn't sing as much these days), and came to a realisation: if, some day I'm shut in a dark room with no way out and given a choice of just three songs I can listen to, they'd be: thenral vandhu ennai thodum, poo vaasam purappadum penne and enakkenna aerkanave.

Umm.... really...? Never mind- am in an inescapable Hamsanadham mode now!

Final Solutions- with TSJ

2009-01-24T22:26:00.006-09:00

TSJ I guess are not too new to the audio blog world here. They've been making some innovative music and I particularly liked their song "azhage" in Blogswara V3.

Earlier last year, they contacted me for doing a small vocal piece for the background score they were composing for a Mahesh Dattani play called Final Solutions performed by East Indian Follies. The play was staged in Idaho in September 2008.

Do check out their website http://blog.tsjstudio.com/ to hear the music and for more details on the play.
I think they did a great job of it!

Gruhabhedam... again

2009-01-20T20:06:00.003-09:00

Here is an AWESOME gruhabhedam demonstrated by Prince Rama Varma:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnq5tdukBeg

Once the concept of gruhabhedam is clear, doing it with linear (monotonic) ragas is fairly straightforward- say between Mohanam and Hindolam. But here, its two vakra ragas (i.e. with scales where swaras don't exactly monotonically increase or decrease) which is what makes it so special! The "pa ma2 pa ga3 ma1 ga3" phrase of Behag mapped to "ga2 ri2 ga2 sa ri1 sa" of Sindhubhairavi was so revealing!
What's more, the inflections (or "brighas"/ "gamakams") of the swaras match too!

Music is beautiful. Math is beautiful. And the two put together- ah, bliss!

For those interested, here's an earlier post of mine where I'd explained the concept of Gruhabhedam (albeit overly simplified)- http://octaves.blogspot.com/2007/06/carnatic-chills.html

(Note: It was only later that I learnt from Shri.Kumaresh (of Ganesh-Kumaresh) that the word "Shruthibhedam" for such transposes is a misnomer, for it only means what it literally means: change of shruthi, and nothing more)

BlogSwara 5 released!!

2008-12-11T15:16:00.016-09:00

BlogSwara has released its fifth volume online!!
This time, I had the fortune of singing two songs:

azhaiththadhu yaaro: Thanks to Vijay S, got to sing a classical based melody again, after kaaththirundhen last year. Raga based songs always hold a special place for me and I so totally enjoyed singing this beautiful number, azhaiththadhu. Thank you, thank you, Vijay S!
Its not too often that you come across people with good orchestration skills plus a good understanding of ragas. Vijay Narayanan has been really supportive in these respects!
I don't have to say much about Jo- a voice that can make almost anything sound good!
Thank you, team- it was great working with you guys!
Here's a small fun video made by Vijay Narayanan - on his experience with the orchestration.

Listen to the song here!

khoye khoye: My first venture into such a genre and it was truly very exciting! Thank you Anup, for trusting I could pull it off! Used to singing classical/ melody based songs usually, this was a very refreshing change for me indeed!
Ajay Chandran's lyrics were what added life to this song- thank you, Ajay!
Many thanks to Nandu and Sam who have been extremely supportive and worked tirelessly to bring the right sound.

Listen to the song here!

I hope you enjoy listening to all songs of BlogSwara V5 as much as we enjoyed making them!

Cheeni Kum

2008-12-07T02:05:00.009-09:00

Yet another song where Shreya is at her best. Although I prefer the Tamil original mandram vandha thendralukku from Mouna Ragam any day, I can keep listening to this song just for Shreya's voice! And that is the power of Raja's music- more than 20 years and the tune is still fresh.

Recorded this quite a few months back...
So here goes my version- requested by, and dedicated to Karthik Gomadam! :)

Song: Cheeni Kum
Movie: Cheeni Kum
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Sameer-Manoj Tapadia
Singer: Shreya Ghoshal

Download here.

Hope you like this. Do drop your comments.

And oh, 5 days to go for BlogSwara-V5!!

BlogSwara V5 - Coming Soon!

2008-12-04T18:18:00.007-09:00

The fifth version of BlogSwara is on its way!! Check out the song teasers below!

BlogSwara V5 releases Dec 12th 2008!

I've sung two songs this time - a Tamil duet with Joseph Thomas, "azhaiththadhu yaaro" and a Hindi solo, "khoye khoye".

All of us at BlogSwara are very excited and look forward to your support! We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making our songs!

Akkam Pakkam

2008-11-23T20:16:00.008-09:00

After quite a long break, here's a song again...
Akkam pakkam is a beautiful, soothing melody. G.V.Prakash, despite the 'Rahmanic' influences seems to be doing doing a great job. And Sadhana's thamizh is truly commendable in this one!
Here's my version. Do drop in your comments.
Thanks to Rosh for the karaoke track!

Song: Akkam Pakkam
Movie: Kreedam
Music: G.V.Prakash
Singer: Sadhana Sargam
Lyrics: N.Muthuthukumar

Download here.

By the way, get ready for Blogswara 5- soon to be released!

Sleepless in Seattle

2008-09-03T01:12:00.006-09:00

After about eight years or more, I finally got to sing with my sister here in Seattle. And the feeling is just awesome :) We decided to sing this beautiful classical based song from Hum Dile De Chuke Sanam- Albela Sajan.
We started recording and it just went on and on and on and into the dead of the night! Nevertheless, it was an absolute fun experience. Love ya, Sumi :)

Here's the song, up for you.

Song: Albela Sajan
Music: Ismail Darbaar
Lyrics: Mehboob
Singers: Ustaad Sultan Khan, Kavitha Krishnamurthy, Shankar Mahadevan.
Movie: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

Download here.

A departure of sorts...

2008-08-08T03:18:00.011-09:00

The last one year has been quite fulfilling, musically- two live shows; Blogswara V4; recording/ blogging of course; the senior grade exam in Carnatic music; some gyan in Musicology; attending concerts; some interesting interactions with Jessica Keyes for her MA thesis on Indian Audioblogging; and most importantly, I had the good fortune of receiving tutelage from the renowned violinist Smt Lalgudi Rajalakshmi, sister of the legendary Padmabhushan Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman.
As things turn out, it is at this juncture that I have to leave India to pursue my academic interests. I hope to take with me all these years of formal music training and continue to make the best of it. After all, its this training that's been pivotal to most of my musical endeavors.
Music has been the second tongue at home and I am so grateful to my parents for that. Many thanks to my sister too, who's been quite a big influence.

So today, I'm posting for the first time, a full classical piece- an aalaapana, krithi and kalpana swaram in Raagam Simhendramadhyamam- one of my favourites; dedicated first to my guru due to whom this was possible; and to all those who have helped me shape my Classical music skills over the years- my family and all my other gurus so far- Smt. Bhagyalakshmi, Smt. Ranganayaki Sridharan, Smt. Lakshmi Raghavan. I owe it all to them and I still have miles to go!

Song: Ninne Nammithi
Composer: Mysore Vasudevachar
Ragam: Simhendramadhyamam
Thalam: Mishra Chaapu

Download here.

Do drop in your comments on this one. The discerning ear will find some off notes, pitching lapses and so on- but I hope those are excusable in the larger picture :P

Its quite hard to believe that Octaves has nearly completed two years. Seems like I started blogging yesterday! It could be a while before I blog again and I sincerely thank the ones who pushed me to start a blog (Pradipji/Meera/Murali), and everyone who's kept this blog going so far- fellow bloggers, friends, well-wishers and visitors for the constant encouragement and support. I've totally enjoyed and learned a whole lot of things from the blogging experience! Hope to be back in sometime with more music!

Ooradangum saamaththile

2008-07-30T17:35:00.006-09:00

This rustic Ilaiyaraja number seems to have been quite an obscure one. A seemingly simple song, it has the beautiful voices of Swarnalatha and Uma Ramanan, filled with expressiveness and vocal nuances.
Murali created a karaoke track for this and suggested that Meera and I do it. Meera, an ardent Swarnalatha fan has taken on her parts and I have sung Uma's parts :)
It has been quite interesting to adapt to the song and imbibe both their renditional subtleties.

Working on a song with Meera for the first time (female duets don't happen very often!) and its been a really nice experience indeed. It was also great to finally meet her in person last month! :)

Do let us know how you think we have fared in this one...

Song: Ooradangum saamaththile
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Singers: Swarnalatha, Uma Ramanan
Movie: Pudhupatti ponnuthaayi

(Can someone help with info on the lyricist?)

Download here.

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

Also do check out Jo's version of Main agar kahoon from Om Shanti Om on his blog, in which I've sung Shreya's lines :)
http://jocalling.blogspot.com/2008/07/main-agar-kahoon-cover.html

Kadhal Oviyam

2008-07-17T08:09:00.008-09:00

Got to know this absolutely lovely, relatively less known number from folks at tfmpage.com years ago. The amazing thing is, Sujata sang this when she was barely 10 or 12 years old!! Such brilliance and maturity at that age!
I'm providing a link to the original since its not a very famous song:
http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/90.html

And here's my version :) (It isn't a karaoke though)

Song: Kadhal Oviyam
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Panju Arunachalam
Singer: Sujata
Movie: Kavikkuyil

Download here.

Murali, thanks for the idea of recording this!

Koi raaz-e-dil: taking off from 'Etho rathri'!

2008-06-25T06:01:00.012-09:00

Here's an Urdu version of the Malayalam song "Etho rathri" written by Ajay Chandran in my voice. Writing alternate lyrics wouldn't be so easy I suppose- I think what Ajay has done is commendable!
Your feedback'd be much appreciated. Thanks!

Song: Koii raaz-e-dil
Music: M. Jayachandran
Lyrics: Ajay Chandran
Singer: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam

Download here.

And here are the lyrics:

koii raaz-e-dil bol gayi aankhen
saare ashq mujhe deke gayi aankhen
yoon hii sochti hoon pass ho wo aankhen
jaane kis jahaan ko choD gayi aankhen
mere sannaaton ko, dil ke andheron ko, dekhe na haaye wo aankhen
teri aankhen

koii raaz-e-dil bol gayi aankhen
saare ashq mujhe deke gayi aankhen

wo tere saath ke chaar din kya
umr se baDke wo lahma lamhaa
dil ke paas the, dil kii manzilen
aankhon mein sapnon ke saaye
har lamhaa

koii raaz-e-dil bol gayi aankhen
saare ashq mujhe deke gayi aankhen
yoon hii sochtii hoon pass ho wo aankhen
jaane kis jahaan ko choD gayi aankhen

bekhayaalii mein yoon saans loongii
zindagii kii sazaa kaaT loongii
merii hasraten, terii aahaTen
yaadon mein Dhal gaye saare
tere saaye

koii raaz-e-dil bol gayi aankhen
saare ashq mujhe deke gayi aankhen
yoon hii sochtii hoon pass ho wo aankhen
jaane kis jahaan ko choD gayi aankhen
mere sannaaton ko, dil ke andheron ko, dekhe na haaye wo aankhen
teri aankhen

(Listen to the original Malayalam version (in the movie Bus Conductor) sung by Chitra here.)

Bahon ke darmiyan

2008-06-18T21:14:00.010-09:00

Khamoshi- The Musical was a poignant film that was critically much acclaimed. It was well supported by music composed by Jatin-Lalit who are best known for their melodies. Although simple in tune and structure and use of instruments, many of their songs have left their mark- Pehla nasha for starters!
My favourites in Khamoshi were Mausam ke sargam ko sun and Aaj main upar (but for Kumar Sanu's voice!). Bahon ke darmiyan too, was nevertheless a sweet, romantic melody to which I think Hariharan and Alka Yagnik had done complete justice. The slowness of the song and the feel it gives of a soft, continuous flow are what make it linger on..
So when Murali suggested we do this song, I readily agreed. Here we have our version of Baahon ke darmiyaan, up for you.

Song: Baahon ke darmiyaan
Movie: Khamoshi
Music: Jatin-Lalit
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Singers: Hariharan, Alka Yagnik

Download here.

Piya tose naina laage re

2008-05-30T02:07:00.007-09:00

Its been a while since I did a Hindi cover. Here's one- from the 1965 classic Guide: Piya tose, a scintillating melody...*Bows* to Lataji!
Here's my version for you to appraise :)

Song: piya tose naina laage re
Movie: Guide
Music: S.D.Burman
Lyrics: Shailendra
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar

Download here

Kannathil Muththamittaal

2008-05-07T09:05:00.013-09:00

This is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Such a beautifully made movie with such remarkable performances... The music too was hugely supportive. Although veLLai pookkaL and Sundari stuck on to me instantly, oru dheivam thandha poove and vidai kodu engaL naade took some time to grow on me. (Now of course I'm in love with these songs too!)

Oru dheivam.... started beautifully and had lovely lyrics but I somehow wasn't able to digest the musical 'digressions' in the charanams. (It amazes me how Rahman can do that though!) But as with many a Rahman song, on repeated listening I started to immensely enjoy it.
Chinmayee, needless to say, had done a fantastic job...and here is my version. I can say this has been one of the most difficult songs I've attempted. (Even thaththithOm in one stretch was easier!!) This song needed great levels of breath control and I've tried my best.
Thanks to Jo for lending his voice for this song. Please also listen to his version of the same song! (with my supporting vocals) .

Song: oru dheivam thandha poove
Movie: kannaththil muththamittaal
Music: A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singers: Chinamyee, Jayachandran

Download here.

Thanks in advance for ur feedback :)

Elangaathu veesudhey with Jo

2008-03-24T10:14:00.019-09:00

Elangaathu veesudhey was a very different kind of melody- a haunting tune. One of my favourites in recent times.
I consider myself to be "lyrically challenged" - when I listen to a song the tune sits in my brain bang on, but the lyrics just refuse to! It takes some extra effort for me to absorb the meaning of songs. Blame it on my incompetence in Tamil/ Hindi (the two languages most familiar to me and in which I most frequently sing)or my subconscious resistance to take in the lyrics. I don't know. But somehow, one particular line in this song caught my attention and I found to be really beautiful- and it felt so good to be able to appreciate it:
"vaLaiyaadha moongilil rAgam vaLanchi Odudhae"
-translates to: (how is it that) music meanders through the flute that is rigid/ linear...
I remember when I said this to a friend, in response she said something like "logic is so far removed from poetry and it is precisely this that makes poetry beautiful!". Reminds me of "kavidhaikku poi azhagu" :)
Joseph Thomas needs no introduction in the audiobloggers' circuit here. Its been a long pending idea to do a duet with him and here it is, finally. Was a pleasure singing this with the very talented Jo. Hope you all enjoy this!
Again recorded this with a not-so-good mic. How I miss my Shure SM 57!! :( (Some software issues are preventing me from using it) But thanks to Jo for his efforts in mixing.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Song: elangaathu veesudhey
Film: Pithamagan
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Pazhani Bharati
Singers: Sriram Parthasarathy and Shreya Ghoshal

Meeting Murali at Melbourne

2008-03-17T21:35:00.006-09:00

It was mid 2000- when me, the kid just out of high school was beginning to explore the internet more vigourously than before, especially for music related stuff. The most fortunate discovery was TFMpage.com - where, in addition to a lot of informative articles, there were discussion forums galore. The one that instantly caught my attention was "Raga of Songs" (fondly dubbed "ROS"). Little did I know then that that was going to be like home for me for the next few years. There I came across some really intellectually stimulating discussions on ragas in film music and it looked like it had a lot of interesting people. There were the bosses, there were amateurs. Overall it looked like a lot of fun! By early 2001 I started posting there too and getting involved in the discussions. And that proved to be the beginning of my association with some of the best musical friends I have today - "MS" or Murali Sankar Venkatraman being one of them.

Murali has been a great friend, inspiration and a mentor for me ever since. A keen critic of my singing, he has helped me fine tune my skills over the years. I finally got to see him in flesh and blood a few days back at Melbourne while I was there on a vacation with my parents :) Unfortunately, time was short and it could not be a musical rendezvous. Nevertheless, we had a good time.
Its such an irony that all these years, we could never meet- neither when I was in US some years back on a visit, nor when he was in India last year, and finally to meet in the Land Down Under!

Saavan rut aayi

2008-02-09T06:46:00.004-09:00

Piya Basanti was a non filmi album by Ustad Sultan Khan and Chitra that released some years back. The title track became quite a hit and as far as I know, was the only song that was shown on TV. (Probably the other songs didn't even get filmed) Curious, I bought the album only to discover that the title track was nothing at all- compared to this other song called Saavan rut aayi. An outstanding composition in my opinion and amazingly rendered by Chitra. Beautiful use of instruments, lovely imagery through the lyrics and last but not the least, wonderful choice of raga (Shuddha Saarang, sorta equivalent to Hamsanadam in the Carnatic school).
This album was a dedication by the composer Sandesh Shandilya to his guru Ustad Sultan Khan. In addition to vocals, Sultan Khan has of course played the Saarangi in most of the songs.
A song that won my heart on the very first listening. Here's my attempt. Unfortunately, could not find a karaoke track.

Song: Saavan rut aayi
Album: Piya Basanti
Music: Sandesh Shandilya
Singers: K.S.Chitra, Ustad Sultan Khan
Lyrics: Rakesh Nirala

Download here.

Thanks in advance for leaving your comments!

Engey enadhu kavidhai

2008-01-27T23:48:00.001-09:00

Another soulful, melancholic melody from Rahman and Chitra.
I've given it a shot.

Song: engey endadhu kavidhai
Movie: Kandukondaen Kandukondaen
Music: A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuththu
Singer: Chitra.K.S, Srinivas and chorus.

Your feedback please...

Isaiyil Thodangudhamma...

2008-01-21T08:14:00.003-09:00

No words can do justice to describe the beauty and richness of this song...
It is amazing how the maestro treats the Hamsanadam family in such varied ways! Each of Sorgame enralum, Thenral vandhu ennai thodum, Om namaha and Isaiyil thodangudhamma (and more if I've missed out) stands out uniquely although in nearly the same raga...
(Isayil and Thenral though, are in "Vivahapriya", which closely resembles Hamsanadam)
Recently someone (by name Divya if I remember right) sang this SO beautifully in the Vijay TV show, "Paadum Office"- it was from there that I got inspired to record this.
I've used a bad mic, so bear with the slight hiss :(

Here's my attempt. Beg Pt.Ajoy Chakraborthy's pardon!!

Song: Isaiyil thodangudhamma
Movie: Hey Ram
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Ilaiyaraja
Singer: Ajoy Chakraborthy

Download here.

Your feedback'd be appreciated. Thanks.

Happy Birthday Rahman!

2008-01-06T06:56:00.001-09:00

May the world be blessed with more and more of your music.

Beaming Bhaktha!

2008-01-03T04:47:00.000-09:00

Nothing excites Mr.Bhakthavatsalam more than Carnatic Music.
He was bubbling with a childlike excitement on having felicitated Vidushi S.Sowmya at a recent concert (which I believe was extraordinary) :)
Here's the moment frozen in time

Congratulations, Mr.Bhakthavatsalam! :)

Blogswara V4 online!!

2007-12-12T05:11:00.004-09:00

Blogswara's fourth volume is out.Do listen to the songs there and leave your valuable comments.
Here is the song I've sung in the album:

http://blogswara.in/v4/02_Kaathirundhen.html

It has been an absolutely fulfilling experience and many thanks everyone involved.
Something memorable associated with this song was Murali's and Vijay's visit home :)
We had a fun practice session and it was wonderful listening to that golden voice of Murali's, live! :) Vijay and I were amazed listening to his impromptu improvisations and more importantly, his effortlessness.
Every stage in making this song is worth remembering.
Thanks Vijay, for coming up with such a beautiful melody!

Blogswara V4 teasers released!

2007-12-04T19:40:00.001-09:00

BLOGSWARA is soon going to release its fourth volume!!I have contributed for one song this time.You can listen to the song teasers below.

Song: Eri Venal (Malayalam)
Lyrics: Sreeja Balraj
Music: Praveenkrishna G
Singer: Divya S Menon

Song: Kaaththirundhaen (Tamil)
Lyrics, Music: Vijay S
Singers: Murali Ramanathan, Sindhuja Bhaktavatsalam
Orchestration: Ajit Gopalakrishnan
Rhythm Programming: Bharath Venkatesan
Mixing: Nandu Mahadevan

Song: The Rain (Hindi)
Vocals, Lyrics, Composition: Kamini Natarajan
Lyrics, Composition: Uma Natarajan
Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Programming: Andrew Behla
Violin: Deepak Ramapriyan
Supporting Music: Jojo and Dean

Song: Aanakal Ompathu (Malayalam)
Lyrics: Preethy
Music: Joseph Thomas (Jo)
Orchestration: Nishanth Mani
Mixing: Nandu Mahadevan
Singer: Sreekanth

Song: Ithu Varai Enn (Tamil)
Lyrics & vocals: Ramesh Chellamani
Music: Nandu Mahadevan
Guitars: Anup Nandialath

Song: Tu Kahaan (Hindi)
Lyrics: Karthik Chandan
Music: Jay Krishnan
Singer: Shiva

Song: 20:20 (Instrumental)
Composer: Vijay

Looking forward for all your support!

The release is slated for the 12th of this month.
Also check out : On Blogswara in Wikipedia

Varnam in Lalitha Ragam

2007-10-16T02:23:00.009-09:00

It was about three years ago I think, when I decided to attempt one more varnam after the Bahudari one. My ever enthusiastic mom of course readily agreed again to write the lyrics. This time I asked her to try something different- instead of the usual theistic overtones, I suggested her to write something on the Raga itself, since Lalitha had left an indelible mark on me. It is an epitome of beauty, serenity, tranquil... I can go on and on (Popular songs in this raga : Hiranmayim by Muththuswami Dikshitar; Idhazhil Kadhai Ezhudhum by Ilaiyaraja, Vairamuththu)
For some reason, this song did not see the light of the day all these years- something kept me from recording it. Today, my sister's blog post prompted me to record this!
So its up here now for you to listen and appraise.

I have deliberately not sung this in 2 speeds as was the bahudari one too- although it is the usual practice to sing varnams in 2 speeds, I prefer to leave these in just the first speed since I feel the beauty comes out better when its sung slowly...
I should probably stick to the "padhdhathi" and sing them in 2 speeds...I dont know...

Note: I've re-uploaded with the swaras sung for each line since people expressed interest in learning this and said swaras would help in this regard. Also added the second speed.

Download here.

VARNAM
Ragam:Lalitha (SRGMDNS ; SNDMGRS ,janyam of Mayamalavagowla(15)
Talam:Adi
Swaras (tune) :Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam.
Lyrics: Vijayalakshmi Bhakthavatsalam.

Swaram:

( Notation used: lower case-mandra sthaayi, upper case-madhyama sthaayi, upper case bold-thaara sthaayi )

Pallavi:
Ma,M ,MGM DaMa DNSR | SaSN NDMG | MaGR Ga,, ||
MGRN DMDM GMGR SnSR | Sa,, ,,nd | nS,R ,SRG ||

Anupallavi:
SaSa NNDD MDMG MDGa | GMDa MDNi | SRGM DNSa ||
NDNS ,RSR Ga,M ,GRi | RNDM ,DMa | MGRR ,SnS ||

Muktaayi Swaram:
dndS nRSG RMGM DDMa | DMGM NDMD |SNDR SNSa ||
SRNS ,RSR G,,M ,GR, | RNDM | ,DMa MGRR ,SnS ||

Charanam :
Ni,, ,,NR SNDa SNDM | Ga,, ,,MD GaMG RGMD ||

Chittai Swarams:
1. Ma,, ,,Ga ,,Ri ,,Ri | Sa,n ,,da | niSR GMaD ||
2. NSRN SDNS NDMM DMGM | GRnS ndnS | RnSR GMMD ||
3.MDNS NDMa ,,Ga ,MaM | GRnS ndnd | mdnS Rni, ||
SRGM ,GRG RGMD ,MGM GMDN ,DMD MDNS ,SND ||
4.SaRN SNDN ,DMD ,MGG | Ma,, ,,,, | ,,,G MDND ||
SaRN SNDN ,DMD ,MGG | Ma,, ,,GM | Da,M DNSR ||
SRGM DMGM RiNS NDNS | SRNS NDNS | RNDM Da,, ||
MDGM ,MGR SRnS ,Snd | ddnS RnSR | GMDN SRGa ||
GMRG MMGR SRNS RSND | MGRS NDMG | RSND NDMD ||

Lyrics:
Pallavi:
mAthE mALavagowLai peRRa magaLE!
lalithE ena nAmam koNdAi

Anupallavi:
rAginiyE ERRam peRRAi sa ri ga ma da ni sa
thayai koNdu iRanginAi sa ni da ma ga ri sa

Charanam:
nin ezhilil en vasam izhanthEnE!

Transaltion:
Pallavi:
Oh lovely damsel,daughter of Mayamalavagowla,
You got to be named Lalitha.

Anupallavi:
Oh Ragini! you ascend as sa ri ga ma da ni sa
Nevertheless, mercifully descend; as sa ni da ma ga ri sa.

Charanam:
I lost myself in your beauty!

Karaigindra megam by Murali Venkatraman

2007-09-26T05:50:00.002-09:00

Here is Karaigindra megam, a beautiful song written and composed by Murali Venkatraman, a composer I respect immensely.
I truly enjoyed the experience of singing this and sincerely hope that all the devotion, passion and feeling that he put into making this song are seen through my rendition.
Thank you so much for giving me this song, Murali :)

Song: karaiginRa mEgam
Music and lyrics: Murali Venkatraman
Singer: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam

Do let us know your thoughts on this one.

Quintessential Qaapi

2007-09-03T08:11:00.003-09:00

Another undisputed gem,an absolutely soothing melody from Rahman- "en mel vizhundha mazhai thuliye" based on the soul-stirring raga Kaapi. Rahman has pretty much stuck to it other than in the interludes, where, as always he so beautifully goes astray :)
I so totally enjoyed singing this one.
Its so happening that every other song I put up here is Chitra's- it hasn't been deliberate! But I'm only happy and see this as my small tribute to the goddess :)

I have sung this song with Murali Venkatraman, with whom it has been a long; musically enriching association. After being introduced to the blog world by him about a year ago, it was good to finally do a song with him. Thanks, Murali.

Song: en mel vizhundha mazhai thuliye
Film: May Maadham
Music: A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Singers: Jayachandran and Chitra

Mixing of this version: Murali Venkatraman

Do let us know how you found it.

Dil dhadakne ka sabab

2007-08-20T10:57:00.001-09:00

A human effort of a near-superhuman task: here is my version of this timeless ghazal. After many failed attempts of this song in the past I told myself to be complacent with this version. While on the one hand we feel some songs should be left untouched, the worldly, ambitious egotist in us on the other, wants to see how far we can go...sigh!:)

Song: Dil dhadakne ka sabab yaad aaya
Music: Ghulam Ali
Lyrics: Nasir Kazmi
Singer: Asha Bhonsle

Do leave your valuable inputs.

Shivakara Damaruka

2007-06-29T22:24:00.003-09:00

A song that leaves me awestruck everytime I listen to it; and one of those that I'm forced to listen to absolutely meditatively- by the one and only Raja.

Here's my attempt of it:

Song: Shivakara damaruka
Film: Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal
Lyricist: Kaithapram
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Singers: Chithra & Gayathri

This is my second song in Malayalam, a language not known to me. Apologies in advance for any mispronunciations.

Your feedback keeps this blog going...

Aao Huzoor Tumko

2007-06-20T19:01:00.001-09:00

Another attempt of an Asha song...
The O.P.Nayyar-Asha combo has always produced wonders and this song is yet another testimony to that.
Asha-ji!!! Bow to thee!!

Movie Name: Kismat (1968)
Singer: Asha Bhosle
Music Director: Nayyar O P
Lyrics: Noor Devasi

So here's my attempt- kindly leave your feedback.

'Carnatic Chills'

2007-06-12T08:48:00.011-09:00

Does the title seem familiar? Yeah, its a new fusion music album released by the violin maestroes Ganesh and Kumaresh. But no, this post doesnt have anything to do with that...

Nevertheless, Shruthibhedam I think is really one of those 'Carnatic Chills'...Its a concept that has intrigued me for so long now that I was tempted to try out a small aalaap incorporating the idea.

My undertanding of the concept:
(Much has been discussed about Shruthibhedam, among both Classical and Film Music lovers alike; Ilaiyaraja's music mostly being the subject matter for the latter :) Here is another such attempt by me to take up and deal with this in some detail. Given my limited knowledge,I'd be glad to have any inputs/corrections/clarifications.)

To avoid any confusion, I will refrain from using any terms from Western Classical Music and adhere to Carnatic terminologies.

Pre-requisites to understand Shruthibhedam:

1.Shruthi: A shruthi is defined uniquely by two distinct frequencies x and y (y>x)and their integral multiples, with a condition that the ratio y:x::3:2.
I.e., the frequency y is 3/2 times the frequency x. We give these frequencies x and y names, which are 'Shadjam' and 'Pachamam' respectively. (So since it is the shadjam that actually fixes a shruthi, it is called the "Adhaara Shadjam".) So, whether its 5 Hz and 7.5 Hz or 10 Hz and 15 Hz, it doesn't matter. Within any given pair x and (3/2)x, x will be Shadjam, and (3/2)x (or y), Panchamam.
What is to be carefully noted here, are the words 'within any given pair'. I.e., a frequency by itself cannot be called a Shadjam or Panchamam. It is only with respect to the other frequency in the pair that one can say that the particular frequency is Shadjam or Panchamam.
These are denoted in short by sa and pa respectively.
Now, given such a pair x and (3/2)x, all integral multiples of x will also be called Sa and all integral multiples of (3/2)x will also be called Pa.
Thus, a shruthi is uniquely defined by a series of frequencies x,(3/2)x, 2x,3x,4x,6x,8x..... where x, I emphasise, is a variable.
A shruthi is named by a number which corresponds to any sa (x,2x,4x and so on) convenient for performance by the human voice or any instrument. Let's call this convenient sa as the middle sa.
A middle Sa of 261.6 Hz is denoted by the number 1. The number notations for other frequences for the middle sa will be discussed eventually.

2.Sthaayi: A Sthaayi is defined by 3 frequencies x,(3/2)x and 2x.
So, x,(3/2)x and 2x form one sthaayi; 2x,3x and 4x form another sthaayi and so on.
If x is the middle Sa, then the set x,(3/2)x,2x form the 'Madhyama Sthaayi' ; the set
(1/2)x, (2/3)x,x form the 'Mandra Sthaayi'; and the set 2x,3x,4x form the 'Taara Sthaayi'.

3. Swara:Given a particular sa, we have so far only discussed about its corresponding sa and the other Sa's and Pa's; while (obviously) there can be a multitude of other frequencies.
It is largely agreed that the minimum ratio of two discernable frequencies should be 1.059.
So if we construct a geometric progression (GP) with x as the first term and 1.059 as the common ratio and compute upto the 13th term, we find that the 13th term is nothing but 2x.
So given an x which is the first term of the GP; like Sa and Pa, all the intermediate frequencies have particular names and these are called 'Swaras'. The nomenclature of the 12 frequencies as swaras are as below:
1st : Shadjam (sa)
2nd : Shuddha Rishabham (ri1)
3rd : Chaturshruthi Rishabham (ri2)or Shuddha Gandharam (ga1) in different cases.
4th : Shatshruthi Rishabham (ri3) or Sadharana Gandharam (ga2) in different cases.
5th : Anthara Gandharam (ga3)
6th : Shuddha Madhyamam (ma1)
7th : Prati Madhyamam (ma2)
8th : Panchamam
9th : Shuddha Daivatam (da1)
10th : Chaturshruthi Daivatam (da2) or Shuddha Nishadam (ni1) in different cases.
11th : Shatshruthi Daivatam (da3) or Kaishiki Nishadam (ni2) in different cases.
12th : Kaakali Nishadam (ni3)
13th : Shadjam (Sa)
Now going back to the number notations of Shrutis, a middle Sa corresponding to 1.059 times 261.6 Hz is denoted by 1.5; a middle Sa corresponding to 1.059^2 times 261.6 Hz is denoted by 2 and so on.
In other words, given a shruthi, if you want to go to the immediately next higher shruthi, you have to transpose the ri1 of this shruthi to sa and proceed to construct the geometric progression as usual. Taking the ri2 of the original shruthi as sa would give the 'next-to-next' shruthi and so on.
(Conventionally we denote swaras in mandra sthaayi with a "#" symbol and those in taara sthaayi with capital letters.)

4. Raga: A raga is a unique combination of a certain set of swaras in a certain pattern. The pattern of the swaras has to be defined for both ascent and descent of the swaras.
(Here I shall not dwell on the criteria for forming a raga.)
(Note: A raga is Sthaayi-independent.)
For example, the combination
sa ri2 ga3 ma1 pa da2 ni3 Sa; Sa ni3 da2 pa ma ga3 ri2 sa
forms the raga 'Shankarabharanam'.

Shruthibhedam :

It is to be borne in mind that cognizance/ interpretation of the shruthi of a piece is pivotal in determining its raga.
Hence, if we now retain the absolute frequencies of the above swaras, but decide to shift the sa to the present ri, i.e. make a 'bhedam' in the shruti, all the swaras change correspondingly.
So the above combination would now read:
ni#2 sa ri2 ga2 ma1 pa da2 ni2; ni da2 pa ma1 ga2 ri2 sa ni#2
(Obviously but importantly, this is possible only because the relative frequencies of successive swaras remain the same since they are in geometric progression)
Now this new combination forms the raga "Kharaharapriya".
Thus, a Shruthibhedam is said to happen when the shruthi is changed in a raga, resulting in a new raga.
The idea of Shrutibhedam has other interesting consequences too:
An entire song in a single raga can be percieved to be in one raga by one person and some other raga by another person, since it all depends on where the listener places her/his sa.
A classic example is Ilaiyaraja's andhi mazhai pozhugiradhu, which would be in raga Vasantha if one placed the starting swara of the song as ma, and Ramani if one placed the starting swara of the song as sa.
Now why is it that some people percieve it as Vasantha and some others as Ramani, and yet some others are able to pick both ragas with equal ease is a question I have not been able to answer. We would have to go into musical cognition processes for that, I'd imagine.
In other words, what is the criterion for deciding the shruthi (and equivalently the raga) of a song if it is not known to you beforehand?
And why/how is it that for a majority of songs (if the shruthi is not given), majority of people seem to find out the shruthi by some apriori ability, and also largely remain mutually consistent?
I wish to answer these questions some day!

Here is a small Alaap I did, in raga Sriranjani, with a transpose to Hamsanadam, and back to Sriranjani.
Sriranjani is defined by:
sa ri2 ga2 ma1 da2 ni2 Sa, same way back.
If the ga in the above is taken to be sa, and the Sa of the above omitted, we get,
ga2 ma1 da2 ni2 Ri2 Ga2, same way back.
This combination also corresponds to:
sa ri2 ma2 pa ni3 Sa, same way back, which is the raga Hamsanadam.
So when the {ga2 ma1 da2 ni2 Ri2 Ga2} phrase is repeatedly sung, with a stress on the ga so as to make it sound like the shadjam, what results is our perception of it as Hamsanadam.
Here it is:

--Ok, I really need to add here now that today, I'm really embarrassed by this piece :P I have to, have to, have to redo it. And really soon. Its perfectly ok if you've read the article and don't listen to this :P 02/09/2010 --

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Do leave your feedback.

UPDATE as of Nov 2011: Since the player I'd embedded here doesn't work anymore (thankfully!) and also since I did this very transpose (Sriranjani to Hamsanadham) live at a recent concert, I'd like to redirect you to that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeO9kjk7aPg
Feedback as always would be much appreciated, thanks!

Malargale Malargale

2007-06-05T07:38:00.002-09:00

Shrikanth Kumar is yet another talented audioblogger I got acquainted to recently.
Here is our version of Malargale Malargale, another of those sublime melodies by Rahman which traverses through the beautiful ragas Saraswati and Hameer Kalyani.
Please let us know what you think of this one.

Song: Malargale Malargale
Movie Name: Love Birds (1996)
Original Singers: Chithra K S, Hariharan
Music Director: Rahman AR
Lyrics: Vairamuthu

Mixing of this version: Shrikanth Kumar.

Vaada karle saajna with Pradip Somasundaran

2007-05-15T04:15:00.003-09:00

Graduated.
A song for the occasion.
Here is Vada kar le Sajna, an old Lata-Rafi hit I sang with Pradipji -a household name in the blogworld I suppose; and someone who was so very encouraging when I just started putting up my songs on the web, and motivated me to start my blog.

Hope you all like this one. Do leave your comments.

Song: Vaada Karle Saajna
Film: Haath Ki Safai
Original Singers: Mohd. Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Kalyanji Anandji
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

Mixing of this version: Pradip Somasundaran

'Uyire' with Murali Ramanathan- My first duet

2007-02-08T06:25:00.004-09:00

Doesn't it feel good to sing and record songs that you've grown up listening to- songs that you would once play incessantly till you know by heart every bit of them, including the interludes and everything... :)
Uyire is one such for me; and yet another of those evergreen, unbeatable classics by Rahman.

Murali Ramanathan is an awesome talent who, luckily for us, entered the blogging world :)
Its amazing how all his renditions exude immense bhavam.
I'm thankful to him for asking me to do this song with him; also thank him for the mixing.
It has been an enjoyable and also a humbling experience.

Here is our version of Uyire :

Song: Uyire Uyire
Movie: Bombay
Music: A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamutthu
Singers: Hariharan and Chitra

I have had some difficulty singing certain parts of the song and wish I could touch the high notes with more ease...
Kindly leave your feedback.

When recording meant nothing more than singing...

2007-01-25T21:21:00.006-09:00

It was only recently that I learnt about cool music softwares and what they can do to your voice and how powerful tools they are. Of course I knew about their existence even before, but somehow never really felt upto it to try my hand at using them... Blogging et al never really crossed my mind. I was a happy listener and visitor to others' blogs.
So until some months back, my recording exercise consisted of just one thing- singing. No amp, no reverb, no normalising, no pitch benders or scale changers... nothing. And most importantly, no mixing! Just pop in the original casette or cd into the music system and another empty casette, hit the 'karaoke' button and just start recording, singing along with the original singer, trying drown her voice hehe...(wasn't even aware of karaoke cd's being available in the market!)
Actually in a way recording that way was great fun. 'Ignorance is bliss' sooo holds here :P
Since I would record on a tape, there was obviously no cut-copy-paste or anything, so even a slight slip here and there, and the entire song would have to be redone, right from the beginning! There have been so many instances where I goofed up something towards the very end of the song and felt so frustrated about having to start all over again!
Although modern softwares and recording on the computer gives one so much flexibility and luxury, recording on tapes was a challenge in itself and the satisfaction it would give me after the completion of a song was immense. Especially after singing some of them atleast 5-6 times (the entire song, that is! ) !
I was just thinking of those good old days...and felt like blogging those old recordings, however bad the recording quality is :P (I trust it aint too bad, since they're all now made up and enhanced with....ahem....softwares (again! hehe)...

Some old recordings- done 6 years back :
Kannodu Kanbadhellam:

Jhoola bahon ka:

Konjum Mainaakkale:

Boondon se baatein:

More recent ones:
Thathiththom:

Manam Virumbudhae:

Sowkkiyama:

Snehidhane:

Kannamoochi:

Chalo tumko lekar chalein (Jism)

pal pal hai bhaari (Swades)

Dil mera ek taara (December 16)

Mausam ki sargam ko sun (with Deepthi Krishnamurthy)

Jahan piya wahan main (Pardes)

Happy Birthday, Rahman!

2007-01-10T02:49:00.000-09:00

Yeah, am 4 days late here :(
But I've been so deeply drowned in your music that trivial endeavours in life like blogging didn't cross my mind....And what can be bigger and better than celebrating your birthday with your music!
On your birthday, apart from listening to Guru a crazy number of times, I set my caller tune on my mobile as "Dum tara dum tara chashm chashm..." :)
Thanks- your music makes life itself more meaningful.
Happy birthday to you, Rahman!!
Hopefully will update this space with one more of your mindblowing compositions soon...

Jhumka Gira Re

2006-12-11T20:46:00.002-09:00

Back with a song after a long break.
Since long I've been wanting to step aside from melodies for a change and try something different.So here's a song that belongs to what I call 'The Asha Genre'.
Whatever kind of song Ashaji sings, it has such a distinctive feel to it that none other than her can bring in, and none other can even reproduce! Notwithstanding the fact that she is one of those rare singers who can sing completely effortlessly just any kind of song and so amazingly create that right kind of mood, we are all particularly fond of her for a certain class of songs that she has sung and continues to sing-I seem to be unable to classify them as any single kind-well yes, I'm talking of her naughty songs, her peppy songs, her 'drunken' songs...you get the idea I guess... :) What's common to them all is the unmistakable 'Asha-ness' :) Those sudden lightning speed twists in her voice, the child-like vigour, the intermittent laughter, the sighing, the sensuous feel...she is just inimitable!
And today, at 74 she's still kicking!!!

Here's my attempt of one of her hits.

Disclaimer: This version to be compared with the original at listener's risk.

Song: Jhumka Gira Re
Film: Mera Saaya
Music: Madan Mohan
Singer: Asha Bhonsle
Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan

Mella mella from Blogswara-V2

2006-11-04T10:15:00.001-09:00

BLOGSWARA!-Wow! These people are taking audioblogging to new heights!

There are some songs that are so beautiful and so powerful...have that intense feeling and take you to a different world-Mella mella from Blogswara is one such. No song has had this much impact on me in a long time.
From the time I listened to a 30 second pre-release teaser of this song, I'd been waiiiting to listen to the song in whole.Actually, when I heard that sample, I thought it was hamsanaadam! Yet again, it was infact a shruthibhedam! I percieved the notes as
Sa....Ri Ni....
RiMaPaNi...DaNiRiSaNiDaMaDaPaMa.....
And since I simply love hamsanadam (esp. with the Da :) ) I was sooo eagerly waiting for the song to release.
When it did, and when I played it for the first time, I was surprised that it was infact Gambhira naattai based (with shades of naattai/kedaram here and there)! So I figured the notes for that teaser were actually
Ma....Pa Ga....
PaNiSaGa....RiGaPaMaGaRiNiRiSaNi....... :) :)
Nevertheless I love the gambhira naattai family too, so this song was after all a fabulous treat!Both the singers Jo and Vidyu have done an amaaaazing job!I've been drowned/drenched/immersed in this song for the past 2 days and its still going strong! Completely in love with it.
What grand orchestration it has!!
Both the singers rockkkkkk in the lines 'sonthangaL yAvum thuranthEn' and 'en solvEn nAn en seivEn'-wowwwww!!
The only (minute) drawbacks-Jo's tamil pronunciation here and there, Vidyu's slightly more-than-required classical style and the similarity of some lines of the song with some of pon maalai pozhudhu.But again, these are wayyyyyyyyy too insignificant compared to the greatness of the song as a whole.
My other favourite is 'Hai mera dil' composed by Pradip Somasundaran and sung by himself and Swati Kanitkar; and has some mindblowing violin.
All the songs can be played/downloaded here:
http://www.blogswara.in/songs/player/songs.htm
Hats off to the team! Hope they give us more such stuff in future!

Yet another concert...

2006-11-03T08:13:00.000-09:00

Aah...am blogging about this after so many days...lazy,lazy meeee...
Last Saturday, there was a hindustani vocal recital (again organised jointly by IIT and SPICMACAY) by the renowned artiste brothers- Rajan and Sajan Misra, belonging to the Benaras vocal gharana I learnt. They are the recipients of numerous awads, like the Sanskrit Award for musical excellence from the Prime Minister of India,Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 1998, Sangeet Bhushan award to name a few.
The concert was for an hour and a half.
They started with Yaman Kalyani-explored all possible intricacies of the raaga...their aalap was spell binding!
The entire piece was for about 40 minutes.
Next was a piece in Durga (requested by someone in the audience).
They ended with a bhajan in what I think was Tansen Peelu (coz it sounded like the carnatic Keeravani)
It was a great concert, but somehow, like many 'lay' carnatic listeners, I felt a little 'Hindustanically challenged' :P Could not enjoy the slowness and repetitive elaboration of the same words to the extent I would have liked :(

Chanchala

2006-10-17T08:57:00.001-09:00

Malayalam film music is known for its rich classical, raga based songs.
I stumbled upon this song about 3 years back on Asianet, as I was casually channel surfing. I loved it the very first time I listend to it.I couldn't read any of the song details which were in Malayalam and so had a tough time finding it on the net!
Chitra leaves me dumbfounded with every song of her's and this is no exception. The ease with which her voice meanders through the highs and lows of the song is truely amazing.
I have tried my best to do justice to this wonderful composition, within the constraints here, and the scope of my voice and ability of course.This is my first attempt in Malayalam and I hence sincerely apologise for any mispronunciations. I would be grateful to have corrections and suggestions for improvement.

Song:Chanchala
Music:Mohan Sitara
Singer:Chitra
Film:Ishtam

On a trip to heaven...

2006-09-27T06:45:00.000-09:00

Today there was a concert here in IIT organised in association with SPIC MACAY. It was a Mohan Veena recital by Pt.Vishwa Mohan Bhatt along with Tabla by Pt.Shubhroto Bhattacharjee.
It was a homage to the late Ustad Bismillah Khan.
Well, what can I say...it was one hour,fifteen mintutes of pure bliss and left us craving for more.
It was an elaborate piece in raag Hem Bihag which I learnt is an audava-sampoorna raag defined by

S G3 M1 P N3 S
S N D2 P M G R2 S.

So basically a derivative of Shankarabharanam according to the Carnatic school.
He started with a "Jod Jhala", followed by a "taan" and then a 15 min piece with taal (Tabla) which was first Vilambit (slow) and then gath (fast), the overall structure being pretty much akin to the Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi (respectively) in Carnatic music.
After one hour of enthralling music on the Mohan Veena, surprise of surprises, Panditji sang for us!! It was in the Sufi style with the words O Saiyyan re-Mere dhadkan mein tu,meri saason mein tu... and was a continuation in the same raag.
It was an unforgettable evening.
Truely, the concert took us on a trip to heaven!

Kannalane and O Sajna

2006-09-26T11:37:00.001-09:00

An outstanding Rahman composition in the silken voice of Chitra-here is my version of KANNALANE:

Song:Kannalane
Movie:Bombay
Music:A.R.Rahman
Singer:Chitra
Lyrics:Vairamutthu

O SAJNA:

Being a regular at Pradipji's blog since the time I came to know him,I don't know how I missed this one! It was only after recording this song, when I googled it up, did I find it on his blog! And this came to me as as much an intimidation as a pleasant surprise :) - made me think twice if I should post my version of it after his...!
Nevertheless I'm posting it just because I spent hours on it...

Song:O Sajna
Movie:Parakh
Music:Salil Chaudury
Singer:Lata Mangeshkar
Lyrics:Shailendra

Again, due to the constraints of singing in a hostel room, ever in the apprehension of being asked to shut up by people outside :P I've not really been able to let my voice out freely...and do realise that both songs could have been done much better...
Kindly excuse...and please leave your comments :P

Rasik Balma

2006-09-11T07:05:00.000-09:00

Often considered one of Lataji's greatest sad songs, Rasik Balma is a lovely melody of the yesteryears.
I've never really seen Mohanam and the likes (this one being in Shuddh Kalyan, I learnt) as having a 'sad' feel...but with this song,the poignant lyrics and Lataji's soulful singing have brought out the agony so beautifully!
Here is my attempt of it:
Your feedback is valuable.

Music:Shankar-Jaikishen
Singer:Lata Mangeshkar
Lyrics:Hasrat Jaipuri
Movie:Chori Chori.

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Beauutiful Bahudari!!

2006-09-01T08:52:00.009-09:00

Update: you can find my other varnam composition in Lalitha ragam here.

My affair with Bahudari started when I was in class six...to me its one of those 'goosebumpsy' ragas!-if u know what I mean... :) I remember the day vividly-the day I was taught Brova Barama...how immensely grateful I was, to my teacher, for introducing such a wonderful raga to me!I just kept singing it over and over again to myself as I walked back home-it was elevating!
Over the years,Bahudari only lured me more and more, thanks to geniuses like U.Srinivas,Ganesh & Kumaresh,Rahman and many others; and about three and a half years back, I kinda felt compelled from within to try writing something in it. Since I find it a lot of fun to play around with swaras, I thought a varnam would be the best thing to try.
So I composed something and showed it to my mom and asked her for lyrics. Being a singer herself,she was really pleased and immediately started working on it.It was a thoroughly enjoyable excercise trying to fit her lyrics with my swaras.A perfectionist that she is, she really wouldn't be satisfied easily! Finally,after about 3-4 days we thought it had shaped up pretty fine.

So here it is:
Comments of course, are most welcome.

Note: I've re-uploaded with the swaras sung for each line since people expressed interest in learning this and said swaras would help in this regard.

Download here.

VARNAM
Ragam:Bahudari (SGMPDNS ; SNPMGS ,janyam of Harikambodhi(28) )
Talam:Adi
Swaras (tune) :Self.
Lyrics: Vijayalakshmi Bhakthavatsalam.

Swaram:

( Notation used: lower case-mandra sthaayi, upper case-madhyama sthaayi, upper case bold-thaara sthaayi )

Pallavi:
Sa,S ,,NP DNPM GPMG | MaPM GSdn | dnSG MPDN ||
DNSN ,PMG PDNP ,GMG | SGnS ,GSG | MPaD NPDN ||

Anupallavi:
NiPD NSNP MaPD NPMG |GaSG nsaG |GPMG Ga,, ||
nSGG ,MGM PPaD NSNS | GaSG MPMG | GMNS NPDN||

Chittaiswaram:
SaSa NPDN SNPM NNPM | PDNP DNSN | NSGN Sa,, ||
SNPM GSnS dnSp pdnS |GGSM MGPP | MNNP DNSG ||

Charanam:
PaDN PaGM PDNS ,NPM | GaPM GanG | SGdn SGGM ||

Mukthayiswarams:
1.Pa,M ,,Ga ,,,, niSa | Ga,S ,,Ma | ,Ga, PaMa||
2.Ga,, ,,SG MPMG MGGn | Sa,n Ga,S | Ma,G PaDN||
3.GMPD NSSN SGNS SNNP | DNSM PDNG | MPDN Sa,,||
NNPD NPPM PMNP SNNP | DNSG SGNS |NSGM PMGS ||
4.SaGS GaGM PMGM PDNS | Ga,, ,,,, | ,,,, ,,,, ||(a)
SaGS GaGM PMGM PDNS | Ga,S Ni,S | NPaS NPMG ||(b)
SaGS GaGM PMGM PDNS | Ga,N Sa,P | DaNS NPMG || (c)
SaGS GaGM PMGM PDNS | Ga,N Sa,P |DaNS Ga,,||
SGMG MPMG GSNN Sa,, | DNSN SGSN | PDNS Ni,, ||
SNNP MGMP DNSN Pa,, | GMPD NSNP | NPMG Ma,, ||
SNPM GSNP MGSP MGSn | SGMP ,DNS | Ma,G ,,S, Ma,G ,,S,||

Words:

Pallavi:
kaNNA un thaay iruvar moovulagin thaay nee anRO
maNNai uNdu aNdam muzhuthum annaikku vAyil kAttinAy

Anupallavi:
pANdavrkku nee thuNai irunthAy pArthanukku geethai uRaitthAy
un perumayai pAda Or piraviyum pOthumO

Charanam:
paraman unnudan en jeevan iNayAthO

Of course, it doesn’t take much to ‘compose’ something like this, since its simply about permuting and combining swaras (aesthetically of course)from a pre-defined set. So one is confined by the bounds of the raga. Needless to say its much more challenging to compose something ‘non-hard core-carnatic’ (aka ‘light’, I don’t understand why though!) – isn’t it more exciting to play a game with lesser rules?!
Sigh,only, I wish I was talented enough for that- like some of my ‘senior’ audiobloggers here :D
(Nevertheless, amma and me worked on another such project about a year after this -will be posting it in one of my forthcoming posts)

Another dimension to Bahudari:

Here’s another song in the same raga, albeit in stark contrast -
Thee thee from Thiruda Thiruda…
However many times I listen to this song, ever since it released way back in 1993, it leaves me awestruck everytime!
A song which emphatically testifies the genius of my GOD, Rahman! (The flute piece in the 2nd interlude-wowwwwww!!!)
Needless to say, its not in pure Bahudari , but I love the way Rahman has gone berserk! :D

So here's my version of it:

Not sure I’ve really captured the spark in Carolene’s voice though…
(BTW, does anyone know if this singer has sung any other song?? Beautiful voice and great modulation-very sad that she disappeared from the scene after just one song…)
BTW this is my first attempt at mixing and it was not until I did this song that I realized how big a task it is (in spite of using just primitive methods)! – realized that just singing alone is such a small part of the entire process of presenting a song!!

Finally,a blog for myself...

2006-09-01T06:25:00.000-09:00

All along, I've been the kind that has this strange liking for obscurity and anonymity...and so never really indulged in this curious soliloquy called blogging...
And blogging is all about wanting to be heard, in some sense, I guess...

But my thoughts slowly changed over time...its good after all to know what people have to say about your ideas...and realised that its especially so, with music-infact essential for your growth!

So here I am, audioblogging :P