Talking about Rajapaarvai, listen to the following background music (re-recording) from the same film. It is a very nice piece.
Hope you enjoyed it. Here is a comment by an user on that video:
i'm an atheist...but this music makes me think twice. Divine!
Listen to this wonderful Violin Concerto composed by Ilaiyaraaja for the film "Raja Paarvai". Nice blend of Carnatic and Western styles (typical ilaiyaraaja). This composition is in raag Pantuvaraali. Sit back and enjoy.
Some observations:
1. Till 1:35 secs in the video, it is carnatic style. You will notice that Kamal sits and plays the violin as in carnatic style. At 1:36 it changes to western classical style and you will notice Kamal standing and playing the violin.
2. From around 2:04 to 2:24, for about 20 secs the Sa and Pa notes are not at all played. This song is in 2 kattai (D) and in this Pantuvaraali scale in D, except Sa and Pa all others are half notes - either sharp/flat (black keys on the keyboard). So for these 20 seconds, there are no natural notes played. i.e. only black keys while playing on the keyboard. And at 2:24 after heightening the tension, it lands at Shadjamam and then from there, the drums take off. The violins, lead guitar and bass guitar go in a frenzy along with the drums. Finally it comes to a finish with the main theme played in unison.
I tried re-creating this number on my computer few years back by doing some basic midi sequencing. Here is the midi file in case you are interested on the notes of the song. By the way, I have omitted a few lines and I think there are some wrong notes in the midi file that I created.
When I was in college, I used to buy new audio cassettes (esp of ARR) as they get released and keep listening to it. Later, with the spread of computers, internet and TV channels, this habit was gradually reduced. However I used to purchase select audio CDs (mostly albums).
Here are the audio CDs recently purchased by me in the last 5 years:
Albums
Thiruvasagam by Ilaiyaraaja
A musical rendering of the epic Tamil verses. This is a Classical Crossover album and Ilaiyaraaja seamlessly fuses both Indian classical and western classical.
Mozart meets India
After Thiruvasagam, this album was widely publisized. But it was disappointing.
Maaya - Sikkil Gurucharan and Anil Srinivasan
Indian classical songs with piano accompaniment. Really very nice. I especially like the soothing numbers "Suttum vizhi" in Rathipathipriya and "Hari tum haro" in Darbari kaanada.
Resonance - V S Narasimhan
Carnatic songs performed by a String Quartet headed by V S Narasimhan. Again different and really nice.
Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flute (I don't remember the exact name)
If you like Hindustani music, then you will like this instrumental album. This has got an hindustani rendering of 'vatapi ganapathim bhaje' in raag Hansdhwani. Very nice rendering.
Classically Mild - Sonu Nigam
Semi-classical songs in hindi with western orchestration. Appealing.
Rafi Resurrected - Sonu Nigam with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
This is a tribute to Mohd. Rafi. An Evening in London - Classic old hindi songs rendered by Sonu Nigam along with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Kavithai Gundar - Tamil Hiphop
oops... Rs. 500 for this. Not worth in my opinion.
Movie Albums
Ada - A R Rahman
This was not because I want to listen to it but because I was participating in this remix contest.
Modhi Vilayaadu - Hariharan and Leslie (of Colonial Cousins fame)
Pretty decent. Except 1 or 2 songs, rest were nice.
Modhi Vilayadu is one of the first filmi albums that I bought in recent times. I heard it was good and went for it. It was a nice experience of buying it, listening to it excitedly for the first time (on my car system) and liking it. Reminds me of the olden days. So next time if I badly want to listen to a movie album, may be I will directly purchase it.
It is also interesting how they promote CDs these days. It has almost come down to the cost of cassettes. Audio CDs are available for Rs.55, Rs.75, Rs.99, etc. Modhi Vilayadu was priced at Rs.99. It had a free audio CD of another recent movie. The free CD was of Panthayam by Vijay Antony. Couple of songs were nice in that. There was also a Rs.200 gift coupon from "naturals" beauty saloon/spa. These are some nice approaches to tackle piracy. 'Kavithai Gundar' CD included a free belt (with large letters of KG) and a DVD (probably their music video). Still the Rs. 500 price tag is not worth it.
Are you listening to songs by purchasing CDs / cassettes? If not, give it a thought.
Recently I came across a blog which provides valuable advice and tips on Songwriting, Home Recording and Live Sound. If you are getting started to the world of composing or setting up a home studio or part of a band, then this is a valuable resource to learn the tricks of the trade. The site is named "Cheap Advice On Music" and here is the URL:
http://cheapadviceonmusic.com/
The site is well designed and a new article is written every 15 days.
A R Rahman has done some nice background pieces in songs which are basically a conversation between either 2 instruments or an instrument and a vocal. These are not question and answer types but more like a real conversation. Listen to 4 such conversations below. Interestingly all of them are towards the ending of the respective songs. It is more like a postlude.
If you are a small time composer, here is an opportunity. There is a one minute Jingle contest for 'Vivel Miss Chennai & Chennai Man' reality fashion show which will be telecast on Star Vijay. This is open for Public.
Here is more info on this.
http://www.vibaviba.com/pressnote.htm
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/03/21/stories/2009032151322400.htm
If you are musically inclined & love to compose jingles, then you could compose a 'one minute jingle for the Vivel Miss Chennai & Chennai man contest'. You need to create the background score, write the lyrics & render a one minute song on a CD and send it to us, the best one will be selected by an eminent panel of judges. This Selected jingle will be made into a Video film as well and the winners will be featured on Star Vijay & will take home prizes & medals.
Here are a couple of instances where A R Rahman has reused some of his earlier pieces in songs. These are just 1 or 2 line pieces and there is no harm in doing so since the originals are also his. You can hover your mouse over my photo on the comments bar at the bottom of the track to find out details about the songs mixed.
As I had mentioned in my blog earlier, our office band (in which I play the keyboard) participated in Paadum Office 2.0 (2008) and it is being telecast on Star Vijay for the past few weeks. Our prelims and quarter finals performances have already been telecast and the rest are yet to be telecast. It is being shown on Star Vijay every Sunday at 5:00 pm. Here are our prelims and quarterfinals performances. Let me know your feedback.
Prelims:
Quarter Finals:
http://en.sevenload.com/videos/WZ6Zk8s-Paadum-Office-Feb-22-Part-2
Around 10 months back, I posted a blog article on the remix contest by ARR and Nokia for the promotion of the film, Ada. I participated in it and was planning to publish the files only after the results. The deadline was over on June 15 2008, but they just ignored the contest after the submissions. No news what so ever. So I am publishing my entries for the contest below for your feedback. Let me know your views.
PS: From their Terms and Conditions, the rights for all the remix entries are owned by Nokia.
By submitting your remixed entry for the online/offline contest you hereby agree and consent to Nokia having all the Intellectual Property Rights of such remix and Nokia may use your remix in its future promotions in any manner whatsoever. You confirm all the IPR rights to Nokia and you also agree not to claim any IPR rights on the same in future.
