Buying Audio CDs

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.

Yamaha Music Store in Chennai

I saw an advertisement in today's Hindu regarding the launch of Yamaha Music Store in Chennai. "Yamaha Music Square" is launching in Chennai today. It is located at Nungambakkam. I was already planning to purchase the Yamaha MO6 synthesizer keyboard. So this has come at the right time. So now I have a reason to visit the store and try out MO6 and probably PSR-S900 before purchasing.

Here is the advertisement on the Hindu.



And here is the address of the shop:

"Sterling Silver",
No. 24 & 25, Siva Ganga Road,
Off. Sterling Road, Nungambakkam
Chennai - 600034
Phone: 044-42909888 / 044-42909800 / 9840325440
Email: yamaha@nippongroup.com

Updates

Recently I have been following few other blogs which I have added it to my Blogroll on the right.

Kumars Planet is by Kumar, who is a Sound Engineer-Musician residing in Bangalore. He posts interesting musical quizzes on his blog, mostly on tamil film music. He also does some interesting remixes and recreates the orchestration of existing songs.

7 Swara is by Emjay. He mostly writes posts on Ilaiyaraaja and his music. Interesting to read.

I started a new blog sometime back to post my favorite interludes in songs. Will try to keep it alive by posting frequently. They are also linked to on the right side under the heading "song bgms that i like".

I have also added my twitter updates on the right hand side of my blog under the heading "what I am doing". You can find my updates there or on twitter.

Regarding the Remix contest by ARR, I submitted my entry earlier this week. The deadline was extended till 15th of this month. They don't display the entries uploaded because of copyright issues that might arise in the competition. Also the Intellectual Property Rights of all submitted entries rests with Nokia. So, right now I am not posting my remix entries on my blog. But may be after the competition I might post it.

Duet Music

I was watching Actor/Producer Prakash Raj's TV interview on Pongal. He was talking about his newly launched label "Duet Music". He wants to create a platform where musicians (other than those related to films) can showcase their talent. Music albums is not yet popular in south and it seems he wants to encourage such albums and also form a business around it. As Prakash Raj mentioned in an interview:

“In another three years I wish to make music a buoyant, thriving industry, independent of cinema. The thought made me float Duet Music as a label for talents. Unlike places like Punjab where the art is celebrated, most of us have an ear only for film-oriented stuff. A capable flautist or sitar player warrants a showcase too. Duet will do it,”

Duet Music recently released its maiden audio, the songs from the yet to be released movie, "Vellithirai". In an unique move, he also released the karaoke versions of the songs in the movie, so that people can sing along with it.

I think this is a welcome move by Prakash Raj. His "Duet Movies" already identifies good scripts, new directors and encourages them.

Favorite songs of Music Directors

Here are some of my top favorite songs of each music director. I can keep listening to these songs without getting bored. I generally won't change the station / channel when I listen to this song on air. Each and every music director have their own specialty and these are some songs that I enjoyed listening too.

I have not included Ilaiyaraaja, since there are lot of songs of his that I can keep mentioning. It is difficult to point out top 1 or 2. Similarly I have not included A R Rahman too.

Here is the list in no particular order:


Yuvan Shankar Raja

Idhu Kadhala - Thulluvatho Ilamai
Pogaathe - Deepavali


Harris Jayaraj

Ennai Konjam - Kaakha Kaakha
Ennai Pandhada - Ullam Ketkume


Bharadwaj

Enakkena - Paarthen Rasithen
Thaiyathaa - Thiruttu payale


Vidyasagar

Anandham Anandham - Murai maaman
Pinjumazhai Saaral - Varnajaalam


G V Prakash

Idhu Enna Mayam - Oram Po
Minnalgal Koothadum - Pollathavan


Karthik Raja

Veesum Kaatrukku - Ullasam
Konjum Manjal - Ullasam


Ramesh Vinayagam

Kadhalai Valarthai - University
Enna Idhu - Naladhamayanthi


Deva

Nalam Nalam Ariya - Kadhal Kottai


S A Rajkumar

Anandham Anandham - Poove Unakkaga
Irubadhu Kodi Nilavugal - Thullatha Manamum Thullum


Devisri Prasad

Un Paarvaiyil Paithiyam - Unakkum Enakkum


Dhina

Uppu Kallu - Karuppusamy Kuthagaitharar


Imaan

Manjal Mugame - ABCD


Sirpi

Ragasiyamaanadhu Kadhal - Kodambakkam


Sabesh Murali

Unnai Charan Adainthen - Thavamai Thavamirundhu


Mahesh

Poonkuyil Paadinaal - Nammavar


Vijay Antony

Uchi Mudhal Padham Varai - Sukran


Mani sharma

Hey Penne - Aasai Aasaiyai
May madham - Shahjahan

Minnalgal Koothaadum

One of the recent songs I like very much is the "Minnalgal Koothaadum" song from Pollathavan. This is a very simple song with simple tune, simple beat and simple accompaniments but I never get bored of this song, even though I hear it on radio almost dailly. This song is picturized on a hill station and the song conveys the appropriate mood. I observed that when we listened to this song on the bus during a trip to Coorg. I was impressed with the fact that even a simple song can be made into a big hit with the right ingredients. Bombay Jayashree's voice in this song is another big plus. Manjal Veyyil song from Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu (Harris Jayaraj) is yet another example of a simple song with the right ingredients making it a super hit.

There is some freshness in G V Prakash's song. I especially like his "Idhu Enna Mayam" from Oram Po and the "Vizhiyil" song from Kireedam.

One more recent song that I like is the "Yaarukku Yaarendru" song from Ajantha composed by none other than Ilaiyaraaja.

And this is my last post in the year 2007. I had published the maximum number of posts in this year when compared to the earlier years. Hope I continue to keep my blog active during 2008.

Wish you all a very Happy New Year !

Sennheiser Headphones

I recently purchased a Sennheiser HD 202 headphones. Earlier to that, my colleague had purchased the same model in India and I listened to it and was bowled by its audio quality and clarity. He had bought in a Sennheiser showroom in Chennai for around Rs. 3000/-. He told that it doesn't cause any headache or irritation in the ear, sits comfortably and is better than the models from Sony for the same price. He also suggested to buy in the US, since it would cost only about $25 which is roughly Rs. 1000/-. So I ordered it online and got it delivered to my cousin, who brought it down here when he came to India last month.

I have been using it for the past few weeks. The quality is good. External noises are cancelled. Bass depth is very good. I was told that it is a studio-ware. The website says it is ideal for DJs.

Here are some links for you to learn more about this model:

• http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=005176
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-202-Headphones/dp/B000065BP9/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1198948674&sr=8-1

One thing I found uncomfortable was that it changes the angle of my specs when I wear it and hence my eyes get tired. May be I need to tighten my glasses. If you are wearing glasses, make sure you try it out before purchasing.

A book named "Alaap"

Two weeks back, I was at bangalore for a family function. At my relative's home in bangalore, I saw a book named "Alaap". It was an introduction to indian classical music, and I was immediately hooked on to it. I was so engrossed in it and completed about half of the book in about an hour or so (I have never read novels, FYI). But unfortunately we had to leave so I couldn't complete the book.

It is basically a book for beginners to understand indian classical music. The set also comes with 20 CDs with various samples to refer and to understand. I didn't get to see the CDs but it seems there are lot of hindustani tracks, some carnatic songs and some western classical pieces too. I am not sure where this set is available for sale. I haven't yet checked the stores.

Here is a picture of the book cover on the right.

Inside the book cover, it says:

A creation of Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondichery, Bought to you buy Times Music, Mumbai.
This book forms part of the 'Alaap' set. Not to be sold separately.

There is always lots to learn in music. And the more you learn, the more you can appreciate music.

Blog on Background Scores by Suresh

Suresh Kumar has created a new blog dedicated to background scores in movies. He posts an audio of a BGM in his blog and asks readers to guess the movie. If you are interested in background scores or re-recording, then you would be definitely interested in his blog. Over a period of time, this will also become a repository of good background scores. Here is the URL of his blog.

http://backgroundscore.blogspot.com/

Indian Keyboards

More than a month back, I had been to Sapthaswara Musicals in Mylapore to get some voice mics to aid in our practice sessions for the Inter Corporate Music Competition. I saw the demo of a new Yamaha Keyboard there. The model number is PSR I425. This contained certain indian instrument tones in addition to western instruments. The indian instruments included 2 types of sitar (very good), harmonium (single reed, double reed and triple reed - very good), sarod (not impressive), bansuri (OK), Tanpura (good) and indian percussions like tabla, dhol, mridangam, etc (very good). More information is available at psri425.com.

There were also some indian style accompaniments like bollywood mix, bhangra, Qawwali, Bhajan, indian pop and even a tamil folk beat (which was basically a 6/8 beat which lacked punch). There are around 12 such styles. The accompaniments were not impressive.

The western instrument tones such as the piano was not that good. However I did not check the other instruments. The brochure says amazingly realistic sounds. So may be you should check yourselves if you are looking to buy one. It had a pitch bend, which was absolutely necessary to serve the indian classical market. You can plugin your USB drive too to store or transfer songs or recordings.

This Yamaha keyboard was priced at around Rs. 19,000/-. That was quite expensive I felt. The salesman told that this was made exclusively for india and hence it won't be available in other places like Singapore. One had to buy in India only.

There is a new model from Casio too serving the indian market. The model is CTK-810IN. I did not check it out, but I was told that the Yamaha model was better than Casio. In addition to western tones and accompaniments, it has around 15 indian tones and 7 indian rhythm accompaniments. The Casio costs around Rs. 12,000/-. It can store songs and information in an SD card in addition to the USB port available. Technical specifications at: http://www.rajmusicals.com/product_info.php?products_id=1424

I always thought why they couldn't reproduce an indian classical instrument on the keyboard. Even drum pads have such tones in them for long. This is a welcome move and I hope it gets better and more affordable. Ofcourse it can't come close to a live instrument, but something is better than nothing.

Check out the brochures of these 2 models:

Casio Model
Front page: http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/ewdEW
Back page: http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/oxcnbd

Yamaha Model
Front page: http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/myid4
Back page: http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/ryPdF

I basically have a very modest Yamaha PSR 350 at home. It is more than sufficient for self learning or practicing at home. But for stage performances, it is not a good choice.

UPDATE (Feb 7, 2010): Here is a nice comparison between Yamaha PSR i425 and Casio CTK 5000 (another indian focused model) - http://www.rajib.com/2009/09/27/comparison-between-yamaha-psr-i425-and-casio-ctk-5000/

UPDATE (Dec 18 2011): I noticed an advertisement on The Hindu (dated Dec 17 2011) regarding a new model of Casio with Indian Instruments. The models are as below:

CTK 4200 - Rs. 10,000
CTK 3200 - Rs. 8,500
CTK 2200 - Rs. 6,400

And here is the advertisement:

Addictive Rhythm

I was hearing the "Anbe Nee Enna" song from Pandian on the radio. The rhythm pattern was captivating and I enjoyed every bit of the song mainly due to the beats. Ilaiyaraaja often experiments with different rhythm patterns in many of his songs and in some bgms too. Do you like this song too?

Find sounds on the web

I came across 2 sites from where you can download various sounds or drum loops. Do you want a clock ticking sound or an animal sound or a vehicle sound or a dhol beat loop or an african rhythm for use in your compositions? You can get many such sounds in these sites.

Here are 2 sites that I came across:

1. soundsnap.com seems to be free from copyright issues. From their site:

Soundsnap is the best platform to find and share free sound effects and loops- legally. It is a collection of original sounds made or recorded by its users, and not songs or sound FX found on commercial libraries or sample CD's. It was originally started by a small group of sound people from all over the world. Our common belief is that sounds and samples should be free for everyone to use in their projects, commercial or not.

So basically if you have some unique sounds or loops, you can contribute in the above site too. I created a couple of loops in the FL Studio demo version software. I am planning to share them in the above site. By the way, the FL Studio software is awesome.

2. findsounds.com on the other hand searches for audio files hosted by Web sites throughout the world. So there are bound to be copyright issues. From their site:

When you perform a search using FindSounds.com or the WebPalette feature of FindSounds Palette, you obtain links to audio files hosted by Web sites throughout the world. The sounds in these audio files may be copyrighted and their use governed by national and international copyright laws. We do not offer advice on the fair use of these files. In compliance with the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, we will remove links to copyrighted sounds from FindSounds.com and FindSounds Palette at the request of the copyright holder. Such requests must be made in writing and identify the specific links to be removed.

Let me know if you find more such sites.

UPDATE:
Here is another site that I came across:
3. freesound.org is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds. Here is the license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/.

Poongathave - Remastered?

I heard the wonderful "Poongathave Thaazh Thiravai" song (based on the mayamalavagowlai scale) from Nizhalgal twice over the last week on FM. It seems someone has digitally remastered the song. I have heard the original song on my computer, but this one sounded different. The prelude strings are slightly different, the chords are very much audible through out the song, the thavil sound at the end of the prelude changed. Please note that the notes / orchestration hasn't changed, just that it sounds different. The voices and most of the instruments seems to be the same.

And again in the second interlude, when the solo violin is played, a guitar arpeggio is heard. And this one completely drowns the wonderful counter melody in flute which can be heard in the original song. Does anyone know what notes are played in the flute melody along with the solo violin. I am not able to match the ending notes with any particular note / key. It seems to be deliberately off key, but doesn't sound so.

Have you heard this new version of the song?

Recent songs that caught my attention

Here are couple of recent songs that caught my attention (apart from the chartbusters like Sivaji / Cheeni Kum):

1. "Engivalai Naan Perave" from Ninaithu Ninaithu Parthen (Music: Joshua Sridhar)
   This is a very nice song that I have been recently listening on radio. The thing that caught my attachment is the pallavi where the tune in plain notes has nice overlaps in the upper octave in carnatic style. I thought this is based on Raag Hansdhwani (or Hamsadhwani) but I have my doubts on it. Infact in the second interlude, when the singer sings swaras he includes the Ma note. So it seems to have the notes Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Ni and Sa in the Shankarabharanam scale. But I don't think it is Kedaram or Nalinakanthi. Or may be I am wrong. Please correct if I am wrong. And by the way, this song is sung by Gowtham who I think was one of the finalists of Airtel Super Singer.
   
   
2. "Uppu Kallu" from Karuppusamy Kuthagaitharar (2007) (Music: Dhina)
   This is again a nice melody that I keep listening to often in radio or on TV. Though some phrases in the song sounds familiar, it is a nice melody overall. Bombay Jayashree's vocals makes it even more enjoyable.

What do you think on these songs?

Voices in Harris Jayaraj's music

I have observed that some of the voices in Harris Jayaraj's music sound better and sophisticated than the same voices under other music directors. Examples:

1. Karthik - Oru Maalai, Oru Ooril
2. Haricharan - Vaigasi Nilave
3. Krish - Manjal Veyil (humming of vennilave)

What do you think?

Ooh La La La Forms available

The registration forms for the much awaited Ooh La La La contest for music bands is available on the official website http://oohlalala.in/

It is basically a contest for music bands in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The bands in Tamil Nadu have to basically compose tunes for Lyricist Vaali's lyrics on the topic Nambikkai. Judges would be Vasundhra Das along with other celebrities. The judge for the finals is none other than A R Rahman.

For more information on the contest, you can also refer to the website http://ooh-lalala.com/ which is maintained by a Rahman fan. This is an unofficial site on the event.

Song I hate - Dhol Bhaje from Deepavali

One of the recent songs that I hate, is the song "Dhol Bhaje" from the Tamil film "Deepavali". I really don't know whether it is the tune or the lyrics. But I HATE it a lot. The picturisation would also be funny with the villain dancing along.

Guess the interludes

Ajitha Watal posted a link to the following blog:

conundrumofsonata.blogspot.com

In the above blog, Sonata posts interludes of songs and quizzes the bloggers daily on tamil songs. It is really a nice one. I used to be fascinated by certain interludes or portions of interludes (esp. Ilaiyaraaja's) and it is a good way to share those with the world.

I have also changed the embedded player from odeo to esnips in my previous blog post. Now it plays the song properly. Let me know your views about it.

Recent inspired songs

Recently I came across two songs heavily inspired from other songs.

1. "Silu Silukkum Silmishi" from "Chennai Kadhal" very much reminds me of "Alai Alai" from "Boys". Though it is not the same tune, the phrase looks similar to "Egiri Kudithen". The rhythm pattern, sounds used and the tune in the interlude also looks similar. Don't know why an upcoming music director who had shown promise in the film "Kadhal" should do it this way.

2. “Orugalluke Pilla Pilla” from the Telugu film "Sainikudu" sounds very much like "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from "Dil Se". The feel, the voices, the rhythm patterns, all sound similar to the one from Dil Se / Uyire. I can even imagine the producer / director requesting Harris Jayaraj to create a song similar to "Chaiyya Chaiyya". OK, this is my assumption, but I think that is the way it works in film industry. But this song along with other songs in the album has become a huge hit. So who do you think can be credited with the success of this song?

Copying songs can broadly be classified into two types - intentional and unintentional.

When you intentionally copy and compose songs similar to the original, then it is intentional copying.

Sometimes, one will compose a simple tune, but it would have already been composed in the past. And in some cases, the new composer would not have heard of the original itself. Or it would have been in his subconscious mind and would have come out as a new tune. As the number of songs composed keeps growing over the years, the number of simple and unique tunes not yet composed automatically decreases. So there is a greater chance of unintentional repetition. The first line of the song "Collegukku povom" from "Kovil" resembles "Kamban enna aanan" from "Jathi Malli" I think. The first line is plain simple and I believe this is a case of unintentional similarity.

Let me know your views.

Thaiyyaththa from Thiruttu Payale

One of the recent songs that I like very much is the Thaiyyaththa song from Thiruttu Payale. This is a nice melodious song in Raag Charukesi. Even though Charukesi evokes pathos feeling generally, this song is not a sad song. Nice melody. The Thavil beats are also nice.

I never get bored listening to this song. This song is on my list of all time Bharadwaj favorites which also include "Enakkenna Erkkanave" song from Paarthen Rasithen.

One nice thing about Bharadwaj is the clarity with which he records the acoustic instruments. For example, I don't like the Thozha Thozha song from Pandavar bhoomi. But when I heard the song in my friend's car, I could appreciate the clarity with which the stringed instruments (banjo / mandolin?) in that song were recorded. Same case for the Parthen Rasithen song. In the Thiruttu Payale song too, there is a very brief guitar piece and I was amazed by the clarity.

Do you like this song?