tHe wInter mUsic

mAn, the music industry of the country has gone nuts. You get to home, all the way thinking about the good news your friend delivered you while seeing you off- “Bro, new Trivedi stuff has arrived. We got No One Killed Jessica on DC” and you find none of it, the very first week, in your hometown stores. All has gone awry.
 Well, the point is not that I couldn’t get a taste of the Jessica songs in the very beginning of vacations; the point is that I got none of good music on television and radio, except for the pre-existing good crap. In the times, when you say the tastes of Indian composers and listeners have changed, the only still-listen-worthy shit you get is some piece of Rahman’s or Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s or Vishal Bharadwaj’s. Good lord, are these people musically dead now?
AR Rahman is serving Hollywood more now. Better don’t judge the patriotism of Mr. Composer of the meaningful songs of Swades (he is still not very sure about what they actually meant, you see). The man of Vande Mataram, we all know, is not aware of what had he created years back, long before he attained the pinnacle. But that he worked well in Jhootha Hi Sahi is worth mentioning.
The Shankar group (that is how the band is commonly acknowledged; pity Ehsaan and Loy) has disappeared after decently unsuccessful compositions of Tere Bin Laden, which is again tragedy, after the whole lot of melodies they have given the enthusiasts. Shankar Mahadevan, though, has no problem in collecting songs from other music directors, courtesy his excellent singing abilities.
Vishal Bharadwaj, ostensibly, is working on a Chetan Bhagat’s Two States. (May Mr. God help him maintain his class!) So, let us just sit and wait for his new creations.

The portents suck, people!

Let me add one more reason to the above statement- Anu Malik’s back, guys! J
He is the proud composer and writer of very beautiful (to the power -1) Tinku Jiya. The man’s got to chill! Why does somebody not go to him and wake him up? “Dude, come back. Your time is as ‘history’ as is Mahatma Gandhi”
I mean, who is he trying to gull, making any ungainly cow-crap and claiming to be the best? The guy is a prig too. We all have gone through this part of him while he worked at Indian Idol. Bad judgments and the clamor that he never goes wrong- who can even forget this frustrated creation of divine? And how could I forget- Toonpur Ka Superhero! Listen to the songs and you would muse- Were the Indians of 80’s deaf? They ‘listened’ to his music? The movie, let me add, seems to be bad enough to be not even given a thought to have a look at. The money goes dung again.

 Now that we have entered the discussion on Jhilaau music, let me also make sure you know about the following----

·         Bhaisaab Bhaisaab Meri Shaadi Toh Kara Do- a funny (but damn very seriously built) video by a new-comer, who is about to make an exit to the hell or heaven (whichever he deserves; you would love saying the latter after you see the video). And yeah, the covers of the DVDs have Madame Asha Bhonsle on them. God, believe me the woman deserves Paradise. Don’t judge her please!

·         TORI- the name of the singer; Nkhil, the composer seems to be a musical purist here. From lyrics to composition, everything in the album sounds to be earlier heard by you. And don’t dare watch the video. There are better things in the world to serve your with.

·         YPD- the music of the movie reminds you of the place where you could feel ultra-downbeat. The movie is (hopefully) the last shot the Deol lot is giving it. You can find them doing everything they (collectively) did in the last three decades, in the trailers. The best song is (in what sense, you know ;-D) Chadha De Rang. This is the most senseless, accept as true, that a musician can do.

·         Pritam seems to make good combination of notes but he is probably not able to present them in a healthy way (keeping in mind No Problem and Action Replay). But, Nikhil D’souza, in Crook, has done awesome. Pritam is, consequently, mixed. Let us, anyways, wait for his Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji.

·         And a lot of people, who have enough money to be depleted on their so-called TALENT. Thank God, the government is, in terms of art, blind.

In short, the above mentioned four points are contributing a lot to the fact that India is going through a dip in music; the “hoi polloi” has no idea they will have to pay for movies that have songs that are well spent on, and have no worth.
Let us still keep hoping that Vishal-Shekhar and Amit Trivedi keep up their good sense, and keep negating the adverse effects of the unable mass of musicians here.
And what the hell! Somebody bring Rahman back!

Signing off
Nishant Sharma
<totally a wastrel>

eThics...

nOw that I am a little amazed by a confusing show (another one, as some say) by the famous Indian music composing pair (Vishal Shekhar, that is), I sit down writing the following blah.
mOst of the people, who went through my last Facebook status message, couldn't get the feel behind it. And that is what the reason behind my posting this entry is.

tHis has nothing to do with the Department dealing with organizing this particular show during our college's cultural fest. Those people, probably, had no idea as to what would happen once the duo and their band was on stage.

bUt what delivers me a hard shock, is looking at people's responses, even after they realize that they are cheated by the trusted musicians. They throw facial expressions saying, "So what! We had a lot of fun! Is that not all that was wanted!"
I get you, people! But, are you, seriously, not moved by the fact that you were damn cheated?!

iF dancing and singing along was all that your soul needed, don't you think there were better options than paying a sum of Rs. 750 (I'm sorry, I couldn't find the new sign for our currency :P)? Don't you think that Sonic Stampede (the war of DJ's) was the same product for no price? In short, we all payed 15 Lacs for just having a go through Vishal-Shekhar's and their band members' real faces.

a lIttle light on what was happening---

1. There were pre-recorded tracks played (as some say, on an i-pod), and the duo was singing along with the recorded vocals. Not all the times was this the scenario (as in the Jhankar Beats song), but most of the times, it was. 
2. The moments they sang on their own, were the moments they screwed it up badly (not to forget the beautiful song of Dil Haara).
3. Warren Mendosa, the well-known Zero guitarist, was playing something that was not reaching the audience's ears.
4. The drummer proved to be a great actor, except for the fact that he played stuff that never existed in the then-played song.
5. Vishal's mic went off, just for a series of seconds, that Shekhar looked at him. It was just for one line that it happened. Vishal made a brilliant come-back, and nobody could notice the transition of sounds of voices of the on-stage singer and the off-stage one :P.
6. Shekhar played high Piano notes with his hands on the lower side of the keyboard. And when he realized that the difficult part was over, he resumed with playing the audible chords of the song.  

nOw that all is past---

yEah, we can do nothing about it now. But, the followings things are crystal clear---

• There is a difference between a composer and a stage performer. Not all, who compose well, can be equally good in front of dancing lots of people.
• Audience is easy to make a fool of. All depends on how ethical you want yourself to be. It is like you have the dagger in your hand; but the murder on your will.
• If people have a belief in you, don't let them down. They're hurt if you're caught. (And this reminds me of the time when I was extremely excited about Vishal-Shekhar coming to the village).

I admit that I, myself, am not a very great performer. But at least, my throat (or stomach :P) leaves the same sound that is amplified by the not-as-good-amplifiers-as-in-Prof Shows amplifiers, and that reaches the innocent people's senses.

I respect the bad but genuine performers after this, for they try.

hAve nice days... :)

<bad onstage>

nIshant Sharma 

jUst a soul, it requires...

"cAn a deaf, seriously, be a drummer?" this is the question I asked myself, as I went through an article on Shawn Dale Barnett, and was about to go through his biography.

tHe man, as stated by himself, has the ''natural rhythm''. He just goes by the feeling the drum vibrations in a way or another.

hE was born deaf, and his arms had a lot of tumors, that weakened them. Still, that could not prevent his playing with two drumsticks and a drum-kit. He, presently, runs school for teaching the deaf as to how can one understand and reproduce the vibrations and rhythms of music. In all, he is the biggest example for those who can't hear but sense.

nOw what goes on in my brain---

hEre stands the biggest question in my mind- "Do I actually need a pair of ears to 'receive' music?"

aNd my soul says, "No!" Now, you might be thinking as to how is it justified.

tHe justification is as follows---

There are two possibilities- 1. You are born with music; 2. You are not.

1. You are born musician-- In such a case, those who say you can't grasp music, are shit-speakers. If you go by what they say, you are wasting yourself. Because, music has nothing to do with the two all-cartilage organs on the two sides of your face. Close your eyes and there's it. You are into a music piece.
   Touch a vibrating drum skin, and you get what emotion it produces. Just sit and let somebody hit a drum bass; you get the 'bass'ic sense. Just follow it, and you are a musician. You don't have the power of listening to extremely small vibration waves. So what? You have got the inner ''thing'' that is all of a requirement for having an ''ear'' for it.
2. You are not a musician-- There is no possibility that you can listen to a piece. You can still close your eyes and get ''into'' that piece; but that you can't reproduce it, is inevitable. You can still cry, while virtually listening to a sad tone (only if you know that it exists). You have the same emotions as a deaf musician has, but you can't express it. You can still touch a drum skin and feel it; just that you can't tell, by beating a skin, whether you are happy or you are not.

bUt one thing is for sure- ''You have no ability of not-being-able to taste music. You are born with internal sensors. Use them well. Lie on your bed some day, and close your eyes, try minimizing the intensity of light in your room. You are not listening to the sweet flute; but it still rings. You were happy today; and happiness it shows. If you were down today; depression it carries. And feel the external organs on both the places. Have they not slept long before? :)"

tHis was also the case with Beethoven (the God of classical music).

sOmeone once said to him, "Your deafness has a lot supported the fact that you have been original. History says that biggest of the genius can't keep themselves from copying while listening to pre-existing good pieces of music. But, you can't possibly listen to them."

nOw, in response to this, Beethoven said something that is not known, and of which, most of the historians are not sure.

aNd that it is not known, helps my point get stronger. I sincerely hope he agreed to the point raised by the man  (who used to be his nephew). And I win then. :D

hAve nice days :)

<deaf>

nIshant Sharma 

sAch keh raha hai deewana...

gRand echo, the mesmerizing voice of Kay Kay, and a harmonizing vocalist; and begins the song from Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein. It is called (the title of the article).

After this ''harmonic'' start, it stops for seconds, and enters the percussion along with the Sitar piece. And with a roll on keys, appears Mr. Krishnakanth again (KK, that is). The first stanza is full with good vocals, soulful keys, terrific beats, claps, and a damn good bass. The man is describing his pain, as his beloved betrays him (but, my work, here, is not to have a say on the lyrics of a song).

As the first stanza ends, an overlapping flute piece takes over, in a Rahmani style. And I am serious when I say that it sounds very AR Rahman'istic. The notes' loops are in the same way. But, the song doesn't belong to Mr. Academy Award; it does so to an ex-partner of his. Harris Jayaraj, the composer of this elegant song, used to program scores and percussion, and play keyboard for Rahman. After assisting him, and many other Tamil composers, Jayaraj went on composing Tamil songs for himself. He has got National Awards for Tamil songs. But by now, he has just two Hindi movies' musics to his credit, of which, RHTDM's is the only one, with which most of us are familiar.

Getting back to the song-in-the-limelight, as the loops end, the Sitar re-enters, with a high flute-note fading out. The second stanza takes off with a sootheing keys' backing. The lyrics are, still, saying the same story.

As the second verse ends, there's that Opera style chorus of female singers. Abruptly halts this part, and a ticking sound gives way to the softer vocalists. A piano takes us to the stanza number 2. The same-way-backing exists, this time with an added piano (and as we all do know, Piano rocks!). As the stanza dies, vocal harmonists show their mettle (might be a wrong word, but still...my way, you see :)) by giving a totally new feel to the song. There is nothing very special about the climax of the song, except for the same keys' roll, as was in the beginning.

cOnclusion---

Harris Jayaraj has created a song that has everything that a hurt lover requires to depress himself; on both the lyrical and musical parts. So, if you have had a bad love life, don't go through this song, as you might waste a lot of your time after listening to this :P.

hAve nice days :)
(not hurt ;) )
nIshant Sharma

tHe piano theme...

a pLain start on piano, another one in a typically 'Rahmani' manner; and begins the small piece called Piano Theme (1947 The Earth).

tHe music has, to many, not a lot to say; but to the remaining lot, it speaks a hell lot more than a heavy bunch of instruments played. It merely consists of a flute and a piano; and both are exceptionally well 'used'. I, seriously, don't have words to describe the feeling you develop (mentally) while you are listening to it at 1:30 in the night; when you realize that the crickets are singing on the harmonic scale of the 'spotlight'ed song.
tHe piece has three things adding to its elegance-
 
1) As I mentioned in the very begining, a cold take-off with some notes played. Although the same piece is played for the rest of the instrumental, it does not bore the listener to any extent, courtesy the variations the song has.

2) The song comes to a halt (a really small one; 2 seconds, i guess), and enters the handsome instrument of flute. The flute, technically speaking, has added nothing on the musical notes' part; but it adds, to your heart, the intensive feeling that a change is required badly (though it might not be :P).

3) It ends with a set of notes that gives you a feel that the stuff is left incomplete, which actually is not the matter. It was created that way. It was, as I presume, ''built'' to ''musicify'' the emptiness of the atmosphere. It sort of started with the continuity (the three dots, you see) and ended with the same continuity.

sO, the Piano Theme is a link between the two consecutive times, when you are not blank. In case you have never gone through it, do listen to this Rahman workpiece. It might depress your depressing feelings when required...

tHe power of music, you see..
hAve nice days :)

nIshant Sharma

cOmplexity on sOul...one on one!!

 nOw the thought on my mind is a result of a set of recent happenings (and some of the past time sequences too).

A little back in time...

I was sitting in my bedroom, with the television showing pictures in front of my eyes (this had to be mentioned; I am badly missing my home). It was vacation time.
The Sony Entertainment Television was telecasting its extremely famous talent hunt (all of you might be knowing about Indian Idol, I guess). The show, this time, had a lot of good participants. Considering all of its last seasons, this time's was nearest to the best. It was a full entertainment, watching that show and commenting upon various singers, their selections and their performances. (Now, comment-making is something that a family can never avoid, while they are enjoying their free times). My family, being a bunch of enthusiastic music fans, had a great interest in the show; and thus, had a whole lot to say.
The show, today, was fun!
Consequently, it was followed by us in every coming time.

Back to the real-today...

After experiencing the number of vocal rounds on that talent hunt, and after the recent happenings (as I stated earlier), there was some music-related thing that hit my mind hard.
What was the implication of Sriram winning the challenge?
The clear conclusion drawn can be the people's respect and more love for execution difficult and challenging things. When Sriram could sing the sargam of the very beautiful song (I sincerely hope that I discuss this song sometime in future) called 'O Rey Piya' (Aaja Nachle), it got him hell a lot of appreciation from the judges and this drew every normal listener's attention to the fact that Mr. Hyderabad was capable of doing very difficult things (though I personally believe that I know people who can do the same thing in a better way).
But, it is easy having the audience 'for' you. Sriram was for a long time (courtesy the unidirectional decision-maker judges) that the audience was 'for' him.

nOw my views on the result...

I am all okay with most of you liking the typically strange things performed good; but I somehow feel that there's a lot more that defines music; that is, it is not just the theoretical strength of a being. A major part of music is the expression that it carries.
I personally feel that Rakesh was a better contender, just because his voice and singing style had the soul everytime. I could get a particular mood of mind while he sang a specific song.
But, not going with some particular candidates would be more of an importance here.
All that has to follow the above blah is that you should never compromise with the basic atmosphere of one particular song. It is very skilled of you that you noticed the most challenging things of the piece; still, if you are not able to create the same mood as the original music, in the mind of the listener, you have not done much.

In the end...

The question is still a question. Although I might be one of the only ones, who have such a view on this subject, I would always avoid the idea of ever having some other idea. :)
But whatever a true admirer of 'Complexity' has to say about the anti-me approach towards the topic, I bet that even for him, it would more than just 'difficult' to digest a feel-less piece of sound.

sO, develop a thought, a viewpoint, on this. This might help you decide which kinds of songs to go with.

hAve nice days :)
Nishant Sharma

fEel the music...

hE once said: "I would dedicate my success to A R Rahman. He has inspired me to go against the rules.."
The man, who is talked of, above (and is going to be talked of, for the rest of this post), is nobody else but this year's National Award winner for the best music- Mr. Amit Trivedi.


The man, as they say, is not classically trained. Would anyone, who has listened to Dhol Yaara Dhol (DevD), ever believe that? Well, there is a possibility that the answer is a yes, as the notes sung by the male singer, in the song, are not that very challenging to a trained man.
His songs have always had a feel that is not found in most of the other Bollywood songs (this statement is extremely carefully stated, as A R Rahman exists :D). His compositions, till now, have been proving that there is one very important thing in a song; and that is the atmosphere of the song. The Gujju composer, probably, treats himself as a listener first, and then a creator of music. He, as my idea is, imagines himself wearing the headphones in ultimate solitude, listening to the song, and checks whether the piece that he is 'making' is creating the required environment in the minds of his listeners.
His songs have always been full with vocal harmonies and other non-classical vocal sounds. Chakkar Ghumyo (Aamir) was one of his songs that drew me towards him. The song has a lot on musical part. It starts with a bass (and a slightly nasal as well) male voice singing 3 different notes. This is the place where most of the listeners would start developing the mood of the song. 
And it is highly worth considering if I don't mention this cute song here- Paayaliya (DevD). The song has a rich voice of Shilpa Rao's, which has its own instrumental effects in the product. It has four key chords entering the ears when you are (musically speaking) in a deadly need of those. This set continues for the whole song. The female chorus and the male one too, are worth mentioning. The beat pattern changing at times and a little techno pieces enhance the song's beauty. Pleasant vocal harmonies are also present at particular positions for the addition of 'sucrose' to the song. And last, but not (at all) the least- the basso sung 'By God' at places :)
So, what ultimately can be drawn, from this irregular series of instances, is that Amit Trivedi has a lot of stuff to his name, which can help him take the position of his Idol, in coming times. And the only reason, contributing to this, would be his equity with Rahman bhai in terms of atmosphere-creation and maintenance; not the technicalities.
In all, there is a message that this man's composition style has to convey, all the times- 
"Music has a feel. It has not to be supported by the classical theory (all the times) to bring that expression out. The sequence of notes and strikes matter; not their complexity!"

signing off
(listening to Mr. Trivedi)
Nishant Sharma

iF u r listening to a non-complex thing, it's not Rahman...

nOw dat I completed listening to one of his songs for d final tym (not dat i wouldn't listen to it nemore; but dat dis was d last go on it for me to hold dis one a great piece of sound by him), der's one thing dat I've finally cast my lifetime vote to and dat is - "AR Rahman is about complex things.!"

iT is not d technical terms dat he has been following for last so many years...at imes, it so happens dat he has a typical progression to follow; and rest of d times he has d typical 'Rahmani' progression to work upon...but, for dese two different cases, der r two different creations dat follow--
(a).. Convention followed-- a totally soulful product wid a strong bass or beat, a beautiful melody dat has some human nerve to touch and tickle... 'Hello Hello' from 'Jhootha Hi Sahi' is an example...d song has some characteristics dat many ppl would certainly not find very appealing...but at d places wher a good use of rhythm had to be made, he hit hard...(<koi jawab do na..jeene ko khwab do na>); (<mujhe chchor do.. mujhe thaam lo.. kho jaane do.. mera naam lo>) are his vocally fine additions to d song, which r, at places, followed by good keys and violins...
(b).. Convention violated-- d birth of a 'Rahmani' feel...as history says, der hav been many places wher Rahman has done things dat a normal composer doesn't even think of, while cooking his compositions...der r, obviously a bag full of instances, one of d biggest being an off-key note played in his extremely famous song under d name 'Jiya Jale' from 'Dil Se'...a general listener expects a particular note at d 'experimental' position on dat flute interlude; and a general instrumentalist would even play dat note only, and it would not even sound odd...but d complete objective of Mr. Rahman is providing his listeners wid a particular feel while dey listen to him...dat purpose is solved wid d help of only one concept- 'Do off-track things and sound different'...
another examples can be 'Cry Cry' from 'Jhootha Hi Sahi', 'Tu toh meri dost hai' from 'Yuvvraj' and 'Dekho Na' from 'Swades'...

hIs admirers always notice dat he has given d music something dat a very few hav...
mAy his way remain as such...
(Screw D Convention)
Nishant Sharma...

MusicRokx: oN Muzique..!

MusicRokx: oN Muzique..!: "Hey all!! This is a blog dat'll totally n totally deal wid sum particular music piece(s) (or music composers, at times).. dis will be, purel..."

oN Muzique..!

Hey all!!
This is a blog dat'll totally n totally deal wid sum particular music piece(s) (or music composers, at times)..
dis will be, purely, my view on 'things'...
I, being a totally non-classical man, don't hav ne right to hav say on such technically high things...but still, u r always allowed to hav ur taste and way of expression ( and d expression as well :D)...
So, will be on this blog shortly after I hav a thought for some small thought of a composer :)..
<Music Rocks>
Nishant Sharma
(noNtechnical)