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)