special song!!

This entry is a special dedication to raj and muthu!! 🙂

When Rahman hits you out of the blue!!!

Men may come, Men may go, “Rah”man goes on forever!!!

There are no words to explain how Rahman captivates you with his music. But so do many with their melodies. Why is Rahman so special?? What makes Rahman stand out is the importance he gives to the layers / tracks beneath the melody line. Somehow over time an intent listener dives into the ocean of his music, penetrating through layers and layers of beautiful tracks, yet realizing that there’s miles to go before you hit the ground….

But sometimes, when you are just listening to the song without concentrating on the musical nuances, a bolt hits you. A small, almost non-existent piece of music just reveals itself to you. It happened to me, when I was recently listening to “Ennavale” from Kaadhalan. We all would have listened to this masterpiece hundreds of times. But tonight, as I was walking along the Gulmohar marg of IISc, caressed by rain, I heard a faint flute bit around 0:44 in the song, between the second and the third repetition of the humming, just before Unni Krishnan takes over with the phrase “Ennavale”. I even thought I was dreaming, or worse feeling schizy, for I have never noticed this bit ever. Like a raindrop, it’s so faint and very shortlived, yet when you notice it, the beauty of it lingers in your heart forever.

As Shree told me on listening to this, ‘ it almost as if it has been overheard from a nearby recording, in a few minutes of silence in this orchestra!’ and ‘its beautiful in the sense that you will rarely find it unless you look for it’…

To me, it is in these moments that ARR will live on forever. Rain gives you joy, but it is the kiss of those tiny drops that give you bliss….

Music makes you lose control

One of the benefits of having a good speaker system or even having the time to listen to songs leisurely on headphones is the stereo effect in modern film music. Music directors have exploited this to increase the sense of satisfaction we obtain from just listening to music. One of the concepts that has been exploited is the usage of binaural beats. The Wiki article speaks about it in frequency – beats terms, but for the less interested, what it basically produces is the effect of an apparent sound that seems to be moving inside your head, from ear to ear, back and forth.

The first instance I seem to remember having noticed it was in the opening song of “Kaakha Kaakha”. Almost all of us must have listened to this song on headphones atleast once. You can’t miss the binaural beats produced in Suchi’s voice as she  sings “Oh Maha Zeeya” around 3:25 in this youtube version (just before the start of the second charanam).

The same principle has been used to devastating effect in the Slumdog Millionaire song “O Saya”. The background music messes with your head and hacks your brain, even before the vocals start. It was one of the reasons I liked the song instantly.

There may be other songs that have used this effect, it will be interesting to create a compilation /playlist. Listening to these type of songs is said to improve your concentration / focus. It could be nothing more than a placebo effect, but even that is direct evidence that music has the powers of soothing and healing!

– Shree.

Hari’s Aalap

It feels good to have gotten it all started so soon!

This post is about an ARR stage concert that took pace at LA long time back.

The song is Pachai nirame, Harharan sets the stage for the song with a  beautiful lead up Aalap. The way he reduces the loudness of his voice to nearly a whisper in the middle of the Aalap and how ARR and Clinton start off Sakiye is superb. I have this song on my iPod and hear it almost daily nowadays!

The small improvization by Rahman in the second “Snehithiyae” refrain is also amazing.  Also, the whole concert is also available on youtube, do check it out for younger versions of SPB and Sukhwinder Singh and more amazing singing!

I have the mp3 version of this performance, so I can email any of you who want it. – Shree.

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