Imagine you are patiently waiting for something or someone. And it just hasn’t happened yet or the person just hasn’t come to you yet.
This is what I think one goes through..
First there is anxiety..
This turns into restlessness and agitation..
Then there is an attempt to reason..
Followed by agony..
Then there is sorrow..
This results in an attempt to find peace with the agony..
Finally there is ‘acceptance’ of the agony..
That is exactly what I have tried to capture in this piece!
Ok..This piece started off as a result of some crazy idea.
I was exchanging messages with my family members on Facebook. A very cool bunch I should say as everyone has the right sense of humor and we normally don’t talk much family in the group. So it is always a humorous idea or two with some funny jabs going back and forth with an occasional exchange of family news.
That’s kind of how the group has been alive.
One of the recent sparks there was my attempt to create some humor out of a cousin’s profile picture. As he resembled a politician to me in that picture, I took the cue and started playing with the idea of making some election noise.
A campaign poster was born a couple of days back which everyone in the group received with the kind of humor I expected. All of them added more humor to the idea by exchanging some more humorous anecdotes..and thus beginning to do a role-play of sorts in this imaginary world where this cousin is contesting elections.
Yesterday morning during my waking minutes of the day, I suddenly got this crazy idea of doing a campaign song. So this is the result.
Here are some notes and what I imagined before conceptualizing this song, which I had total fun making.
1) A campaign rally at a typical Tamil Nadu street corner..
2) A stage is set with microphone while a music troupe which is about to play is performing some tests
3) A small group of kids and adults gather around. They start shouting some campaign slogans while the microphone has some wiring issues..
4) They eventually get it right and then the evening’s entertainment starts. The music troupe begins to play some music
5) The leader “தலைவர்” arrives and gives a speech which ends with a rousing cheer & applause from the crowd. More slogan chanting, etc.
So that’s my imagination for this song. The party symbol is Mango (Maampazham - மாம்பழம்).
(Source: ganpy.com)
I started working on an instrumental idea..which was originally supposed to be Orientalish. As usual, with I being so rusty and having not spent much time in the studio, my mind drifted from one instrument to another, eventually ending up on one of my 3 favorite sounds - Guitar. Thus was born this piece.
Started out with just some chords. I added the ‘shinga..langa..la’ humming over it. It sort of sounded nice with a husky tone. Had imagined a female chorus for that humming.
After listening to the humming a few times, I decided to add some words.
Once the words were in place, it was time to do some polishing. That’s when some crazy ideas came about and in the end, I settled on adding some orchestral sounds to the piece. Overall, except the piccolo sound I decided to insert in a half-hearted way in the end, I am satisfied with all other other sounds. I am contemplating a Telugu version of this song. When that happens, I will clean up that piccolo piece (and French horns).
I named this piece “Naetru (Hacker Chords)” for a reason. That’s a totally different story and will have to find a place some other time.
Ok - Here are the words:
—————
Shinga-linga-la…Shingala..
(repeat)
நேற்று யாருக்குக் கிடைக்கும்?
நாளை யாருக்குத் தெரியும்?
இன்று எனக்குப் புரியும் - என்னால் முடியும்.
இன்று உனக்குப் புரியும் - நம்மால் முடியும்.
இன்ப துன்பம் என்பது
இரவு பகலைப் போன்றது
காலம் நாளை மாறலாம்
எல்லாம் ஆறலாம்..
——
(Source: ganpy.com)
Frosty Bite
My respects for music directors of all genres - specially those who work for film music have once again been reinforced in the last few days. I have been working on 4 different ideas (all of them are great ideas and I can’t wait to see them in completed form) in the last 2-3 weeks. Given my general creative music output has been a little low in the last 3-4 months, this period I think has been ok. Relatively satisfactory I have to admit.
But the point is that I have been unable to take any of those 4 ideas further after the initial thrust. So for now, they sleep in my studio and mind.
While I was trying to dust one of those ideas yesterday, I ran into this 5th idea..It is amazing how certain sounds (instruments) can inspire you.
“Frosty Bite” was inspired by the sound of Irish Frost Harp - Once I heard that sound, without really knowing the exact name of that instrument, I had transported myself into a world of tulips and flower gardens. I played with it a few times before adding some Celtic textures to it. The basic layer was built at that time. I still didn’t have the actual hook..at this point. I just knew the genre I was going to make. Once I learned the name of the instrument, I decided to shift the same exuberance I had in my mind to the exact opposite season. Fall (or Autumn).
The nip, The frost on the grass, The chill..etc. propelled me to come up with something that I thought would be a great (mis)representation of the season. And why not? Why not defy what we have been told to? Why should our mind associate only certain images with certain things?
I added additional layers like the violins and strings first..Then wanted to build a simple rhythm loop. After spending almost 30 minutes, built a pattern I liked. Then I removed the string sounds I had because they were not complementing my violin sounds. Which I didn’t want to let go off because of the Celtic backdrop.
Once I added a mild layer of Trumpet, I was satisfied and didn’t want to go overboard.
Then came the idea of additional rock & roll rhythm pattern. Which I did in about 20 minutes. Finally I was looking for a good intro. Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with something on my own and I was only to too eager to finish the product. So I ended up adding an Irish Fiddle loop from the library. And I think that has blended well.
So that’s how Frosty Bite was created.
Stats:
Time - Total 3 hours including mastering (in 2 sessions)
Number of tracks - 6
Instruments used - Irish Frost Harp, Violin ensemble, Trumpet ensemble (orchestral), Rock & Roll kit, Jazz kit
Hope you like this version of welcoming Winter!
Well..when I started playing some guitar sounds, I got this idea - Picked “A” major..which gave me the initial hook. Once I started off with “Ini”, the rest of the words flowed. There are only 4 instrumental tracks and I am mighty impressed with myself with the quality of the song (don’t mean the sound quality but the overall song for how I intended to & the style).
Of course, I may have to remaster this to get some better output. And not to mention, a different singer would always make this song sound better.
This morning (Feb-11), after my son listened to this song played out a few times in my home theater system, said something he had never said before after listening to my tracks - “I like the part where you sing Sol..Sol”..! Now, I can interpret it two ways - That is the only part in the song that is listenable or he is getting better in appreciating music. I think I will go with the latter.
——
இனி வரும்…
————
இனி வரும் ஈர்ப்பினை..
இசையுடன் இழப்போம்..
இனி வரும் பிழையென..
இதயத்தில் மறப்போம்..
—
நானா நீயா
நீயே சொல் சொல்…
—-
இமைகள் துடித்திட
சுமைகள் ஏறுது…
இமைகள் துடித்திட
சுமைகள் ஏறுது…
—-
Ron, Sanjay and I were traveling to New Jersey for a while on a regular basis on business. Of course, among other things one of the common topics of conversation was always movies & music. Naturally, this led to all of us learning about one another’s musical interests. And even though Sanjay is not a poet or a lyricist, he agreed to come to my studio one evening for a jamming session. Ron, with his never ending enthusiasm to sing was there as well. I had set the basic tune already and wanted to work on a fast song..(sort of a club no.). After the first jamming session was over all we had left with us was the “Bheed Hai” hook and no lyrics. We decided to meet the next weekend. Unfortunately, Sanjay couldn’t make it for the recording session but he mailed us the lyrics..Then it was upto Ron and I to complete the tune. In fact only the ‘pallavi’ was composed in the traditional format – lyrics for tune. The charanams were done the other way..and I was glad it shaped out well. Even the qawwali break-out was a spur of the moment innovation..Ron found it difficult to get to this scale and I am sure any other night, we could have come up with a better recording. The rap was added during final mixing and I think it brought the right mood to the song. I completed the song during the same weekend. Overall, this song holds a special place in my studio because of the collaborative effort.Special Thanks to Sanjay and Ron for their time & ideas.Note: The beginning of the song was composed with a visual idea..I had…(someone is flipping through their TV channels and ends up with a music channel where the club song is being played)..
Lyrics:
Male English Rap:
Letting away every day..Move away we wanna play..
Male Hindi:
Bheed Hai Bheed Hai
Ashiquon ki Bheed Hai
Kaun haseena Aaj kis ke naseeb hai..
Husn hai Jaam hai..
Yaaron ki mehfil hai
Aaj ki shaam kuch Khas hi rangeen hai..
(Bheed hai)..
—
Dilon mein josh hai
Raghon mein suroor hai
Yar ki bhaon mein Aaj Chain tho zaroor hai
Mere dil mein kaisi aaj ye jalan hai
Mere dil mein machai hulchul hai
(Bheed hai)
—-
Premiyon ko jodi hai
Prem ki pathang hai
Main tho khush hi thoon
Mere Sang hai
Yaar there chehre pe kya shikhan hai
Bol de zara tu meri dhadkan hai..
(Bheed hai)
