Hari's Blog

Raga Reeti Gowla - the enchanting entertainer!

2014-08-07T08:35:00.000+05:30

Back with another Raga after a fortnight - it is my all time favorite - the enchanting Raga Reeti Gowla, which will instantly capture any listener's heart. You just have to listen to the unaltered version of this Raga for a few seconds, and you will develop a liking for this Raga, even if you are completely new to Carnatic music or hearing this Raga for the first time in life.

Reeti Gowla is such an entertaining Raga, which brims with the joy or happiness element all through and brings in great satisfaction and a sense of completeness for the listener. No doubt that this has got a magical touch - it can instantly catapult a singer or a composer to fame with just one song. Case in point in the Tamil Film Music circles - the new entrant Music Director James Vasanthan became an overnight success with the song set in Reeti Gowla - "Kangal Irandaal".

Let us get a little of bit of Raga understanding:

Reeti Gowla, also known as Reethi Gowlai or Reeti Gowlai, is not really associated with the other Ragas which are in the Gowla family. Instead, this is more a janya ragam (derivative) of the popular Karaharapriya Ragam.

Aarohanam

S G2 R2 G2 M1 N2 D2 M1 N2 N2 S

Avarohanam

S N2 D2 M1 G2 M1 P M1 G2 R2 S

There are quite a few popular classical compositions in this Raga - "Janani Ninuvina" is the outstanding piece of work. "Tattvam ariya taramaa", "Guruvaayur Appanae Appaa", "Enna Punniyam Seytheno" are other beautiful pieces set in this Raga.

The Medley

Coming to our Medley selections, once again I was faced with a big difficulty as there are quite a few popular numbers and I could not easily decide the ones to be used in the Medley. Especially considering the way Maestro Ilayaraja has used this Raga, it became very tough for me to pick songs from any other Music Director (MD) and string it through in the Medley. Finally, I made the wise choice (I suppose!) of making two medleys - one separately for songs from Ilayaraja (IR), and the other with songs from other MDs.

Here is the first one - compositions of the Maestro IR - we start with the beautiful opening flute and classic vintage Reeti Gowla - "Chinna Kannan Azhaikiraan" sung by none other than the great doyen of Carnatic music - Dr Balamurali Krishna. From this song, we merge effortlessly in to the number "Thalaiyai Kuniyum Thaamaraiyae" where the energetic SPB takes over from BMK and carries the song through in his superb style. At the end of this number comes the lesser known, but wonderfully tweaked version of Reeti Gowla - "Meettaadha Oru Veenai" performed by Hariharan for the movie "Poonthottam". It is just amazing to note the adaptation of this Raga and orchestration around this piece - IR rocks! Finally, I could not afford to miss bringing in at least a small piece of the deadly song "Raaman Kadhai Kelungal" - which is more of a Raga Malika (many ragams put in together) but popular largely with its opening set in Reeti Gowla. So, the last bit of that song features as the final piece in this classic IR medley.

Now getting to the next - a compilation of songs from "Isai Puyal" "Oscar star" A R Rahman (ARR), James Vasanthan and the talented Vidyasagar (VS).

ARR did a fabulous job with this Raga in his "Azhagana Rakshasiyae" for the movie "Mudhalvan" where he blended a bit of modern and folkish orchestration without disturbing the originality of the Raga. Interestingly, the storyline depicts some pots in the background at this point and ARR smartly used the Ghatam instrument through the song which sets well in to the movie as well as complements the classical feature of this Raga. This is our opening piece in the Medley and is followed by the musical interlude of James Vasanthan - the "Kangal Irandaal" song is carved in stone and would never be forgotten in the Tamil Film Music industry. As I mentioned earlier, this took him to overnight fame and success, and hence this song gets the due attention in our Medley too. Close on the heels of this number comes the charanam from "Sudum Nilavu" song composed by the talented Vidyasagar (VS). Such a beautiful and skillful presentation of this song with embedded chorus presentation in between - amazing work by VS. That completes our Medley with Reeti Gowla.

I sincerely hope you will agree with my assessment about Reeti Gowla - as an enchanting entertainer, and the one that leaves you with a sense of joy and happiness. Would be happy to have your comments..

For those interested in the full version of the songs, here are some links. You can use a standard ripper like www.snipmp3.com or www.fullrip.net to download the MP3 from these videos:

Chinna Kannan Azhaikiraan
Thalaiyai Kuniyum Thaamaraiyae
Meettaadha Oru Veenai
Raaman Kadhai Kelungal
Azhagana Rakshasiyae
Kangal Irandaal
Sudum Nilavu

Is this Musical or Mystical?

2014-07-23T22:19:00.000+05:30

Hi Friends

This post comes within a very short time of my previous one - and was not necessarily planned as part of the Medley Melodies series.

However, as I was juggling with a few interesting tracks to put them together, it suddenly occurred to me that in the process of listening to those old beautiful songs every now and then, we usually miss out on some of the most wonderful pieces of instrumental music that our music directors have left behind for us.

While there are a bunch of talented instrumentalists today amidst us that create magic with the instrument in their hand - be it Rajhesh Vaidhya on the Veena, Srinivas on the Mandolin, Super String specialists (Violin) like Karthick Iyer or Bala Bhaskar or Abhijith, Panditji (Hari Prasad Chaurasia) on the Flute, Stephen Devassey on the Keyboard, Ustad Zakeer Hussain on the Tabla, Padmashri Vikku Vinayakram on the Ghatam, Kalaimamani T H Subhash Chandran on the Konnakol (one of the very few to do this so amazingly), Sri Ganeshji on Ganjira, Sivamani on the Drums ... and the list is so huge and endless.

Violin and Flute always occupy a special position in my heart - simply because of the way they can touch the heart and soul with real good performances. Rajhesh has added Veena in to the list without any grain of doubt - he is just amazingly gifted and proves it in every program he gets on to.

Getting back to the Tamil / South Film Music as we have usually been dealing with, I have this time just put together three instrumental music bits from three different music directors. There could be many other such long instrumental pieces that I have missed this time - please feel free to add in by way of comments, so we can add to the database some other time. Here is how the stream goes...

We start with the skillfully composed piece of AR Rahman from the "Duet" movie title clip - classical Saxophone played by Sri Kadri Gopalnath in the Ragam Kalyana Vasantham which catapulted him to overnight fame. That is such a tremendous piece of sax, starting ever so mildly in a nice morning breezy setting, breaking into a high energy rendering in between and settling down with the beat of waves again..

As soon as the waves settle down (approx. point - 02:53 in the clip), we get caught in to a different wave - of the strings - the beautiful theme music in Violin composed by the Maestro Ilayaraja largely set in the Raga Pantuvarali. With a delectable orchestration to tune in and sink yourself completely, this is just an amazing piece of instrumental beauty - stand out classic, and should never be forgotten with time. Keep listening to this every now and then, and you will be reminded of the sheer brilliance this musician possesses.. the composition is a class apart riding through the streets of disciplined classical and careless western, all at the same time.. going through an up beat point to mellow down to soft closure again.

This string set merges into a soft string opening at the approx. point 06:40 in the clip - likely a Viola or Cello (or an equivalent Keyboard orchestration) that opens with simple chords and slowly picks up pace in a steady fashion.. this is an outstanding ingenuity on the part of the composer Vidyasagar, who has done a tremendous fusion here - starting out with a classical western orchestration, joining the chorus group in between with the traditional Pancha Ratna Keerthana "Entharo Mahanubhavulu" set in Sree Ragam. He takes the Pallavi and first charanam through the same lanes of fusion in a real smart way, blending it seamlessly. I decided to keep this as the last piece of the medley as I believe such medleys or outstanding compositions are our submissions of pranams in a very small way to the Musical Trinity - Saint Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri - who lived amidst us and left such a huge musical treasure for us to plug in to.

I sincerely hope this instrumental wave of music lashes out on you in full strength and encourage you to take a full dip & enjoy the beauty and bliss arising therefrom. Pass on the links to all your friends too as no specific language is required to really enjoy this treasure of medleys. Comments welcome as always!

Presumably, you can download the entire track as it is and enjoy since I have not cut any pieces out of the original full tracks. Just use a standard ripper like www.snipmp3.com or www.fullrip.net to download the MP3 from this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73bQNAq72WY

Raga Sivaranjani - the all-pervasive beauty!

2014-07-21T06:47:00.000+05:30

Once again, thanks to my FB friend Hareesh Iyer who pushed me to get to Raga Sivaranjani ahead of few others. But once I got ready to do the mix, I was faced with a stiff challenge - of having to pick not just the best songs, but also the right genre to stick to. Reason being that Sivaranjani has been adopted by various musicians and adapted to suit almost every genre you can think of .

Before we get to the mix details, here is the usual text - a bit of raga understanding, thanks to Wiki:

Sivaranjani is a musical scale used in Indian classical music. There are two scales, one each in Hindustani music and Carnatic music. The Hindustani rāga is a pentatonic scale, while the Carnatic scale is a sampoorna scale (has all seven notes). Sivaranjani rāgam brings out karuna rasa (pathos) and lends itself for elaboration and exploration. It has many compositions in classical music and in film songs. In Carnatic music, a very popular ragamalikas (songs which have different stanzas in different ragas) start with a refrain in Shivaranjani - the popular "Kurai onrum illai" by Dr M S Subbulakshmi begins with this scale. Kurai onrum illai literally means "there is no defect" or "there is nothing left wanting", alluding to "we are satisfied and thankful" in prayer to "Kannan" (Lord Krishna).

Sivaranjani's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields 2 other pentatonic rāgams, namely, Sunadavinodini and Revati. Graha bhedam is the step taken in keeping the relative note frequencies same, while shifting the shadjam to the next note in the rāgam.

As seen above, Sivaranjani is originally a raga intended to bring out the Pathos or Karunaa rasa but in our land of innovative composers, we have the privilege of seeing this raga in various other emotions too. There are hundreds of wonderful film songs in this raga, and it was a stiff challenge for me to settle on a few that I have finally picked for this medley.

However, I could not stop with just three songs as I usually do for a medley. There are just too many wonderful collections and I hence decided to do a medley of two categories - one each for Duet & Pathos. So we have two medleys - six songs in total from this raga. And finally, to top it all, a superb, genius adaptation of this raga to the western notes - by none other than the Oscar winner from India - Isai Puyal A R Rahman.

First - the Duet Medley:

We start this Medley with a brilliant opening note from Maestro Ilayaraja - a superb, fast-paced melody from the movie "Oru Kaithiyin Dairy". A very little known fact about this song is that Unni Menon made his debut in to Tamil Films with this song, under the pseudo name "Vijay" but he finally made his mark under ARR in the movie "Roja". You can hear his soft vocals in this opening piece, which also has a innovative chorus starter leading into a nice Sivaranjani feel with the flute touch as well.

At the end of this Pallavi, the medley continues with a musical interlude from yet another Kamalhasan starrer - "Kaaki Chattai" which had a bunch of all time hits. Ilayaraja again did his magic with Sivaranjani to bring it to the duet world - especially with the charm of SPB & S Janaki in this superb song - "Kanmaniyae Paesu". Though this is a duet song, you will realize at the end of the first Pallavi line that it still has a tinge of the Karunaa rasa with the hum that sets it distinctly in Sivaranjani.

The Medley transitions at the next juncture with a soft, melodius interlude from the evergreen song "Adi Aathaadi" from "Kadalora Kavithaigal" - once again by the Maestro. You can make out the beautiful way in which Ilayaraja has adapted Sivaranjani with the distinct folk beats to make it sound like a folkish raga, and brilliantly suited it to the film script. As a fitting tribute to the Maestro's handling of this raga, this final piece in the Duets Medley ends with his vocals on the song.

Second - the Pathos Medley:

Turning now to the other side of the coin, the Pathos genre is best brought out with this raga, and I had to struggle to pick the best songs as there are a bunch of them out there. I started out with a simple opener - in the voice of Maestro - "Kuyil Paattu", a popular song from "En Raasavin Manasula", that is sparkling Sivaranjani and is a soulful rendition by the Maestro.

We continue with the musical interlude from this opening number and merge into another vocal interlude from Gangai Amaran (you can easily mistake it to be Ilayaraja, who composed this) and P Susheela - this song titled "Solai Pushpangalae" is a blend of pathos and duet, with the Pathos underlined in a very subtle way.

At the end of this Charanam, we join another wonderful song where the King of Singers - Dr SPB reigns all supreme. This is a brilliant song, composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal for the Kamalhasan starrer Hindi movie "Ek Duje Ke Liye". It is no wonder that SPB won a National Award for this song, and the lyricist Anand Bakshi also won Filmfare Awards for the lyrics. K Balachander, the director of this film also won the Filmfare Award for best screenplay, and this song is the ultimate highlight of the film itself. Interestingly, this same raga has been used twice in the movie - the same song comes in as a Duet first, and then as a Solo Pathos song by Dr SPB - just the beats and tempo are different, but the key difference for this song's success is the beautiful delivery by SPB. This film naturally met with resounding success - SPB captured the pathos emotion so well in this song and captivated the hearts of billions of people. You will certainly love this song and surely will be humming this for the next few days!

Finally - the westernized Sivaranjani

Who else can give us such a superb western adaptation of our own Sivaranjani? None other than ARR - who is always known for his ingenious usage of chords and sound effects to bring about a mix of modern and classy compositions. In this song from one of his early days, Rahman has used the best innovative thoughts to westernize Sivaranjani and gave us this wonderful song from the movie "Thiruda Thiruda". Though this film was not a great commercial success, it is still spoken of so highly only for ARR's songs - every piece was a mega hit and is worth listening to with headphones to capture the brilliant sound effects embedded into every passing second. Magnasound took the opportunity of releasing this movie's audio, and was rewarded in big terms with the success.

I knew I would not do any justice to Rahman's genius if I cut this song and merge it with any others, as it is a pioneering effort by him to give us this masterpiece. So, the full version of "Kannum Kannum" is presented here, with a special Kudos to ARR!

That completes my Sivaranjani Medley - hope you guys like it. As always, welcome your comments and thoughts.

Here are links to the original full tracks for those interested to download the same (use www.snimpmp3.com to rip off the MP3 tracks if you want to download only the audio):

1) Pon maanae - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NAd5tfG1Zw
2) Kanmaniyae Paesu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_CxY36xQrk
3) Adi Aathaadi - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swZ1S-VnH-A
4) Kuyil Paattu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2UfsQmQEVU
5) Solai Pushpangalae - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzVA_4gahcY
6) Tere Mere Beech Mein - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQYDXr__F4Y
7) Kannum Kannum - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErRRUdCdmf4

Raga Mayamalavagowlai - Special Medley # 2

2014-07-13T23:08:00.001+05:30

Continuing my previous post on Mayamalavagowlai based medleys, I found that this raga is an absolute beauty, and Maestro Ilayaraja has presented many treasures based on this simple yet wonderful raga.

You can practically witness songs in almost all emotions coming out from this single raga - love, karuna, pathos, bhakti, education (guru-sishya), soulful music, western style and what not. It is just all encompassing, and I decided to publish this second medley right away without any further delay.

I chose tracks only from Maestro's compositions to showcase how deftly he has blended the western chords and the oriental east, how the jazzy strings meet the classical Carnatic, how this raga evolves into the rustic folkish genre and how it so beautifully transforms into Bhakti rasam as well.

Sure this should have given you some food for thought, and you could potentially have identified what lies in store. But before we get to listen to them, let me add some of the other beauties available in this raga - from old to new film songs - "Kallellaam maanikka kallaaguma", "Azhagaana ponnu thaan, adukkeththa kannu thaan", "Solladi Abhiraami", "Mookkuthi poo maelae kaathu", "Poonkadhavae Thaazh Thiravaai", "Poova eduthu oru maala thoduthu", "Kaadhal Kavithaigal padithidum naeram".. the list is endless, including Isai Puyal ARR's recent "Sollayo Solaikili" which is a modernized rendition of this raga..Thanks to my FB friends Saradha Seshadri and Bhoomija Vijayaraghavan for identifying a few tracks on this list.

Back to the medley mix, here is what I have put together for you..

Starting with Raja's special composition for "How to Name it" Album - opens with western beats and chords, and smoothly transitions in to the Tyagayya Kriti - "Thulasi dala mulache". Watch out for the background violin orchestration carefully - the lead violinist (believe it is the champ Violinist Dr LS who played that for the album) goes on wonderfully and in the background, you can still hear many more violins playing special chords that continue to maintain a beautiful rhythm and introduce elements of surprise swings all through this kriti as well..

This goes on for the initial minute and more.. and then we transition with a strings based musical interlude of the song "Madurai marikkozhundu vaasam" which is a super folkish presentation of this raga with the quintessential Raja stamp of melody. Impressive composition by bringing in all the key swaras in to this so nicely and presenting it in a Jana-Ranjaka format, which is Raja's special capability.

I tried a different mix in to the third song - basically, the charanam of the second song is dovetailed into the pallavi of the third one - mixing up the pallavi of third song in the place where second one should actually have been. In other words, where the charanam ends and you would expect "Madurai marikozhundu" to come up, you will have "Mariyamma" filling your ears.

Yes, you will understand and enjoy this much better when you listen to the Minute point (02:46) in the medley.

So, that is the third and final piece in this medley - completely earthy, rustic appeal with brimming Bhakti rasa all through to the finish. Amazing energy levels from Malaysia Vasudevan & Chitra keep the tempo up so high, and we have heard in the past that lot of people in village theatres got fully charged up and danced to this song, making that movie Karakaattakaaran a run-away hit.

In effect, this medley brings in the combo of western chords, pure classical, fusion of the two, instrumental music, love duet, folk music all finally ending up in a bhakti rasa - which is how our life also has to finally fold - everything should end up and evolve in devotion to the Almighty. I hope this piece of soulful music helps you in the process of finding inner peace too.

Comments welcome as always..

Links to the full tracks for those want to download the individual songs: 1) How to name it - study for violin 2) Madurai Marikozhundhu Vaasam 3) Maariyamma Maariyamma

Medley in Mayamalavagowla

2014-07-11T23:18:00.000+05:30

Here is a wonderful Medley based on the Raga Mayamalavagowla.

A bit of history and introduction to the raga - thanks to Wiki:

Mayamalavagowla (pronounced māyāmāḻavagauḻa), is a raga of Carnatic Music. Originally known as malavagowla, "maya" was prefixed to it after the advent of the scheme of the 72 melakarta ragas. This is a morning raga.

This auspicious raga evokes śānta(peace) rasa and pathos. It creates a soothing effect. Suitable to sing at all times, particularly, the first yAMam (dawn). It is commonly used for beginners lessons such as Sarali Varisais or Sarali Svaras (Telugu), etc. Since it eschews vivadi swaras (relatively discordant notes), has a uniform distance between svara sthānas (relative position of notes) and has symmetry, they are easier to learn. It is an ancient rāgam and has been around for a long time. It is a Sampurna raga. This rāgam corresponds to Bhairav in Hindustani music. Mayamalavagowla has quite a few janya ragams associated with it, of which Bowli, Jaganmohini, Gowla, Gowlipantu, Lalita, Nadanamakriya, Revagupti, Saveri and Malahari are quite well known.

As many of us would know, the basics in Carnatic music are usually set in this raga and this happens to be the first raga a student receives from the Guru. This is typically a soothing raga which reflects the sunshine of a pleasant morning, and can produce positive vibes of Peace and Kindness.

This particular medley starts with one such Guru-Sishya learning session - delivered by none other than the greatest of greats - Dr Balamurali Krishna. He starts off with the brilliant notes of the Mayamalavagowla and a wonderful mini-aalapana - these are extracted from a song from the Malayalam film "Bharatham" which has music by the great Ravindran master.

As you hear this song, you will automatically be reminded of yet another similar song in Tamil - but that would follow a little later in the Medley.

The first piece of Dr BMK is all about Devi or Ambaal (Goddess Rajamaathangi), and the medley automatically evolves into the next piece from Maestro Ilayaraja - "Maasaru Ponnae Varuga" from the film "Devar Magan" - which is another song on the same Goddess. This is a short, but scintillating song with amazing accompaniments, bubbling with energy all through. The Maestro brings his efficient orchestration into full display in this wonderful piece.

This song describes Ambaal as the sister of Madhavan (Lord Vishnu), and that provides the link to the next piece in the Medley.

The earlier piece integrates into the brilliant musical interlude again of the Maestro, followed by the mystic, musical voice of Dr K J Yesudas - part of the track "Rama Namamoru Vedhamae" from the popular film Sri Raghavendrar. You would note that this song is all about Madhavan (Lord Vishnu) who got linked up in the previous piece of the Medley.

This divine link throughout this medley was an accidental discovery - much after I compiled the songs through, but appears to be a beautiful and logical connection. And this last piece by Dr Yesudas is the one that you would be reminded of when you heard the first portion by Dr BMK - these two tracks have an amazingly identical beginning, with a Guru-Sishya tradition at the start. You can listen to the individual tracks again to understand the beauty (see links at the end of this post).

There are tons of melodies to choose from Ilayaraja's treasures set in this raga, and I could not really make a satisfactory selection. In all likelihood, you can expect one more medley in the same raga anytime soon - else I would feel guilty of hiding away many other gems.

Hope you would enjoy this collection.. look forward to your views and comments..

Raga Mayamalavagowla Medley | Muziboo

Links to download the individual tracks:
1) Rajamaathangi
2) Maasaru Ponnae Varuga
3) Rama Naamamoru Vedhamae

Abhogi Medley - on demand!!

2014-07-04T14:55:00.001+05:30

Based on the request of my FB friend (Hareesh Iyer), I fast tracked my compilation of the Abhogi Raga Medley.

Let us get a brief understanding of the Raga Abhogi, courtesy Wiki:

Abhogi (pronounced ābhōgi) is a raga in Carnatic music and has been adapted to Hindustani music. It is a pentatonic scale, an audava or owdava raga. It is a derived scale (janya raga), as it does not have all the seven swaras (musical notes). Ābhōgi has been borrowed from Carnatic music into Hindustani music and is also quite popular in the latter.

Abhogi is a scale that is used for compositions in a medium to fast tempo. This scale has been used by many composers and there are lots of compositions in classical music.

Ābhōgi's notes when shifted using Graha bhedam, yields another pentatonic rāgam Valaji.

Sriranjani is a rāgam which has kaisiki nishadam in both ascending and descending scales in addition to the notes in Ābhōgi

The best non-filmi, popular song in Abhogi (to me) would forever be "Sabaapathikku Veru Deivam Samaanam Aagumaa" composed by the great Gopalakrishna Bharathi. Though there are hundreds of wonderful compositions in Abhogi, am somehow attracted to this composition on Lord Nataraja of Chidambaram.

It is probably with His blessings that this medley is getting delivered on the day of Aani Thirumanjanam - one of the 6 special occassions in a year when Lord Nataraja gets His sacred Abhishekam.

Coming to the medley, I open the track with a brilliant composition of the Malayalam music legend - Ravindran Master. I accidentally came across this song "Aalila Manjalil"(from a Mohanlal starrer movie "Soorya Gayathri"), and on the first hearing itself, it became a big time favorite for me - just like love at first sight. Sheer supreme feeling of classical Abhogi all the way. As I wanted you all to enjoy the brilliant opening of this grand song, I have set this up as the opening track. Music knows no language boundaries - so would you agree once you hear this piece.

Following this track closely is the brilliant composition of Maestro Ilayaraja - "Indraikku yaen indha aanandhamae" from the movie "Vaidheki Kaaththirunthaal". You will certainly experience the "Aanandham" (supreme happiness, in the absence of any other apt word) when you listen to this track that is brimming with life and joy all through.

To complete the medley, I chose another melodious track of the Maestro himself - "Kaalai Naera Poonguyil" (from the movie "Amman Kovil Kizhakkaalae") - pure and rich Abhogi. I have tried to blend this in with the nice interlude BGM of Ilayaraja at both the charanams, as that is something to be never missed.

I have always felt that Ilayaraja gives us glimpses of his mastery over music more in the BGM/interlude and music fillers than through anything else. You will eventually concur with my thought when you listen to all of his soulful BGM/interludes.

Note: Some other interesting tamil film songs in this Raga are: Thangaradham Vandadhu (sung by the great Dr Bala Murali Krishna) and Vanakkam Pala Murai Sonnaen.

Hope you would enjoy this medley … comments welcome, as ever…

Raga Abhogi Medley | Muziboo

For the benefit of those who are inclined to download all these three songs in full and listen to them later, here are some links:

Aalila Manjalil
Indraikku Yaen Indha Aanandamae
Kaalai Naera Poonguyil

Yet another Raga based Medley - Darbari Kaanada

2014-07-03T08:26:00.003+05:30

Back from a break.. into the exciting world of music again.

Darbari Kaanada is one of the ragas that I just love so much - mainly due to its soft and soothing nature. You can enjoy peace and bliss while listening to this, and this raga is completely away from the monstrous sound (or should i say Noise) effects which lot of our composers produce today.

Before we head there, a bit of history and knowledge - from Wiki:

Darbari Kanada, or simply Darbari, (pronounced darbāri kānada), is a raga in the Kanada family, which is thought to have originated in Carnatic music and brought into North Indian music by Miyan Tansen, the legendary 16th-century composer in emperor Akbar's court.

This tradition is reflected in the name itself; Darbar is the Persian derived word in Hindi meaning "court." As the most familiar raga in the Kanada family, it may sometimes also be called Shuddha Kanada or pure Kanada. It belongs to the Asavari thaat.It is also sometimes written as Durbari and Durbarikanada.

Darbari is a grave raga, played deep into the night, considered to be one of the more difficult to master, and with the potential for profound emotional impact

Luckily for us, we have wonderful compositions based on this raga (and some from the associated Kaanada family) within the realm of Tamil Film music. I have tried to piece together some of my favorites into this medley.

Consciously the opening piece of this medley is set in a high pace - drawing from the evergreen song "Malarae Mownamaa" composed by Vidyasagar (VS). I just could not leave out that song when making a medley of this very raga.

However, the initial pace dies down very quickly as the medley sets into a classical mood with the wizard A R Rahman providing the lullaby type "Kaatrae En vaasal Vandhaai" from the movie Rhythm. Am sure this is a popular number which everyone can relate to.

From here, the medley travels into my favorite VS's composition - "Nee Kaatru, Naan Maram" from the movie "Nilaavae Vaa". Note that he used the same ragam for "Malarae Mownamaa" in Karnaa movie, and brought it again here - shows his love for such soft, nice melodies. The BGM interlude that comes after A R Rahman's lovely piece could be familiar even to Malayalee friends as VS has used the same interlude elsewhere in a popular Malayalam song.

To wrap up the medley in soothing style and leave you with the blissful feeling of this raga, I take you into the world of the Maestro Ilayaraja. After all, who else can leave us spell bound and blissful with every single note of music that's embedded in to a song or the BGM - just the Maestro, none else.

Just shut your eyes and listen right from the musical interlude that follows VS's composition, and you will really feel the beauty and magic of the Maestro's hand. So, we get into the song "Kalyaana Thaen Nilaa" from the movie "Mownam Sammadham" as the last leg of the medley.

Hope you like this combination which I have consciously put together from the works of different composers. Comments welcome as always..

Raga Darbari Kaanada Medley | Muziboo

For those who are inclined to download the full songs and listen later, here are some links:
Malarae Mownamaa
Kaatrae Yen Vaasal Vandhaai
Nee Kaatru Naan Maram
Kalyaana Thenilaa

Here's another medley - Raga Rasikapriya

2013-12-09T22:29:00.000+05:30

My next attempt in Raga based medley - now based on the rare raga Rasika Priya..

Rasikapriya is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the last (72nd) melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.

It is called Rasamanjari in Muthuswami Dikshitar school of Carnatic music.

As it is a melakarta rāgam, by definition it is a sampoorna rāgam (has all seven notes in ascending and descending scale). It is the prati madhyamam equivalent of last suddha madhyamam melakarta, Chalanata, which is the 36th melakarta scale.

More details can be had from Wikipedia

My favorite composer Ilayaraja (IR) has used this raga decades back in the movie Kovil Pura for a wonderful song delivered beautifully by S Janaki - "Sangeethamae En Deivamae". In fact, legend has it that IR expected to win a national award for this very song itself (though Kovil Pura had many other beautiful songs, IR was so confident and proud of this particular song and delivery by S Janaki)

IR again brought this raga back to life in 2009 with the great song "Kannil Paarvai Pona" sung this time by another brilliant lady - Shreya Goshal. Amazing emotion of deep pathos blended in this song with the instrumental background that can actually crush your heart out.. just try to listen to that full song when you can, especially sometime alone and peacefully and you might end up having tears in your eyes.

While both these songs are capable of bringing out a deep emotion of pathos from the listener, the old song is set to fast tempo and the recent one is of much more slower beat.

In the meanwhile, another great composer - Vidyasagar (VS) - used this ragam for a love duet (how versatile should this raga be if it can be used for either extreme emotion) - this was a great hit from the movie "Ji" ("Ding Dong") delivered by Madhusree and Madhu Balakrishnan.

Though the songs themselves are of different tempos and cannot be blended that easily, I have tried to stitch it together in some closest order so you can listen to them and cherish the ragam and its deployment - it wont gel as smoothly as it did with the Vasantha Medley, but still would be worth lending an ear.

With this, I would again repeat that VS is very much under rated, and his skills are not really understood by Tamil Film Industry yet. Hear the way he has handled this raga to bring out a love duet, you will just love it.

I shall be happy to hear your views and comments, as ever..

Cheers

RasikapriyaMedley by P.K. Hari on Mixcloud

Continuing my Medley journey

2013-11-29T22:32:00.002+05:30

Now am back to one of the most popular ragas - the vivacious Vasantha.

And I bring to you the compositions of three great musicians - the maestro Ilayaraja, A R Rahman and the talented Vidyasagar.

Ideally, I should have mixed the songs in the same order considering the age of songs, but I wanted you to enjoy the brilliant interlude (BGM) of IR - so started with ARR (Minsaara Kanna from Padaiyappa), followed by IR (Andhi Mazhai from Raja Paarvai) and ended with the melodious Vidyasagar (Kandean Kandean from Pirivom Santhippom).

Once you hear this mix, you will agree with me on how underrated Vidyasagar is in our tamil music industry.. Such a wonderful soothing composition brought out, at par with the veterans..

Trust you would enjoy this medley .. Comments welcome as always :)

VasanthaMedley by P.K. Hari on Mixcloud

Back to discuss Music now!

2013-09-29T07:21:00.000+05:30

Hello Friends,

After a gap of almost year and a half, am now back to the Blog as I decided to share some of my thoughts on music..

I started posting some medley mixes based on Ragas, which a few of you would have seen on mixcloud already. Am going to continue writing about these on my blog, so it can be used for future references.

To start with, I will get on to a medley that I posted first on mixcloud. Quite a lot of information is available on the net about ragas and film songs etc.. my intent is not to just write again about that, but to make a blend of such beautiful songs using my little knowledge in music editing and mixing, so that you can listen to the joy of some great songs strung together.

I would now explain a bit about the songs used in this medley first..

The song starts with an eclectic mix of Hindi folkish blended with mild western, with Carnatic lead ins.. and then it effortlessly jumps on to deliver pure Carnatic delight.. Yesudas delivering Maha Ganapatim set to mild drum beats in the background.. what more can you ask for in a fusion setup..

All credits for the blend so far are purely to Vidyasagar, who has made this wonderful stuff in the Malayalam movie "Millenium Stars"..

From here, the song jumps back to Tamil where I have blended the charanam of "Chennai Sentamizh" song from the movie M Kumaran - music by Srikanth Deva.

Largely, this is based on Naattai Raga, and brings forth one of the best blends of various forms of music from India's length and breadth... as such, this is one of my favorites.

Will see you soon with the next mix shortly..

Here is the great composition - largely a beautiful work of Vidyasagar, with a fine work of Srikanth Deva added at the end for a mix effect.

Would appreciate your views & comments..

Mixed Medley by P.K. Hari on Mixcloud

Birbal Stories # 31 - Back to Square One

2012-01-31T14:00:00.000+05:30

As usual a lot of people were present in Akbar's durbar. A famous astrologer had come from a far away country.

He was talking about the Solar System and the Earth's shape.
At one point Akbar said, "If the earth is round, and if one travel strait towards one direction, he will come back to the same spot from where he has started the journey."
"Theoretically it is correct", said the astrologer.
"Why not in real life?", asked the king.
"One has to cross oceans, mountains and forests to keep the path straight." the astrologer said.
"Sail through the oceans, make tunnels in the mountains and use elephants to cross the forests." Akbar found the solution.
"Still it is impossible" said the astrologer.
"Why?" Asked Akbar.
"It may take years to complete the whole journey" said the astrologer
"Years? How many?" asked Akbar.
"I don't know. May be a hundred years or more" said the astrologer
"Don't worry I will ask my ministers. They have an answer for everything" Akbar looked at the ministers.
"Impossible to calculate"
"Around 25 years"
"Fifty years or less"
"80 days"
"Why Birbal, you haven't uttered a word" the king showed his surprise at Birbal's silence.
"I was just calculating the time required to go round the earth" explained Birbal.
"And did you get the answer?" asked the king.
"Sure." Said Birbal "It will take just one day."
"Just one day! Birbal, it is Impossible! Even it will take more than one day to cross our country." Said Akbar.

"It is possible. Provided you travel at the speed of the Sun" said Birbal with a smile.

Birbal Stories # 30 - Cooking the Khichdi

2012-01-30T14:00:00.000+05:30

It was winter. The ponds were all frozen.

At the court, Akbar asked Birbal, "Tell me Birbal! Will a man do anything for money?" Birbal replied, 'Yes'. The emperor ordered him to prove it.
The next day Birbal came to the court along with a poor brahmin who merely had a penny left with him. His family was starving.

Birbal told the king that the brahmin was ready to do anything for the sake of money. The king ordered the brahmin to be inside the frozen pond all through the night without any attire if he needed money.

The poor brahmin had no choice. The whole night he was inside the pond, shivering. He returned to the durbar the next day to receive his reward.
The king asked "Tell me Oh poor brahmin! How could you withstand the extreme temperature all through the night?" The innocent brahmin replied "I could see a faintly glowing light a kilometre away and I withstood with that ray of light."

Akbar refused to pay the brahmin his reward saying that he had got warmth from the light and withstood the cold and that was cheating. The poor brahmin could not argue with him and so returned disappointed and bare-handed.
Birbal tried to explain to the king but the king was in no mood to listen to him. Thereafter, Birbal stopped coming to the durbar and sent a messenger to the king saying that he would come to the court only after cooking his khichdi.
As Birbal did not turn up even after 5 days, the king himself went to Birbal's house to see what he was doing. Birbal had lit the fire and kept the pot of uncooked khichdi one metre away from it.

Akbar questioned him "How will the khichdi get cooked with the fire one metre away? What is wrong with you Birbal?"
Birbal replied "Oh my great King of Hindustan! When it was possible for a person to receive warmth from a light that was a kilometre away, then it is possible for this khichdi, which is just a metre away from the source of heat, to get cooked."

Akbar understood his mistake. He called the poor brahmin and rewarded him 2000 gold coins.

Birbal Stories # 29 - The Blind Saint

2012-01-29T14:00:00.000+05:30

There lived a saint in an ashram in the kingdom of Emperor Akbar.

He was believed to prophecy the future correctly, despite being a blind man.

Once he had a visitor who had come to treat their niece. The child's parents were killed in front of the girl's eyes.

Once she saw the saint, she started to scream loudly saying that that saint was the culprit. Angered by the girl's words the saint demanded the couple to get away with their child.

The whole day the girl cried which made the couple to realize that the girl was not lying. Therefore, they decided to seek the help of Raja Birbal.

Birbal consoled them and asked them to wait at the Emperor's assembly. Birbal had invited the saint to Akbar's court too.

Then in front of all the ministers he drew a sword and neared the saint to kill him. The saint in bewilderment immediately drew another sword and began to fight.
Thus by this act of the saint it was proved that he was'nt blind.

Therefore Akbar demanded to hang the culprit and rewarded the girl for her bravery for telling the truth even at the critical situation.

Birbal Stories # 28 - The Loyal Gardener

2012-01-28T14:00:00.000+05:30

One day the Emperor Akbar stumbled on a rock in his garden. He was in a foul mood that day and the accident made him so angry that he ordered the gardener’s arrest and execution.

The next day when the gardener was asked what his last wish was before he was hanged, he requested an audience with the emperor.

This wish was granted, but when the man neared the throne he loudly cleared his throat and spat at the emperor’s feet.

The emperor was taken aback and demanded to know why he had done such a thing. The gardener had acted on Birbal’s advice and now Birbal stepped forward in the man’s defence.

"Your Majesty," he said, "there could be no person more loyal to you than this unfortunate man. Fearing that people would say you hanged him for a trifle, he has gone out of his way to give you a genuine reason for hanging him."

The emperor, realising that he had been about to do a great injustice, set the man free.

Birbal Stories # 27 - Birbal identifies a guest

2012-01-27T14:00:00.000+05:30

Birbal had been invited to lunch by a rich man. Birbal went to the man's house and found him in a hall full of people. His host greeted him warmly.

"I did not know there would be so many guests," said Birbal who hated large gatherings.

"They are not guests," said the man. "They are my employees, all except one man. He is the only other guest here beside you."

Then a crafty look came on the man's face.

"Can you tell me which of them is the guest?" he asked.

"Maybe I could," said Birbal. "Talk to them as I observe them. Tell them a joke or something."

The man told a joke that Birbal thought was perhaps the worst he had heard in a long time. When he finished everyone laughed uproariously.

"Well," said the rich man. "I've told my joke. Now tell me who my other guest is."

Birbal pointed out the man to him.

"How did you know?" asked his host, amazed.

"Employees tend to laugh at any joke told by their employers," explained Birbal. "When I saw that this man was the only one not laughing at your joke, and in fact, looked positively bored, I at once knew he was your other guest."

Birbal Stories # 26 - Noble Beggar

2012-01-26T14:00:00.000+05:30

Emperor Akbar asked Birbal if it was possible for a man to be the 'lowest' and the 'noblest' at the same time.

"It is possible," said Birbal.

"Then bring me such a person," said the emperor.

Birbal went out and returned with a beggar.

"He is the lowest among your subjects," he said, presenting him to Akbar.

"That might be true," said Akbar. "But I don't see how he can be the 'noblest'."

"He has been given the honour of an audience with the emperor," said Birbal. "That makes him the noblest among beggars."

Birbal Stories # 25 - Birbal denies a rumour

2012-01-25T14:00:00.000+05:30

One day a man stopped Birbal in the street and began narrating his woes to him.

"I've walked twenty miles to see you," he told Birbal finally, "and all along the way people kept saying you were the most generous man in the country."
Birbal knew the man was going to ask him for money.
"Are you going back the same way?" he asked.
"Yes," said the man.
"Will you do me a favour?"
"Certainly," said the man. "What do you want me to do?"
"Please deny the rumour of my generosity," said Birbal, walking away.

Birbal Stories # 24 - Birbal outwits a cheat

2012-01-24T14:00:00.000+05:30

A farmer and his neighbour once went to Emperor Akbar's court with a complaint.

"Your Majesty, I bought a well from him," said the farmer pointing to his neighbour," and now he wants me to pay for the water."

"That's right, your Majesty," said the neighbour. "I sold him the well but not the water!"

The Emperor asked Birbal to settle the dispute.

"Didn't you say that you sold your well to this farmer?" Birbal asked the neighbour. "So, the well belongs to him now, but you have kept your water in his well. Is that right? Well, in that case you will have to pay him a rent or take your water out at once."

The neighbour realised that he was outwitted. He quickly apologised and gave up his claim.

Birbal Stories # 23 - Birbal Shortens a Road

2012-01-23T14:00:00.000+05:30

The emperor Akbar was travelling to a distant place along with some of his courtiers. It was a hot day and the emperor was tiring of the journey.

“Can’t anybody shorten this road for me?” he asked, querulously.
“I can,” said Birbal.
The other courtiers looked at one another, perplexed. All of them knew there was no other path through the hilly terrain. The road they were travelling on was the only one that could take them to their destination.
“You can shorten the road?” said the emperor. “Well, do it.”
“I will,” said Birbal. “Listen first to this story I have to tell.”
And riding beside the emperor’s palanquin, he launched upon a long and intriguing tale that held Akbar and all those listening, spellbound. Before they knew it they had reached the end of their journey.
“We’ve reached?” exclaimed Akbar. “So soon!”
“Well,” grinned Birbal, “you did say you wanted the road to be shortened.”

Birbal Stories # 22 - Birbal returns Home

2012-01-22T14:00:00.000+05:30

Birbal was in Persia at the invitation of the king of that country. Parties were given in his honour and rich presents were heaped on him.

On the eve of his departure for home, a nobleman asked him how he would compare the king of Persia to his own king.

“Your king is a full moon,” said Birbal. “Whereas mine could be likened to the quarter moon.”

The Persians were very happy. But when Birbal got home he found that Emperor Akbar was furious with him.

“How could you belittle your own king!” demanded Akbar. “You are a traitor!”

“No, Your Majesty,” said Birbal. “I did not belittle you. The full moon diminishes and disappears whereas the quarter moon grows from strength to strength. What I, in fact, proclaimed to the world is that your power is growing from day to day whereas that of the king of Persia is about to go into decline.”

Akbar grunted in satisfaction and welcomed Birbal back with a warm embrace.

Birbal Stories # 21 - The Sharpest Sword and Shield

2012-01-21T14:00:00.000+05:30

A man who made spears and shields once came to Akbar's court.

"Your Majesty, nobody can make shields and spears to equal mine," he said. "My shields are so strong that nothing can pierce them and my spears are so sharp that there's nothing they cannot pierce."
"I can prove you wrong on one count certainly," said Birbal suddenly.
"Impossible!" declared the man.
"Hold up one of your shields and I will pierce it with one of your spears," said Birbal with a smile.

Birbal Stories # 20 - Birbal's Choice

2012-01-20T14:00:00.000+05:30

One day Emperor Akbar asked Birbal what he would choose if he were given a choice between justice and a gold coin.
“The gold coin,” said Birbal.
Akbar was taken aback.
“You would prefer a gold coin to justice?” he asked, incredulously.
“Yes,” said Birbal.
The other courtiers were amazed by Birbal’s display of idiocy.
For years they had been trying to discredit Birbal in the emperor’s eyes but without success and now the man had gone and done it himself!
They could not believe their good fortune.
“I would have been dismayed if even the lowliest of my servants had said this,” continued the emperor. “But coming from you it’s. . . it’s shocking - and sad. I did not know you were so debased!”
“One asks for what one does not have, Your Majesty!” said Birbal, quietly. “You have seen to it that in our country justice is available to everybody. So as justice is already available to me and as I’m always short of money I said I would choose the gold coin.”

The emperor was so pleased with Birbal’s reply that he gave him not one but a thousand gold coins

Birbal Stories # 19 - Birbal, The Child

2012-01-19T14:00:00.000+05:30

Birbal arrived late for a function and the emperor was displeased.

"My child was crying and I had to placate him," explained the courtier.

"Does it take so long to calm down a child?" asked the emperor. "It appears you know nothing about child rearing. Now you pretend to be a child and I shall act as your father and I will show you how you should have dealt with your child. Go on, ask me for whatever he asked of you."

"I want a cow," said Birbal.

Akbar ordered a cow to be brought to the palace.

"I want its milk. I want its milk," said Birbal, imitating the voice of a small child.

"Milk the cow and give to him," said Akbar to his servants.

The cow was milked and the milk was offered to Birbal. He drank a little and then handed the bowl back to Akbar.

"Now put the rest of it back into the cow, put it back, put in back, put it back..." wailed Birbal.

The emperor was flabbergasted and quietly left the room.

Birbal Stories # 18 - Limping Horse

2012-01-18T14:00:00.000+05:30

A nobleman’s prized racehorse began to limp for no apparent reason. Veterinarians who were called found nothing wrong with the leg - no fracture, no sprain, no soreness - and they were baffled.

The nobleman finally consulted a sage, a man known for his wisdom.

“Has anything changed for the horse in the last few months?” he asked.
“I changed his trainer a few weeks ago,” said the nobleman.
“Does the horse get on well with his new trainer?”
“Very well! In fact, he’s devoted to him.”
“Does the trainer limp?”
“Uh… yes, he does.”
“The reason for the horse’s limp is clear,” said the sage. “He’s imitating his handler. We all tend to imitate those whom we admire. The company we keep has a great influence on us.”
The nobleman put the horse in the charge of another trainer, and the horse soon stopped limping.

Birbal Stories # 17 - The Emperor's Servant

2012-01-17T14:00:00.000+05:30

One day Akbar and Birbal were riding through the countryside and they happened to pass by a cabbage patch.
"Cabbages are such delightful vegetables!" said Akbar. "I just love cabbage."

"The cabbage is king of vegetables!" said Birbal.
A few weeks later they were riding past the cabbage patch again. This time however, the emperor made a face when he saw the vegetables.

"I used to love cabbage but now I have no taste for it." said Akbar.
"The cabbage is a tasteless vegetable" agreed Birbal.
The emperor was astonished.
"But the last time you said it was the king of vegetables!" he said.
"I did," admitted Birbal. "But I am your servant Your Majesty, not the cabbage's."