Category: Music

Enabling mobile technology for music

[This is my fifth article for My Smart Life, an initiative by Nokia India that features guest authors from various walks of life who have made use of technology and social media in their work and life. Go to the website to check out rest of the articles there.]

Do you know what is the most used application in a musician’s mobile phone? It is a sound recorder. It is amazing how a simple application such as a sound recorder could speed up the creative process for the musicians. It is because you could not tell when a tune strikes your mind. It could be when you are in a bus or train, or when you are in the middle of something, away from home. In such situations, either you could go get your recording gear and record your tune, but it’s not easy to go get it in such situations. The next option is to wait until you come back home but the chances are that the tune that struck you is lost by the time you reached home. So you need an instant solution for such scenarios and the best possible solution is a sound recorder. As they say in the book Super Freakonomics, sometimes the best solution is also a cheap and simple solution.

The sound recorder could be useful in many other scenarios. If you are a musician who wants to create a particular sound clip – say for example, traffic buzz, or the sound of people walking in a park etc – to use in your next production, it’s much more easy now. And if you couldn’t wait to get an opinion from a friend about the new song tune or a sound clip, you could just connect online and share the audio file using your smart phone. You could get instant feedback and could record a fresh new session if you thought it needed a revision.

Most of the tunes I have composed by myself were first recorded in my smart phone. And many of the interviews I have done for my podcast were also recorded in my phone and it has helped me a great deal in bridging the geographical differences. These have enabled me in successfully drafting up a song for my music blog, for Blogswara or for my Malayalam podcast. I learned about the ease of using a mobile phone to record the songs from a musician friend. But like musicians, podcasters could also benefit from their smart phones.

That is not all. You have many music apps available in the Symbian, iPhone and Android apps galore in the market. Some of them lets you create or play music using the keypad. So it’s not just your voice but if you are somebody who orchestrates a song, these apps would help you do a rough draft of what you were thinking of for a score.

But how about the quality of recorded vocals? Well, you have many audio recording devices available today that records clear voice, and some devices are designed to capture the voice that comes within a pre-defined area. If this is implemented a mobile phone, and that is not an impossible thing if we look at the way that technology is advancing, it could be so helpful to musicians and podcasters.

With the arrival of touch screens and mobile apps, things could go even further. It wouldn’t be a distant dream to think about the leading music software companies releasing a mobile app version of their software. Imagine if Adobe Audition, Nuendo or Garage Band released a lighter version of their software to suit the on-the-go need of a musician. It wouldn’t be too much of a dream because we did not have specialized versions of mobile phones to hear music or to use for business needs a few years ago and see how many options we have in our time.

With mobile technology and smart phones, your road to success in the field of music has been made easier.

Life after the limelight

A good story on reality television, pluses and minuses of it, from Tehelka.

Raju Hela, 29, was a sweeper in Kolkata’s posh St James School. John Bergis, a school manager, heard him singing in the hallway and encouraged Raju to audition for Indian Idol. As Raju bantered about how such contests were only for the rich, Bergis SMSed his entry and he was registered. At the elimination round on the show, Sonu Nigam gifted him and other contestants a ring each, and announced that Sony channel would finance Raju’s future musical training. After the show, Raju says he spent months chasing the channel; finally Nigam’s office sent him to train with music director Suresh Wadkar. Raju was asked for fees when he didn’t even have money for the commute. He ended up getting a menial job at Wadkar’s studio — cleaning the very classroom he was supposed to be studying in. Eventually, he quit. Wadkar says Raju came to him seeking work and denies Sonu Nigam ever recommended Raju for training.

Five years of struggle in Mumbai have taken their toll. Raju rarely smiles. “It hurts me that after all the love I got from across the country, these people forgot me in one moment. I was just used. Whenever I’d call, they’d evade me saying they’re in London,” says he. Today he strains to pay Rs 600 rent for his room in a Juhu chawl and has taken many loans to make ends meet. He recently took a singing job at a dance bar nearby where he gets paid Rs 100 for the days he performs. Though stretched almost to starvation, Raju cannot make himself return home as long as he strides the donkey of failure. “Sometimes I think it would’ve been better if I’d never made it to Indian Idol,” says he.

Music review: Mazhanritham

[This music review was first appeared in Soundbox music magazine in it’s April 2011 issue].

Album: Mazhanritham
Music: Pradip Somasundaran
Label: Tejas Music

Remember Pradip Somasundaran who won the Latha Mangeshkar national award for the best male singer in Meri Awaz Suno, the first reality music show in Indian Television? Pradip has turned out to be a composer with this music album in Malayalam. Director Sohan Lal (Orkkuka Vallappozhum fame) has penned the lyrics and actor Manoj K Jayan has sung a song in this album. The album’s center theme is rain and each of the nine songs depict the nava rasas of rain. Pradip proves himself to be a good composer himself and has produced some melodious numbers for this album.

Mazhayil Nin Mozhikal is the highlight of this album because it is the first complete song sung by cine actor Manoj K Jayan (son of veteran Karnatik musician Jayan who was a disciple of Chembai Bhagavathar). Manoj has done a good job on this beautiful song. Pichiyum Kudamullayum, sung by Gayatri, is a treat and the singer’s mellifluous voice has aptly supported the words.

Swayam Marannu Paadaam is sung by Pradip. The attention that this singer gives to every minute details of the pronunciation and feel of each song is commendable. What jars in this song though is the background vocals that come in between the verses which seems a bit overdone. Premamenna Kuyile is sung by Franco (chembakame fame) has a reggae-ish feel to it and Franco’s voice fits the song like a T. Aadyaanuraagam is a duet by Pradip and Gayatri. The beginning of the second stanza is so beautiful in this song.

Mizhi Poykayil sung by Shahbaz Aman is my personal favorite from this album. Shabaz’s delicate voice and soulful singing make this song the pick of the lot. Paadum Poovum is sung by Pradip and it’s composed in Mappila song style. The energy in Pradip’s voice has made this one a pleasure to listen to. Though it’s a bit odd to hear the word “Maula” in the background vocals because considering the lyrics of the song, it just doesn’t fit right. Iniyennu Kaanum is another soulful duet by Pradip and Bhavyalakshmi. Bhavya’s distinct voice is notable in this song. Mounam is the concluding track of the album sung by Pradip which is yet another soothingly beautiful song.

Interview: Neha S Nair

[An edited version of this interview was published in Soundbox music industry magazine, in it’s April 2011 issue, in the Watchtower column on Trivandrum]

Neha S Nair is a playback singer, VJ and blogger. Her TV shows are popular among the youth of Kerala and her songs form the show Outkast Vocals is a big hit on YouTube. Neha represents the youth of Trivandrum who listen to eastern music while keeping an open ear to western and experimental music.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your musical journey.

My dad wanted to fulfill his wish of learning music through me and since I showed a spark at a tender age, I was enrolled for dance and music classes. I loved both the art forms equally but as I got into high school the pressure of doing well in academics became a time constraint factor and I had to opt out of dance after 8 years of formal training. This was also the time where I ventured into learning Hindustani vocals from Ustad Khalid Anwar Jaan, a Pakistani. I was also learning Carnatic from Ramesh K from the age of 6. Childhood memories are of retro hindi numbers by Lata ji, Asha ji, Mohd. Rafi and compositions of S.D. , R.D. Burman and my favourite, Madan Mohan. But A.R.Rahman is the first musician to ever inspire me to think from a more creative perspective. I would go for various singing and dancing competitions like every other child but was the only one to take it seriously after 10th grade for which I have been scolded by my teachers several times at school. Back then I used to feel frustrated and angry because I was not allowed to go for round square conferences or join basketball team and go for birthday parties only because my father never wanted me to miss a single music lesson. Even if I was sick, I was asked to sit through. But now I realize the value of all those lessons. Totally worth it! As of now I am learning from Perumbavur sir (Carnatic) and Binu sir (western) and Keskarji (Hindustani).

How did film music, Avial and VJ-ing come through? How was the experience?

As I had done my schooling in Muscat, coming to India for music was because of my dreams of becoming a playback singer. I was so influenced by 80’s and early 90’s qualitative productions that all I ever wanted to do was sing for films. But when I joined for BA music and started to learn and take music a lot more seriously I realized that music is a lot more than just recordings. I was never a Rock music fan but became one when I was exposed towards it and were given opportunities to do something creative. All the credits go to Sumesh Lal sir, the creative head of a Malayalam TV channel called ‘Rosebowl’ . He discovered the artist in me and gave me an empty space to paint in with vibrant colors of music. He gave me a chance when I was new, inexperienced, totally believing in my intuitions and ideas. I got to work with Rex and Binny of Avial for a production by Rosebowl through which they invited me to perform with the band at the India Fashion Week, Delhi and ever since have been regular with the band. I have done very few films but recording in the silent space of the sound booth is immensely toxic!

Also, I came at a time when reality shows were on a boom. So to venture into playback, Rock and pure classical was a huge learning experience for me. Mass audience would still prefer commercial music anyday as it is more easier to comprehend than understanding the complexities of quality music by bands, etc. Coming to films, I have to thank Rahul Raj sir was trusting in me blindly by making me sing for Shyam sir’s Ritu. It was a fab experience. He is extremely positive and had been my mentor at that time. Also, working for Phani Kalyan for Telugu film ‘Pappu’ was another fun filled experience. Kalyan has always been a friend so it’s very informal when I work with him.

Trivandrum has a big audience for traditional eastern music but the young generation appreciates the western music and many new progressive bands are coming up from the city. Do you see any change of direction in the music scene of Trivandrum? If yes, how is it affecting the city? How do you see the future of the music scene here?

Trivandrum by far has the best musical audience. People are very open minded. We have all kinds of listeners ranging from Carnatic to Hindustani to Rock to Metal to Jazz and even Folk. The younger generation is extremely progressive because they are more into fusion and out-of-the-box kind of creativity. A huge thanks should go to Soorya Krishnamurthy, who has successfully promoted all kinds of arts forms all over the world, beginning in Trivandrum. And on the other hand we have Alliance Francaise and Rosebowl TV promoting contemporary music that is such a relief to listen to from the roaring of reality shows now a days. I just wish that the younger lot could listen to more of classical and the older lot could expose themselves to other experimental genres like alternative rock.

You are also a VJ and hosting some music shows. How has your singing career helped doing your TV shows?

I started off as a VJ and it did not help my singing career at all because I ended up getting more VJ-ing offers and also was called to act in films and advertisements. Eventually with Outcast Vocals and Piano sessions with Stephen Devassy, that were featured on Rosebowl, I got noticed as a singer more than a VJ. But I love doing both though I feel more confident as a musician. The ‘In conversation sessions’ I did was a very good experience as I got to interact with musicians of all kinds from Sivamani to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan to ‘Sam Smala’ to young budding talents. I learnt a lot from just listening to them! And another accomplishment in my VJ-ing career was my first ever show which happened to be first ever Telethon – ‘Thank You A.R.Rahman’ where Rosebowl played 100 best songs by the legend and I was hosting it. Thanks to Kadamba Rajesh, my producer for giving me that opportunity.

You blog about many issues in your personal blog, which is a rare thing among people in the music industry. How important it is for a musician (or an artist) to respond to socio-political issues? Do you think expressing yourself in a public space like blog would effect your career in music?

If I wasn’t a singer I would have been a journalist because I feel that is the best medium to project our views. So I decided to blog about whatever I felt about what’s happening around the world. I think it’s every human being’s duty to remain informed about what’s happening and to contribute to it in whatever small possible way. I wish I could do a lot more that is action oriented than just removing my frustration through the blog, inshallah! I hope to make an impact through my views someday. My western sir has always said that we can become a good artist only if we are a good, well informed human. There are people who have expressed their dislike towards my career just because I am open about my views but it doesn’t matter because it’s better to be honest than being a hypocrite. Nothing can effect your career if you are ethical towards the society and work. One should not live in the fear of losing work but in the adverse effects of being ignorant.

You sing for Avial, a rock band. There was a time when Rock music was considered evil or indecent among many in our society. Do you think it has changed?

I don’t know if Rock was considered evil, but was definitely not so popular as it is now. People have learnt to open their minds and we can see an increase in the Rock culture nowadays especially among youngsters. But there are many who live under the wrong impression of rock being all about head banging and walking around like a crazy person who parties and swears all the time. It’s an absolute cliche!! Rock can be just as subtle as eastern music and can at the same time give you an adrenalin pump. If you hang around with Avial band itself you will realize how less they talk and how more they speak through their music. The cliche about Rock musicians being high on drugs and having a rugged lifestyle is totally untrue. True (rock) musicians are very much ethical, who don’t believe in using inappropriate language on the stage and who work very hard in sounding extravagant every time.

Popular concepts of music still revolves around film music. Do you see any changes there? What hope do the independent music and musicians have in Kerala?

Popular music has always been filmi music but it hardly stays around for a long time. Sound programming is at it’s peak now and melody has been given less importance now. I don’t even know if the songs made today will be remembered in the next few years. But it’s more easy to understand, glamorous and more fast paced in terms of it’s release and promotions. Where as, bands take almost 2-3 years to come up with an album and another 2 years to popularize through live gigs. But the scene is changing. We have Amit Trivedi in Bollywood who has elevated bollywood music to another level through Dev D, NOKJ and Prashanth Pillai in Malayalam who has broken of the typical commercial line up with City Of God. At the same time, Motherjane did an OST for Malayalam movie “Anwar” and Avial has also done an OST for another Malayalam movie “Salt N’ Pepper”. So film music industry has also begun to ape towards greater heights in terms of qualitative music. Independent musicians don’t anyways work for commercial hype. They just want to be part of good music that will be etched in our hearts for a long long time. So whether they being commercially acclaimed or not doesn’t really matter to them.

You have also sung in Telugu. How was the experience in singing in a different language?

I have been exposed to other languages like Bhojpuri , Gujarati, Marathi and Arabic during my school life but singing Telugu for a film was super fun. Firstly, the composer, Phani Kalyan, is a very good friend of mine so I was comfortable working with him. Secondly, being a Malayalee, Telugu is very easy and cute to pronounce. With the help of Kalyan, it went on very smooth. I’m looking forward to singing in more languages!

What are your upcoming projects?

I have sung for Biji Bal in Aashiq Abu’s ‘Salt N’ Pepper’ which happens to be a duet with the legendary singer P. Jayachandran. Apart from that I have a few concerts lined up, both classical and with Avial, the band. I may even be getting back as a VJ with Rosebowl for another music based show.

Baliyaay Thirumunpil (Christian Devotional)

Many years ago, a Christian devotional album had completely changed the way people heard the Christian devotional songs. It brought in writers like Chittoor Gopi, poet ONV Kuruppu etc and singers like Yesuda, Chitra, M G Sreekumar, Unnimenon, Minmini and Sujatha. The album, though initially was not well received by tradionalists who said ‘it sounds like film songs’, was a big hit. It’s first song “Rakshakaa” sung by Yesudas shot to fame and was sung in stages regardless of religions. To put an example, that song was the equivalent of “paLLikettu shabarimalakku” if you talk about popularity. The composer of the album is Tomin J Thachankary, who is the Inspector General of Police in Kerala now (by the way, Thachankary is now infamous for his alleged terrorist links).

Another album followed, which was titled “Thiruvachanam”. More filmi singers and more poets followed in this one too and it became yet another hit. The song I am posting today is from this album. It’s a beautiful song and has beautiful lyrics. On this weekend that Christians celebrate as the Holy Weekend, I would like to post this song and I wish all my readers and listeners a happy and peaceful Easter. Remember the magical message that Easter gives – hope.

Song: Baliyaay thirumunpil
Album: Thirivachanam
Lyricist: P.K.Gopi
Music: Tomin J Thachangari IPS
Original singer: Yesudas
Covered by: Joseph Thomas (Jo)

Download “Baliyaay Thirumunpil” cover MP3 here (5.1 MB)

On the radio again

No, this time I am not talking, so you are saved. 🙂 And additionally, you get to hear some other singers on the show too.  So the thing is my cover version of the song “Picha Vacha Naal Muthal” will be featured on the San Fransisco Bay Area radio show “Golden Voice on KLOK 1170 AM with Siva” on 21st April Thursday (tomorrow) at 9 PM pacific time (which is Friday, April 22 at 9:30 AM India time). You can stream the show live at http://www.klok1170am.com/stream_onair.php. This is the first time a song of mine being aired on a radio show abroad, so I’m excited about it.

Redefining entertainment digitally

[This is my fourth article for My Smart Life, an initiative by Nokia India that features guest authors from various walks of life who have made use of technology and social media in their work and life. Go to the website to check out rest of the articles there.]

Why would you go to a video sharing website only to hear music? I mean, you have so many music streaming websites and the quality of the audio is pretty much good there but still I see so many people accessing YouTube to hear music. Perhaps it is because over a period of time, YouTube has become the complete online entertainment channel of the world. You need to hear music? Go to YouTube. Need to watch comedy? A television show that you missed last night? A movie snippet that you would want to keep watching again and again? A live show recording? There, you have it all on YouTube.

It is quite interesting to take a look at how the traditional entertainment forms have made way to the new generation digital entertainment media. There was a time when a television set was a rarity. If there was one family that had a TV set, all other people in the neighborhood would go there to watch Ramayan, Mahabharath or Chitrahar. I’m sure many of us have such memories from those good old days. It was a good social experience back then. Many people in the neighborhood came and spent time together, discussed the news as they appeared on TV, or talked about music or movies while they watched it together. But the personal space and privacy were seriously lacking. With the increased purchasing power, people started buying their own music system and television sets. This paved way to have entertainment at the privacy of home space. But the revolution in the entertainment media did not just stop there.

The arrival of digital entertainment media has completely redefined the word entertainment. It took out the time and space restrictions of entertainment and put it on-the-go. So if you are bored when you are boarded on train, you could just switch on your iPod or Zune and hear music or watch a movie. With the newest mobile phones like Nokia E7, you wouldn’t even need to have a separate device and can do it all on your mobile phone. Just imagine how the features of a smart phone with a 3G connection could change your access to entertainment. You wouldn’t even need to store music or a favorite show episode on your device because you would rather connect to Internet from your mobile phone using your 3G connection and would have effortless online streaming of entertainment.

Digital entertainment mediums have not only changed the way people watched videos, but it has also helped creative people to come up with fresh new ideas, present it before people and become online celebrities eventually. One good example here would be Rocketboom. Rocketboom is a video blog with daily news snippets with a touch of humor. It was started out in 2004 and now reportedly has 400,000 video episode downloads a day. With just three people, a small room, a video camera and an unconventional, creative approach, see how far they have gotten.

Well, this is not just about pre-recorded content. Now there are several websites like Livestream, UStream etc that offer live video streaming. YouTube last year had launched their alpha version of live streaming with Rocketboom with live comment option. So now you don’t have to scream “Hey, run and switch on that TV fast! I will miss that breaking news” because you could just go to YouTube on your mobile phone and watch live news.

Just imagine what this whole thing could mean in the future. You will see many citizen powered media channels, giving you fresh and original content with an unconventional touch. This will eventually force the established media houses to seriously think about revamping the way they present news and entertainment. Set top boxes and DTH could be a thing of the past since Internet TVs are already out in the market and the pre-recorded material could be broadcast through channels like YouTube. TV channels could directly charge the customers for a particular show, an episode, per day or per month basis. Movie channels could be a thing of past too, when the studios would directly make the films available online and can charge the users. They could even generate revenue by making half portion of the movie streaming for free and then charge the viewers to watch the rest. This would put the deciding power to the people and could even put a stop to illegal online video streaming.

The result is more power to the people. More fair business. And a better world.

Hosting “Hridayapoorvam”

I got a chance to host a musical programme called “Hridayapoorvam” in All India Radio, Thrissur station, for one day. In this programme, I will be presenting some of my favorite Malayalam film songs with an introduction to each song and I will also be singing the first couple of lines of each song. The audio was recorded on Saturday at AIR’s music studio and the programme will be broadcast on April 3rd, Sunday, at 9:45 AM in All India Radio, Thrissur station. Those of you in and around Thrissur, please do listen and let me know how it did it go.

I have great memories of the music studio at AIR, Thrissur. My first composition, a devotional song, was recorded in that studio. It was during the same time then too (March-April). Our Church choir was regularly invited to record for Easter or Good Friday and that year we had a set of 5 songs to record, two of which I had written, composed and sung. It was an accidental thing. I had these two songs with me for sometime but they never got published. And when the Choir had the opportunity to record at AIR, we had to make new songs. George chettan, our keyboardist who also played in the music troupes those days were busy with his album recording works. So he had little time to spent on this and he asked if any of us had any songs ready with us. So my friend Lindsie told George chettan that I have two songs ready. When he heard the songs he liked it and was ready to orchestrate the songs. So there I had my luck. To publish my first ever composition and another one through All India Radio on a Maundy Thursday morning. 🙂

It felt good to sit in that studio one more time and this time after the initial nervousness, I think I did fine. 🙂

Pavizham Pol (cover)

My colleague and friend Sitara had asked me to do a cover of this song long back. Didn’t have the karaoke track back then but I got it recently and wanted to record something over the weekend so badly, so I recorded this song at midnight (yes, exactly past midnight) on Saturday. This song has beautiful lyrics from the Jananpeeth winner and Kerala’s most famous poet ONV Kuruppu and the magical music of Johnson master. What you would note about Johnson master is that he gives a lot of space for the vocalist with a minimal orchestration. And these two talented people joined the film director late Padmarajan in a wonderful movie project called “Namukku Paarkkan Munthirithoppukal”. Here is my version of the song.

Song: Pavizham pol
Movie: Namakku Paarkan Munthiri Thoppukal
Singer: Yesudas
Lyrics : O.N.V
music : Johnson

Download the MP3 of my cover of “Pavizham Pol”