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On repeated listening My views changed towards Nandhalala. I wrote Naan Kadavul as Imayamalai and Nandhalala as Parangi malai, but now it is changed Naan Kadavul is Imayamalai, Nandhalala is a beautiful River, Paarthu Bramikka illai, aaznthu magiznthu rasikka. Raja Raja than.
Still waiting for the CD to arrive in Bangalore. Hopefully I can get it tomorrow. In the meanwhile my views on the album.
Kai Veesi : Jaiganes used the right word, transporter. How does this man think of newer structures even after giving those thousands of songs. It is not newness for newness sake. There is this superb unity that he gets into his tunes. His knack of merging the instruments into the song is nonpareil.
Onunukonnu : What a start with that lovely flute. Mesmerising. Lovely and simple tune. Nice to hear Jesudas after a long time. (Maybe it is my imagination but I can hear a bit of strain in the great master's voice. Wonder how this tune would have sounded a few years back in Jesudas's voice.) No worry, it still is an excellent song rendition. Will be ranked alongside such classics as 'Kanne Kalai Maane' and 'Poove Sempoove'.
Mella Oorndhu: What a lilting composition. Reminds me of his composition like 'O Butterfly'. The same slow pace and lovely melody.
Oru Vaandu Kootame: Another lovely composition where the speed keeps varying. Sedate start and the charanams end in a very fast manner. A song for kids. I especially love the place 'narunkuzhal oodhidum nandalala'.
Thalatu Ketka Naanum: This is one song which some people may like and some may not. A typical Raja melody sung with a lot of feeling. I somehow felt he was a bit overemoting towards the end of second charanam ("Amma En Amma" bit). He characteristically reigns himself in his renditions and so it was surprising to hear him sing that way.
Gypsy song: I guess this should not be heard as another album song but as an authentic gypsy song. We should not be clubbing this with other songs. I was very interested to hear this song. It shows how music in one form of another permeates into every society.
K hit the nail on the head by comparing this album to a flow river. Yes, it does indeed give you a sense of calm. The time available remains the same but the playlist keeps increasing :( Manikanta Geeta Mala, Naan Kadavul and now Nandala. Thanks are due to the maestro.
S.Suresh
Correction. You cannot accuse even one of us of not feeling the soulfulness of the songs. Raving about the songs and bitching about the mediocre choice of instruments/sounds are not mutually exclusive. It is because i love the music of the man and CARE for it that i'm cribbing about it, album after album, year after year. Rather, its depressing to see some people not acknowledging something as obvious as the mediocre and cheap sounds coming as a pattern in Raaja's albums in recent times. As for me, its not as much about the recording as its about the choice of usage.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hulkster
Listen to Hey Ram's "Nee Paartha Paarvai" prelude piano, "Poo Poothadhu", "Kurangu Kayyil Malai" drumming and compare it with other stuff. You can't hear the difference? You gotta be kidding me.
Sorry, we don't want to hide our heads in the sand
The best composer in the world has no business using such mediocre sounds. The cheap sounds make one cringe. PeriodQuote:
I will say it again, when will the day come when the "IR" fans here appreciate IR rather than sound like superlative critics making him sound like a mediocre composer.
When the songs themselves are so good, i'm sure that they movie watching experience is going to be enhanced when you actually watch the songs (how many ever have been used in the film) in the theater
Interesting you mention "nee paartha paarvai" - thats a REAL PIANO, not an electronic one!Quote:
Originally Posted by crajkumar_be
as for MX, i did read that Kamal insisted/used Sony Recording studios in New York (MX was done right after TiS) - perhaps that explains the sound quality in MX - MX will always be one of my favorites
I too would like to think its the real piano but i'm not sure. In any case, it didn't matter whether t was the real piano or not, did it? That is precisely my point. It sounded like the real oneQuote:
Originally Posted by irir123
I reiterate that its not a recording issue. I'm sure of that. Its about the choice of the instruments/sounds. In other words, tin dappa-va NY Sony studio-la thatnaalum adhe sound dhaan varappodhu :)Quote:
Originally Posted by irir123
Whatever... :) I like onnukkonnu..... will listen couple of times.
I am forever trapped in குத்தாலக் குயிலே குத்தாலக் குயிலே ... or இவள் ஒரு இளங்குருவி எழுந்து or வானம் தொடாத மேகம் or தாகமே உண்டானதே திண்டாடுதே மனமே....
Sweet melodies linger forever in my heart, romantic atmosphere of flute passages or ambient piano-guitar rhythm, soft percussion with laya brilliance, honey soaked vocal resonance sure addictive...COMPOSITIONS with AMAZING MOOD. I miss IR.
vinatha.
So you guys think IR who has so much knowledge on musical instruments including modern ones as well would be using cheap sounding instruments for no apparent reason? or you mean to imply he just does not know how those instruments would sound and hence uses them thinking it would sound great? or he does not have a keen sense for sounds and Rhythms after so many years in the field and listening to so much music?
or maybe he just does not have any money to get good instruments for his orchestra?
Which of the above you think is even remotely possible? maybe some of you have a good knowledge of music, sounds or recording, but I think i will still go with IR's judgement here. Anyone disagree?
THe only thing i can acknowledge is that in some cases maybe IR does not spend too much time during final recording and mixing of the songs and things can get done in a less than satisfactory way during that phase but IR may not bother himself to listen to the final output and correct them before the CD's are done. For some albums like MX or Hey Ram maybe he involves himself till the end for the songs as well and listens to finished output. Its just pure speculation on my part.
For the record i did not hear any cheap sounds in Nandhalala. The percussion sounds are deliberatly downplayed to create a subdued mood to the songs. IR has done it before as well maybe not the same but similar . I remember i bought a Telugu casette in 1989 which had Gharshana(agni nakshatram in tamil) and Abinandana on the other side. Talk about contrasting sounds i just could not believe IR composed both the albums they were so different sounding it just astounded me(ofcourse when i saw the movie i understood how perfectly it fit). I am not saying this is the same case but just trying to indicate that IR does things for a reason which many of us may not be able to figure.
I don't know to play any instrument. I don't know music 'theory', Indian or Western (except for identifying a very few raagas). So? What's the point? Are we trying to compare any of our musical skills, knowledge or what not with Ilaiyaraaja's? What a joke!Quote:
Originally Posted by rprasad
And we're not talking about the sound w.r.t just Nandalala here. There's a definite pattern here, which is the cause for the grouse
rprasad, what do you imply? Say everything is great? Ilaiyaraaja is a genius, a god (which he IS, don't get me wrong) and we shouldn't have *opinions or preferences* because we didn't learn music? Then what are we doing in these forums? Isaiyin meedhu atheedha aaruvamum, Raaja-vin isayin meedhu vaithirukkum nesamum mariyadhayum nammai ingu padhivugal seyya thoondugindrana. One who has passion and interest in listening to music will respond with certain reactions while listening to music. That is exactly what we're doing here. For you, everything is hunky-dory in Nandalala or any recent album of Raaja for that matter. For me, its not. Though i'm in love with Naan Kadavul and Nandalala songs certain patterns bother me.
Anybody who is not tone deaf will make out the quality of instruments/sound that we're talking about.
idhayellam vidunga, "Mella Oorndhu" la vara keys sound-kum "Nee Paartha Paarvai" sound kum ungalukku vidhyasam theriyudha illaya? If the answer is yes and you're still ok with it its fine. We can agree to disagree. Please don't keep asking what is wrong with the sounds or why we are complaining or justifying blindly. Thats all
And please don't tell me that the film's supposed austerity drives the choice and usage o instruments/sounds. Even as i understand why a film like MX has to different from Nandalala, i can't accept the necessity for such sounds no matter what kind of film it is
I am not trying to compare your musical skills to IR. I am merely asking the question, how can you make out that this sound is cheap and other sound is good? different yes i agree. I know the sounds are different from the two songs you indicated but the songs are totally different in mood, or melody or situation. I am not sure of the situation explained to IR for this song in Nandhalala(not sure we will know in the movie since it must have been removed) .I am not saying IR is perfect and does all things perfectly. Ofcourse there have been lot of missteps in his songs for one reason or the other and as fans/listeners we point our if it impacts our listening pleasure.
Of course i respect your opinion when you say you dont like the sounds in Nandhalala.All i am saying we dont know what IR used and why and so we should not jump to conclusions that he used cheap sounds when we cannot say for sure. Also i am not Hunky- dory on every IR album in recent time, i liked Mallepoovu in telugu and now Nandhalala. NK was ok for two songs. For me the sounds did not diminish the listening pleasure in Nandhalala. Given the quality of movies IR gets nowadays i agree that he may do things halfheartedly for some of them and may not bother much on the sounds. But i dont believe that to be in this case. As i also said recording and mixing can be an issue as well. Also the key sounds being different from one movie to another movie song does not mean one is bad automatically. They are different sounding for a reason maybe.
Anyway that is my opinion. It would be good if we can ask these questions directly to IR since you guys feel so passionately about the sound aspect. I am sure he will have an answer.