Ar Rahman Piano Songs
Algernon Alcala
A R Rahman, a man who defines my alternate reality, a man whose music I seek to escape the drudgery of everyday living, releases the entire album of his film 99 Songs, to cheer us up as the dreaded pandemic looms large. But I am living in my own bubble as this album has still not caught my attention.
Casual browsing lands me on the teaser of the movie 99 Songs which has just one instrumental track, 'The Oracle'. As I play it on my headphones, the track opens with just a few lingering melodious notes on the piano; the tempo gradually increases as notes engage in a clever interplay and even before I realise it, a fleet of violins accompanying the lilting piano notes sweep me off my feet as my spirit soars high and lands effortlessly with the music, all in a matter of 3 minutes. I am stunned by this short flight of fantasy and crave more. So I look up and see that the entire album has been released 3 months back. With great anticipation I play the first track. Again it opens with notes on the piano followed by Shashwat Singh's soft voice. The singing is so mellow, it's barely audible (especially with my kids screaming in the background). It's the kind of music that demands you close your eyes and get lost in its world. Is this again another new version of Rahman? I ponder over it, putting off hearing the album until bedtime. As I play 'O Aashiqa' again, I realise that the silence of the night amplifies the effect of the mellifluous track. As Shashwat croons "Phoolon ki chahat mein amrit piya" in his honey-dipped voice, I sense something more than what meets the ear. Just when this realisation hits me, the track completely transforms, as the tempo speeds up and chorus of voices lead to the unmistakable voice of A R Rahman as he goes on to sing, "O ma, kaise pukaroon, kaise karz chukaoon?", leaving me totally surprised. How did the hero who was pining for his lover suddenly start yearning for his mother? This is the question only the movie can answer.
There are 14 songs in the album in as many genres (talk about variety!). There is a mandatory angst-ridden Arijit Singh track ('Jwalamukhi') but unlike Rockstar, this track has minimum percussion, instead putting the spotlight completely on Arijit's voice and rightfully so. Poorvi Koutish's version of 'Jwalamukhi' has an Indipop feel to it. And then there is the lovely Alka Yagnik track 'Gori Godh Bhari'; apart from her wonderful rendition, this semiclassical piece has stand-out shehnai and sarod interludes which compete for independent attention even on repeat listening.
I am warming up to all the slow and melodious numbers in this album, each gently pushing me on a different journey. 'Teri Nazar', a sublime love ballad, again begins with piano notes (does Rahman have a new favourite instrument?). Though the lyrics have angst-ridden words like qayamat, veerana and fitoor, the flute (sounding like ripples on water) and Shashwat's voice have a soothing effect, like balm on a tired soul. The track ends as gently as it begins, but the emotion of longing it evokes persists and fills my heart. To fight the blues I turn to 'Sofia', a slightly more upbeat number by the same singer, but this time the emotion is that of enigma and wonder as he sings "Phoolon sa tera naam" ever so gently; the track picks up pace and by the time the chorus is singing the "Sofia" refrain with Rahman's voice crooning in the background, my heart has melted into a puddle.
COVID is wreaking havoc all around but Bela Shinde's soothing voice in 'O Mera Chaand' is lulling me to sleep. This track is so serene that when she sings the lines "zara bhi tu darna nahi, tu roshni banke layega savere naye", I feel like a child comforted by mother earth. During the day, her voice takes me on a spiritual high with 'Sai Shirdi Sai', even though I am not a devotee. What is it with the transcendental nature of Rahman's devotional numbers that makes one forget religion and the deity yet takes us on spiritual journeys that words fail to capture?
I am slowly shifting my attention to the faster numbers like 'Nayi Nayi Nayi', which takes me back on a nostalgic trip to my college days. Almost every Rahman album has one eccentric genre-defying song that is his signature, but this album has many clever surprises that make one sit up and take notice. There is 'Veere Kadh De', a truly unique-sounding rap number with bhangra interludes. Then, 'The Voice Without Words' sounds like a paradoxical name for the track that has Koutish reciting English verses, until its music breaks into those places within you that only silence can reach.
But the sweetest of surprises comes in the form of 'Soja Soja'; a track that morphs from melody to jazz in the first minute, as Shashaa's voice swings between saccharine sweetness and sensuous seduction effortlessly. By the time this track ends with her playful "Diskyaaaooon", my sleep is gone and feet are tapping away.
I find myself returning to this wonderful album to fight the lockdown blues. 'Teri Nazar' is introspective while 'The Oracle' takes me to a high; 'Soja Soja' is a great energiser while 'Humnava' is pure bliss. This album is my one-way ticket to inner joy and peace. As the nightmarish year ends and a new (hopefully good) one begins, 99 Songs is a gift that keeps on giving.
Did you use Melodyne on these projects? In which songs, in which particular moment?Sure, used it mostly on vocal tracks of Rang de Basanti, in aim of creating fresh harmonies, reducing quivers, pitch correction etc.
In this article from Spectrasonic's official site. A.R. says There is a lot of Omnisphere in this score. I recorded many textures from Omnisphere and bounced them as audio, then mixed them with live...
A.R. Rahman mentions about his discovery with his first MIDI computer Yamaha CX5M in 3:05 section of this video . This is the first MIDI based keyboard used by A.R. Rahman. It came in 1984. His friend gifted him in the same year. After experimenting with synthesizers and working as a Keyboard p...
The new studio's control room is equipped with a 140-channel Euphonix System 5-M digital mixing console with 2 DSP cores. Having worked in several top studios in the UK , USA and Canada , Rahman had the opportunity to work on and evaluate all the large format consoles currently available in the m...
tim meeks marcodi musical products gifted Harpejji K24 to a.r rahman in sep 24 2010 rahman uses in oscars tonight It becomes quickly apparent to Tim that AR is a natural on this instrument. Knowing that he wanted his instrument as soon as possible, the item used can seen in 1:30 into this video
Federico Garcia Lorca was an artist in the widest sense. He was a musician, composer, painter and dramatist as well as being Spains greatest poet. His work combined Spains folklore with surrealist techniques. He mixed with many of the great artists of his time; Manuel de Falla, Salvador Dali, Eleanor Dusa, Pablo Neruda, Antonia Merce and many renowned bullfighters, cantors and dancers.
There are stories of gypsies in Andalucia leaving their babies to cry until they had no voice left, only a croak. This wound which never healed stayed with them into adulthood and with this they sang flamenco. Lorca writes of prodigious interpreters of Deep Song dying of heart attacks as they destroyed their hearts in storms of feeling.
This is the spirit of duende; beauty born of pain, life intensified through death, a force of darkness rather than of light and its spontaneity such that it can never be repeated giving the illusion of heightened living of the moment and of being suspended in time.
To achieve this the artist has to strip himself of skill, knowledge, intelligence and technique so that the duende, a demonic earth spirit, will come and render the performance into spine-chilling art. The fight with duende compels the artist to breathe new life into art on the spur of the moment.
Lorca writes that the great artists of Spain knew that no emotion was possible without duende. He gives the example of a great singer who was performing in a bar with great skill and intelligence. Her eloquent listeners were so scornful of her accomplished performance that she downed some strong liquor and took to the stage again in a fury. She performed without skill, colour, or even voice but her scorched throat sang with such duende, fire and passion that her audience was moved to rip their clothes. In wounds the duende can see death and so appears. This is why the artist has to suffer in order that the duende will come and force him to produce inspirational, spontaneous creativity.
The duende brings about the primeval struggle between life giving forces (all that is fresh and newly born) and death and destruction. It plays the role of devils advocate with the performer, who, in order to win the battle, is provoked into heightened creativity, inspiration and intensity of emotion. It is a fight of deep primeval instincts and the result is the essence of creation, pure undistilled emotion and artistic truth.
Through their earthiness and oneness with nature they understood the transience of life and lived all the more intensely, singing of their passions, sorrows, and the beauty of bird song and flowers. They knew that their songs did not belong to them but would continue to float down through the generations - each adding their own pain and sorrows.
The themes of death, darkness, night, weeping, the wind, the guitar, bird song, stars, pain and love, are the main elements of deep song and inspired much of Lorcas work. Lorcas poems have inspired countless others, including the composers featured on this disc who in turn have used these themes in their own works.
The Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, was also an accomplished violinist whose left-wing politics led him to Spain in 1937 to work in the music section of the loyalist government. The year before he died (of alcoholism, aged forty) he wrote Homage to Garcia Lorca.
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