my 2 cents, pls forgive if any info is wrong In a music industry where duo sisters ruled the roost followed by Alka and others it is Rahman who would give a song to any new comer, he can easily use a new voice, It may not be perfect on sur/pitch or range but Rahman makes it acceptable and the song strikes a great chord with people like aye bachchu, behka mai behka. So isn't he promoting besura singers. No wait a minute when the situation needs he would go for a perfect sur like aaja balam in Yuvraaj (title theme) or radha kaise me jale on raag bhimpalasi in Lagaan or ghanan ghanan on raag Kafi in Lagaan, so he knows his music very well. His orchestration is heavy and muliti layered and that is why it takes a while for his songs to grow over you. Just to add few things more. ARR is a thinking, innovative and evolving composer all the time. His Hindi songs in 90s had strong influence of Carnatic classical but then when one listens to RDB song or Mangal Pandey's tumhari adao pe mai wari wari (raag darbari) ot title theme one can easily identify these with freedom fight in North Indian backdrop. Another thing very unique about him is he is not afraid of using modern instruments in a song based on old story like in Shaheed Bhagat Singh songs he has used both matka and synthesizer (mahi ve) and extensive keyboarding in desh mere in same film, similarly in tumhari adao pe mai wari wari he would easily use heavy bass drones which otherwise a conservative composer wouldn't. In ye jo des hai tera (swades) he has used Sehahnai and drums in same breath, he would use software in a song like jage haain to create sound of santur and get away no one minds and ARR establishes a trend this way. Another thing is his editing, mixing and recording technique, It is said in Roja he recorded the same thing over and over so that even those buying cassettes get audio quality of CD. He has largest collection of softwares and instruments, he often arranges instruments for his players. When he asks a player to paly a dhun it is recorded and then it is kept as bank to be used at appropriate time, if it is used in a song , the gyu gets moneya and thank title on a cassette or CD cover. No one ever did this for any instrumentalist till date in Bollywood hence he is immensely popular with players. This is why names like Kuttu and Shivamani are house hold thee days. He keeps abreats of latest develpment in world music and the effect is there to see. He used MIA to do rap lyrics in O Saya. Similarly he has used a black rapper for BGS of lord of rings. He has changed his keyboards to over 20 times in last 15 years and makes sure he uses the best modes and sounds. He has a large collectioin of audio sample from several sources (remember killer rhythm of aiyo aiyo o from Rangeela? that is audio sample..!) and he himself has created large number of samples for every one to use. And about humiliy kya kahne, if there was a oscar for humility it would go to A R Rahman for suree.
--- On Sat, 2/28/09, Gopal Srinivasan <[email protected]> wrote: From: Gopal Srinivasan <[email protected]> Subject: [arr] 'He Liberated The Film Song' To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 12:25 PM 'He Liberated The Film Song' He changed the age old format of the film song-- the asthayi and the antara and then a cross line to match the asthayi -- that has been our format since the inception of film music GULZAR ON A.R. RAHMAN | E-MAIL | ONE PAGE FORMAT | FEEDBACK: SEND - READ | When Rahman entered the Tamil and Telugu film industry I do not know how it affected them, but when he came to Hindi films with Roja his entry was noticed and much talked about. Detractors started saying, "He’s repetitive" etcetera, but Rahman quietly continued doing his work and they fell silent and his music grew on them. Here people take a lot of time in accepting anything new. That’s a peculiar quality we seem to have. He used folk and classical and blended it beautifully. He used western sounds and electronics and used them in Hindi music and they didn’t sound foreign at all. He blended them so well into our music.. For the lyricists, he made a very important contribution. He changed the age old format of the film song-- the asthayi and the antara and then a cross line to match the asthayi -- that has been our format since the inception of film music. Rahman let it go and I for one felt greatly elated because I have always used blank verse and I was very comfortable with this form. He liberated the film song from the earlier shackles. I had used this kind of writing earlier in songs like meraa kuchh saamaan tumhaare paas paRaa hai etc but his coming made it acceptable. In our music today, Rahman’s presence has made a whole lot of difference. What else can we ask for? Not only in India, he has opened up the horizon in the west also. It needs courage to experiment the way he does. His Bombay Dreams was an experiment which succeeded beautifully. He is totally obsessed with work and, whatever the platform, he enjoys trying new things. That’s how he has reached a level where he hasn’t lifted one but two Oscars. When he lifted one, he lifted two! I must add that in the Jai Ho song which won the other Oscar, there was a magic voice whose contribution cannot be missed -- that of Sukhwinder Singh. There have been times when the singer and the lyricist have won awards and the composer has not but that doesn’t lessen the role of the composer. Rahman is this era. Jai Ho As told to Lata Khubchandani | E-MAIL | ONE PAGE FORMAT | FEEDBACK: SEND - READ | MORE STORIES: GULZAR A.R. RAHMAN MORE IN OPINION MORE IN MUSIC IN THIS STORY: Sukhwinder Singh 'One time, one job'. This is something I have learnt from Rahman. Pyarelal I don't think he's outstanding. Prasoon Joshi He has a way of breaking the meter, it gets freshness into the song. Sivamani 'For him, every song is an Oscar or a Grammy' Shankar Mahadevan What RD Burman did in the 70s, Rahamn came and did in the late 80s. Mahalxmi Iyer With his first album he revolutionized the sound, the style and the content of Indian film music for the future, all at once. Sonu Nigam His honesty has given his music a certain ingenuity, a certain simplicity. And the better the talent, the more I see God influencing the work. Shantanu Moitra He himself is a technician, so he actually works with textures of voices. Rahman's mixing really stands out -- be it on a transistor or a hi-fi system. Anu Malik When I first heard Choti Si Aasha it was mindboggling -- a composer was born to my mind. Vishal Of Vishal-Shekhar: If even his average work can get him on a global platform and fetch him two Oscars, just imagine what would Dil Se deserve … at least six! Salim Of the Salim-Suleiman duo: Rahman has done for film music what Ravi Shankar or Zakir Hussain have done for classical music or Zubin Mehta for Western classical music. Harshdeep Whenever Rahman listens to somebody, the voice registers in his mind and when he has a song fit for that voice, he calls you Kavita Paudwal To him, a voice is also another sound--a wonderful sound to which he gives due prominence Madhushree He is always searching. He's very creative. He wants to work with new people, make new sounds, do new things Shaan He refused to shift to Mumbai, stayed in Chennai, recorded in his own way. That aura as a composer works for him. Mohit Chauhan There are silences, spaces in his music. His music borders on spirituality. Chinmayi Sripada His music is all about the magic of sound. It has divinity; you connect at an emotional level. Benny Dayal He plays with the texture of the voice but lets the singer be. Recording is more impromptu than rehearsed. Anil Srinivasan Illaiyaraja is brilliant but he is more about music while Rahman is all about sound. Kailash Kher Like new recipes of food, he keeps trying out new voices, has an innovative mind and is constantly experimenting. Srinivas Bhashyam He bridged the North-South divide. He has been a patriotic, not regionalistic person. He sees India as one entity. Shaleen Sharma He doesn't make music into a khichdi. He understands silences, the dynamics of the song. Naresh Iyer Everyone talks about how his music is all technology but crucial thing is how he uses it, gets the best out of it. Khayyam Convey my congratulations to him. http://www.outlooki ndia.com/ full.asp? fodname=20090227 &fname=rahman& sid=1
