Standpoint

Recently, an advertisement in the newspaper affected me a lot.

No, it was not an ad for an alcoholic brand, nor was it for a tobacco product. It was an ad for ‘audio books’- classics to be more precise. Do I hate books or do I hate sound? I am sure most of you know that I love both. The cause for my consternation was something else.

‘Reading’ matters a lot to me- ‘Reading’ as in reading ‘mentally’. What happens when we read to ourselves? First, we can read at our own pace. Second, we can pause when a word or a sentence or a passage is beautiful and brilliant. We can close our eyes and savour that moment. We can go back to that line, re-read, and therefore relive that moment. If we come across a new word or a tough word, we can stop and either make a mental note or note it down on a paper. At times, we can also refer to the dictionary instantly to understand the word, the context and the usage. We can visualise the sequence, letting our imagination free. Most importantly, we can feel the pages. We can smell the pages. The aroma and the feeling are enough to give us an unique experience which cannot be put in words(or one may have to write a separate book for this, yes a ‘written book’!).

Tell me if any of these is possible in an audio book. However eloquent the reader in the audio book is, however beautiful his/her diction is, however expressive his/her tone is, can we get the same experience of reading a physical book?

Of course, I have listened to some ‘reading sessions’ but these were limited to some select passages and not the entire book. These kindle an interest for the book and make one ‘acquire’ the book. Well, that second word in the previous sentence got me reminded of ‘e-books’. These in my opinion, are acceptable to a certain extent but cannot replace the joy of reading a physical book.

I am writing all these for a reason.

Though music cannot be compared with books, I got reminded of my views on ‘listening to a song’. Well, here I solely mean a film song and not a classical song. Experience with the latter will be described soon in some other post. People who know me well, know that I prefer ‘listening’ to ‘watching’ and that precisely for that reason, You Tube videos are not given as links in posts. Since I have covered this aspect in the past, I am not getting into further details.

But the reason for my aversion for ‘watching’ a song- a beautiful gem at that- can be easily understood if one listens to the Rare Gem of the day and then ‘watches’ it.

I have said many times that it indeed is next to impossible to find out what runs in his mind while composing a song. I have also suggested that scientists should invent a special machine, connect it to his brain and monitor the creative thought process. 

While it is a fact that he composes the tune and subsequently the prelude and the interlude(s) after the Director explains the situation, it is also a fact that a majority of the directors are musically illiterate. So, his imagination runs riot while composing the tune on the harmonium and more so while writing the notes for the orchestra. It is here that he starts experimenting not to get appreciation from anyone concerned but purely for self-actualisation. Otherwise, how can one explain his playing with the rhythm, his use of master techniques like cross-rhythm, usi, gati bhedam, graha bedam etc..?

But this has a flip side too. Since our directors are musically illiterate(a majority of them), neither do they understand the nuances and the techniques nor do they appreciate the subtleties. Because of this, there is a mismatch between the music and the visuals. But he cannot be blamed for this, though I wonder how he would have felt each time he watched the visuals for his music on screen.

‘NenjukkuL Poo Manjam’ (Saattai Illadha Pambaram-1983) falls in this category without a trace of doubt. In fact, one of the most significant features of this song is the rhythm and the sharp percussion in the beginning which was totally chopped off while picturising.

But without worrying about all that, let us look at the song.

It starts with the percussion playing sharp beats, but that is not all. The composition is set in tisram(3-beat cycle). The Master divides 3 into 6 micro-beats- as ta ka dhi mi ta ka- and makes the percussion play only the first, third and the fourth leaving others blank. See (listen) as to how it sets the mood for a romantic song.

After four repetitions, the trumpets and the bass guitar join even as the percussion continues in the same pattern in the background. The bass guitar sounds sharp too, albeit in its own inimitable style, and acts as an additional rhythm. After a while, the guitar joins, indulges in a brief call and response with the piped instruments with the flute joining later and charting its own path. The guitar family finally plays the melody of the first line with the percussion sounding sharp once as if to signal the end of the grand prelude!

The Pallavi which starts with the humming of Janaki is yet another rhythmic feast. There are three (at least) sets of percussion. The first one plays ta ka dhi mi(1 2 3 4) twice in mel kaalam(fast pace). The second one starts after a gap of 4 beats(it is left blank!) and plays ta ka dhi mi twice. The third one plays ta ka dhi mi once. This pattern continues in both the CharaNams.

But the composer, who is known for giving variegated patterns, thinks differently in the interludes. Let us see this as we go along.

The first interlude starts with the guitar sounding the bass, giving that Spanish feel. Then, just one string of another guitar for every first beat of Tisram. Mind you, no percussion is used here and just  one string of the guitar acts as percussion. This is followed by a melody by the same guitar with a different sound(from the keys?) accompanying it. The piped instruments make an entry and only now do the drums(percussion) sound. The friendly banter between the bass guitar and the piped instruments makes it more exciting. The excitement continues in the next segment too when the flute plays a beautiful melody.

The lines in the CharaNams call for an interesting study too. The first two lines rendered by Malaysia Vasudevan have a touch of nonchalance. The next two lines of Janaki suddenly touch the higher octave. The scale changes in the next two lines of Malaysia Vasudevan while Janaki continues in the higher octave in the original scale in the next line. The last line continues in the male voice almost sounding similar to the previous line but is wound up with the ‘pa pa pa pa pa’ giving a feeling of completeness.

To be honest, the entire CharaNam is a tight rope walk and all the three come up trumps.

There is more in store in the second interlude.

The trumpet sounds in higher octave giving a pause in between. The team of piped instruments joins and until now there is no percussion. The trumpet gathers steam and as if to add more spice, the bass guitar joins. So do the drums. It is a jazzy feel with the guitar and the bass guitar taking over. The flute appears in the end again, playing a rather unusual and different melody.

The sensuous ‘pa pa’ towards the end of the song makes it even more special.

Books are to be read by the individual.

Songs (like this) are to be listened to and are not to be watched.

The first statement could be subjective. But not the second one..If you have any doubts, go, watch and then decide.

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