Atrium

What interests me always is this question, a question which I must say has been raised many times in different forums ad nauseam - ‘To appreciate music, do we need to know the nuances or do we just have to listen and get immersed in the beauty of music without bothering about anything’?

I shall come to this a little later. Before that I must share interesting information about the brain.

Recently, I read that scientists have identified a chemical in the brain that can be blocked to boost the learning of music and language in adults. ‘Adults’ because it is said that the capacity to learn decreases with age. This chemical is known by the name ‘adenosine’ and is a neuromodulator present in the auditory thalamus. This auditory thalamus is a kind of ‘relay station’ where sound is collected and sent to the auditory cortex for processing. By disrupting the signals in mice (always these are the guinea pigs, you see!), the window for auditory learning was extended well beyond adulthood.

 This can be applied to humans too and by restoring plasticity in critical regions of the brain, the capacity to learn music in adults increases manifold.

We have read about chemicals aiding us in a positive way. But here is a chemical which stops us from learning something as important as music.

Now that we have seen about the brain, let us turn our attention to yet another organ in our body, which is as important as the brain-if not more important. An organ which beats 72 times in a minute (there is music in this too!)

 The Heart!

In fact, I keep saying this quite often:                         

To appreciate music, what we need are two ears and a heart.

 I did mention this during Geetanjali- 2017 too and one of the members commented , ‘No , we need the brain too. How will the ears function without the brain?’

This was a clear case of missing the wood for the trees, because by ‘brain’, I meant ‘thinking and analysing’ and not the basic function. Though the heart needs the brain to function, the heart is independent of the brain when it comes to thinking. That is why, we are asked to go by ‘what the heart says’. When we leave things to the heart, we will be wiser, calmer and relaxed.

So, which is more important to appreciate music-the brain or the heart?

I shall leave this unanswered now and move on to a rare gem. Unlike many rare gems discussed here, this is not an ‘old’ gem. 

The rationale behind choosing a rare gem or rather calling it as a 'rare gem' was given by me long back in the Orkut Community. It must be a song which is not familiar to many despite being a great composition. And this need not necessarily be from his ‘70s and his early ‘80s. Members who attended Geetanjali-2017 will vouch for this as a couple of his ‘new songs’ from the present century were played and a majority was listening to those songs for the ‘first time’.

The speciality about ‘Idho Idho ILaignan ILaignan’ from ‘Ajantha’(2007-unreleased, though it won the state award for music!) is the variety. Yes, almost all his songs have that ‘variety element’ but this one is special because it also has some familiar tunes (of his old songs) which appear in the CharaNams.

The brilliance of any composer lies in the way he improvises an inspiration. As Raaja sir himself has said, his body is soaked with compositions from past masters. But how he takes that inspiration to new levels distinguishes him from many other music directors who copy others’ works shamelessly.

In ‘Idho Idho’, Raaja sir gets inspiration from his own compositions and brilliantly uses the tunes, albeit briefly.

The song starts with the humming of the chorus and the lead singer (Manjari) backed by a host of synth instruments. This and the sound of the trumpet prove that we are not way off the mark. When Manjari sings the Pallavi with gusto and keeps repeating the lines, we keep moving the feet, tapping the feet and even sway from one side to another.

The interlude starts and aren’t we in for a surprise?  The tempo slows down and the bamboo flute(or a synth instrument with the same sound) plays a tune very familiar to us. The beats are familiar too. In fact, ‘Aasaiya Kaaththula’ has taken many avatars (as far as I know 5 avatars) and each time it has sounded different. Here too, the synth instruments take us to a different world!

The first segment of the CharaNam almost follows the same beats. I am saying ‘almost’ because there is a subtle difference in the ‘kaarvai’ and the way the percussion is played. The second segment –in vocals- gives the beautiful shades of the original.

And now comes the next surprise. After a beautiful humming by Manjari, the composition takes a new turn with the change in the tempo and also the change in percussion. It also becomes ‘light classical’(what is this?- a raga sung like a scale!) in Suddha Dhanyasi. And don’t we hear a tune of yet another old song-‘Maanjolai kiLithano’- now?

Yet another surprise.. It now turns to pure classical with the swaras of Suddha Dhanyasi being rendered in a pattern with the mridangam supporting the vocals.

The melodic mathematics continues in different patterns, in between giving a shade of his ‘Vizhiyil Vizhundhu’ in a flash and moving on to the syllables of classical dance and the TaaLa, culminating in a ‘teermaanam’. No I am not going to explain this, nor am I going to give the break-up of the micro beats.

Does this not touch our heart even without knowing about Suddha Dhanyasi, Nata Bhairavi, Chatushram,  Kaarvai, Muththaippu or Teermaanam?

If yes, then your heart plays a more effective role than the brain.

If ‘no’, then your brain plays a more dominant role-in a negative or a positive way.

Is it possible to appreciate the nuances and the melodic beauty simultaneously?

More on this in a forthcoming post..

Until then, open your heart and get immersed in that beautiful ocean called music-with or without adenosine!

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