Oscar Thamizhan 'Isaipuyal' AR Rahman News/Updates

[A.ANAND]

PANTING AR RAHMAN

[ajaybaskar]

"I never pictured doing this kind of thing as a kid. I'm 33 now and I grew up in Santacruz, another Mumbai suburb. That's where I discovered the album that made me fall in love with music: the score to the 1993 Tamil action comedy Thiruda Thiruda, by A.R. Rahman. I still play that album when I need inspiration. It switches between staccato dance rhythms and heartbreaking a cappella arrangements. There's nothing else like it in Indian pop music, not even by Rahman himself. It's a masterpiece." - Amit Trivedi, Composer.

[Ramakrishna]

Fatwa issued against Kashmiri all-girl band

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...w/18327128.cms

[RozeMylm]

TFU Kannan ‏@TFU_Kannan
Vidya Balan to play M.S.Subbulakshmi in Rajeev Menon's biopic of the classical singer & A.R.Rahman may score music. Gr8 project, watch out!

[A.ANAND]

A classical turn: Vidya Balanin to do a biopic on singer MS Subbulakshmi

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome...#axzz2KNroRY3J

Saappadu ennavo arputhamathan irukkum!

[littlemaster1982]

An interesting read about Dil se album!

Music Production Review – Dil Se

Album: Dil Se
Recording Engineer: S. Sivakumar and H.Sridhar
Music: AR Rahman
Recorded at: Panchathan Record Inn
Label: Venus

THE MUSIC

Some people may be wondering about why the soundtrack of a Hindi Film like ‘Dil Se’ which was released almost a decade and a half ago is appearing in this section. This section essentially features albums that are a stand out in terms of musicality as well as in terms of sonic quality. And with ‘ Dil Se’ well we just can resist from saying that this album is a brilliant masterpiece of well recorded vocals and instruments and a perfect album in terms of its dynamics, tonality and overall sound. Sometimes it just dawns on our minds as to why it took AR Rahman all these years to win an Oscar Academy award, he won the award for another movie soundtrack just two years back but the 6 song album of ‘Dil Se’ which was made with such finesse and refinement existed long long ago. Some music lovers and audiophiles who live by the sounds of acoustic instruments firmly believe that this was the epic and most outstanding soundtrack of the 90’s decade. AR Rahman has won many prestigious music awards all over the globe over all these years, he is regarded as a mastermind genius when it comes to music and if we run back to the books of music history we can re-collect that after the soundtrack of ‘Roja’ which was a massive hit, the soundtrack of ‘Dil Se’ etched his name in the record books of the country, because of the recording breaking sales of the soundtrack which was experienced not only in India but also over the world. Here we take a look at the music and sonic presentation of the album, and how it qualifies to be one of his best pieces of work.

THE RECORDING

When it comes to AR Rahman’s compositions many in the recording industry know that he is recognized for recording the entire rhythm section not to mention that the master composer also pays equal attention to the melody section too. Rhythm as seen from an engineer’s point of view forms the core part of song. It provides the time frame and a reference point to which all other instruments are then recorded and laid down. And if you take a closer look at all the six songs of ‘Dil Se’ they you will certainly notice that the composer has managed to churn out a variety of different sounds in the rhythm section. Well we couldn’t lay on our hands on the information about the different types of instruments used throughout the soundtrack but you can well enough say that percussion instruments like kick drums, duff and mridangam are a few to mention.

If one were to reset time to almost a decade ago, you would realize that at that point of time in India digital technology was not completely evolved and in the music industry too digital recording was still in its nascent stages. And from this we could probably gauge that the soundtrack of ‘Dil Se’ was probably cut out on an analogue recording machine. One obviously can’t rule out the possibility that digital devices may have also existed in the Panchathan recording studios even at that point of time. Take for instance, ‘’Chaiya Chaiya’’, this song that was shot atop a running train has a similar rhythm pattern of a running train. This kind of beat pattern no doubt can be recorded in a studio, but one can also consider the fact that the arranger, now-a-days called programmer would have even made use of computer software to lay down the track with perfect timing. And talking about the opening song on the album, well even till this day people enjoy the unique essence of the song. In just the opening bass riffs of the song we could feel the energy of the music pop right out of the Totem Acoustic Element Earth floorstanding speakers.

One thing however that is particular about the song is that the bass doesn’t come to you in huge chunks at every second minute, what happens here is the low end comes and exists in the song in a deep underlying tone for few brief moments. And amidst all this it’s hard to miss out on the energetic voice of Sukhwinder Singh. His close mic singing and high pitch portions never pinch your ears; this is somewhat very rarely seen in Hindi film soundtracks. This high pitch drama is also seen in “Satrangi re’’ where Kavita Krishnamurthy opens the song with her high pitch voice. Amidst her sonorous voice try to pay attention to the reverb trail, it spreads far and wide across the soundstage the boundaries of the song extend much wider than one would expect. The accordion with its fluid nature adds a lot of dynamism to the song, and right besides it you will find Sonu Nigam singing the lyrics of the song like as if the his voice and the instrument are playing with each other like a game of hide and seek.

THE MIXING

The world of mixing is almost like a playground for the mixing engineers. Here is where each engineer varies from any other in terms of skill, as each of them tries to strike a goal with the perfect mix which is why it leads to so many different missing engineers and with so many of them their theories and beliefs also vary too. With ‘Dil Se’ we can say that the overall mix down of the track is subtle yet very polished, you will not find a crowded soundstage with electronic elements in it, not because they, the composer and the engineers couldn’t figure out a way to do it but because AR Rahman and his team knew how to deliver a full-bodied soundtrack with just the right mix of vocals and acoustic instruments. Like in the song, ‘’ Thayya Thayya’’, some may look at it as an acoustic version of the opening track ‘’Chayya Chayya’’, but steer yourself clear of this notion because each track can be seen in number of ways. We could just reverse the thought and say that ‘’Thayya Thayya’’ was the main song while the former was a different pepped up version. In ‘’Thayya Thayya’’ as we said you have the number of elements used in the song are just about four to five, like an electronic drum beat, a piano that rolls off from its high to low notes, the powerful and high pitched voice of Sukhwinder Singh, the clap loops that are garnished all over the song and the much needed melody by a wonderful flute.

The song in all its dynamic glory fills the soundstage with immense depth, the Element Earth floorstandind speakers were about six feet away from us, but while this track was playing they simply vanished from the room. The light-weight texture of the song literally sounded like a cool breeze that was continuously blowing over us, Sukhwinder’s powerful voice were the strong moments where the breeze blew slightly harder; but over the rest of the track the smoothness in the orchestration especially the panned piano roll offs were really amazing and it was an encore that lasted for almost half an hour or so.

Well it is certainly an eye opener to see that in an age where hard-hitting electronic sounds which are heavily compressed are become the norm, people still run back to melodies like ‘Dil Se’. In fact over many FM radio channels late in the when people rest for the day and at times become nostalgic about life, Radio Jockey’s play, ‘’E Ajnabi’’ at song that is very relaxing and soothing to the soul while on the other hand its lyrics induce or even bring back a lot of memories in people. The song’s tonality is a little bright though, but then again that was intentional. And if we are talking about tonality, they you just cannot miss out of the overall tone of the duff, an Indian percussion instrument that is played by beating its skin with hands. This is the main highlight of this song, while on the other hand the acoustic drum beats that are placed within the song are simply outstanding. They just bring you into the mood so much so that you may just find yourself playing a set of imaginary drums in thin air. This kind of excellence is sought after in music, and for an audiophile album like ‘Dil Se’ it is quite easy to see why this was a standout album in the entire decade of the 90’s.

THE MASTERING

The ultimate pinnacle of success for any music album lies in the hands of the Mastering Engineer, the Music is definitely taken care of by its composers, arrangers and musicians but the sound quality of the album lies in the hands of one man, who is ideally never involved in the recording and mixing process. Industry experts say that when the mastering is taken care of by an outside pair of ears, there are much better chances that the overall tonal quality of the album can achieve some excellent results.

Well we couldn’t get information about the Mastering engineer who was behind ‘Dil Se’ but the 6 songs that he has worked upon still can be heard over radio stations and over people’s iPods, and oh we forget to mention that we too use the album to test many of the stereo products that visit us on a monthly basis. Now with all this one can easily ascertain that the album is a musical piece of art, something that doesn’t come so often. The pair of ears who have played a part in balancing the 6 songs are a real genius. Take a look at the track, ‘’Jiya Jale’’ the deep tight bass line, the tonal richness of the mridangam, the effervescent voice of Lata mangeshkar, and a brilliant use of other acoustic instruments have all been balanced out so well, that the composer along with Mastering engineer should have been given the Grammy Award, for the best recording, mixing and mastering almost a decade ago. The arrangements in the song, are chosen to work perfectly with each other, one can experience subtle compression on the voice of Lata mangeshkar, likewise there is compression in AR rehman’s voice too, in the title track, “Dil se” but this compression works for well for both the songs that one can still feel the overall dynamics of both the singers.

Well the overall tonality of ‘Dil Se’ may be a little bright though but that doesn’t deter it from being called amazing album with a wonderful sound. Some may think that if there is an element of brightness then how come we manage to listen to it over and over again, well the fact lies in what level you are listening to the music. ‘Dil Se’ is not an album that you would like to turn it up loud and listen to on your dedicated stereo system, but instead its musicality encourages you to sit in the sweet spot and enjoy the musical bliss of the wonderful recordings, the powerful vocals of singers like Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, AR Rahman and the legendary Lata Mangeshkar, the fantastic and innovative musical arrangements and the overall diverse sound that AR Rahman is known for.

Lionel D’souza

TRACKS TO EXPERIENCE

Chaiyya Chaiyya- features the rhythm of a moving train, and is a journey through the country side where the bass line surprises you like wonderful landscapes, the melody is fresh and surprising like waterfalls and Sukhwinder’s voice is like bright and energetic sunshine. Sometimes it hides itself within the clouds and sometimes it shines down with full strength on open fields when there is no cloud cover, these dynamics are free-flowing and fluid just like nature.

Jiya Jale- This being an all time favourite, and one of the best recorded songs ever reminds you of how clever AR Rahman is and how he can bend the sound of certain instruments to suit the composition. The mridangam’s tone is rock-solid, an although it is reproduced in stereo mode the instrument springs to life and into your lap, this is a capability only gifted to world-class loudspeakers and we were certainly listening to one.

Ajnabi- A song that is soft, mesmerizing and always hummable. The bass line in this track is one of the deepest and tightest that we have ever heard across any Hindi Film soundtrack. Savour the audio quality of this song, as this is the number one track with maximum encores.

Dil Se – We just wonder in how many takes has AR Rahman managed to achieve that high-pitched extravanaganza that is present in this song. If you hear even a bit of distortion from your loudspeaker’s midrange drivers while AR Rahman touches those highs, you might need to consider buying a new pair of bookshelf or floorstanding speakers.

[littlemaster1982]

An interesting read about Dil se album!

Music Production Review – Dil Se

Album: Dil Se
Recording Engineer: S. Sivakumar and H.Sridhar
Music: AR Rahman
Recorded at: Panchathan Record Inn
Label: Venus

THE MUSIC

Some people may be wondering about why the soundtrack of a Hindi Film like ‘Dil Se’ which was released almost a decade and a half ago is appearing in this section. This section essentially features albums that are a stand out in terms of musicality as well as in terms of sonic quality. And with ‘ Dil Se’ well we just can resist from saying that this album is a brilliant masterpiece of well recorded vocals and instruments and a perfect album in terms of its dynamics, tonality and overall sound. Sometimes it just dawns on our minds as to why it took AR Rahman all these years to win an Oscar Academy award, he won the award for another movie soundtrack just two years back but the 6 song album of ‘Dil Se’ which was made with such finesse and refinement existed long long ago. Some music lovers and audiophiles who live by the sounds of acoustic instruments firmly believe that this was the epic and most outstanding soundtrack of the 90’s decade. AR Rahman has won many prestigious music awards all over the globe over all these years, he is regarded as a mastermind genius when it comes to music and if we run back to the books of music history we can re-collect that after the soundtrack of ‘Roja’ which was a massive hit, the soundtrack of ‘Dil Se’ etched his name in the record books of the country, because of the recording breaking sales of the soundtrack which was experienced not only in India but also over the world. Here we take a look at the music and sonic presentation of the album, and how it qualifies to be one of his best pieces of work.

THE RECORDING

When it comes to AR Rahman’s compositions many in the recording industry know that he is recognized for recording the entire rhythm section not to mention that the master composer also pays equal attention to the melody section too. Rhythm as seen from an engineer’s point of view forms the core part of song. It provides the time frame and a reference point to which all other instruments are then recorded and laid down. And if you take a closer look at all the six songs of ‘Dil Se’ they you will certainly notice that the composer has managed to churn out a variety of different sounds in the rhythm section. Well we couldn’t lay on our hands on the information about the different types of instruments used throughout the soundtrack but you can well enough say that percussion instruments like kick drums, duff and mridangam are a few to mention.

If one were to reset time to almost a decade ago, you would realize that at that point of time in India digital technology was not completely evolved and in the music industry too digital recording was still in its nascent stages. And from this we could probably gauge that the soundtrack of ‘Dil Se’ was probably cut out on an analogue recording machine. One obviously can’t rule out the possibility that digital devices may have also existed in the Panchathan recording studios even at that point of time. Take for instance, ‘’Chaiya Chaiya’’, this song that was shot atop a running train has a similar rhythm pattern of a running train. This kind of beat pattern no doubt can be recorded in a studio, but one can also consider the fact that the arranger, now-a-days called programmer would have even made use of computer software to lay down the track with perfect timing. And talking about the opening song on the album, well even till this day people enjoy the unique essence of the song. In just the opening bass riffs of the song we could feel the energy of the music pop right out of the Totem Acoustic Element Earth floorstanding speakers.

One thing however that is particular about the song is that the bass doesn’t come to you in huge chunks at every second minute, what happens here is the low end comes and exists in the song in a deep underlying tone for few brief moments. And amidst all this it’s hard to miss out on the energetic voice of Sukhwinder Singh. His close mic singing and high pitch portions never pinch your ears; this is somewhat very rarely seen in Hindi film soundtracks. This high pitch drama is also seen in “Satrangi re’’ where Kavita Krishnamurthy opens the song with her high pitch voice. Amidst her sonorous voice try to pay attention to the reverb trail, it spreads far and wide across the soundstage the boundaries of the song extend much wider than one would expect. The accordion with its fluid nature adds a lot of dynamism to the song, and right besides it you will find Sonu Nigam singing the lyrics of the song like as if the his voice and the instrument are playing with each other like a game of hide and seek.

THE MIXING

The world of mixing is almost like a playground for the mixing engineers. Here is where each engineer varies from any other in terms of skill, as each of them tries to strike a goal with the perfect mix which is why it leads to so many different missing engineers and with so many of them their theories and beliefs also vary too. With ‘Dil Se’ we can say that the overall mix down of the track is subtle yet very polished, you will not find a crowded soundstage with electronic elements in it, not because they, the composer and the engineers couldn’t figure out a way to do it but because AR Rahman and his team knew how to deliver a full-bodied soundtrack with just the right mix of vocals and acoustic instruments. Like in the song, ‘’ Thayya Thayya’’, some may look at it as an acoustic version of the opening track ‘’Chayya Chayya’’, but steer yourself clear of this notion because each track can be seen in number of ways. We could just reverse the thought and say that ‘’Thayya Thayya’’ was the main song while the former was a different pepped up version. In ‘’Thayya Thayya’’ as we said you have the number of elements used in the song are just about four to five, like an electronic drum beat, a piano that rolls off from its high to low notes, the powerful and high pitched voice of Sukhwinder Singh, the clap loops that are garnished all over the song and the much needed melody by a wonderful flute.

The song in all its dynamic glory fills the soundstage with immense depth, the Element Earth floorstandind speakers were about six feet away from us, but while this track was playing they simply vanished from the room. The light-weight texture of the song literally sounded like a cool breeze that was continuously blowing over us, Sukhwinder’s powerful voice were the strong moments where the breeze blew slightly harder; but over the rest of the track the smoothness in the orchestration especially the panned piano roll offs were really amazing and it was an encore that lasted for almost half an hour or so.

Well it is certainly an eye opener to see that in an age where hard-hitting electronic sounds which are heavily compressed are become the norm, people still run back to melodies like ‘Dil Se’. In fact over many FM radio channels late in the when people rest for the day and at times become nostalgic about life, Radio Jockey’s play, ‘’E Ajnabi’’ at song that is very relaxing and soothing to the soul while on the other hand its lyrics induce or even bring back a lot of memories in people. The song’s tonality is a little bright though, but then again that was intentional. And if we are talking about tonality, they you just cannot miss out of the overall tone of the duff, an Indian percussion instrument that is played by beating its skin with hands. This is the main highlight of this song, while on the other hand the acoustic drum beats that are placed within the song are simply outstanding. They just bring you into the mood so much so that you may just find yourself playing a set of imaginary drums in thin air. This kind of excellence is sought after in music, and for an audiophile album like ‘Dil Se’ it is quite easy to see why this was a standout album in the entire decade of the 90’s.

THE MASTERING

The ultimate pinnacle of success for any music album lies in the hands of the Mastering Engineer, the Music is definitely taken care of by its composers, arrangers and musicians but the sound quality of the album lies in the hands of one man, who is ideally never involved in the recording and mixing process. Industry experts say that when the mastering is taken care of by an outside pair of ears, there are much better chances that the overall tonal quality of the album can achieve some excellent results.

Well we couldn’t get information about the Mastering engineer who was behind ‘Dil Se’ but the 6 songs that he has worked upon still can be heard over radio stations and over people’s iPods, and oh we forget to mention that we too use the album to test many of the stereo products that visit us on a monthly basis. Now with all this one can easily ascertain that the album is a musical piece of art, something that doesn’t come so often. The pair of ears who have played a part in balancing the 6 songs are a real genius. Take a look at the track, ‘’Jiya Jale’’ the deep tight bass line, the tonal richness of the mridangam, the effervescent voice of Lata mangeshkar, and a brilliant use of other acoustic instruments have all been balanced out so well, that the composer along with Mastering engineer should have been given the Grammy Award, for the best recording, mixing and mastering almost a decade ago. The arrangements in the song, are chosen to work perfectly with each other, one can experience subtle compression on the voice of Lata mangeshkar, likewise there is compression in AR rehman’s voice too, in the title track, “Dil se” but this compression works for well for both the songs that one can still feel the overall dynamics of both the singers.

Well the overall tonality of ‘Dil Se’ may be a little bright though but that doesn’t deter it from being called amazing album with a wonderful sound. Some may think that if there is an element of brightness then how come we manage to listen to it over and over again, well the fact lies in what level you are listening to the music. ‘Dil Se’ is not an album that you would like to turn it up loud and listen to on your dedicated stereo system, but instead its musicality encourages you to sit in the sweet spot and enjoy the musical bliss of the wonderful recordings, the powerful vocals of singers like Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, AR Rahman and the legendary Lata Mangeshkar, the fantastic and innovative musical arrangements and the overall diverse sound that AR Rahman is known for.

Lionel D’souza

TRACKS TO EXPERIENCE

Chaiyya Chaiyya- features the rhythm of a moving train, and is a journey through the country side where the bass line surprises you like wonderful landscapes, the melody is fresh and surprising like waterfalls and Sukhwinder’s voice is like bright and energetic sunshine. Sometimes it hides itself within the clouds and sometimes it shines down with full strength on open fields when there is no cloud cover, these dynamics are free-flowing and fluid just like nature.

Jiya Jale- This being an all time favourite, and one of the best recorded songs ever reminds you of how clever AR Rahman is and how he can bend the sound of certain instruments to suit the composition. The mridangam’s tone is rock-solid, an although it is reproduced in stereo mode the instrument springs to life and into your lap, this is a capability only gifted to world-class loudspeakers and we were certainly listening to one.

Ajnabi- A song that is soft, mesmerizing and always hummable. The bass line in this track is one of the deepest and tightest that we have ever heard across any Hindi Film soundtrack. Savour the audio quality of this song, as this is the number one track with maximum encores.

Dil Se – We just wonder in how many takes has AR Rahman managed to achieve that high-pitched extravanaganza that is present in this song. If you hear even a bit of distortion from your loudspeaker’s midrange drivers while AR Rahman touches those highs, you might need to consider buying a new pair of bookshelf or floorstanding speakers.

[ajaybaskar]

Interesting read.

Not only the album but the DTS mixing for the film also stands out. In the first scene where SRK holds tea glasses in both his hands, the falling rain drops in each glass can be heard from each of the front speakers (both sides of the screen) while the passing train's noise comes from the surround speakers.

[A.ANAND]

namma annan AR wit Namma anni

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...id=63441126719

[satissh_r]

Pongal theme for those who have not seen it before