Talaash and Maurice Ravel
Today I wanted to share some Indian music with you all, as I happen to have traveled there a short while ago. Indian music comes in so many differnet flavors and sounds, but for today, I wanted to go with a song that is one of my favorites.
Now this track is one that is not of the more stereotypical Indian songs. Though the track does come from a film, the song itself does not necessarily carry a lot of the same elements as your usual Bollywood song. This song is a bit darker for starters. There is a very special group of songs which fall into this darker category of songs because they outline tragedies in life and love. We do have our melancholy heartbreak songs, but this track is about losing a love to something more than just a breakup. There is so much sadness and almost even a sense of despair in this track. The song evokes a passionate yearning for a beloved who cannot be reached, a desperate call for them to be together just one last time. There aren't a lot of Bollywood songs like this, and maybe that is why it was so powerful and moving for me. I could feel every word being sung, the powerful meaning behind the words. And these words are sung with a beautiful and heavy voice, provided by Vishal Dadlani.
Vishal Dadlani is know for having a gruffer and rougher voice. His voice is a bit gravelly but spectacular nonetheless. And his voice is really able to capture that sense of loss and the ragged grief which the song is about. His gritty voice is able to give this song the raw emotion necessary for the words to hold any meaning. There is a melodic prowess with which he sings, and I love how the wave of his vocal performance replicated the waves of emotion we as humans feel. And when you set his voice on top of the background instrumentation, we get a song that is raw.
The soundscape of this track is very unique in that it doesn't really sound like a Bollywood song. The soundscape lacks the usual Indian instruments and doesn't utilize the unmistakable Indian scales as much as other songs. The way Vishal Dadlani sings this song is filled with Indian elements, however, the instrumentation varies more towards a hard-to-place kind of sound. The song opens up with a steady and thumping drum beat, quietly backed by a deep note, sustained throughout. We get this heartbeat, which automatically helps create a little bit of mystery and melancholy within the song. We then hear the faded in and repeated melody. But then everything starts to mellow out and become a bit more subtle, favoring lingering notes and lengthened moments. And I think that works splendidly! In order to create the correct tone for this track, there needed to be a little less structure and more fluidity and freedom. Which is exactly what we got. Instead of adding any other instruments or layers, as soon as the vocals come in, the song drops back to that heartbeat drum rhythm. As the song starts to grow into the chorus, we start to hear the stringed orchestral instruments fade in ever so softly, with a feathery and beautiful melody. We also get a few strums of the electric guitar before Vishal Dadlani takes us into the passionate chorus. But even here, we have the simple conversation between the drums, stringed instruments, and electric guitar. All of these instruments make a hauntingly beautiful bed of sound for the rather melancholy and heartbreaking lyrics.
Though this isn't your typical Bollywood song, I have found it to be one of my absolute favorites. The singer and the songwriter, Javed Akhtar, are two of my favorite Bollywood artists, and hopefully this song will show you why.
Today's instrumental piece is a song that was composed by Maurice Ravel. I know it is quite uncommon of me to talk about orchestral composers and songs outside of the film realm, but hey, we have to expand our horizons! And I seem to have also rediscovered my classical roots, so I want to chat a bit about these classical pieces. This one in particular has been an eerily beautiful piece to play. The title alone is enough to express why it is such a tragic and somber piece. However, what Ravel did in composing this piece, is create something which expresses the sadness and despair of death, and the beauty and grace of a princess. In this way, he composed a piece of work which is a flawless expression of grief and life.
I hope you enjoy the music and please feel free to comment!
Now this track is one that is not of the more stereotypical Indian songs. Though the track does come from a film, the song itself does not necessarily carry a lot of the same elements as your usual Bollywood song. This song is a bit darker for starters. There is a very special group of songs which fall into this darker category of songs because they outline tragedies in life and love. We do have our melancholy heartbreak songs, but this track is about losing a love to something more than just a breakup. There is so much sadness and almost even a sense of despair in this track. The song evokes a passionate yearning for a beloved who cannot be reached, a desperate call for them to be together just one last time. There aren't a lot of Bollywood songs like this, and maybe that is why it was so powerful and moving for me. I could feel every word being sung, the powerful meaning behind the words. And these words are sung with a beautiful and heavy voice, provided by Vishal Dadlani.
Vishal Dadlani is know for having a gruffer and rougher voice. His voice is a bit gravelly but spectacular nonetheless. And his voice is really able to capture that sense of loss and the ragged grief which the song is about. His gritty voice is able to give this song the raw emotion necessary for the words to hold any meaning. There is a melodic prowess with which he sings, and I love how the wave of his vocal performance replicated the waves of emotion we as humans feel. And when you set his voice on top of the background instrumentation, we get a song that is raw.
The soundscape of this track is very unique in that it doesn't really sound like a Bollywood song. The soundscape lacks the usual Indian instruments and doesn't utilize the unmistakable Indian scales as much as other songs. The way Vishal Dadlani sings this song is filled with Indian elements, however, the instrumentation varies more towards a hard-to-place kind of sound. The song opens up with a steady and thumping drum beat, quietly backed by a deep note, sustained throughout. We get this heartbeat, which automatically helps create a little bit of mystery and melancholy within the song. We then hear the faded in and repeated melody. But then everything starts to mellow out and become a bit more subtle, favoring lingering notes and lengthened moments. And I think that works splendidly! In order to create the correct tone for this track, there needed to be a little less structure and more fluidity and freedom. Which is exactly what we got. Instead of adding any other instruments or layers, as soon as the vocals come in, the song drops back to that heartbeat drum rhythm. As the song starts to grow into the chorus, we start to hear the stringed orchestral instruments fade in ever so softly, with a feathery and beautiful melody. We also get a few strums of the electric guitar before Vishal Dadlani takes us into the passionate chorus. But even here, we have the simple conversation between the drums, stringed instruments, and electric guitar. All of these instruments make a hauntingly beautiful bed of sound for the rather melancholy and heartbreaking lyrics.
Though this isn't your typical Bollywood song, I have found it to be one of my absolute favorites. The singer and the songwriter, Javed Akhtar, are two of my favorite Bollywood artists, and hopefully this song will show you why.
Today's instrumental piece is a song that was composed by Maurice Ravel. I know it is quite uncommon of me to talk about orchestral composers and songs outside of the film realm, but hey, we have to expand our horizons! And I seem to have also rediscovered my classical roots, so I want to chat a bit about these classical pieces. This one in particular has been an eerily beautiful piece to play. The title alone is enough to express why it is such a tragic and somber piece. However, what Ravel did in composing this piece, is create something which expresses the sadness and despair of death, and the beauty and grace of a princess. In this way, he composed a piece of work which is a flawless expression of grief and life.
I hope you enjoy the music and please feel free to comment!
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