world dawns on us right from the time we open our eyes in the morning til we hit the sack..thousands of thoughts surround us ... keep emanating like a never ending waves in the sea...its desires..desires ...desires...goals..needs....dos...wants..musts...wah wah wah!!! just this range of desires vary..a businessman is worried abt his tax returns....and a beggar abt a next meal.. sometimes i think we have all been automated beings and become slaves of thinking abt needs..one might argue that its quite natural for beings like us to be worried abt our needs..after all we need to survive..well yes!! but in this very process we forget whats "life"...i dont agree that life is just this - this constant yearning and fight to survive here.. sure..some needs like food and shelter are indeed something to be concerned upon..probably if i talk abt this to a person whose basic needs are at stake..he might prolly get really mad at me...but this is pointed to an average man.. we have lost the idea how to live in peace..we seem to have forgotten whats peaceful life thats so content..so fulfilled... the yearning for something is what is the culprit here.. we dont give ourselves fully for what we are at that moment.. we try to swim instead of floating as osho says..
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Rafi and Lata the magic combo!
below is a petty collection of the great duo...
the composers are sometimes salil, rd burman....pls notice the unique blend of wind, reeds and string in the songs!!!
the composers are sometimes salil, rd burman....pls notice the unique blend of wind, reeds and string in the songs!!!
honey like lata and rafi/mukesh...truly close to heart ....and not to forget the lyrics.. golden words... :) if u admire urdu u ll like it more..
there are hundreds of rafi - lata combo.. this is just v v few...many i have not explored yet.. may be my collection is not the best...but i wd like to share :)
1st song
i like the intelligent use of accordian in this...and aweseommmmmmmmmmmm lyrics :)
addnl info.. mala sinha is so butiful :D
2nd song
another gem from lata and rafi.. i like for its soberness and speciallly rafi :)
the music is so soothing.....soooooo soooothing !! again brillaint lyics..:) and the film is tajmahal...
3rd song
another gem from the same movie - tajmahal..brillaint lyrics and orchestration..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TehJFYrDFJw especially the prelude is justt aweseommmmmmm....sitar just oranaments it..again nice lyrics
4th song
again tajmahal...:)
5th song
kabhi raat din hum door they....and this was the song that i was reminded of yesterday.... love the orchestartion...the effective strings.... entry bgm is so nice and i like it gadually goes to the song... :) pls pls pay attention to the lyrics :) i love it especially the last stanza..and the beat is unique and so suportive to the mood..simply brillaint composition...!!!!
6th song
this is prolly one of the most popular rafi late combo...awesome song.
swift tempo with awesome use of strings.. !! again the crazy pair of mala sinha and devanand..
interim bgm rocks!!!
7th song
this is a nice song too :D i love it v simple and st fwd..
8th song
again strings!!!! :) v nice lyrics tooo :) i like the tabla.. in this song... life of the song...notice the sharp breaks
9th song
prelude and tempo!!! sad song though...rafis voice melts!!!!
armaan liye beite hai hum..seene mei hai tera hi gham...!!!
i like the way lata enters the song and the bgm just before that .... !
10th song
another sad song :D
i don know if thats really a mouthorgan or seomother reed...
11th song
ok another sad song :D
i so much like the bgms..and lyrics..
miltha kahan dharthi se gagan...aao waheen hum jaayen..
tu mereliye mei terliye...!
12th song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh3yEmmKvOU
tabla has done an awesome job!!!!
last but not the least
teri duniya se door....
enjoy!
Monday, August 03, 2009
Nivedan's Tips on Harmonica - Types of Harmonica
Initially, my friends played notes one by one patiently on keyboard or guitar and let me find that note in the Harmonica by trial and error until I got it. After regular practice, I started to play songs once I heard them. But note that I could play only C scale. Maybe this is the best way for a novice to learn that. All you need is a keyboardist with loads of patience.
Normal ones do not play more than one scale. Getting a practice piece in C scale itself was quite an achievement in madurai :D But later, when my brother went to Germany, when he was with Siemens, he got me a professional piece. It is a chromatic harmonica which is tuned to C scale by default, but you can play all scales by pushing a small button to close full notes to access half notes that do not find place in C scale. Let me explain this. There is an inhale note and an exhale note in a harmonica. In Chromonica there are two pairs of such reeds in a hole. With the button in normal position you can play one set of notes and with the button pushed, you can play half notes in the same holes. But I had no time or motivation to practice with that. It will take years of practice to learn that.
I had used three harmonicas before. The first one was a c scale practice piece by Matth Hohner called "Puck". It is tiny and has plastic comb (The core that forms the holes). It was the easiest of all to play. You need not strain much and it is too sensitive to the air. The notes sound great. As a beginner you won't be exhausted fast. But the disadvantage is, it is too small to hold. The air you blow won't seep through the joints between the comb and the metal covers (That is essential if you wan't to create effects like the 'wah-wah' effect (CHECKOUT THE SITE- www.harmonicalessons.com to learn playing it and create modulations. It helped me long time back. I hope the site still exists) . So, it will sound loud and it will be easy to play, but the modulations won't sound professional.
My second Harmonica was a semi-pro C scale Matth Hohner Blues Harp. It was the only piece that I used on stages. It won't sound as good as puck as long as you do not know the basics. It has a solid wooden comb and it is good to hold and make great modulations. If you shift to this from Puck, you should do atleast 3 hrs of practice, otherwise you will be a flop on stage, with loss of breath. It requires more energy to blow, but it sounds great with acoustic guitar on a professional microphone and amplified speakers.
The last one is a pucca professional piece- Matth Hohner Chromonica. Unfortunately, as I told earlier, I don't have time and motivation to play that. It is also too hard to play and one has to practice atleast 4-6 hrs everyday. If ever you want to learn that, my suggestion is not to buy a wooden combed professional piece. Get something like the Puck. It is cheap (I got it for Rs. 650 sever years ago). If you do not have a keyboardist, listen to songs and try to practice (Titan watch music was the first song I practised- It took me 3 days to identify the notes).
Nivedan's Tips on Harmonica - the basics
Try to start from the basics.
Holding, playing and precautionary measures
1. Hold the harmonica from the left side, with the thumb below and the rest of the fingers above.
2. The right hand should be in the shape of C and should cover the opening in the back and closing the gap behind, so that the air does not escape so easily.
3. Do not blow it hard, you may end up damaging the reeds
4. Make the metal cover above and below the holes wet so that it will be easy to move it around
5. When you keep it inside the case, tap the holes upon your palm gently, so that the saliva/dust does not stay in it.
Practicing
1. Practice blowing/inhaling in one hole. Multiple notes should not come out. Remember that you have to play pieces. Blowing notes together will play chords. So one note at a time. It will take atleast 3 days to do that.
2. Secondly, be patient, do not overdo things on the first day. Play for a minute, take rest for a minute. Do this again and again and increase the time you play before resting. On the first day, I did it with over enthusiasm for five hours continuously and fainted. The next day, when I inhaled I felt as if someone had placed huge rocks on the chest. It requires some breathing exercise to play continuously.
3. Once you start playing in one hole at a time, try to do pitch bending. I mean, practice transition from one note to the other i.e inhale to exhale as well as one hole to the other, until you get it right without ending up in more than one hole at a time and until the transition becomes smooth.
4. Then start practising a piece in the default scale of your instrument (Without button press, it should be C) Practice it everyday and do not try different pieces. You should play that for four to six hours everyday. Musician's life's not so easy. I worked for 5 hours everyday without fail to qualify myself for a stage. Our guitarist Benin practiced from 3.00 to 3.00 (college hours- 08.30 - 01.10) to start as a novice all the way to play in a professional band in 2 years. If you see full time professionals you will go mad.
5. Once you can play the first tune without any blemishes including searching for note, playing wrong notes, loss of breath, etc, go for the next piece/song.
6. If you want to get a spot on a stage, 5 hours is not enough. For on-stage programmes, we forget brushing teeth to going to class, mess and even tea, atleast 20 days b4 the programme. We practice around 15-16 hrs. Singing on stage is easier. But you will initially go out of breath on stage even after rigorous practice. So breath management is very important, otherwise the fellow musicians will go past you while you gasp. You will need to plan when to draw air while playing without affecting the pieces.
Chromonica!! My new toy!
CLICK THE TITLE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT CHROMONICA ...
Make : Hohner company of GermanyScale: C major 10 holes
I bought this Beautiful instrument in Poland - Gdansk! The moment i saw a music shop, i saw some glittering harmonicas displayed.. I cannot stop from deciding to grab one! I picked almost every piece (thanks to the patient shopkeeper) and started blowing...! Somehow the timbre of this one attracted me so much..sooner my friends joined me in the shop to help me decide a good one. I used to play one, their job was to nod yes or no...and now was the time for chromonica...there was a big YES nod from them...they liked it too :D alright! thats it! i the next moment i was in the billing counter so much excited abt my new harmonica. Thanks to my freind Nivedan who told me once about his passion for harmonica when i got myself an ocarina ( ocarina takes back seat for sometime :) ) the most unique characteristic of this one is its ability to play half notes. In the picture, one could see a push button at the end which does all the wonders. Once the push button is pressed it plays half notes which gives more option for the player to experiment! Overall an awesome piece and a great sound :)
This is also a unique combo of wind and reed! :)
Adios
P.S. Nivedan has shared with me some of his knowledge about harmonicas which i generously would like to share for all music lovers.
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