Kannal Pesum Penne – A Playful yet … Moving Apology!

Song: Kannal Pesum Penne
Film: Mozhi
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Singers: S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Music Director: Vidyasagar

Mozhi is possibly one of the best movies to come out of Kollywood recently. With a refreshing story line and amazing talent from up and coming artists, it definitely made a lot of people take notice. My next selection is from this movie.

The situation goes as follows: Prithvi falls in love with Jyothika (who is deaf and dumb). In a casual remark, he mentions that he has a “imagined” voice for her. Hearing this Jyothika becomes furious and Privthi tries to cajole Jyothika to forgive him. A very sensitive and touching situation…

Vairamuthu has penned the lyrics well. He could have avoided the unnecessary “I’m sorry…” interludes, which become quite repetitive and kill the melody of the song. If some people find it cool, IMO, it is only because of our dear SPB… who renders each I’m sorry with such emotion and aplomb. But, still, could be avoided…

But if lyrics are akin to the body, the vocals are akin to soul. They bring a song to life. If so, it is little wonder why Vidyasagar chose SPB to sing this song. I think ONLY SPB can deliver this song with such a great emotion and elan… The man’s voice is sheer magic! I have heard singers who sing melodiously… but SPB sings melodious-er (for the lack of a better term). Top notch!

Vidyasagar has re-used his tune from a song that he composed for a Malayalam movie: Yellamaan in Sathyam Shivam Sundaram. That track was sung by Hariharan. Frankly I like that version “slightly” better (as it sounds much softer… which is how an apology should be made ) and Vidyasagar could have kept the same style in Tamil as well… Oh, well…

The tune has a very distinctive jazzy arrangement and has a blues touch to it — stylistically speaking. Well imagined! It is quite unique for most parts: very nice use of piano, has a great jazzy feel to it, fantastic arrangement on the trumpet/sax — totally cool. However, the rthym sections reminisces me of May Madham’s opening percussion arrangement in the song Margazhi Poove. A typical funk-style beat… Nothing original.

Technical:

Nothing specific to comment on. Good clarity on the Pianos and the trumpet/sax tracks.

Singer:

I said it above and I will say it again — SPB is THE best choice for delivering this song. No one else in the industry right now has the depth, emotability, clarity of his voice. S.P.B’s voice is still in form and has refused to age along with him. His voice is is truly a blessing!

Check out these sangathis/brighas @: 1:53, 3:14. Like I said, class!

In one word:

Totally forgiven!

+s : Good tune, nice jazz/blues interludes, good lyrics, emotive delivery
-s : so-so percussion arrangement, could have avoided repetitive bridges between stanzas

Rating:

Balleilakka – High Energy-ka!

Song: Balleilakka
Film: Sivaji – The Boss
Lyrics: Na. Muthukumar
Singers: S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, A. R. Rehana, Benny, Chorus

A fantastic song to kick off a blockbuster “Thalaivar” movie — Hats off to Rahman. Though not a very original tune, it still bears a lot of listening. For example, listen to the way the drum machine has been arranged (starting off with a repetitive 4 beat/bar arrangement but making a nice segue to 3 beat/1 rest when SPB starts the gapless singing @01:03).

Of course, SPB’s voice, his expression adds its own magic to the song. SPB is the king! Also, some innovative mixing techniques add shine to the song.

I am writing this before the movie release… I haven’t seen any videos of the song but still will attempt a prediction… This will be a truly blockbuster song! I’m sure Shankar’s videography of this song will be nothing less than spectacular.

I assure you that this song will become one of the Top 10 songs for 2007…

Technical:

Technically, Rahman is the king! (or should I say H. Sridhar sir?) Rahman’s songs are always in layers (and very many at that). You should start peeling of layer by layer to see the way the orchestration/arrangement has been imagined… I would dare say that a lot of “knowledgeable” experimentation goes on in Rahman’s songs.

OK, on to the review: Fantasic stereo imaging. Terrific mixing and great depth in the mix. Just listen to the panning @ 00:51 – 00:56. Awesome!

The background drums are not just pure drums but there is also a string instrument resonating at the same frequency. You can get a glimpse of it at 00:19 – 00:21 in the song. A fantastic transition at 00:22 from female to male chorus using a mixture of 2 tabla taps/salangai sound. Innovative!

Gaps can be used as a good transition from Pallavi to Anu-pallavi and this technique has been used here in this song. Instead of maintaining the same beat, the beat takes a break (@01:22 – @1:26) and resumes. Check out the salangai again at @1:41 – @1:46.

The next transistion is just a beat oriented transition – I would say a mix of African Samba drum beats and our own dappan-kuthu. Nice…

Check out the Yele Yele in the background @ 2:11 and again at @2:17. It is not our traditional Yele. It is a kind of Africanized Yele. Cool! Also, I fondly recall a Wave plugin that can exactly make this effect. Centering the vocal, letting it pan (not fully) and bringing it back to the center. (Could it be Waves Doppler?) It adds a rich stereo sheen to the main vocal.

Top it all of, if you heard the cellphone tone @2:21 – 2:34, you see the genius of Rahman. Taking ordinary sounds and setting them in the mix…. Simbly Genius!

A nice kick drum aids the transition at @2:48. Look at the imaging and tightness of the kick drum. It is not at all muddy. Wish I could mix with this clarity. Sigh!

A pe-pe aids the transition to the Charanam of the song. pe-pe (esp. at this freq. when ezhutthu played will convey a sad emotion. Here is played in short bursts imparting energy). The shredding effect is another Waves plugin! (Waves MondoMod). Dude, this guy breaths technology!

Singer:
One word – SPB! (Rehana is OK, Benny no where to be seen, may be in the chorus?)

SPB displays tremendous energy. Unbelievable that he is 60+. Hats off to you sir!
Check out his expressions @3:51-@3:59… Also, don’t forget the SPB sangathis for Kaveri, Pengalum, Kangalum across Pallavi, Anu-pallavi and Charanam.

05:01-05:04 features a falsetto (sounds exactly like Rajini) highlighting the range of SPB’s voice.

However, I think 05:08 – 5:30 and earlier gapless singing could be computer technology @ work… (Who cares, it is SPB!)

The end is kinda amalgamation of all the instruments. Suddenly strings appear out of nowhere in the mix. This is what I call as “experimentation” — but pros only please… I am too sick of listening to too many confused mixes in the name of experimentation

Lyrics:
Lyrics has been penned by Na. Muthukumar. Very creative lyrics, that totally convey the situation (Rajini returning from abroad to his village in India). Typically, songs @ this tempo usually has meaningless fillers (humming and other noises). Glad to hear the lyrics being full and meaningful. Good job! Of course, SPB totally practices what he preaches — singing each syllable with full clarity. Try signing at this tempo and you’ll see what I mean… I would like to see Udit Narayan and other imports do that… (PS: I don’t have anything against Udit Narayan and am a big fan of his voice. So, don’t start bashing me…)

In one word:
(Like SPB/Thalaivar says in the end of the song)

Cool!

+s : Terrific energy, good lyrics, impeccable delivery
-s : Not a great tune, percussion arrangement little repetitive

Rating:

Equipment and Listening…

101s:

No, it is not about highway 101, but rather a gentle introduction to audio/recording technology… Well, not so gentle, but read on, read on….

I assume that you have heard the term “Multi-Track recording”. This is 50.5 for understanding current music recording technology… (101/2 he he…). Otherwise, Google is your friend.

OK, on to the 101…

To tell it like Sivaji… Andha Kaalathhula, naanga ellarum tapela thamma record pannuvoummmmmm…. In those days, recording was done in a fairly sophisticated studio directly to tape. Yummy, analog recording… those were the days… anyways, it had its own pluses and minuses. Tape had a natural warmth, saturation etc., but you couldn’t seek it randomly. You had to re-wind to re-do takes, etc. etc. There are still folks recording to tapes and say “You can pry my old’ creaking Tascam Tape recorder out of my cold, dead hands”. For them, Digital Recording sounds cold and lifeless.

Anyways, slowly we entered the Digital age, where Mr. Computer became our best friend and we entered Digital Recording era. So, ippo enna pandranganna, analog recording is digitized (convereted to 1’s and 0’s using sophisticated algos) and then stored in the hard disk. This way, it can be mangled^w treated using various plugins and make your voice and mine sound like SPB’s in a non-destructive fashion — well not exactly, since NONE == SPB

How do we sample an analog signal to digital 1’s and o’s. Idhula neraya per PhD ellam pannikirango… So, to put it short, one Mr. Claude Shannon suggested that we need to sample a wave of freq f by atleast 2f to re-construct the wave form, nnu. Purnichikiniya? Adhavathu, human ear 20Hz-20KHznna, we need to sample at least 40KHz… Adhu eppadiyo, 44.1KHz ayidichhi… OK, va?

So, we have our current CD standard 44.1KHz digital signal sampled at 16-bit resolution.

Modern studios (like our Rahmans‘) would be working with even higher sampling/bit-rates — more like 192KHz / 24-bits and then during mastering it will be down-sampled to 44.1KHz to CD Audio Standards. Hope you’re not asleep by now…

Hence, I say…

#1:
A good source is a MUST for critical listening… Forget the crappy low-bit rate MP3s that you boot-legged from CoolToad… I am talking 24-bit, 192KHz sound samples, people… Well, not exactly, 16-bit, 44.1KHz is good enough… You may have heard of this otherwise as “Audio CDs” What a cheap way of referring to it…

This MUST be complemented by a good CD player (I recommend Sony).

So, now that we have a good source to listen to, we need to “feed the bits to our ears”

Hence, I say…

#2:
We need a good set of cans. No, not the petrol can… Headphones. You cannot skimp on this. You absolutely need the 1000$ plus headphones… (yes, such headphones do exist). No not really, but (he he fooled you… serves you right for sleeping through the earlier half of the blog…) but the 5$ ones are definitely off the list.

You need a set of good head phones that will not “color” the music as much as possible and be faithful to the original signal. This kinda hard to do right (hence, the above 1000$ headphone). But a good place to start would be here: Headwize

My personal recommendation: Get a Sennheiser HD-280 or a Grado SR-60. Both are great and won’t cost you that kidney…

OK, so we settled that: Good Source, Good cans next…

#3:
Good listening environment. Avoid noisy tea kadai’s and loud friends’ houses. Find a good calm, spot, turn on your CD player, plugin your headphone and then …

…. Aduthha Varam Ethe Neram

Welcome!

Vanakkam:

I love music. I am sure everyone does. I am yet to find someone who says “I hate music” (at least on our very own Terra Firma ). While it started with Tamil Film Music on Vividh Bharati, it soon expanded to include every possible Genre… However, Tamil Film Music still has a special place in my heart…

Every person seriously interested in Music should have one thing — A Good EarTM! Ear Training is a key step in critically appreciating music. With some intense listening and training, you will be amazed as to what you can Listen… as opposed to just hear… To quote Altec Lansing’s tag line: “Just Listen To This” with an emphasis on Listen…

I start this blog with a simple idea… Listen to a recent film’s song critically and critique on it. I am by no means a Bob Katz, a David Moulton or our very own H. Sridhar… but hey, I am entitled to my own opinions… I am entitled to my right to evangelize the ordinary listener to the nuances in Tamil Film Music or to down right pollute their minds (however, you want to look at it…)… but most of all as a tax-paying (paying fees to SBC) netizen it is my right to e-pollute the already e-polluted Blog space

So, get ready for some heavy-duty listening sessions with me… And oh! Please feel free to “kuttu”fy me and correct me on the rare (at least I hope so) occasion where I go on a complete tangent in my reviews…

Happy Listening!