[Reader-list] Auto-tuners & bad singers by PRASHANT PANDEY

Prashant Pandey prashantpandey10 at rediffmail.com
Wed Mar 23 11:27:09 IST 2005


Hi this is Prashant Pandey sending you my 3rd posting on my research on the contemporary history of the making of bollywood song... i am not theorising or into any deductions i just see,record sounds on dictaphone and do extensive profiling of people who make songs... 
this time it is Ismail Darbar,the celebrated composer and Pawan Da, a guitar player... 
  
Meeting Pawan Da, a guitar player
 

Pawan da is one of the busiest guitar player in bollywood. Though Pawan Da would love to do live shows and compose his own music, he has no time at all. He on an average does 3-4 songs in a day, charging 6000 Rs. Per song. When I tell him it’s a great fun, (playing guitar and making so much money) he smiles and says that some people have struggled a lot in this industry, especially if one wants to be a music director, its very very tough. “I don’t want to do all that, I just want to play guitar and chill.” Clearly, he appears relaxed and calm unlike the producers and the music director who are the most tense and freaked out people in a studio when a recording happens. 
Its funny that Pawan Da doesn’t remember most of the films name for which  he has played. “I work with every music director, and I don’t bother to ask what film is it. I just travel from studio to studio, play a piece, and finish my takes and come back home.”  

A peek into Ismail Darbars’ musical journey and reflections on the industry
 

He comes across as a very composed and easy going person, crediting every success and every good song that he has made, to Allah. His posh apartment is full of plates and inscriptions from the holy Quran and rare Indian musical instruments.  

Ismail Darbar tells me strongly that he wants to work with small producers and he is doing small budget films yet there is a wrong perception about him that he does only big films. It is reminder that how much dependent this industry is on second-hand opinions and heresay. “pata nahi kaha se logo ke dimaag me aa gaya hai ki mai sirf badi-badi film karta hoon
 mai chahta hoon ki log mere paas aaye aur kaam kare
”
But it is not really easy to work with him, there is no tune bank to listen to, there are elaborate orchestra arrangements and planning. He laughs when I tell him that a T-series executive told me, “jitney me Ismail Darbar Ek gaana banata hai,utne me hum log re-mix ka puraa album bana dete hain” . no wonder Dola re Dola in Devdas  cost around 12 lakh. Ismail Darbar doesnot compromise on quality. “I make one song in a month but that’s it.” 
He is one the composers who despite heavy pressure have not sold themselves out. “I will work less but I will make good music”
  
A joke –

In studios there is a mechanism to tune a playback singer. you can sing your notes wrong and it will be tuned later. The singer sings the song and leaves the studio in all his greatness, but the recordist and technicians have to bear the brunt afterwards. Especially if you are doing a project with self-proclaimed pop-artists. (Think of some of the singers who are singing re-mix songs and some who just happen to be influential, connected and surprisingly popular...) there is a joke that a senior recordist told me-

I  met a sound recordist who looked very sad and tired. “ vo sir jhuka ke baitha tha”
Kya hua yaar tabiyat to thik hai ? 
Ha bus pareshan hoo
 
Kyu? 
Yaar vo altaf raza ka kaam chal raha tha
saala  ek din auto-tune karne me lag gaya
 
To ab to ho gaya na ?
Nahi yaar kaam khatam hone se paehli hee baith) gaya. (The auto-tuner too could take it and  crashed after one day)



prashant pandey
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050323/5ca1ded7/attachment.html 


More information about the reader-list mailing list