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Impact of TFM on other communities

Topic started by Nirupama (@ 209.153.226.35) on Fri Jul 24 00:46:10 EDT 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Ravi: Thanks for your prompt response. With your suggestion, I am starting this new thread.

Hi Friends,

I'm Nirupama from Vancouver, Canada. Since I visit this site quite often and have found out your passion for tamil film music, I thought this bit of information will be interesting for you.

With a help of a friend who hosts a hindi show on radio, I started my own radio show for tamil film music. Since there are no other tamil radio shows in Vancouver, I thought tamils living here might appreciate this. But to my surprise, I received many calls from non-tamils(White Canadians, etc) inquiring about this strange yet wonderful eastern(or fusion, rather) music. The show is only three-weeks old, and every week I've been getting these phone calls. I've described this type of music to the best of my abilities, but still their curiosity is overwhelming.

Some of their comments in their own words are:
"Hey, I love this music! What is it called?" , "This is great! Where is it from?" , "I like traditional Indian music, but what you're playing sounds very interesting!" Some even asked me for the film and song names.

In order to find out more about their music preferences, I tried playing songs from different periods, styles etc. What do guys think about this? Any guesses on whose music style or what type of tamil film music they like?? I'll talk more about that later.....

Nirupama

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: vasanth (@ mira.cc.umanitoba.ca) on: Fri Jul 24 17:17:12 EDT 1998
  
  Its really great to hear about this. I am currently living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It will be great if we could receive ur service here.
  In any case congrats
  
  
• From: Nirupama (@ van-as-11a07.direct.ca) on: Fri Jul 24 18:17:24 EDT 1998
  
  Dear Friends,
  
  I just came back from work and I couldn't believe my eyes. Wow! Thank you so much for all your good wishes, I don't know if I deserve all this. The show is still in its initial stages and with time and experience, I think I can make this more successful. I have already learnt so much from this forum, and as Madhan pointed out, I will seek your assistance whenever I need it. Since I am new to this forum, I'm just going to post my response in general and after that I will try to make individual comments.
  
  I was actually worried today thinking if I had started an IR Vs. ARR argument all over again. I'm so glad this thread did not take that road. So, here it goes...
  
  The first two weeks I was actually filling-in for an Hip-hop music show and just this Tuesday I got a regular time-slot for my show. It mostly started happening in the 2nd week.
  
  For the first half an hour, I was playing some devotional songs. Since I didn't have vey many hindu devotionals with me I thought I'll play this song from the film "Kadavul" - Aathi Sivan Thol Irukkum by Bhavadharini. Please excuse my spelling as I'm not used to writing Tamil in English. Immediately, I received a call asking about the origin of the music etc. from a White lady. I told her it was a hindu devotional composed in the folk music style from South India. And, the song comes from a movie album. She couldn't really believe it's a devotional type of song because of that fast beat. Then she said she liked the rhythm, the tune etc. and asked for the name of the album.
  I just thought it was a fluke call and didn't take much notice of it.
  
  Srinath: Why should you doubt Illaiyarajah anyday? But, I really didn't think that he will make an impression with that song on a foreigner.
  
  In the second hour I started playing more contemporary music (with westernized orchestration). For example, Ooh la la la, Oh Baby Baby, Kattana Ponnu, Laila Laila( Kadhala Kadhala), Kaasu mele, Poovukkellam (Uyirodu Uyirage), even Kannodu Kanbethellam and Un Perai Kettalae(Poonjolai).
  
  Again I received a call from another white guy. He said "hey, l really love this music! Can I jump into your show? Can I come and join you in the studio? (Now this scared me a bit:)) If you take a look at the above songs, you will see that it comes from a variety of music directors like ARR, KR, IR and Vidhyasagar. The credit goes to all of them. It seems like they also like the Indian version of Western songs as well. Guys, I'm really tired now. I'll be back in about an hour or so.
  
  Illaiyarajah fans, behold! There's more coming your way!
  
  Regards
  Nirupama
  
  
• From: Nirupama (@ van-52-2127.direct.ca) on: Sat Jul 25 03:13:45 EDT 1998
  
  Hi Guys,
  
  Do not lose interest in this topic yet. There is still more news to come. I just remembered what happened the first week of my programme. I was just playing my last song and the DJ for the next show(Jazz Music) came in. He started humming along with S.Janaki. I asked him if he liked the song. He replied,"Oh, yes, very much so. The scale is bit higher but it sounds great." The song was "Sippi Irukkudu Muthum Irukkudu" - Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu(M.S.V). So, there we go! Even MSV got some recognition from non-indians. But I found out that the songs of 50s & 60s got the least amount of recognition. I'll be back with more. Eagerly awaiting for your comments.
  
  Nirupama
  
  
• From: Nirupama (@ van-as-12b16.direct.ca) on: Sat Jul 25 13:07:32 EDT 1998
  
  Hi,
  
  What I found out from this whole episode is that people who are not exposed much Indian music tend to be more impartial in their opinions. Because they don't know history behind the musicians, they are able to evaluate their music fairly.
  
  Here's another interesting call that I received. I was still not too sure if they would really like our traditional type of songs. Songs that are based in Carnatic or songs that just have a lot of Indian flavour. So, I picked out a few songs of 80s & 90s (mostly by IR), which I thought were light and catchy at the same time had some Indian influence. Some of the songs were:
  Naan Enbadhu Nee Allavo (Soorasamharam)
  Ramanin Mohanam (Netrikkann)
  Maniye Manikuyile (Nadodi Thendral)
  Thoongatha Vizhigal (Agni Nakshathiram) and so on.
  The caller asked,"What do call this beautiful music?". As a crazy IR fan myself, I couldn't have asked for more. I asked him if he was referring to the Indian music I was playing(just to make sure he was listening to these songs). He said of course he was and went on to say that he had listened to some traditional Indian music(like devotionals, bajans) before but nothing like this. This sounded fresh and new to him and he again asked more about the origin of the music, etc.
  
  Friends, if I could ask you all something. When somebody who had no exposure to TFM before asks you about the music, what is the best possible description you would give? It is not fully classical, or pop, or folk? Is it called fusion music or light music? Please tell me something about this.
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ socks9d.raleigh.ibm.com) on: Sat Jul 25 13:32:51 EDT 1998
  
  It's called TFM ;-) No better way to describe it :-) But I guess the widely accepted term would be light music. Nirupama, I am just curious, but does your audience like it just because it's different or did somebody come up with a reason. Well, I know you don't really need a reason to enjoy music, but was it just the fact the the music had no particular style that attracted your audience or do they like it because it lives up to (and beyond) their standards (or the styles that they are accustomed to)?
  
  
• From: Nithin (@ nc36.pr.mcs.net) on: Sat Jul 25 14:38:46 EDT 1998
  
  Dear Nirupama
  
  You have got me back into TFM discussion once again. Thanks a lot. Indian film music is easily one of the highest forms of creative artistic endeavours. Illaiyaraja who has brought out the inherent depths of Indian music that has been over
  thousands of years in the making has not only been described as one of the greatest geniuses of the world, but has also brought daily happiness and joy to millions of poeple around the world. Indina film music requires that much depth of perception to appreciate, which to a great extent carnatic lovers of music have. It is not surprising then South film music has flowered aside the practice of carnatic music and been able to have the support of millions and millions of South Indian people. If people abroad are able to appreciate Indian film music now, it is because msot of them have understood the real depth of music upon listening to Indian carnatic and devotional music. Only because of the depth of such music have we seen the creation of brilliant tunes and interludes that translated to Hollywood movie themes, each interlude could easily suffice to be the theme score of a movie. Illaiyaraja may have over 7,000 interludes to his credit, good enough for 7,000 Hollywood movie scores! (I am crazy about the potential of Illaiyaraja music.)
  
  Nirupama, please give us a daily updata, close to what CNBC does, if not by the hour. I was discussing with Anand Mahadevan that it is only a matter of having a radio station to send out Tamil songs before you find yoursefl overwhelmed by the responses of listeners. That was my experience when I was listened to the Tamil Broadcast of Radio Ceylon in the 70s and 80s. No other entity has helped many more music lovers enjoy Tanil film music than Radio Ceylon.
  
  May your endeavours continue.
  
  Nithin
  
  
• From: Nithin (@ nc36.pr.mcs.net) on: Sat Jul 25 14:54:52 EDT 1998
  
  Nirupama
  
  Some song suggestions:
  
  MSV's Ninaithalley Innikkum, Anbe Vaa, Aaayirathil Oruvan, etc.
  
  IR's Kizhakkey Pogum Rayil, Moondram Pirai, Annai Oru Aaalayam, Tik, Tik, Tik Amman Koil Kizhakkaley, Janny. Yatramozhi (Mal) Anvesham (Telugu) Sadma (Hindi) Pallavi Anu Pallavi (Kannada) You ask me I will send you the rarest from my CD collection!!
  
  Regards
  
  
• From: Nirupama (@ van-as-06b11.direct.ca) on: Sun Jul 26 00:11:51 EDT 1998
  
  Srinath,
  
  I'm just as curious as you are to find out what they really like or what exactly they like about this music. Since all these callers responded to different styles of music, I think they have found something that relates to their personal taste in music. To find out more about this I need do the show a few more times and also talk to them in depth about why they like it. Some people may like it because it's just different from what they listen to(IR) or they may like it because it sounds familiar(ARR, KR). I guess we just have to wait and see what happens.
  
  Hi Nithin,
  
  Thanks very much for your compliments. I'm glad you're enjoying this. I agree with you fully on what you said about Carnatic music style and its influences in TFM. Leave alone non-indians, how many people of Indian origin fully understand the realm and beauty of classical music. I've met people who see no difference between an Illaiyarajah song and a Deva song. This left me very annoyed and upset. This is also one of the reasons for me to do this radio show in the first place. I couldn't stand to see the gems of IR and other composers go unnoticed. But it's really strange that non-asians understand IR's music better than north-indians (I have tried this with my Punjabi & Fijian friends).
  
  Thanks again for your suggestions. I only have a few from the ones you've listed above. If it's not too much trouble for you I would love to get some of them from you. And, of course, I will keep you posted on what goes on during the show.
  
  Regards
  Nirupama
  
  
  
• From: Madhan (@ 202.41.117.11) on: Sun Jul 26 06:01:09 EDT 1998
  
  Dear Ms.Nirupama,
  
  I have a few suggestions to make - first of all it is heartening to learn that there has been a terrific response to the Radio show you are hosting and also this thread !!
  
  Since you have decided to go ahead full throttle with this Radio Show, it becomes imperative that , every alternate Show or third show, you try and explain some basic concepts/myths/technical aspects about Indian classical music - both Carnatic and Hindustani and try and compare and contrast with those of Western Classical Music ,the evolutionary stages of different genres of music - for all this, you would need to do some homework and lot of research - as I said earlier, it is best to take advices from regular music knowledgeable TFM DF surfers.
  
  I have an audio cassette with me - "AN APPRECIATION OF WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC - VOL.1 AND 2 - A COMPARISON BETWEEN WESTERN CLASSICAL/HINDUSTANI AND CARNATIC SYSTEMS OF MUSIC" by a group comprising Prakash Dwivedi, Venkat, Dhanasree Pandit etc. It is a very good album, which contains some simple, down-to-earth lectures on the basic concepts in these different systems of music... released by Music India Limited (MIL), it is a must for all classical music connosseurs ...
  
  What I am trying to convey here is that, you may chose a set of songs from TFM, for every episode and while playing the song, discuss the technical aspects of the song and also leave the discussion open for the listeners to respond retrospectively..
  
  For instance, you may play,"ENdhan NEnjil Neengaadha" from Kalaignan and explain how different genres of music, Indian classical, and Jazz beats have been used judiciously and also explain the classical melodic base of the song itself.
  
  For instance, most of Western Classical music pieces use harmony and percussion instruments are used as an "emotional" ingredient to add to the drama of a situation, whereas, Indian CM is based on MELODY alone and percussion instruments are used in a cyclic fashion, wherein the useage is more intelligent (that is predicable, which has no role to play in the emotional aspect) than emotional -
  now, IR has used percussion instruments for heightening emotions a la BAROQUE style in certain songs like AZGHAGU MALAR AADA,SANGEEDHA JAADI MULLAI, which are purely Indian classical based, whereas in certain compositions like NINNUKKORI VARNAM, IR has very very shrewdly interpreted Indian classical in HARMONIC style and songs like "YENNULLEY" and "YEN VAANILEY", the Western CM elements have been interpreted in a melodic way !!
  
  In each Radio session, you can try explaining these aspects of TFM - this would be something new to a Westen listener..
  
  But for all this , you need to have a network - based in Goa,India, I will do my level best to help you out - but the sooner you organise things with our US DF friends, easier it will be for you to incorporate all the above , I have suggested..
  
  REST IN NEXT -- I have lots and lots to share....
  
  

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