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We can together sponsor an IR album !!!

Topic started by SR Kaushik (@ elroy.cs.wisc.edu) on Fri Aug 28 13:44:52 EDT 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Guys & gals, I have already put this stuff in one of the therads. But, owing to the poor response, I am starting it as a topic. I am sure if some of us get together, we can sponsor an album of say, IR's great BGM pieces or something like that. I really miss listening to them. I am sure we could raise the funds over a period of time.

Interested people, please respond in this thread. We will have to plan out the details also.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Geetha (@ gatekeeper.oracle.co.uk) on: Tue Sep 1 12:27:24 EDT 1998
  
  Have you guys thought of talking to PYRAMID/HMV/AINGHARAN/SHANKAR/RAMY? These people all produce compilations are are always ready to take suggestions for new business.
  
  Perhaps this is a 'Safe' way of approaching this?!?!? remember, it's a big 'Risk', as any new business venture is and you have to get it "spot on" to be commercially viable, not to mention, give it enough promotion on the Internet and at Retailers. This is dealt with very well by Audio/Video marketing companies and with enough backup, they will be willing to research and contact IR even.
  
  RAMY are the SOLE sealers for IR's music in the UK - perhaps worldwide, so they should be your first point of contact, as they sometimes put bits of background music and songs that are not found elsewhere on their casettes and CD's......
  
  I've heard instrumentals of some of IR's stuff like 'Kattril Varum Geedham' from a tape which had his Hindi version of the song. They had his band do 5 of the songs, just instrumental.....It's excellent....
  
  GOOD LUCK GUYS.....Nice Idea Kaushik
  
  
• From: Geetha (@ gatekeeper.oracle.co.uk) on: Tue Sep 1 12:27:31 EDT 1998
  
  Have you guys thought of talking to PYRAMID/HMV/AINGHARAN/SHANKAR/RAMY? These people all produce compilations are are always ready to take suggestions for new business.
  
  Perhaps this is a 'Safe' way of approaching this?!?!? remember, it's a big 'Risk', as any new business venture is and you have to get it "spot on" to be commercially viable, not to mention, give it enough promotion on the Internet and at Retailers. This is dealt with very well by Audio/Video marketing companies and with enough backup, they will be willing to research and contact IR even.
  
  RAMY are the SOLE sealers for IR's music in the UK - perhaps worldwide, so they should be your first point of contact, as they sometimes put bits of background music and songs that are not found elsewhere on their casettes and CD's......
  
  I've heard instrumentals of some of IR's stuff like 'Kattril Varum Geedham' from a tape which had his Hindi version of the song. They had his band do 5 of the songs, just instrumental.....It's excellent....
  
  GOOD LUCK GUYS.....Nice Idea Kaushik
  
  
• From: kiruba (@ slipper.watcom.on.ca) on: Tue Sep 1 12:45:12 EDT 1998
  
  Okay RAMIY (its a got 'I' in there right ?) is not a pirate company. Why do thy have '???' when they do not know the singers' names ?
  
  I dont think these CD companies do marketing/promotion. They only have a sales network. Also, I am not sure how committed they are to quality. They probably think it is no big deal. Kaushik's idea is to get quality music and recording. It needs people with passion behind this venture. I emailed 'Bhasky' with no replies from them. I also emailed RPG Music asking them to bring out a compilation of IR music. Atleast these people were polite enough to reply. They said their studio was busy till some date or something and they will take up new work later. I haven't received a response to my second email.
  
  So I feel another record label/company may not be a bad idea. I dont know what Kaushik feels. This venture should be on the likes of Chesky/Telarc which make CDs for audiophiles. I am even thinking if we decide to remaster some old songs we should approach Chesky/Telarc for this.
  
  But Geetha, any word of caution/reason is duly appreciated.
  
  
• From: SR Kaushik (@ elroy.cs.wisc.edu) on: Tue Sep 1 16:26:35 EDT 1998
  
  Kiruba, I do not have many fundaes about how to approach the project although I am sure there must be a way if we are serious enough. I am open to any suggestions from you guys as regards this (which company to approach, etc). The final product must be well recorded and played by better instrumentalists, that's all.
  
  
• From: suresh (@ bluebird.qut.edu.au) on: Wed Sep 2 05:32:48 EDT 1998
  
  hi guys
  
  having worked in the audio tape industry for about 5 years a while ago, i don't think any of the above mentioned companies have the capacity to do justice to this kind of a project where the commercial returns may not be well defined.. plus, my personal opinion is that (except HMV) they lack the finesse and class that we expect out of this project.. of all the companies, i'd think only magnasound or sony have the technology & resources to make this a class product; but i daresay they'll jump at the proposal with passion.
  
  or, how about floating something on the lines of an "IR Collective" & executing the whole project under that?? maybe, we could also use IR's new studio for the recording (if it's upto decent standards)
  
  i suggest that we put together a proposal first - on what compilations we plan to bring out, the target market - general mass or a niche category of music lovers, something that will be a clear marketing plan of the project. we'll then have to look at the most important task of copyrights & networking with IR. once we have these details organised precisely, i think we can go ahead & negotiate with the big companies & take it from there.. it certainly looks like a long haul, but not impossible.
  
  i'll be back in india by march'99; count me in to be part of a front end co-ordination team.. i'm not sure how many TFMers are in chennai, but we can all collectively bulldoze our contacts in the movie/audio world to set up meetings with key players & take it from there.
  
  we'll approach this slowly but make sure we have a concrete plan in place before initiating serious things.
  
  
  
  
• From: SR Kaushik (@ elroy.cs.wisc.edu) on: Wed Sep 2 14:16:38 EDT 1998
  
  Well, I agree with Suresh that we must have a clear plan of what to do before actually setting out. Let us first look at the target market aimed. If we are looking at an international market, I will be intersted to know about the sucess of HTNI and NBW to have an idea of how successful our venture may be. IF we are looking at an Indian market esp based in south India, the chances of success are much higher, given IR's name and reputation and of course, requisite publicity.
  Another thing I want to know is, will "Echo" be ready to take up this project? Their cassettes are very good and after all, it is Raja's own company; but I think nowadays, they only prodce cassettes of assorted songs, like "Moonlit Melodies", etc.
  
  As to which compositions to take, I request all guys to give a list of their VERY VERY VERY favorite pieces; not the "I just like it" pieces;
  Also, there are several options: BGM, old songs replayed by proper instrumentalists (I have explained this before I think), or some interlude pieces made full fledged.
  
  Let me begin ( I am not very familiar with the Tamil films of the early 80s and so, they may not be on my list - others can incude those)
  
  BGM
  ~~~
  1. BGM score of Agninakshatram - slow piece played on KBD.
  2. Anjali - title music
  3. Chinna Kanamma - BGM of romantic situations between Karthik & Gouthami
  4. Mouna Raagam - BGM pieces of bth pairs - Karthik, Revathi & Mohan,Revathi.
  5. Nenjathai killathe - tragic piece
  6. Tik Tik Tik - suspense pieces
  7. Sigappu Rojakkal - tragic piece played on piano in the last scene
  8. A few of the infinite number of romantic jazzy flute pieces colored by keyboard in many old films.
  9. Mudhal Mariyadhai - romantic piece for Sivaji-Radha situations, tragic piece for Sivaji-Vadivukkarasi situations
  
  Telugu
  ~~~~~~
  1. Title music of Abhinandana, Gitanjali
  
  
  Old songs whose instrumental parts need to be replayed
  
  1. Paruvame - Nenjathai killathe
  
  I have only made a beginning here. Many more can be added. If there are too many we can maybe go for a vote amongst us as to which to choose. Is this acceptable to all?
  
  
• From: Nirupama (@ mut-53-0434.direct.ca) on: Wed Sep 2 14:35:59 EDT 1998
  
  I think the target market should be the "instrumental music lovers" and not only the TFM audience. IR's bgm has so much variety and colour and it's sure to capture everybody's attention. From my own experience, I have noticed many people who are not at all familiar with tamil films responding very well to certain bgm pieces from IR(eg. Mouna Ragam/Varusham 16). Undoubtedly, marketing & promotion is very essential to this project and I believe this could even be more successful than his other instrumental albums, maybe not initially but later on.
  
  Regarding compilations, I believe that the focus should be on bgm and not songs. One or two songs can be added on to the album as a bonus but bgm itself should carry the weight. Compilations based on themes is an excellent idea. For instance, the theme "melancholy" should include pieces from different films such as Nayakan, Dhalapathy or Johnny. Have you guys noticed how IR has used a classical piece(carnatic piece with a singer uttering the jathis & swaras) during a fight sequence in Unnal Mudiyum Thambi and again in Varusham 16? I think the reason for that is because both heroes(in the movie, of course!) come from a traditional, classical music oriented(sangeetha parambarai) families.
  
  Kaushik, I think this is an excellent idea! I wish you all the best in this endeavour and just let me know if I could be of any help!
  
  
  
• From: Srinivas (@ scproxy3.sc.intel.com) on: Wed Sep 2 15:25:13 EDT 1998
  
  I am an instrumental music lover and like many others, would like to see some of the great BGM pieces of IR brought to life. However, there may be some problems with the actual duration of the pieces. For instance, the theme piece of AGNINAKSHATRAM, a haunting melody that brings out the emotional agony of Kathik, is easily one of the most expressive and striking pieces of Maestro. But, this is a very short piece. I wish we could somehow persuade HIM to develop this into a full-fledged piece (atleast 4 minutes long).
  
  It may be a better idea to go for instrumental versions of songs. There have been some very interesting inputs in the thread "IR's songs that can be turned into purely instrumental". We could take inputs from here.
  The great thing about instrumental pieces is that they have a more global apppeal. This way, we can also use Maestro's great songs from all South Indian languages, without restricting ourselves in any way.
  
  
• From: Srinivas (@ scproxy3.sc.intel.com) on: Wed Sep 2 16:50:27 EDT 1998
  
  Another concern about back ground music pieces is whether they will as effective as stand-alone pieces, without the advantage of having a cinematic situation in the foreground. My experience with Maestro's BGM is that it is very effective and very sensitive, when heard in the context of the movies situation. It is in fact very specific to the situation. This is in fact one of the reasons that gives it so much appeal.
  
  Songs on the other hand are designed to also have a lot of stand-alone appeal. For this reason, they may be more effective than just BGM pieces. They have the added advantage of having a lyrical structure that makes them easier to grasp and enjoy. It may be worth considering having instrumental versions of songs as the promary focus.
  
  
  
  

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