Home   Forum   Wiki   Notes   Register   FAQ   Sitemap   About Us   Contact Us  

Unnikrishnan Vs Hariharan

Topic started by Puri (@ 202.54.33.208) on Sat Aug 22 04:00:12 EDT 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hi guys,
Everybody compares IR with ARR or SPB with HH.I'am a fan of UnniK but I find Hariharan equally good.I would like to listen to your comments on this topic.Let us not make this a WWF match or a Slug Fest

---

Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Raj (@ master.hyd.deshaw.com) on: Fri Apr 30 15:28:41 EDT 1999
  
  This is interesting..I am enjoying this...and I thought the greatest fun was to take part in the proceedings;-))
  
  
• From: bb (@ franck.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Fri Apr 30 15:35:19 EDT 1999
  
  ok, let me hear what rajaG has to say on this (listen to uncles rather than nephews:))) )
  
  about variety, when the base of comparison is not the same, the comparison loses its value. it might be absurd to compare chemmangudi and pavarotti, though both are singers:) HH's way of singing and UK's way of singing are pretty different, and one must accept that neither of them have the range of SPB for comparison with SPB's versatility.
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ kcecfp01.sprint.com) on: Fri Apr 30 15:37:31 EDT 1999
  
  rameshb,
  
  I am glad we got the SPB comparison out of the way. I will focus on HH. In minnal oru kOdi... in the second line, when he says un vaarththai thEynaanadhEy his volume flares up thereby changing his emotional expression compared to the line before and the line after. I was wondering how, say SPB, would do it? I did'nt have to wonder for long. I recently heard the dubbed version done by SPB. Surprise! Surprise! No fluctuation on volume. SPB has added a subtle expression in the parts of the words corresponding to VAArththai...and THEnaanadhEy and has beautifully maintained the consistency in expression. Please, I just used this as an example and not to start the SPB comparison. Just to show how it could be/should be done. I think, contrary to what Anand has said, HH does not have a wide range in the upper octave, but, YES, sounds good in the regular sthaayis, which is where 90% of the song is set.
  I have to hurry now, so I will have to take this up later. Probably, we should invite Sriram Lakshman's views too, which I respect and think are quite sound (not only because he occasionally agrees with me):-)
  
  
  
  
• From: Maamavai vuttu kodukkatha Marumaan (@ master.hyd.deshaw.com) on: Fri Apr 30 15:37:47 EDT 1999
  
  "one must accept that neither of them have the range of SPB for comparison with SPB's versatility."
  
  
  Which is precisely what uncle has been saying!!
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ kcecfp01.sprint.com) on: Fri Apr 30 15:46:57 EDT 1999
  
  Raj, Sri, b(i)b(i),
  
  naan enna oorukkEy maamaavaa? bb welcome to the family:-)
  
  
• From: bb (@ franck.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Fri Apr 30 15:50:22 EDT 1999
  
  rajaG: i was referring to ur age..raj was referring to ........!
  
  raasu, yes, i just extended rajaji's argument saying that u should not use versatility as a parameter for comparing HH and UK too:)
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ kcecfp01.sprint.com) on: Fri Apr 30 15:52:23 EDT 1999
  
  bb,
  
  enga periyammaa (ongaLukkellaam paatti moRa) soldra maadhiri, 'adhaththaanEy naa appO pidichchu sollindirukkEn. naa enna iththannEramaa "ENGLISH" la yaa pEsindirukkEn - puriyaama irukkaradhukku?"
  
  
• From: bb (@ franck.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Fri Apr 30 15:56:21 EDT 1999
  
  enakku therinja orE periyammaa - JJ
  chinnammaa - u know who:)))
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ kcecfp01.sprint.com) on: Fri Apr 30 15:59:23 EDT 1999
  
  Oh this is great! So I should not use versatility as a measure. I thought playback singing was about singing for different situations, for different actors, for different moods etc. etc. And versatility is NOT a criterion. What is? SruthiyOda semmangudi kooda paaduvaar (OK, paadindirundhaar. picky! picky!) avara yEn kooppidakkoodaadhu? Versatility illaama 1950s la paadindirunthaa. Somebody pinch me. I thought we were in 90s. ayyayyO! Y2K problem vandhuduththaa?
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ ss07.nc.us.ibm.com) on: Fri Apr 30 16:06:00 EDT 1999
  
  bb:
  Semmangudi and Pavarotti vary more than just in style of singing, whereas HH and SPB are both in the same profession - playback singing. You are comparing Apples and Oranges. I was comparing Apples and....konjam poorer quality apples :-) Nee ennamo arguing for the sake of it maadhiri irukku ! Did you find out who ragumanfan is, yet ?
  
  
• From: bb (@ franck.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Fri Apr 30 16:12:40 EDT 1999
  
  no, i didn't, and poor me, what can i do if the person himself asks me if i found him out:(
  
  rajaG: is it? ellaa saappaadum aviyalaa thaan irukkaNumaa:)))) pity seerkaazhi and the likes!
  
  
• From: bb (@ franck.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Fri Apr 30 16:13:33 EDT 1999
  
  more aptly, pity KBS and the likes:)))
  
  
• From: rameshb (@ stagfw.thehartford.com) on: Fri Apr 30 16:20:30 EDT 1999
  
  BB,
  'and the likes' , yAru 'IlA arunA'?
  
  
• From: Udhaya (@ 205.218.142.217) on: Fri Apr 30 21:30:39 EDT 1999
  
  Coming back to HH and UK,
  This is an upgraded comparison since I posted here long back when I was young and innocent in DF.
  
  HH appears to have spit out the butter ball he was chewing all these days and finally gave some classics with decent Thamizh pronunciation in 99:
  
  -"anbae anbae" from Uyirodu Uyiraaga
  -"iravaap pagalaa" and "chudithaar aninthu" from Poovellaam Kaettuppaar
  
  UK has gone on and tried voice modulation in "Thirakkatha Kaattukkulla" from En Swaasak Kaatrae
  and learned to have fun by displaying playfullness in "Poova poova poovae" and "Oh Senorita". Both have improved their singing since their TFM debuts.
  
  Now, coming to the SPB vs. HH comparisons. SPB (not taking anything away from his monstrous achievements) did sing many songs in the late 60s early 70s that aren't any better than bad HH songs of today. Anyone remember the following tunes:
  -thoduvathenna thendraloa malargaloa
  -angam pudhuvidham azhaginil oruvidham
  -oh maina oh maina idhu un kanna
  -unnaith thoduvathu iniyathu naan sollitharuvathu
  -malligaippoo vaangivandhaen punnagayin vilayaaga
  
  Though the music or lyrics didn't help much with these songs, his voice modulation wasn't great. He sounded giddy with enthusiasm in most of his songs and had serious Kishore affectations with his "oho aha lalaallaalaa" yodelling.
  
  Though some amazing numbers like in Adimaippenn, Santhi Nilayam, Naetru Indru Naalai came his way, the great SPB of today didn't emerge until the time of "Annan oru Kovil endraal" and "Vaan Nila Nila alla". When IR came in to the field SPB was primed and ready and the rest is amazing history.
  
  So give HH and UK their due.
  
  
• From: srinivasan (@ epslab14.rvs.uc.edu) on: Fri Apr 30 22:27:10 EDT 1999
  
  The versatility and originality of the singer comes put not just by sticking to one pattern of rendering. Uk is classically good..mmm..okay.. We can say that he is still in the process of learning by experience. But HH is much better than UK. The way he plays with his voice is absolutely wonderful. I think Colonial Cousins will be a good example(Please forget the shades of lifted tunes from various sources - an eclectic composition). If at all UK tries his best to go for a gaana,..i cannot even imagine. The bottom line is both of them will not last long. Thanx to both of them that they dont trim the lyrics with
  creative pronunciations!!!
  
  
• From: Praveen (@ dneiper.isr.umd.edu) on: Fri Apr 30 22:45:10 EDT 1999
  
  IMO, UK's rendering of Roja Roja in Kadhalar Dhinam is a big improvement over his previous efforts in TFM.
  
  
• From: Sriram Lakshman (@ ifmxlenx.na.informix.com) on: Mon May 3 17:54:51 EDT 1999
  
  HH's positive point is his sense of sruthi which is something Hindustani vocalists have been taught to incoporate in their singing. I guess he relishes songs not set to such a high pitch and remain loyal to the scale throughout. His brighas are something people rave over but this
  nchantment could be because they sound different and north-indianish.
  Definitely HH pips UK with respect to play-back singing.
  
  HH, in general relinquishes his heart when he sings and the expressions imparted are a result of conscious efforts and therefore get improperly placed just like his sangathis. "Uyire, Uyire" had a sangathi in its pallavi after one of the stanzas which reflected a casually romantic feel which obviously is far removed from what the situation demanded. He has not shown any great sensitivity towards melody flow as is evident in "VaNNanilave VaNNanilave". This was a great tune which had some inherent expressions within the movement of melody and was squandered away. To his credit , it has to be mentioned that he did not spoil the song.
  
  As for UK, he appears to be comfortable rendering soft songs that are not too demanding. He has a generic expression for most songs, songs that express romance,upbeat numbers .. et all. "EnnavaLe" was not an example of great rendition but sounded different (with some classical touch to his singing) and hence became popular.
  
  I might have sounded a bit harsh on both these singers but comparisons had been drawn up with SPB and therefore I had to "up" my scale of judgement in terms of expectation and honestly this is what I could end up with. Observations like HH can scale 3 octaves would certainly please HH as this is what he could dreaming of accomplishing. Statements like HH emotes better than SPB
  might invite a few stiff words from HH himself.
  It is a pity that your judgement of SPB has started and ended with a trash representative like "Padayappa".
  Anand, out of the 30,000 odd songs SPB has sung, how many have you heard ? Just curious.
  
  Certainly, these 2 singers are as overrated as ARR himself.
  
  Udhaya, surprised at your response. The songs you have mentioned had good modulations but may not have been as conspicuous as it is now because SPB's "early 20's" voice sounded slightly boyish. Songs of the early seventies like "Radha Kaathal varatha" , "Nee oru raaga maaligai", "Oru Malligai mottu", "Thanga thottil paatu methai" had wonderful expressions laced with modulations that
  only SPB is capable of and you can safely consider all singers in IFM past and present.
  
  RajaG mama (SPB of Missourie) avargaLukku vaNakkam. I have decided to join the family.
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ ip229.kansas-city.mo.pub-ip.psi.net) on: Tue May 4 00:27:27 EDT 1999
  
  appadi pOdungO Sriram!
  
  mudhalla oru disclaimer. SPB Oda pErum UK pErum orEy sentence la kooda irukka koodaadhunnu sonnavan naa. ennOda pEr orEy paragraph la kooda irukka koodaadhu.
  
  Sriram,
  
  I was already a HUGE fan of SPB. Over the past few days, thanks to you I have been exposed to rare gems of SPB - rare mostly because of my ignorance and absence of exposure to SPB's genius in playback/expressive singing. Which is why I felt even more strongly about any comparisons between SPB and HH/UK and invited your views too.
  
  
  
  
• From: Raj (@ master.hyd.deshaw.com) on: Tue May 4 02:01:44 EDT 1999
  
  rajaG uncle: SL-kum uncle-aaa??????Avarukku around 32-nu ninaikkaraen. Appo, indha DF-32 years ceiling-rule-padi 100 dollars...get the drift? Innum 36 hrskulla draft/cheque anuppi vaiyungo Hyderabadukku illai domain block oaniduvom;-))
  
  

---

List all pages of this thread

Post comments