You have probably seen the Hindi film named Dirty Picture. A
befitting name indeed! It profited big time by deriding the hardships of the South
Indian film actress Silk Smitha’s shattered life that ended in her suicide. Vidya
Balan, the current day actress pranced through the hugely successful potboiler
practically semi-naked, was honoured with a National Award for best actress! The
song ‘Ooolaala Ooolaala’ from that film was a super hit, credited to Vishal Shekar
as composers. It was sung by Bappi Lahiri, popular Hindi film song composer
of eighties, and Shreya Ghoshal. That song left me perplexed in more ways than
one.
The very first confusion was the artificial rendering of the song by Shreya
Ghoshal. I always thought of her as a natural! Another shock that assailed me
was that it was a rank copy of the song ‘Ui Amma, Ui Amma’ from the 1983 Hindi film Mawaali
for which Bappi Lahiri himself was the composer. He sang the song
‘Ooolaala’ without mentioning anywhere that it was his own music! But what
really shocked me was the astounding fact that the audio quality of ‘Ooolaala’
could not hold a candle to the audio quality of ‘Ui Amma’ that was recorded thirty
years earlier! Anyone who doubts my word on it may listen to the vinyl record
of Mawaali on a Hi Fi music system.
Similarly A.R.Rahman’s songs in the recently released Tamil film Kadal
was bewildering for me. Though I was happy that even twenty years of continuous
innings in the industry has not diminished A.R.Rahman’s ability to offer creative
music, I was totally unprepared for the shocking fall in the sound quality of
his songs, something I have not seen in over two decades of his career.
I heard his song ‘Anbin Vaasaley’ from the film Kadal at
midnight on an FM Radio channel. The music arrangements was fantastic but its
rank sound quality, the way different sounds bumped into each other to emerge
without clarity or separation, made one doubt whether it was indeed an
A.R.Rahman song. The next song broadcast was his ‘Anjali, Anjali’ song from Rahman’s
1994 film Duet. The saxophone intro at the beginning of the song
resonated with an astounding clarity, as if someone standing near me was
playing it for my exclusive benefit. Amazing sound quality permeated every note
of that song.
What is happening? And I can’t believe this fall is happening in
an era when audio technology is scaling new summits! Was this an inadvertent
mistake that happened during recording or while making copies of the songs? Or
worse, has A.R.Rahman come to the conclusion, after his world-wide success,
that sound quality is not important any more for his music? Is sound quality irrelevant
for music?
Music happened when man composed the natural sounds in a pleasing
order. In the beginning music was rendered either with music instruments or
man’s vocal chords directly for the pleasure of music listeners. It was a truly
natural music. This natural rendering of music continued for centuries. Many
would have, in that early era of music, desired to record the music so that it
can be heard again and again. But they had no means of doing it.
As per the recorded history, it was only 155 years ago that a
publisher of books in France found, for the first time ever, a way to record
sounds. Edward Scott was running a press in France. He invented a machine
called Phonautograph that recorded audio on paper. He first densely coated the
paper with the black soot of an oil lamp and recorded on it an old French folk
song that went something like ‘On the edge of the moonlight’ with a female
voice. Thus music became the first ever sound that was recorded! The recording
on the paper looked like the scribbling of a child. But the phonautograph had
no provision to play back the song! Nobody believed the scribbling on the paper
to be the recording of music. The world believed it only in 2008, 150 years
after it was recorded; when it was played back with the help of a computer!
By 1890s equipments were made to record sound and then hear it by
playing it back as often as one wished and whenever one wished. Never-say-die
efforts of scientists like Emile Berliner and Thomas Alva Edison made this
possible. The sound record that was then made is, to date, the best audio play
back format that man ever invented. What was first made in the form of cylinder
and then a heavy round disc called the Diamond Record underwent many
improvements and changes over the next hundred years to sustain itself as man’s
most favourite form of audio reproduction.
With the arrival of the compact cassettes in 1970s, the records
started losing their popularity. But the fact remained that compared to the sound
quality of the records, the sound quality of cassettes were sub-standard!
However, the ease and convenience of handling the compact cassettes made the
unwieldy records that needed highly careful maintenance to beat a hasty
retreat.
The compact discs that came later had audio quality that was many
times better than that of compact cassettes. But audio of a CD can never
compare in quality with that of a record played on a properly maintained music
system. After spending many years listening to music from records, I can say
with certainty that no modern audio format can compare with the sound of
records.
Today’s technology compresses thousands of songs as MP3 and we
listen to them on computer, iPod, iPad, Cell phones etc. But most of us do not
realize that their sound quality is much worse than that of audio cassette
tapes. The natural warmth of sound that we can sense to some extend in audio
tapes is missing in all possible digital audio formats like MP3.
In the 1890s audio recording studios were started, mostly in
U.S.A. and Europe. In the following 35 years Acoustical recording method was
followed for recording as neither Microphone nor Amplifier had been invented
then. In those days either a sound-insulated room or places with low incidence
of external sounds were used for sound recordings.
Musicians used to sit before a cone-like contraption, as seen in
the Gramophone Record players that came into vogue later to produce their
music, whether vocal or instrumental. The audio thus produced would directly
carve circular grooves on a wax / shellac plate or record. This system remained
popular for decades as the records could be immediately played back and heard.
Soon portable audio recording systems were also developed. I have listened to a
three-minute record of a conversation in Tamil with a Horse cart driver outside
the Central Railway Station in Chennai recorded in 1907 on one such portable
audio recorder brought from Germany!
Electronic recording of sound became possible because of the
invention of microphone and amplifier circa 1925. But nobody in those days made
any effort towards recording of the sounds with natural clarity and depth,
without the intrusion of extraneous noises. After all, it was the era of
complete satisfaction that sound could be recorded at all and be heard again
and again at will!
The American singer-actor Bing Crosby is important among pioneers
who pushed to move the industry to the fidelity of the recorded sound. I have
quite a few records of Bing Crosby recorded around 1930, and considering the
state of technology those days, their sound quality is indeed something of a
miracle. The sound quality of the Western music records scaled new heights by
the end of 1940s. Even today, hearing the music records of those years
surprises us with their audio fidelity.
The mono audio recording was in vogue for many decades. Many
records were made with mono sounds that were with impressive sound quality. Then
the stereo sound recording and playback was introduced. This was a system where
the audio was made to emanate through three separate channels on the left and
right and a virtual middle. The stereo recording of audio increased the
naturalness of the played back audio many-fold. The recording and listening of
music entered a new era of popularity.
But it was only a few decades later stereo recording of Indian film
songs became a popular reality. India’s first stereo film record was that of
Laxmikant Pyarelal’s compositions for the movie Jal Bin Machli Nrithya Bin
Bijlee released in 1971. The songs composed by Ilayaraja for the movie
Priya in 1978 were the first Tamil songs with stereo sound. But it was only
in 1980s that Indian film songs completely shifted to stereo audio.
Entry of world-class audio technology notwithstanding, the quality
and fidelity of audio recordings in India remained many decades behind its
peers in the western world. Hindi composer R.D.Burman was the first one in
India to attempt to bring world-class sound to his songs. Today when I hear
some of the records of his songs, I am struck with wonder at his tireless efforts
and dedication to bring high fidelity to every bit piece in his songs. Thus
R.D.Burman stands out as the first Indian to create a real hi-fi stereo sound
in Indian film songs. He was gifted at once with an understanding of the
minutest nuances of natural sounds, the music of a genius and a total grasp of the
subtleties of electronic technology. One can endlessly listen to even those
compositions of his with below par musicality, churned out to suit the
fast-changing taste of times for their sheer audio quality.
But there were very few such composers who wanted great sound
quality in their songs in South India. The good sound quality that we experience
in many of the songs here were entirely thanks to the efforts made by some of
our great sound engineers and audio technicians, based on their personal taste
and understanding. Koteswara Rao who worked with both Gemini and Bharani
Recording studios of Chennai in the era of mono-sound is an important name
among prominent audio technicians of South India. It was he who undertook the
sound recording and sound mixing of most of the songs that had great sound during
1950-60 period.
S.P.Ramanathan is another important sound engineer who came from
the mono age to the stereo age. He was the sound recordist for many Tamil films
like Johnny, Thanikkattu Raja, Moondram Pirai and My Dear
Kuttichhathan with music composed by Ilayaraja in the early eighties. The sound
that softly envelopes you without being loud was his speciality. But the sound
arrangement that I regard as fantastic was the creation of Emmy who worked with
Ilayaraja during the period 1984-88. When I hear the over 250 records of
Ilayaraja in my collection, again and again, my conviction that the best period
for the audio quality of Ilayaraja’s music was the period when Emmy worked with
him becomes firmer. These recordings by Emmy are brimming with the unique bass
guitar patterns of Ilayaraja in one of the tightest bass sounds I have ever
heard in Indian music. The sounds of every music instrument used in these songs
resonate with a stunning liveliness without getting mixed up with one another.
A.R.Rahman’s first audio recording studio The Panchathan was
designed by Emmy. He also had played his part in the audio recording of
Rahman’s debut song ‘Chinna Chinna Aasai’. Later sound engineer H. Sridhar
started working with A.R.Rahman. Sridhar, who was an expert in digital studio
sound equipment and computerized audio recording, worked with A.R.Rahman till his
untimely death in 2008. Sridhar’s recording genius helped A.R.Rahman till the
film Slumdog Millionaire which had won him the Oscar Awards.
Without any doubt whatsoever, A.R.Rahman can be named as the first
South Indian composer who worked to achieve high fidelity sound in music
recording. It is said that once, many seasons before his debut film Roja
happened, he had tried to play the tape of one of his music recordings on his
car stereo. He was so disgusted to find the sound quality of his recording was so
poor compared to a western music recording he had heard before it. He threw the
tape out of his car in irritated by its below par sound! Probably his untiring
search for achieving a world-class sound quality must have started from that
point.
Rahman toils for weeks and sometimes even for months to carve
every little sound bit in his music. That is why, beginning with Roja, over
the last twenty years he has been able to so consistently serve only the best
musical sound. It is my abiding regret that till date I have not had the good
fortune of fully enjoying the sound of the film Roja. Just because vinyl
records of that film was never released! I am still nursing my big wish that I
should hear the song ‘Chinna Chinna Aasai’ at least once from a vinyl record! Vinyl
records of A R Rahman’s Gentleman and Kizhakku Cheemaiyile were
released. Their audio quality is something to write home about. Kizhakku Cheemaiyile
remains the last released vinyl record in Tamil!
In recent years, vinyl records of A.R.Rahman’s Hindi albums like Jodha
Akbar, Vande Mataram, Guru, Rang De Basanti and Lagaan have been
released. Released at a hefty price, their sound quality is not particularly
impressive. They sounds more like CDs! Originally recorded on the current
digital audio formats, they must have run into conversion problems while
preparing the Analogue Master needed to produce the vinyl records! But I just
cannot imagine what could have gone wrong with the sound of the songs of the
film Kadal. There is no way A.R.Rahman could have okayed this sound!
Among contemporary Tamil film music composers, sound of Harris
Jayaraj is crystal clear and enjoyable. His sound has its own character. Sound
arrangement of many of Karthik Raja (Ilayaraja’s son) songs is just great. You
can see a unique approach to sound right from his songs of the film Alexander,
released in mid-nineties to the latest songs of his recent release Rettai
Chuzhi. There is great high fidelity in the sound of recently released albums
of films like Engaeyum Eppodhum, Severkkodi and Ponmaalai Pozhudhu by
the young composer, C.Satya.
One needs an array of high quality audio playback equipment capable
of reproducing high fidelity sound to finely judge the true sound quality of a
recording. Even the wires and cables connecting the array of equipment need to
be the best in class. But it is indeed a fact that those with an ear for high
quality sound and the will to look for it, those who evaluate the sound
arrangement of music on a regular basis can recognize the audio quality of the
original recording even when a song played over radio or a cell phone.
There still remains the question:
what is truly meant by sound quality of music? I am sorry to say that that
one cannot define sound quality in words. It has to be felt! However, if I were to make an attempt to
define good sound which is not amenable to a wordy definition, then it will be
something like this. The sound of music should be natural without frills or additional
colours. It should have depth and punch but should never boom. The music bits
should not get mixed up and they must have total clarity and separation. Frequencies
of different sounds should not clash but travel in different layers with
pristine transparency. The sound should have hold, precision and it should be
absolutely enjoyable.
It is possible to enjoy a below par song of Bappi Lahiri on the
strength of its sound quality! But even the best of music from Beethoven, Schubert
and Mozart becomes a cacophony in the absence of well recorded audio quality.
Even the marvels of music are difficult to appreciate if their sound gives a thumbs
down. Great sound is the heart beat of great music. Very definitely it has its
own expression of emotions beyond that of music. We must not forget that music is
nothing but properly arranged and groomed sound.
