Originally Posted by
Navneeth
What all can one possibly fall in love with?
Girl, Guy, Song, Movie, Poem, Piece of art, Language, Instrument, Profession, Food, Sport, Country, City, Culture, Subject, Sun, Moon, Earth, Celestial bodies.
I fell in love with what would seem to most as some musical notes. But to me, they were anything but just those. I have not been able to resist myself from playing those on my keyboard. Those notes were the ones I had been practicing for days to attain perfection. In the end I played those notes for "Nothing But Wind - LIVE!!!" And no prizes for guessing the person who composed them, the Maestro himself.
I got this opportunity to play through Navin Iyer. Infinite thanks to him, first of all. Sometime in March, the main band was decided that would comprise of Navin, Me, Aalaap, Donan and Jeo. Leon the other keyboard player joined the party on the day of our first rehearsal in May. The 5 of us met up with Prabhakar uncle and Bhavatha in Prasad studio and our roles were confirmed to us. We were sent the album CD as well, which we had to listen and take notes from. Prabhakar uncle in the meantime had written all the parts, for the first 4 tracks for all musicians just by listening to the CD. What a musician!!!
But we also chose to take our notes, ourselves from the CD. Composer's breath had some breathtaking syncopations and extensive work for both keyboard and bass. Song of Soul was pretty straight forward and I just wrote the chords for reference and basically memorized the piece. In Singing Self, I practically had to hit a chord for 32 bars, so I just wrote what I had to do and memorized my cue.
Then we met at Navin's studio and checked our existing pieces. Those sessions can be remembered for the coconut biscuit and tea that we had everyday in a tea shop outside his home.
Back home I listened to the other 2 pieces "Mozart I love you" and I didn't hear any keyboard parts, then. And then the fifth piece, which was kinda tricky for a live performance because of the effects used. We had initially decided to chuck the effects. But Bhavatha informed me later that effects have to be done since effects play a major role in the definition of the theme of the album. Leon would subsequently join us to do that and much more.
Our first band ONLY rehearsal happened at Lakshman Sruthi on May 18th, where Navin, Me, Aalaap, Donan, Jeo and Leon played for the first time to Prabhakar uncle's conducting. We were quite comfortable by the end of the day, thanks to our own home work. Most of our notes were in sync with Prabhakar uncle's, except for some chord inversions and bass movements which he corrected. That day we got the news that film songs will be performed in addition to the album songs. With our notebooks corrected, we were ready to get on with more sessions in Aalaap's studio which would be our go to place for virtually every practice from then on.
We would practice under Prabhakar uncles's guidance for a couple of more days in Aalaap's studio and then the Strings independent practice sessions began, for the first time. They would happen for 5 days in Aalaap's studio booth. During one of those days he would give me an oboe piece in Mozart I love you, which would later give me an experience of a lifetime.
We weren't part of those sessions, but we rehearsed independently, in the studio 's console, this time including the film songs. Aalaap's studio sessions can be remembered for the tea, butter biscuit, vada and bajji for snack and sambar rice, curd rice and mini meals for lunch and of course for little lovable Leon's dangerously flexible body and his famous 360º plus 180º plus 90º arm twist that left us speechless :P.
And then we met up for our first all present rehearsal at Prasad Studio on May 31st. That was the day we got to see the size of the orchestra and the size of the music up close. We knew it would be big sounding, big impact stuff and it was much more than what we had braced ourselves for. Breathtaking stuff!!! I recorded Mozart I love you's rehearsal session on my phone, in which I played the oboe piece that Prabhakar uncle had given me just 2-3 days before, for the first time. After I played it I knew those were some magical "notes". Until this point, I had been practicing notes, but then on it will change.
Nothing but wind theme came. Leon was ready with his effects and chords. I was ready with my lead tone and brass tone. This brass arrangement was particularly difficult mainly because of very swift moving chords and highly variant dynamics. I realized that nailing this one is not a matter of merely learning it right. It is about getting into a particular state of mind to get it right. The way I looked at my keyboard had to change. I had to forget the instrument and focus on the music. In a way, it is like getting into a trance. And I realized, that the music preceding it does exactly that, get you into a trance. How did he even think of this? I don't know.
Composer's breath's solo. This is one bit I played as mere notes, which Ilayaraja sir would correct me later. Left and right had to alternate and I thought it was pretty much technical stuff at that point, though I played the "notes" correct.
In the meantime, I bought a Korg M50 keyboard, to use as a second keyboard and a 2-tier stand to support my super heavy Yamaha Motif and super light Korg M50. And I also bought a notes stand, just because it was able to stand 6 feet tall. I would inaugurate all the 3 in this concert.
Sound check day - June 4th: We were all there by 10 am. We set up our gear and started our sound check. Then we rehearsed our pieces in the hall and left. By this time, I was prepared for the shocks that the rehearsals would give. Still Mozart I love and the Nothing but Wind theme continued to haunt.
Show day - All there by 4.30. After a mini sound check we got to our green rooms. The show started on time. The curtains opened as Bhavatha started with her Janani Janani and I was droning the Tanpur tone on my new Korg M50, Paaa Sa Sa Saaaaaa... And then, I saw Him. I could feel it now.
First piece started "Singing Self", the maestro was looking at Navin intently. I just had to hit the chord for 32 bars in this. But the music of the strings and flute haunted and we could feel it.
Second was Song of Soul. The maestro looked at me for the first time, when I started with the EP arpeggio. He seemed happy with what I was doing, but I was starting to get nervous. I managed to end the piece clean.
Third - Ah! Mozart I love you!!! I wasn't prepared for what was to happen. The string arrangement and flute was pulling me into a trance. I was starting to feel a lightness in me. And then my oboe portion came. By now, I was prepared with the notes and the dynamics. But state of mind is a big differential in music that is of the quality that only geniuses can write. Once I hit my first note, the state of trance started to give me an out of body experience. It felt like I was watching me play from outside of myself. I can't explain it. I felt separated from myself. I felt my soul and it felt an entity caressing it. Every other thing, including my own body seemed irrelevant at that point. As the music progressed, I was in complete trance and didn't feel my body. Thanks to the audience's ill-timed thunderous applause, before the song was over, that brought me back to the earth.
Fourth - Nothing but wind theme!!! I was to conduct this piece. Started pretty clean, I got the melody going. The pulse was good as I started. Saw the maestro through the corner of my eye. He had his eyes fixed on me, as I played and that got me both nervous and going. The syncopation started. Leon, Aalaap and I were playing it. Minor errors started creeping in. Acceptable in some shows, but errors nevertheless, considering the standard of required performance we had set in our minds. And then the trance began, after the train and the aeroplane effects. My nervousness had kinda weakened me, so I was vulnerable at this point. But once I crossed the zone, I got into the state of mind I needed to be in to play the brass arrangement. Breezed through that segment, unscathed. Haricharan and Navin ended the piece after that.
Fifth - Then came Composer's breath. The 18 minute monster, that I was actually MOST confident of nailing cleanly. Everything seemed to be smooth. I got the arpeggio running in the correct tempo, Navin seemed comfortable with my tempo. The alternating technical zone came. I thought I got it pretty fine. The REALLY thunderous applause in the end confirmed my belief.
Then the film songs seemed relatively easier to us and we played like we usually do. I went home as an immensely satisfied man, having had an experience of a lifetime.
2 days later. Aalaap calls me and tells me the main band is to meet Ilayaraja sir at his home. I was back to cloud 9 mode. Dressed myself up and rushed to Aalaap's place from where we went to Raja sir's house. Raja sir was calm, relaxed and pleased. He told us to sit. And the first thing he did was call me and tell me to go to his piano.
He came and told me to play the composer's breath bit to him. I played him the correct notes. Nothing was wrong with the notes, arrangement wise. He then came to me and showed me what I should have done. It is not just the notes, it is about how you make it sound. He told me to not play the bass notes with my left hand and instead play the same bass notes with my left hand on top of my right hand and with a different pedal usage. He played and showed to me. Then I played it. I felt the difference immediately. What I thought was a mere technical exercise is actually not just that. It is yet another tool of trance. Yes, it puts you into a trance and the trance is ended by the return of the flute after the keyboard section after slowly easing it out through a keyboard and strings relief portion. At this point I really felt enlightened and felt as if my life's goal had been fulfilled. You can compare the feeling to landing on your judgement desk after your death and being told that you're going to heaven. After that everything happened there seemed like heaven.
He answered all our questions for the next 90 mins. He even talked about his composing technique, arranging style, approach etc., that are too technical for discussing in this note. And then he gave his mobile phone and showed us videos of Thiruvasagam rehearsals with Budapest Symphony Orchestra and orchestra performance of Sundari KANNaal oru seidhi from ThaLapathi. Then we sought his blessings and left. That was the moment I truly felt complete. Every ounce of sweat we had shed for our rehearsals was completely worth it. It has given us a transforming experience. Getting into the maestro's mind itself was an experience of a few lifetimes. Experiencing the true power of his composition (though just 5 of them), that too of the highest standard, is something very few have got to get. All this has been achieved, by the maestro through what everyone calls notes. The ones on "Nothing but Wind" are anything but just those. They are much more than that. They are a bundle of cosmic energy that you have to be privileged to be receptive to. He has this ability to control space and time through his "notes". Yet another secret of the cosmos has been revealed and we felt it. Like a wind!!!
How to name it?
Nothing but wind...
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