coooooooool On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 10:31 AM, Vithur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > http://www.aspisdrift.com/2008/09/clinton-cerejo-mehnat-behind-music.html > > Clinton Cerejo pops up a lot on CDs where he's very visibly credited as a > playback singer. But much happens between the first glimmer of a tune from a > composer to the final cut that goes on a CD. And its in this area that > Clinton has been steadily making a name for himself in the music biz. > > Clinton's worked on musical > arrangements<http://musiced.about.com/od/famousmusicians1/p/arrangers.htm>, > vocal arrangements<http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_a_vocal_arranger_do>, > background > scores<http://passionforcinema.com/background-scores-in-hindi-movies/>and > produced > music <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_producer>. He has a unique > style which multiple composers have tapped over the years to fuel their > hits. Most recently Sajid-Wajid <http://sajidwajid.com/>, fast becoming > hot shots in Bollywood music, had him work on the vocal arrangements for > Partner <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAihL6tTrE0>. And we all remember > those don't we? > > *First off, I'd like to ask you which projects you've worked on lately and > in what capacity. > > Clinton: *One film that's not so recent but which I'm quite proud to have > been a part of is Vishal > Bhardwaj<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishal_Bharadwaj>'s > "Omkara <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENDdJm1f6N8>", in which I > programmed and produced along with Hitesh > Sonik<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1249155/>(fabulous musician and great > friend! ) all the songs in the film as well as > the background score. > > Recently I've scored the soon to be released > "Maharathi<http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/cast/13692/index.html>" > along with another music director Mr. Rajat > Dholakia<http://www.sudeepaudio.com/profiles.php?aid=164>who is like a > musical mentor to me. I also work on a regular basis with > quite a few other music directors like, > Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy<http://www.shankarehsaanloy.com/>, > Lalit > Pandit<http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2007/03/02/2327/index.html>, > Adnan Sami <http://www.adnansamionline.com/>, > Pritam<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DQYKluYmos>, > and AR Rahman <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp6wUe9gMrw>. > > *You once explained the role of a vocal and music arranger to me that was > a revelation. Could you please educate our readers about that too? > > Clinton: *Well a music arranger is a much broader term. As an arranger > it's my job to take a song through it's various stages of creation. A music > director comes to me with just the melody...played on a guitar, piano, > harmonium, whatever... > > Thereafter we sit together and ideate on things like the > groove<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groove_%28popular_music%29>, > tempo <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo>, vibe <http://definr.com/vibes>, > genre <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_genre>, etc. After which I begin > programming the track. Once I have an arrangement that's very close to the > zone the director wants the song to be in, we over dub any live instruments > we feel may enhance the arrangement and then the tracks go to the mix > engineer for mixing. > > As a vocal arranger I get called in to specifically enhance an already > finished track by adding interesting vocal harmonies or counter melodies. > It's much more specific to vocals and it's more about enhancing a track > that's already been conceptualized by somebody else rather than > conceptualizing it yourself. > > *Aspi <http://aspisdrift.com/>: How do you get projects? Is it through > networking? People just know you in Mumbai? Or do you have a resume and an > agent that help you get work?* > > *Clinton: *I have been fortunate enough to say that I've never had to make > a demo of my work and pass it on to people in the initial years. It was > always word of mouth and one project that led to another. In fact I started > working with Mr. Rahman quite by accident. > > Over ten years ago I had vocally arranged a song, which was being mixed at > 4D studio 'A'. Rahman happened to be working in studio 'B' and the studio > door was open and he heard the harmonies and came in asking who had arranged > it. > > Even though I wasn't present at the time of mixing, I happened to meet him > a month later and I reminded Mr. Rahman that I was the guy who had done the > vocal arrangement that he had heard at 4D. That was pretty much it. A week > later I was on a flight to Chennai to work with him. In our industry one > thing usually leads to another. > *Your first break was in a Marathi film called > **Mukta*<http://www.dhingana.com/mukta/movie/songs/marathi/album/2710> > *. Then you started working with AR Rahman on > **Taal*<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taal_%28film%29> > *. How did that break come about? > > Clinton: *You're right about that. Mukta was not only my first song but > the first time I actually saw the inside of a studio. I was in college with > Siddharth Haldipur (Sid from Band of > Boys<http://www.umusicindia.com/artistprofile.php?artistid=90>). > We were great pals and I would go over to his house and play piano and sing > - we'd jam basically. > > His dad, Mr. Amar Haldipur <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1045488/>, famous > arranger and violinist, heard me and quite liked my voice. He called me over > to his house one afternoon and introduced me to Mr. Anand > Modak<http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0595193/>, > the music director. That's how I did the song. It was an English song for a > Marathi film, picturised on a black American. > > With Mr. Rahman actually I didn't do any work on Taal. I started just after > that on some of his famous Tamil films, like > Mudhalvan<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudhalvan>, > Alaipaiuthey <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuV4xPzerRs>, Kandukondain > Kandukondain <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtwXtwJByYk>, as well as > Hindi films like Takshak <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO_PZhwgUZ4>, One > Two ka > Four<http://www.musicplug.in/multiple_song_flashplayer.php?songid=4677&br=high&id=956&page=>, > and later Lagaan <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsuA6oJ_Yk8>... > *What type of work did you do for AR Rahman? > > Clinton: *Vocal arrangements mostly...and a little bit of lead vocals > especially for his Tamil projects. > > *Aspi <http://aspisdrift.com/>: Any arrangements in your recent work that > you think really stand out?* > > *Clinton: *I've recently arranged a song for Mr. Rahman for his new film " > Robot"<http://www.tamiltubevid.com/2008/01/tamil-movie-robot-rajni-shankar-ar.html>- > a cool song, which features some cool Afro style backing vocals. > > I just sang with Kunal an > acapella<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_cappella>song for the Hindi version > of Rahman's Tamil hit film " > Boys <http://www.oosai.com/tamilsongs/boys_songs.cfm>". > > > -- > regards, > Vithur > > ARR -- The Sweet Cube always > >
