Excellent one Chord.. --- On Sun, 1/25/09, Chord <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Chord <[email protected]> Subject: [arr] To me, here's what REALLY sets Rahman apart from the rest To: [email protected] Date: Sunday, January 25, 2009, 12:45 PM Rahman's musical brilliance has been proven time and time again. Awards followed by awards followed by awards followed by more! He has gained international recognition, a crowning achievement for one of the greatest, if not the greatest composer of our times. And much more to come..... Among our Indian MDs, there are very talented others too. SEL, Vishal Shekhar, Vishal Bharadwaj, Shantanu Moitra, and many others from the South and North. I appreciate their music a lot and have collected various amazing soundtracks by them. A newcomer, Amit Trivedi, has been getting a lot of attention for his work in Aamir and now Dev D. I agree that this man is talented and has a bright future. I can see why many are liking his soundtracks a lot and are excited about his prospects. However, I disagree that this Amit Trivedi is "another Rahman" as some are saying. I'm not trying to minimize his talents, but for me, when I hear and Aamir or Dev D, I can appreciate the music intellectually and asy, "Wow, that's really creative, or interesting, or brilliant, or versatile, etc." And granted, he has shown tremendous musical creativity in his two soundtracks. But, here's what I am missing: The music does not pull on my heartstrings, does not mesmerize me, does not uplift me spiritually, does not touch my inner soul. Rahman's music can do that. And again, if there are Amit fans here, this admission is not at all to take away from this man's talent and potential, for which he has abundance. It's only my opinion. I had this discussion with another friend and fellow group member and ARR fan and we came to the same agreement that Rahman brings that extra special quality to his music: His spirituality. While his musical raw talent, creativity, and overall brilliance is something that does set him part, it's not THE most outstanding part of his music for me even though it is special. Recently, Rahman even mentioned that it's his spiritual immersion that keeps his creativity going and is a big part of his music making process. Spirituality does not necessarily mean devotional songs. The spirituality in Rahman's music can even be felt in some of his rocking/faster numbers. It's that subtle yet powerful impact, probably created by a unique and unreplicable combination of sounds, chords, chord sequences, styles, musical structures, abstract aesthetics, deeper layers of music, etc. that infuse that amazing effect on me, which I describe as very spiritual. How he uses that constant string chordal hum in many of his songs as a backdrop definitely adds to that spiritual quality of his music. Rahman's music goes deeper than just heing enjoyed, entertaining, or appreciated for its brilliance. That extra "X" factor is in fact the spiritual component of his music that nobody else has been able to have as great of an effect on me til today. I also admit that the lines between the spiritual and intellectual parts of his music are not as categorically separate and probably more blurred and interrelated than what I'm leading on here. Appreciation of music is very personal. Just because the man next to me does not feel that spirituality in Rahman's music like I do or love or appreciate Rahman's music like I do does not make him musically inferior or lacking taste necessarily. This world needs different opinions for things to keep going in harmony and that includes various tastes and preferences. If everyone was a Rahman fan, we as fans wouldn't have the same joy. And to add, even though I'm a passionate Rahman fan, it doesn't mean I love each and every song he creates. Thanks for reading. Just wanted to share my thoughts with you.
