"MSV CLUB" - The Discussion Forum of MSVTimes.com

[vaidymsv]

Dear All,

That the article written by Jeyamohan received condemnation of the highest sort from our forum members never surprised me. But on the other hand, should we accord this kind of a publicity to this trivial writer??? I also responded instantly (AS TYPICAL TO ALL OF US AS THE PERSON IN QUESTION HAPPENS TO BE OUR MUSICAL GOD) but on perusal of Jeyamohan's motive, it is very clear that this person has no connection to music and the writings were simply an act of sycophancy for pro IR and nothing more at all. His analysis / understanding of music lacks total adequacy of knowledge and I feel this man must be thoroughly ignored.

We will only be wasting our precious time which I feel can be put to better use than responding to these sundries. I hope all the forum members will agree with me. We have been listening to Shri. MSV's creations for so many decades and never have we felt monotonous at any point of our lives. When such is the situation, the loss will only be of Jeyamohan's and not of anybody else.

Last but not the least, if Jeyahohan wants to heap Himalayan praise on his favourite composer, it's purely his problem. We are all quite knowledgeable about the music that ruled the TFW since the 50's till date and we also know how quality music gave way to new age music programmers ever since the late 70's. It is a pity that music these days is literally sold for a "song" in the streets than listened and bought out of sheer repeated listening pleasure.

As Venu had written, the utterances of IR about non-repetition of tunes may be sold to the unwary gullible but not to the elite rasikas of Shri. MSV!!!

CHEERS

MSV IS MUSIC!!!

VAIDYMSV
_________________
vaidymsv

[N Y MURALI]

Dear Friends,
I am also of the opinion that Jeyamohan does not require any rebuttal from us in his forum.

The reason is when I searched about him, I came across an article written by him demeaning yesteryear actors which was severely condemned by many. I also struck up on an another site which said his site got large hits after this article. So it goes to show that this guy wants publicity. Hence I request members not to visit his forum.

But at the same time I also happened to see a you tube link in which some musician of IR are talking about him. One of the person who happened to be a senior was quoting that while many MDs had assistants with them which also gets listed in the movie title IR does not have such. Though he has not named any MD's name or assistants name when such information comes from a musician that of IR could carry weight.

But I also experienced that whatever the information these musicians say though it may carry weight may not always be true.

I shall give an example. One of a musician who works for many recording once told that TKR composed the Sarangi Piece which comes before the song 'enna koduppan' in Karnan. It is very well known to us that Shri Ram Narain Butt who played Sarangi for that movie mentioned in an interview that it was only MSV who gave him the notes while many other Hindi movie MDs would ask him to play as per wish for a given bar.

Also one senior most musician from MSV orchestra once mentioned that TKR played the Violin for the song 'Anbulla Man Vizhye' which is contrary to the fact that they got separated before that movie.

So what I am trying to say is that we can write about these in our forum so that the facts are made clear to the general public and it will be a permanent record so that tomorrow it could help any person.

So continue to post your article about this subject with the sole aim of registering the facts for the future generation and nothing else.

Let the future generation judge how MSV forum members have contributed for bringing out the correct facts.

N Y Murali

[Vatsan]

Since most of us do not want to glorify Jayamohan's jaundiced perceptions, I will abide by it . I agree with that stance as well, as anything in the form a rebuttal will be tantamount to taking this writer of a “poster pasting” fan’s, misguided and misinformed “waste of blog space” writings too seriously. Let the following be seen merely as narration of facts and not the opinions of an overzealous henchman of a fan, unlike the writer of the blog.
First of all, a few of the forumers including me have confronted several of the legendary singers and equally legendary musicians who worked with MSV with the same set of questions...What is MSV's contribution towards Re-recording and in general orchestration ? Was MSV palming off the work done by Henry Daniel, Joseph Krishna and R. Govardhanam or is MSV himself the brain and Heart behind the orchestration ? The eminent musicians thus spoken to were of the caliber of Shyam (Joseph) (who has been with MSV since 1955) ,Rama Subbu (Sampat spoke to him, has been on since 1954 with several composers, even with S-J), Anand Chellappa etc. These people are not the typical cinematic sycophants with ulterior agendas and morever what would they gain by suckering up to MSV now ? Their response to our question was simple...MSV. One of the above even relegated Henry Daniel to the level of a mere hand waving conductor of a section of the orchestra and may I add, without a trace of malice. According to him, he was merely making a statement of facts. There have ofcourse been cases of MSV accommodating improvisations as Anand Chellappa inferred but that too with MSV's consent only.

We had met up with Shyam, the quality composer to apologize for the shoddy turn out of events the previous night (our anniversary function) and the moment we took up the topic of re-recording, Shyam picked on the scene where Sivaji Ganesan opens the cupboard bearing the doll that was preferred over the friend sucked in by the quicksand, in Alayamani. This incidentally was the scene I had admired just a couple of days before meeting up with the veteran violinist. What a mix of emotions, if you want to experience a mix of jealousy and the darkest hues of guilt, this is the scene to watch. I had been squirming with discomfiture and awe struck with admiration at the same "re-recording" moment. Shyam's message to us was something we had gotten used to listening, MSV sizes up a scence musically, swiftly, there is hardly a time-lag between watching the scene and dishing out the notes. Shyam had further revealed to us with a guffaw about how the violin section requested MSV for additional time to practice (actually they practiced until 4AM) for recording the "Attam" song in "baga pirivinai".

SPB, during his genuine moments in the 90s (there were several of those in those days) clearly stated that typically for a sequence that required a minute of continuous music, composers of the quality of Madan Mohan and SD Burman would break the music pieces of into segments and compose them separately, whereas MSV reeled off the notes to be played be across several instruments in one go for that minute of a re-recording sequence.


Naushad Ali, one the true founding fathers of Film Music has been found to be wondering aloud about how this “Jayamohan maligned” composer could churn out such high quality , and “accurate in spirit” re-recording music in such a short time. Naushad went to the extent of asking if MSV actually practiced any meditation technique, and that was looking at MSV, the personality disappearing for music to happen Please add to it the fact that according to professional musicians (include the above mentioned too), Naushad’s re-recording quality is yet to be bettered comprehensively and a laudatory statement from that pioneer needs to be set in stone and written in blood.
Making any statement alluding to the idea that composers of the yore were not culturally up to date or could not measure up emotionally to a modern cinematic situation is only betraying lack of awareness or worse still, lack of sense of appreciation. Forget re-recording, we all know how “emotionally water tight” MSV’s songs are (this is for folks who have not seen those movies), how each song has the emotional weight of the entire movie built into its DNA structure. Pray, tell me how could a “culturally” deficient composer do that ? Even the worst critics of MSV admire on the sly, this man’s ability to present an emotion encapsulated in its polar counterpart. MSV certainly did not dismantle his emotions sensor while performing his re-recording act and therefore the emotional quality portrayed in the songs would have naturally embellished the scenes too !!! Watch “veNNira Adai” for the regally aristocratic feel the background music emanates , “nenjam marappathillai” for the eerie intrigue and amongst several others “sumathi en sundari” for the sunny, lighthearted feel that permeats every scene that craves of musical upliftment.
Stating preferences is not an issue. Passing derogatory statements on artistes with prowess proven track record spreading over several decades and with the quality of work yet to be surpassed, without proper background research work (laziness ? or this despicable fanhood ?) is unjustifiably lowly.
I have stacked up the above facts for true “truth seekers” , not as a repartee, but as a statement of truth and nothing else.

[Vatsan]

I join Venu Soundar in laughing at IR's statements about his feelings on each song not being an offshoot of another and how dissimilar each needs to be. There are several of those songs with the most strikingly distasteful meters with purposeless movement of sounds through notes, themselves bored and praying for a release from the monotony. Each of those songs is a creepy, fearsome reminder of another. Fearsome for the deadening effect they carry and the unmistakably great irritation value that makes one scowl at a passer by on the road. The writer's references to Salil Choudhry are again laughable....that man never repeated a meter in his whole life and despite harmonics being the backbone of his melodies they never sounded shapeless and out of context or boring. This is something that cannot be said of IR. There are several numbers that breathed their last before the first charanam could see the light of the day.

[N Y MURALI]

Dear Friends,
Just to relax, watch this you tube of MSV's re recording of a fight scene.

For the 6 and odd minutes just see how much he has used the instruments and that appropriate moments

http://youtu.be/YJfmdyg2Eco


N Y Murali

[N Y MURALI]

Friends,
Giving the link of an interview given by ARR during 1997. No wonder people like Jeyamohan talks immaturely about MSV, KVM and ARR.


http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~kailasan/interviews/perfection%20is%20his%20key%20to%20success.htm


N Y Murali

[N Y MURALI]

Oh. I got the point. Now the person who commented about re recording of MSV and KVM has been confronted with the same type of question about IR in the movie 'Naan Kadavul"

Giving below the gist.

அன்புள்ள ஜெ
இளையராஜா பற்றி சில விஷயங்களை உங்களிடம் பகிர்ந்துகொள்ள தோன்றுகிறது.
நான் கடவுளில் உத்தம் சிங் இணை இசை அமைப்பாளராய் பணியாற்றியதாக பல இணைய இதழ்கள் எழுதின. சிங் ராஜாவின் உதவியாளர்களில் ஒருவர் என்பது பழைய செய்தி. ஆனால் அப்படத்தில் title song ம் காசி சம்பத்தப்பட்ட கட்சிக்கான இசையும் சிங் உடையது என்று அவ்விதழ்கள் எழுதின. என்ன வருத்தம் என்றால் பாலா தரப்பிலிருந்து ஒரு மறுப்பு இல்லை. எந்த அறிவிப்பும் இல்லை
வழக்கமாக ‘with the grand music of maestro ilayaraja’ என்று title இல எழுதும் பாலா நான் கடவுளில் அவ்வாறு செய்யவில்லை. பாடல்களும் சரியாக உபயோகப்படுத்தப்படவில்லை. இவ்விஷயங்கள் பற்றி நீங்கள் என்ன நினைக்கிறீர்கள்?
–
Chandramohan Vetrivel,
New Delhi.


‘நான்கடவுளில்’ எல்லா இசைத்துணுக்கும் இளையராஜாவுடையதே. இணை இசை என்பதெல்லாம் பிழை. ராஜாவிடம் எவருமே அப்படி வேலைசெய்ய முடியாதென தெரிந்தவர்கள் அறிவார்கள். பாட்டில் என்ன இருக்கிறது என்பது கடைசி ஒலிப்பதிவின்போதே தெரியவரும். அதுவரை பாடகனும் ஓர் இசைக்கருவி போலத்தான்.

ஜெ


Foot Notes:
Sorry friends,
I have advised many not to visit his site but to quote the above from his site. Actually I was trying to find our IR's assistants in the web and hit up on this news.

N Y Murali

[Vatsan]

SRS, I fully understand your feelings on this thread. But now after a chat with NY Murali, I look at it as an opportunity to unearth certain unknown facts about MSV and the stories behind his creations. We will need to highlight some of the information shared with us by great musicians too. Leave the Jayamohan factor aside, let facts about MSV be recorded her for posterity. The postings here from now on need not be an angry retort to unsubstantiated and careless thoughts expressed by others.

[Vatsan]

Sabesan, Vaithy, sollin selvar Ravichandran and your's truly had visited MSV a few months back and after the usual exchange of pleasantries and offers for coffee, MSV settled down and thankfully did not start off on his old stories of his Erkadu glass house and the rest. His talks were as refreshing as the prelude of his songs..Since we are on the subject of re-recording, I wish to share this important info here, an piece of info that MSV casually let out and passed on to the next topic, ever the rolling ball of fire that he is. I had asked him about the impediments placed by MGR's foes during the music making of Ulagam sutrum valiban. It is a known fact that when MGR stepped into the recording studio to discuss with MSV, the power would be abruptly cut off only to delay the movie, the magnum opus that it had promised to be and the prospects it carried to propel MGR further up in the popularity ratings. I was told by a researcher friend of mine that songs were rehearsed and the orchestration was arranged on a lawn within the precints of the recording studio. The truth as MSV revealed to us was that the rehearsels for re-recording were also held there, on the lawn !!!! Now that is awesome to me atleast.....most of the re-recording pieces we get to hear for USV have been rehearsed outside of the studio !!!

[Venugopalan Soundararajan]

That's a very interesting and important piece of information. Thanks for sharing it, Mr Vatsan. The re-recording of USV was simply amazing, especially the scenes at the Expo-70 and the climax scenes. I watched this movie several times, just to enjoy the outstanding background scores of MSV.

Regards,
Venu Soundar

[N Y MURALI]

Vatsan,
That means MSV watched the screen when the power was on and had to remember the scene in order to give the notes for the RR rehearsal during the power cut.

I doubt any other MD would have done like this.

A great info indeed.

N Y Murali

[N Y MURALI]

Now I remember one information Mr. Thumba Sekar shared with us when we met him 4 years ago at Mr. Ravichandran's residence in Mylapore.

When USV was released MSV deputed some of his musician to go and watch the movie in Devi Paradise Theater and report back to him about the sound quality of songs and Re recording. Based on the feed back some changes were made and the corrected master was sent to the theaters which the audience did not know.

N Y Murali

[S.SAMPAT]

YES MURALI. YOU ARE INDEED RIGHT! THE GREAT ACCORDIANIST RAJ KUMAR TOLD ME,"SAMPAT SIR, IN THAT FREQUENT POWER CUT, NO COMPOSER IN THE WORLD OTHER THAN MSV COULD HAVE COMPOSED FOR USV

[Venugopalan Soundararajan]

We have been discussing in this section about how MSV composed music for Ulagam Sutrum Valiban under so much of constraints. Giving below link for the Climax Scene of USV. Listen to the amazing background score. I think MGR shot the entire sequence solely depending on MSV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXrxuNJH0IQ

Regards,
Venu Soundar

[N Y MURALI]

Dear Mr. Venu,
Thanks for the link. Thoroughly enjoyed. Just perfect RR when scenes changes the music changes.

Almost 3 minutes of Picture with no dialogues and only action requires a good imagination.

I also request readers to read the articles written in old magazines where MSV musicians have mentioned about his re recording skills.


N Y Murali