My first attempt at composing music

Ajay Chandran, a fellow blogger who composes Hindi poetry and Ghazals, presented a challenge for me, a few months back. He asked me if I could compose a tune for one of the songs he had written. He suggested a classical rendering. This is my very first attempt at composing something. It was pretty hard to start out with a blank canvas and come up with something that conveyed the emotion of the poetry. The theme is Viraah (Separation).

I realize this is pretty elaborate and deep for someone who is not very much into classical music. This is meant for a more musically inclined audience. The composition starts off in Khamaj, transitions to Pilu and ends in Bihaag. If heard on headphones, the background score on the keyboard is discernible. I just tried to play simple chords that gelled with the transition of the basic frequencies across the song.

I got feedback from Murali Venkatraman, a talented composer and an avid blogger on this composition, which was useful. Though I failed to incorporate a lot of the suggestions in this, I hope to use them for the next time, if there's one. One thing that's easy to note is that the composition lacks a rigid rhythm structure, which Murali also pointed out. It's only loosely structured on an evenly spaced three beat cycle. I hope to improve on such weak points as I do more of this. I would really appreciate your feedback, positive and/or negative, as I found this project difficult and am ready to grab whatever I get that would better equip me for my next time.

Ajay's posts of this song:
Muziboo
Uhuroo


I thank Ajay for this opportunity and the lovely lyrics. And here's hoping for more such opportunities!

Mere Naseeb Ne...

Here's a simple ghazal, though melodious (and I love it for that reason), that I learnt from a Begam Akhtar collection. It took just about 30 minutes to learn and yet has a nice tune to it.

Mere Naseeb Ne.mp3

Ghazal with live Percussion!

I had presented my version of the famous Farida Khanum ghazal, Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo in an earlier post. But now I got to do it again - a better version , I think, with Tabla! Yup, my husband is learning to play the Tabla and he has accompanied me on this - our first jam session! We had fun doing this. I have removed the earlier mp3 since I think this turned out better anyways.

ghazal.mp3

I would appreciate your feedback!

PS: I realize the widget is completely inappropriate... but it's so cool and goes with the title that screams excitement about percussion and the drummer's just as adorable as my drummer (;-)); it was hard to resist.

Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo

It's been very long since I sang anything. My throat actually feels underutilized and rusty (I don't talk much either ;-) ). Anyway, I attempted something finally. This tender song in Yaman Kalyan is one of the tracks in the movie, Monsoon Wedding, and is a famous Ghazal.

The song is about pleading a loved one not to leave. "Life is bound by time. There is no escape from the rhythm of the world... But moments such as this are our only deliverance from the race against time. Love of my life, let not these moments slip away before you can live them..."

I have removed the mp3 from this post since I subsequently did a better version with Tabla.