Friends,
BlogSwara Version 4 has just been released!! You can listen to the songs from here. Also see the artists involved with this album here. Do let the people who participated in this version of BlogSwara know your comments on the songs. You can add your comments to this post.
Thanks for listening.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Blogswara version 4 - Your Comments
Posted by
Jo
at
11:19 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
66 comments:
You guys are doing a wonderful job!!!
Kudos!!!
Overall good effort from the blogswara team. Here are my first impressions:
1. Eri venalaay - Sounds professional. Singing quality is great. Melody was nice, however seems like a normal song that we've all heard while growing up. In other words, I was missing the freshness. But again, I do like the song.
2. Kathhirundhaen - Very good effort. Seemed like a fairly new talent interested in starting to compose and orchestrate. I can admire and appreciate that. Both vocals are good. Good melody. Although sometimes feels rushed. The song has potential - as the artists behind practice and mature their skills.
3. The Rain - Wo!! Very unique. Breaks the stereotype. Nice job. Only thing is that the song is a bit too complex to say hum along. But again, its probably not intended for that purpose. Orchestration, instrumentation, recording, mixing, singing - all were tremendous! Good catch Blogswara!
4. Aanakal Ompathu - Song flows nice and playfully. Music and recording is professional. Like that! Singing is nice too. Has a non typical feel to it. Only thing is the song quickly gets less interesting. May be some other break in the middle. Not bad.
5. Ithu Varai Enn - Wow! Loved it!! The singer's tone and singing style was beautiful. Done very tightly with out going overboard on anything. Guitars were nice and gelled with the song. Mixing and arrangement sounded brilliant. Definetely on my repeat list.
6. Tu Kahaan - Beautiful song, well arranged, well composed. U know what, I felt like the singer was a little to uptight in trying to get the notes right and not loosen up. May be a softer tone to the voice would have made this a top hit. But again, I like this song. Harmonies are nice and powerful.
7. 20:20 (Instrumental) - The instrumental itself is good - however feels like instrumentals are a little out of place for blogswara. And I feel instrumentals are more well received if real acoustic instruments are played. Could be just me.
Overall, nice job again. I will keep listening more.
Congratulations to the V4 team. Amazing work!!
My favorites are Katthirundhen and Ithu varai enn..
Murali Ramanathan has proved that he is a great singer with his effortless singing in Kaathirundhen.
In Ithu varai enn, singer is awesome. His voice and tone made me like the song.
In my humble opinion, out of all four versions of blogswara, Kaathirundhen is third best after Barani's Unnai paarthadhal (V1) and Jo and Vidyu's Mella mella(V2).
Good job, everyone!!
oh Wow! you guys call yourselves amateurs ! I thought all the songs were pretty professional.
I just loved the Rain song - music and singers voice sound awesome. It is the best , stands out due to its unique composition. Singers voice is very refreshing.
kathirundhean is the second best of the lot.
Good work all of you !!
Yet again, an amazing effort!
I personally loved Kaathirundaen a lot.
Sindhuja-- a great debut, your voice is like honey :)
Kamini,
You voice is stunning.The songs was so good.I heard five time continously.Keep it up
Again a wonderful effort overall!
The Rain song was my favourite as it was fresh in approach and different from the normal kind of songs followed by Kaathirunthen. Murali and Sindhu did a wonderful job! Sindhuja still has to take care of the high notes. Also as someone said seemed rushed at places. But still I liked it very much. My hearty congratulations to the entire team.
Kathhirundhaen is wonderful song. I reminded Ilaiyaraja's Song. I appreciate the great effort put by the team. Vocals are simply fantastic. Keep up the good work..
As a person that shares similar interests, music composition and arrangement, I appreciate the efforts of everyone here! So congratulations to everyone in providing a finished product!
A lot of times we start on projects like this but never get to see the end of it. Blogswara makes it possible to have a focus and motivation to come up with a complete song that is enjoyed by others and vulnerable to harsh and/or constructive criticism at times. Hey thats ok! As an artist (I'm sure most would agree) any feedback is acceptable if it can help make things better the next time..
Ok now for my top choices - again my opinion only. I know more than any one that ppl's opinions and tastes are so different and that's why there is different kinds of music to choose from.
1. Best female vocals - Eri Venal. Smooth rendition, nice control.
1.5 - Best Male Vocals - Kathirundhean
2. Best Classical Melody - Kathrirundhean. Nice duet! Wish there was more time to make it sound even tighter.
3. Best Song Structure and Arrangement - Thu Kahaan. Some one like Hariharan 's vocals would fit this song superbly.
4. Creativity and Fusion - The Rain
PS: Thanks to all that appreciated "Ithu Varai Enn" song.
Cheers! Nandu (gumbalsband.com)
Congrats to everyone.
Great work.. great effort... great team spirit.. keep going guyz.
the song kaathurunden is too good...both composition and both the singers...
Kathhirundhaen has beautiful composition and music backed up with very good voices.
Awesome work! keep it up! Vijay.
I have heard all the songs in V4, and my personal favorite is Erivenalil.It was a composition on melody and just simple. The vocals is superb to say the least with excellent control, feel and quality of the voice.
Kathirundhaen is really a nostalgic feel listening to this song, but a little short in perfection in the vocals....
Ithu Varai enn, deinitely stands out as a young feel composition and singing is also cool....
Kamini, your voice is SUPERB!your entire song creates the feeling of "Rain" Very melodious and simply brilliant. you are a STAR!
Could not dig into other songs that much ,sounded too mushy , although kathirundhen was better than the rest, vocals need quite some training.
New to Blogswara. Heard all the versions. Good work so far but would like to add that I personally thought that most songs sound "inspired" from bollywood / other regional songs.
I did find The Rain to be truely creative, very nicely rendered by Kamini, good quality vocal, recording, music arrangement and sound. I would rate it as the best of all 4 versions so far.
Over all Amazing work...
Three cheers for the song Rain...
Eri venal's team did an awesome job...
kathirundhean is the third best of the lot...
hearty congratulations to all of V4 team ...
First of all thanks for keeping the flame alive - Blogswara Team. It's nice to see new faces, talented amazing new faces.
I am going to write one comment a day one for each song !
I'll start with Kathirundhen - Which I liked from the teasers.
============================
Very very catchy song a wonderful melody.
Vijay - Hat's off to you for an amazing melody and wonderful words.
Listened to it a few times and yet felt like a breathe of fresh air.
Looking forward to more and more from you.
Sindhuja - Your voice is superb. Superb singing, wonderful emotions I didn't find any misses anywhere...very very soothing rendition ! Way to go !
Murali - You need no introduction. You are one amazing talent and your voice is wonderful in this song. Your improvizations and your bhavam is nice too. I am surprised at your Tamil !! Absolutely superb.
Ajit - This is for you. You have a wonderful future ahead but I do notice some trends in you. This song like your 'Ennachu' song last time sags in the middle as far as orchestration goes. And IMHO your instrument selection could have been different ( I felt it was like listening to Ennachu again .!! ).
I would like for you to try a different set of instruments and make it a little more grand.
Otherwise ...I loved the ending piece!
Nandu - As ever - wonderful mix. Great job.
Bharat - Great job with Rhythms, though I felt you could have worked with Ajit a little more in carrying the Orchestration a little more on the Grander side.
Overall, I'll give a A+ for this song.
Great job Kathirundhen - Team.!!
Once again an amazing performance by the whole team. Each song seems to have its own identity and style. My favourites are kaathirundein and Ithu varai.
Sinduja, you got an amazing voice....Murali chetan as usual excellent singing......perfection and a very good feel.......together both of you created a very good mood for the song.....a good combination :)....hats off to both of you!!
Ramesh, you simply ROCK!!!!!........mindblowing performance....the feel in the song and the way you have rendered is simply great.......
Anup cheta, your performance in the song is something equally commentable..... :)
Thanks to all for the comments on "Erivenal".
Special thanks to Praveen.G and Sreeja chechi for this song.
Great job guys!!! hats off to the whole team.....
Great team work everyone !
My favorite song is Kaathirundhein as well... What classic voices you both have Murali and Sindhuja ! It is a pleasure to listen to your voices !
The tune goes really well with the beautiful words ! Seems to me like a overall synergetic composition ;)
Thank you all, SO very much! :)
Many thanks to the team: Vijay, Ajit, Nandu, Bharat and Murali. Its been a great learning experience overall.
Personally, my picks this time are:
-The instrumental piece: wow! I thought that was very innovative and well executed! I thoroughly enjoyed it especially since it's raga-based.
-"The Rain" 's unique approach
-Divya's heavenly voice, of course and
-Ramesh's style ("Rahman + Yuvan Shankar Raja" as I heard in a comment offline :) )
And yea, the rustic/ traditional feel of Jo's song as well! Well sung by Sreekanth.
Good Work guys !
Overall I would say this was a good effort - many songs nearly perfect like Kaathinrundhen, ithu varai enn but sounded to me like they are close but not really perfect.
The only song I found perfect is The Rain-- beautiful composition, terrific voice, soothing instruments, very balanced over all.
Way to go THE RAIN TEAM ! looking forward to hear more from you guys.
Good Job as usual Guys !! I will comment in detail about all the songs.
There is no point in your own Band mates congratulating each other over this Blog. To someone like me who is here for the first time, it gives a bad impression.
Every artist heart of heart yearns for recognition and there's nothing wrong in it.
I some how feel that BLS to be marketed in a better way.I don't mean to be rude, just stressing the need for marketing.
don't any of ur contacts have any one in the media or the Ad world ?
I wish I had one.
It will be a piece of cake for them to market this new concept.
First of all a big THANK YOU to everyone. Glad to see the songs have been well received and you guys continue to appreciate the new amateur/professional musicians.
Srini:
Please note that BlogSwara is not a band anymore. BlogSwara is a platform for anyone to come up with their own talents and we promote the good ones through our platform. The participants of any version do not get to hear the songs (except each song team's own) before releasing it online. That is how they comment on the other's songs. It is not at all a "comment on mine and I will comment on yours" thing. :-)
We are trying our best to make it to the online and offline media and some of them are responding positively. If you look at the media page in our site, you can see some of the previous media coverages. This time Kairali TV had a bit of the promotion for us, and we are trying for the rest. It will be good if any of the listeners can help this platform get promoted.
Once again, thanks for listening and commenting here.
Regards,
Jo.
Jo ji,
Now that u have explained clearly I clearly understand the fact that It is not at all a "comment on mine and I will comment on yours" thing. :-)
But then an outsider ( Non Blogswara guy) like me who gets here gets that impression, thats what I wanted to convey. you guys can offcourse email each other and congratulate and appreciate or criticise.. Just my two cents..
Kudos on ur efforts to get it accross to Kairali.
Have you tried CNN IBN and Local Radio stations if any.
try writing to radio Mirchi. Chennai , I have mailed them a couple of times a few years back regarding some info and they at least responded.
let me see if I can find their email ID.
Good Luck
Srini
Srini,
I spent my entire vacation during Aug ust this year trying to get Blogswara into Suryan FM and Radio Mirchi.
Atleast Suryan FM spoke to me, but Radio Mirchi just said point blank that they won't broadcast private albums !
Thanks for your thoughs on Blogswara.
Dear V4 team,
Kathhirundhaen is pretty good a song. The music seems heavy compared to the softness of the song. The mood of the song has a soothing effect. Congratulations to the creative minds!
Vocal is less audible... saxophone could have been replaced by flute. Music between the lines seems like typical Orchastra music of wedding functions. Could have been softer and better. Words seem lost amidst those instruments... So the calm beginning stands out as a contrast...
I love BLSv4!! One thing that would really improve the listening experience for me would be an English translation of the lyrics for the rest of the songs.
I'm passing the word around to everyone I know about BLS, and I'm looking forward to more great music in the future!
I just heard one song from the V4 collection. It was 'kaathhirundhaen'. Quite impressive. It reminded me of some melodies of the late 90s. Very soothing to the ears, sounded like a work of fusion. Though I didnt like the keyboard lead almost at the end of the song. It sounded a little bland. Both vocals are talented. Great talents at work.
Hi Srini
I have written to CNN-IBN through their CJ site and I received a phone call from them. I have also sent them several tracks from the previous versions and also sent several of reminder SMSs, emails but no further reply so far.
I thank you for your efforts to try several ways to promote BlogSwara. Now that several FM stations have opened up in Kerala, I shall write to them too.
Regards.
Kamini your voice mesmerized me ! AWESOME isthe word for your song . very cool music, great recording and top- notch quality. great going.
Hi BL-4 guys,
I just finished listening to all your songs from all your versions ! you guys have made some good effort I would say. I don't understand any language that has been used but have traveled to India quite a bit and am familiar with Indian music. I am a sound engg and guitarist. I cannot differentiate your songs from any bolly song - except for 2 - The Rain and 20:20.
The Rain song , although I did not get a word of it , still I could feel the longingness of rain. so would call it the best of all versions you have so far.
20:20 was very good too. an unususal instrument piece was good to listen.
Idhu varai en vazhkaiyae.... I must have heard it thousand times continuously now....it has become my all time favorite...Chancelss..simple and elegant...
First of all I wish to congratulate you proving the concept of BLS once again. I could get time only for a couple of songs till now. My notes on them:
AanagaL Ombadhu:
================
1. Somehow Sreekanth's rendition lags behind the rhythm in many places. I do not know if it is intentional.
2. The rendition as such is crisp and clear on swarasthaanams.
3. The tune is very subconsciously influenced by ayigiri nandini. I am sure that it was unintentional on Jo's part.
4. With all respects to Nishanth, I think the orchestration needs to be tighter. The beats are nice, however there is a conspicuouos discord between the accompanying chords and the lead tune. Also, the raga of the interludes do not seem to gel with the lead tune's raga. I hear uses of mohanam in the interlude whereas the lead tune is apparently in mayamaaLavagowLai. The harmony does not seem to exist.
Eri vEnalaay:
============
How would it be when hot air blows over an ice-cream ? The top-layer would just just melt the caramel and flow quietly and effortlessly. I would liken Divya's voice to that flow. You are a talent that Mallu and Tamil film industries are missing sorely. Beautifully emoted and rendered - especially akale akale.
Praveen : Your orchestration is apt and just provides the right cone for Divya's creamy voice. The lyrics are very much in tune with this lovely number. I liked the line "paribhavangaL ninnilaay,
choriyumEthO kunkumam"
A winner for me.
Great job guys. Liked all the songs.
Really admired the vocals in Aanakal Onbathu.
Ithuvarai... is our favorite song. Good work job by Nandu and Ramesh.
Great effort.Eri venalay and Kathirundhen are the best. Divya and Murali ramanathan have proved again that they are great singers.
Smitha
Badala Re:
==========
Kamini - Very nice composition and nice rendition. The sterotypical Pallavi-Charanam has been walked over and a fresh style has been introduced.
If I may indulge a bit,..
I do hear some flat portions in the rendition (koyal shabd su"naao" ..It did not pack the punch of badara "chhaayo") in an otherwise gripping emotive rendition.
Also I was wondering why you have peculiarly chosen Shivaranjani for Rain ! It has oodles of sadness packed atleast traditionally (well..there are some composers who have broken the popular perception - "kaNNum kaNNum koLLai adiththaal" by Rehman - which had shivaranjani rocking and "adho vaaraaNdi vaaraaNdi villendhi" by the genius MSV") and rain usually symbolizes happiness...Well..it may not have to..as I myself had used it to refer as tearsof clouds akin to Radha's, but your lyrics refer to a happy situation. Anyway, it may just be another idea from you to break sterotypes I guess.
Orchestration is very nice although it derives heavily from the ideas of Rehman. For e.g., "Naina neer bahaaye" from Water is a melody which lets the lead singer croon in an abstract fashion as an ambient trancy orchestration goes in the background. Another example would be Nitin Sawney's arrangement of "Nadiyaan Bairi" where Swati Natekar repeates just three lines on forgroud ably supported by a very modern orchestration.
Violinist has indeed played with a lot of Bhaavam, although as I noted already there is too much sadness in his rendition due to the choice of raga.
I would like to congratulate the team for bringing something absolutely fresh to BLS.
Ithu varai enn is very different, a typical new age song :) Ramesh Chellamani's voice is apt for this song.. nice emotions! Anup-- you are very good in this.
Divya is very good in Eri venlaai. Your voice is so soothing, it calmed & melted my 6 month old :)
The Rain song as Murali said is an absolute break away from the typical cliched music that one often comes across.
Tu kahaan has very subtle yet nice harmonies..
Hi Murali,
Thanks for your comments. Just wanted to clarify one point :
"Orchestration is very nice although it derives heavily from the ideas of Rehman."
Is totally incorrect -- as the music producer doesnt even know who Reham is and has not even in his widest dreams heard Rehman songs. Music producer is an American.
Coming to Shivranjini and this song - well it was not just to make it sound different.. I wanted it to sound maudlin. "Jaal bhar laayo" not just rain but tears. Yes there are portions that lyrically sound happy but that is my way of showing the contrast in situation-- meaning there is happiness everywhere but not within.
RAIN team - YOU are the best ! No other song in entire BLS even comes close to your song. Absolutely perfect and stunning. Congrats to this entire team.
Idu Varai Enn - Man...just mind blowing! I loved the song...definitely on my repeat list. The composition was very soothing and melodious. Listening to this song is like taking a journey through life. Lyrics are out of the world...Singer's tone is beyond superb! Nandu/Ramesh you guys ROCK! Keep up the good work!
Excellent songs..Eri Venalaay captured my mind ..Well Done Divya!!!!
kaathhirundhaen is good.
Div, youve got a great voice and the tone u flavour it with is amazing...uve sung this song very very well.
Prasad chettan.
Hi,
I think everybody who works for this project needs to be congratulated.
All the songs were good and all the singers, lyricists and musicians involved can feel proud of what they've produced. However, a couple of songs stood way above the rest.
A special word of appreciation for the lyricist of Kathirundaen (Vijay) and the composer and music director of Idhu varai(Chellamani and Nandu Mahadevan respectively).
Both songs were really melodious and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them.
great work guys!
all the best
Idhu varai en vazhkaiyae - Wonderful song - Very well composed. Fantastic Orchestration.
Ramesh has a great voice and he has sung this wonderfully. Emotions are superb.
Nandu's mixing is fantastic.
Ramesh's lyrics are also good. Nice choice of words. Well done Ramesh.
Anup's Guitar - Fantastic - Loved it!!!
Way to go - Idhuvarai Team !!!
Its a tough job this time to find a good song,just because the quality factor had improved a lot..!
Ithuvarai en - Amazing voice,its time to become a fan of Ramesh.Nandu n' Anup,congratz guys.I never got thrilled with a song like this since all the four versions of blogswara.
Kaathirunthen - Initial start from Sinduja is like that its coming from heaven.Murali has proved that he's a good singer even after getting out of an 'unreality' show..!
RAIN - Quality product..though it sounds very familiar (am confused to identify the similarity, is it Kamini's voice to Lataji or the song tune :)
Erivenal - Divya will become a true star one day.This song will backup my comment..!
Aanakal ompathu -Very interesting to listen the pallavi,but the iterating tune had eliminated any surprise factor for the rest of the song.Probably the music director was surviving with a single hand while composing it :).
Tu Kahaan:-Expected that the vocal could be a bit more lighter.But Jay might have different aspects for the song.
20:20 - Its soothing.Good job team
Star performer of the Ablum : Vijay S.
A layman-listener..!
Overwhelmed with positive feedback on Ithuvarai! Thank you very much.
"less is more" and was true in this case. Took the shortest time for me, from scratch to finish in 2 weeks.
The melody notes turned out to be pretty good combined with Ramesh's emotive singing and words carried the song. It did not require grand orchestration.
Singers out there!! If you are interested in singing this song let me know by email gumbalsband@gmail.com. I'll find a way to post it on blogswara blog.
I encourage other composers to allow audience to sing alternate versions of their song as well. That is if they are willing to share the karaoke version :)
Enjoy... Nandu (gumbalsband)
A good platform for talented musicians and singers alike. Every composition has a unique identity of its own.
'Kaathhirundhaen' and 'The Rain' are aesthetically composed and stand out from the rest.
Ramesh, Murali, and Sindhuja have done complete justice to the compostions. Sindhuja's voice is mellifluous while Ramesh has a distinctive style in his rendition.
My pick of the album is "Kaathirundhen"...Amazing melody..Hats off to Vijay for the tune...Ajit has done a great job too in orchestration...singers are flawless...what else do u need for a perfect song...though there's one thing i wanted to say...at some places, the song reminded me of Raaja.Keep it up,guyz!!!
My next pick is Idhu varai en...amazing lyrics in this song...kudos to ramesh...good tune and good accompaniments..a neat melody...of course anup, the guitar maestro is playing...:)...
Anup, I guess you got a lot of "Inspiration" for this song..;)
Hi Kamini
Your voice is too good,i love the song.great job.
mona
I thoroughly liked Tu Kahaan. Simple lyrics (though I did not understand some words) and the imagination of the tune/music was amazing. Great job !
Great collection of songs!
It'd be nice if the instruments/technologies used in the creation of the songs could be listed, too! That would be real helpful to amateur musicians like me who want to use new technologies for music creation!
-Shiv
your musis feels a new line of its kind. i felt very interest to hear your all songs. very..very...sweet.
i use to write kavitha in malayalam.
thank you
Kathhirundhaen.... i listened to the song at least a 100 times. the music is mind blowing and the singers were able to bring out the lyrics clearly. keep it up team. Vijay tq. -- nethra
kaathirundhen : has a really nice feel to it. Wished it was a li'l slower, coz the beginning's really nice. Singing's really nice too and music doesn;t sound like it was done on the net. It sounds professional.
kathirunden is my fave! the vocals are clear and deep. very nice. but my all time fave still remains melle melle :)
Kathirunnden is really nice.. Good work every one..
Vijay good work.. Expecting more from u..
First of all...I applaud the pool of talent here.....great effort!!
Eri Venal : Divya...u r a gifted singer....effortless.....the vocals command all the attention.
The Rain: Kudos to the whole team....Fantastic vocals and arrangement.
Tu Kahaan: the music grips the listener...has a wonderful balance...and presents a musical kaleidoscope experience with colorful melodious explosions!
First of all...i applaud the pool of talent here....
Eri Venalaay: Divya....fantastic vocals...effortless
The Rain: Very Impressive. Kudos to the whole team. great vocals and arrangement.
Tu Kahaan: The music grips the listener...presents a musical kaleidoscope experience with colourful melodious explosions!
Expressive and balanced....
Great work Jay!
Post a Comment