Is A R Rehman repeatitive? - Page 2

I think every person as an individual has his own liking. If he is a creative person, his liking becomes his pasion in his creativeness and then he becomes an expert and then that becomes his signature style. It happens with everyone, a writer, a cook, a gardner a sportsperson... everybody. It happens with music directors too. A md is partial to use of some instruments, some notes and can I say, some singers. This, he uses often in his creations and hence they are bound to sound repetitive. That does not make them any less creative, bcz the original style has been developed by themselves. But yes, exclusiveness, rather than overuse becomes a bane. ie mds using only their pet style, like Op used the same ghoda-gaadi , clip-clop beats over and over, only. If they continue their signature style along with some other style too or innovativeness in that, will definitely be more than welcome.
Here ARR, falls in the second category. He repeats and he innovates, hence he is a genius. And as for his signature style, we love it, don't we?

I wouldn't say he is repetitive, rather his music is very different than other composers' music, so we can distinguish which one is Rehman's music without looking at the label. For example, if you play songs by Vishal/Shekhar, Sajid/Wajid or Anu Malik, you wouldn't know who the composer is until you actually see the name on it. However, this is not the case with Rehman's music. His music has its own individuality which cannot be compared with anybody else's.

Originally posted by: musicpulse

I think every person as an individual has his own liking. If he is a creative person, his liking becomes his pasion in his creativeness and then he becomes an expert and then that becomes his signature style. It happens with everyone, a writer, a cook, a gardner a sportsperson... everybody. It happens with music directors too. A md is partial to use of some instruments, some notes and can I say, some singers. This, he uses often in his creations and hence they are bound to sound repetitive. That does not make them any less creative, bcz the original style has been developed by themselves. But yes, exclusiveness, rather than overuse becomes a bane. ie mds using only their pet style, like Op used the same ghoda-gaadi , clip-clop beats over and over, only. If they continue their signature style along with some other style too or innovativeness in that, will definitely be more than welcome.
Here ARR, falls in the second category. He repeats and he innovates, hence he is a genius. And as for his signature style, we love it, don't we?

See MP, ARR is genius no guns on that, he is one of the few face saving MDs of Hindi music.
Every great composer has faced this charge at one point or the other, I know scores of songs by RDB which are actually EXTENSION of each other. Many interludes & preludes have been used to make songs, not to mentioin many of his background music even....😉
Like the one in Sholay, which was used to make aane wala pal jane wala ai. Doesn't matter as long as we find it good & melodious.

Originally posted by: Kanta80

I wouldn't say he is repetitive, rather his music is very different than other composers' music, so we can distinguish which one is Rehman's music without looking at the label. For example, if you play songs by Vishal/Shekhar, Sajid/Wajid or Anu Malik, you wouldn't know who the composer is until you actually see the name on it. However, this is not the case with Rehman's music. His music has its own individuality which cannot be compared with anybody else's.

hmmmmmmmmm that is true: it is called signature mark of a composer.
HR & AM have changed style many times hence .......😉

Pancham was definitely repeatitive, esp in his later years, but the amt of his original songs exceeds far far more.I would rather we call it his style, rather than repeatitiveness. 😉 , his or for that matter any of the mds who have seriously proven their versatality.

ARR's early success I think made him repeat some of his basic tunes. All music directors and composers work within a few tunes or raga's within which they are either very comfortable or have achieved considerable success. It would apply to most of the MD's and composers even Ghazal singers. The genre maybe different but the result is same. SOmetimes mostly due to commercial reasons a MD becomes scared to experiment and Lagaan was a different ARR that too as he has put it due to a producer and director who must have egged him onto doing something different. As everyone who are ardent fans of music say that this or that song has the Chhap of a particular music director. Chhap is definitely one of the things which mean repeatation. But that does not take away the fact that some MD's, Composers and Ghazal gayaks commercially successful or not are better thatn others and ARR is a frontrunner in today's generation of MD's who copy and ape music ppicking up peices from either current compositions or old ones. Fresh music is the mind of a genious. I am only a music buff but have even heard the starins and style 5th of Bethoven in Naushad saabs compostions. So I think that no one is above repeatation when it comes to music and few dare to experiment. But as have said earlier in this post some are miles ahead of others and fortunately do not copy blindly.

Thanks Sinhaji.

ARR's humility, confidence shows in the interview. Yes, I used to feel that he was repetitive for a few period. Even today, there is a distinct stamp of his in his music. Listen to a few lines and you will know it is his song.
Some one said, you watch Satyajit Ray's movie for 5 minutes and you will know it is made by him.

i like Ismail Darbars music I think hez ona da best. I aint saying that ARR is bad he haz nice beats and tunes and all that but Ismail Darbar is totally hez compositions are based on classical and which is y he creats great type of muzic. i think he should get more movies and oportunities to create good music. Ohh and i also like Himmesh Reshammiya. If i produce a movie i ll probably hire Ismail Darbar for the slow songs and Himmesh Reshammiya for the fast ones i think in muzic both of them will rock

Mind-blowing 👏

Originally posted by: narumugaye

First off, though not to the point of this thread, the interview itself sounds suspect. The factual inaccuracy aside (Rahman was never associated with Asoka - Anu Malik helmed that venture), some of the statements attributed to him ("...i've dared to introduce new voices...") sound concocted, and very much against his humble and soft-spoken nature. In fact, it sounds exactly like something Anu or HR would say; but that's besides the point and let's get on with the discussion.

Q. Why does a composer sound repetitive?
Mostly perhaps a particular formula works (usually in the short run). And B'wood is ultimately a money-making enterprise, so if it sells, make more of it! Not too different from the films themselves are they? But it could also be due to pressures from the producer or actor (again coming down to commercial considerations). The third reason: maybe he knows no other way!

I think we need clarity on what's being implied by 'repetitive'. Whether it has to do with copying or rehashing earlier numbers - perhaps the most irksome for music lovers. But if it has to do with a particular style of composing, preference for instruments, 'repetitive' may not be the right word. More like the composer's signature - and surely Rahman has a strong signature; extensive use of bass guitars, harmony, string sections, unique sound effects, loops, etc and above-all, enchanting melodies, entrancing rhythms and brilliant sound engineering and mixing. These leitmotifs make Rahman's compositions standout from the morass of Bollywood numbers, and, IMHO, cannot be classified as being repetitive.

Although the interview claims to have Rahman admit to being repetitive, as someone who has listened to him from day one in all the languages he has composed in, while, yes he composed several 'dance numbers' (notably for Prabhu Deva films), they are not copies or rehashes of each other - there exist in them enough variety, experimentation and novelties so as to have only the genre of 'dance numbers' (if there's indeed such a genre!) as a commonality. In recent times (from Taal in 2001 to Rang De Basanti in 2006) I doubt any serious music lover can claim ARR to be repetitive. The contrast with HR, Anu Malik, Pritam, Nadeem-Shravan et al (S-E-L and Vishal-Shekhar excluded for the time being) are stark enough for all to see.

Q. When does a composer sound repetitive?

My guess is when there are time pressures - he signs on several films and sooner or later the work piles up; he may not realize it at the time of composing (caught up with 'completing it somehow' as it is), but the album reaches the listener over a staggered period of time, and they all end up sounding the same. Composers also go through certain phases such as a passing fancy for a certain instrument, sound effect, or rhythm progression, and in their excessive love for it may end up using it across several albums. Again the problem arises because the albums may be released around the same time or across several months - both could lead to claims of being repetitive. It's really a Catch-22 situation. My take on this is for genuine composers to limit themselves 4 - 5 projects a year, tune their compositions strictly to the spirit of the film (hopefully they'll accept only good scripts!) without too much of an eye on commercial success, and be true to themselves. Even the oft-reviled Anu Malik sounded good in films like Asoka, Border and LOC, movies that were relatively stronger in script than the usual B'wood mess.

Q. Do you think ARR is repetitive?
I have spoken about this earlier in this post (a composer's signature, passing phase). My answer is a clear no. But I would also like to add a couple of other aspects: one is of the Raaga used; obviously songs based on the same raaga are bound to share similar refrains. Composers such as ARR (and the greats of the yesteryears) nevertheless manage to make it sound different through innovations such as re-ordering some of the notes or adding a dash of spice from another raag, pitching it differently, and of course, overhauling the structure of the composition. To claim a composer is repetitive because some notes are similar is in all probability, sheer folly.

The other aspect is genre: folk music has several underlying traits that are bound to manifest (indeed has to as that's what lends it its distinct flavour) in all folk songs. Hai Na (Zubeidaa), Mahi Ve (Legend of Bhagat Singh), O Re Chhori (Lagaan) all exhibit several similar traits cos they belong a common genre. So once again, confusing genre with being repetitive is perhaps not apt.

Thanks, nsinha, for initiating this thread!

Great article Sinhaji, and wonderful feedback from all.

ARR's music has been so intoxicating, ethereal and dazzling, that any rare resemblence of a prior song or tune is overlookable. From Chandralekha (Thiruda Thiruda) , to Dil Se, Taal, Sapney, Rangeela, Roja, Zubeida, Bombay, Lagaan, Saathiya, The legend of Bhagat Singh and other movies, he has been stupendous, original, unorthodox and extremely creative as a composer.

He changed the "typical" way in Indian music was getting composed all along, where vocals (mukhda, stanza) would be separated by an instrumental piece (which would mostly be repititive). The absence of a pattern in his music makes it thrilling and atypical.

Hats off to him! 👏 👏 👏