Pitch Correction: Musical Ethics - Page 10

Originally posted by: Dawn05

I have a limited knowledge of music but what I understand that Riaz is integral part of creativity in Music specially for singers.
hmmm example , listen to some Shardhanjili music by Lata and jagjit and then listen the original version. they sang the same song but you find a distinct difference . It is creativity . with out riaz they can't do that even if they want and know .


They use certain "harkaat" , "Expressions" which can't be achieve with out riaz .

😊

no one's arguing the need for a basic level of proficiency. some riyaaz is needed to get someone to that point. but to suggest that a draconian riyaaz schedule is needed is sort of ludicrous, sorry. now i know we dont like to talk western music here, but if we look at the beatles, they got started only in their teens. and certainly they did not have the extreme work ethic that some of the folks here seem to be suggesting is necessary to learn and be creative. and they were creative now, weren't they? steve jobs was pretty creative with apple wasnt he? do you know how he got creative? not by taking classes in computers and doing riyaaz in programming languages when he was in college. rather it was a course in calligraphy that got him started thinking. btw, we have established now that it is fine to draw examples from other fields, so pls no berating me for bringing in these examples to make my point.

So for as many examples as someone can point to that weigh in for riyaaz, i'll find umpteen the other way around. And the basic question has not been answered. how are we so sure that when we speak of those greats that we are not talking about people who were very talented. perhaps riyaaz was just the icing on the cake?

Relevant excerpt from interview of SP Balasubramaniam

RajaG: Thank you for the wonderful response. It is a nice segue into the next question, which is about the recording process. In the olden days, you had the full recording happening at the same time; everybody who was creating the music would be there. And these days, part of the song is already sung, music has been composed partially, then overlays are happening before, during and after etc. This is not a question addressed to you as yourself, but you as a representative of the industry. Do you think such a process can impede the growth of a musician? With the knowledge gained from observing and interacting with other musicians lost now, how harmful is that for a musician?

SPB: It depends from person to person. For example, take the new entrants into the industry. They are very comfortable with the present situation; Even bar by bar they can punch-in and punch-out. Likewise, musicians also, like tabla and dolak players, in case at all there is a tabla/dolak which is a rarity these days (laughs), are also comfortable with it. There are two patterns in the mind of the music director; He records the first pattern for 16 bars, and the next pattern for 16 bars and packs the players off and then he goes on pasting wherever he wants. This gives lot of time for the musicians to go and attend to the other music directors, which is comfortable for them. For nascent singers, now the software has come; even if you are out of pitch, it can correct it and make as if they are singing in the correct pitch. Most of the time, the boys sing the first line and then go to the charanam, and in case the last line is the same, they don't sing it again; They just cut and paste it. They are saving a lot of time, and in that way, technologically it is an advantageous thing.

But, when we were doing live, suddenly, even after a couple of rehearsals, if a particular range was not comfortable, if I wasn't sounding like myself, I could immediately call the music director and ask him to reduce the pitch by a semi-tone. Immediately, all the musicians used to rewrite their scores, and we used to have one more final rehearsal and go to the microphone and record it. This made me sound better. Even that is possible now; after even getting the track recorded, you can pitch shift it electronically. But, it is unnaturally shifting the pitch. Either you have to compress or expand it, and the instrument doesn't sound natural.

While we were doing the live recording, when I was singing one particular phrase, the second time I could improvise it better than the first time. I could request the music director to record it twice; Even now that can be done. But they only paste it, and there is no flow from the first line to the second line.

So, there are advantages and disadvantages. Had there been this technology, they could have definitely used it in the past. We have to change with the times. Most of the times when I was doing the duet numbers, it was very interactive with whoever was singing with me. Sometimes I was dominant depending on the other singer, and I could make them do better and better. Even some senior singers used to ask me, "indha gap-lle yEdhaavathu effect vENumnu music director solraar, what should I do, Balu?" Or I used to ask somebody whether the swaram I was singing is right or I am producing a wrong note or something like that. That possibility was always there when we were singing together, which doesn't occur these days. Most of the times, the singer doesn't even know who the other singer is (unless someone has sung it before him/her). That is because, these days the song is not composed with the singer in mind. They record the track and then search for the singer. That is an unfortunate affair.

Thanks Punjini-ji for posting this excerpt of SPB. I really didn't know about the recording method of copy/pasting.

There was several bhajan CDs by Jagjit Singh which I could distinctly tell that excessive use of copy/pasting from the original track. I have the unedited versions, but I find it humorous yet upsetting to hear the edited versions.

I admit, that whenever I do my own home recordings, it is very frustrating to pre-record tabla for 11 minutes (making sure there is no mistakes), pre-record esraj, and playing it in sur, and other instruments, and then finally, when I think the track is ready for a recording, I have to sing it or find a good singer to sing it, if its vocal.

They sure must have good technology to cut and paste like that!