sexypablo’s blog

Music rejuvenates the soul………..It can lift your soul to an immeasurable height without any levitation power…..it can make you tension free and stress free……For young and old…..Music is as valuable as GOLD!!!!!

pratanu….:P)

This is the first song my father played in Casiotone PT20.  It's a wonderful song and the melody is excellent.  I was studying in class 2 at St. Thomas' Church School.  I heard this song playing and got interested into learning the keyboard, the instrument still fascinates me.  It has caught the imagination of millions of people around the world acting as an accompaniment in all music groups.  The multifaceted nature of the keyboards can never bore. 

"Kharo bayu"  is a Rabindrasangeet I heard first in my father's collection of V. Balsara's piano composition.  The tune is so lovely and it lifts up your mood and you feel in a total different world where there are full of flowers and perfumes.  A real heavenly atmosphere is created in this song.  I also played the tune as per the notation of Prabir Banerjee, a student of V. balsara.

"Praan chai chokkhu na chaye" is the tune I played in my Casiotone MT140 and then in CT670, a five octave one.  It's a wonderful tune with full of life.  After all it's the creation of Rabindranath Tagore.  I feel so happy playing this song.  Its the song that tells us the soul wants more than the eyes.  It wants the ultimate satisfaction.  After all it's the mind that craves for better things in life. My tutor, Tarak Roy, taught me this song in Bengali notation.  I used to play later this tune with customized beats and the tune is so wonderful and I was even taught to play this tune in harmonica. 

"Amai cherey derey" is a wonderful song with great melody.  I saw this first as a dance video.  It's a wonderful choreography and I was quite moved by the dance effect created by the song.  Its the song of freedom.  The freedom from a confined life.  Nobody wants a confined and restricted life and so Rabindra Nath Tagore composed the song the same way so as to capture the hearts of millions. 

"Baro aasha korey esheychi go kachey dekey lao" is a wonderful song and a great composition by Tagore. It's a song that tells us the expectation of a traveler who wants to get accepted and received cordially.  It tells us if we invite a person to our house, we should pay respect  to him.  A guest is like a messenger whose care will raise your social status.  You will have a goodwill.  It's a great asset in social life and proper care of the guest is essential.  This thought is exemplified in the Tagore song. 

"Ami chini go chini tomarey ogo bideshini" is a wonderful song.  It shows respect to the foreigner.  India has a rich cultural heritage with thousands of picturesque monuments.  Visitors like migratory birds come from far away lands to see the breathtaking monuments.  They appreciate them and feel happy when they are taken care of.  They feel their value when we respect them in times of their need. 

"Pagla hawa badol diney" is a song of rainy season.  Imagine of wind blowing in a rainy day.  The rain has stopped for sometime and a strong wind is blowing.  The curtain of your room is flying.  The pages of your table were scattered on the floor.  The leaves of the tree beside your room have fallen on the table.  A soft moonlight has entered the room making the total atmosphere cool and enigmatic.  Just try to feel the cool surroundings.  It's a winter evening.  You are playing a violin sitting beside the window totally care free of the upcoming storm. 

"Mayaboni biharini horini" is my tune I learnt from my teacher Tarak Roy.  It's a wonderful melody made me nod by head and play the keyboard for hours.  The melody makes you flow on the river in a boat and move towards the horizon where you can see the sun arising.  On the eastern side, you see an island and you feel as if the song is coming from there.  You paddle hard to reach the place and hear the music well.  After all these are just my imaginations.  But, I cannot stop imagining wildly as without visualizing things good melodies do not come out even if you are playing as per the notation.  It's the feeling that makes you music unique to the listeners. 

"Jadi tor daak shuney keu na ashey tobey ekla cholo re" is an excellent song that tells you to move forward alone when there is no companion with you in times of need.  It advises you to think independently.  It tells you that life is competitive and there are times when no one is with you.  You are alone in this big world.  You decision is final at some points in life.  Your right thinking can only show the light at the end of the tunnel.  It shows how selfish people can be in real life.  It shows narcissism as the inherent nature.  This idea has been exemplied in Richard Dawkin's famous book "Selfish Gene."

"Hridoy amar nacherey" is a great song that makes you dance as someone sing or play the song.  It's a song that emphatically states the soul dances when I am happy.  It wants to dance ceaselessly.  Dancers have used this song and danced along with it.  It's a wonderful tune emphasizing joy and fun in the mind and one can feel as he listens to the song.

"Shyamolo sundoro" is a very, very melodious played on all good occasions.  It's a great composition that emphasizes nature's beauty.  We capture the beauty of nature through photography, art, video, etc.  We try to capture the nature's beauty through art and dances also.  After all human being loves to see good views of nature and many television channels make spectacular videos of birds and animals and in deep forests of Amazon making it amazing to the viewers worldwide.

I got the opportunity to listen to V. Balsara's music at a musical evening organized by Narasinha College, Howrah.  My father told me to attend the program and I did.  I was studying keyboard under Tarak Roy.  I used to live at Ichapur near Abasar Sammilani Club and this music teacher who was an ex-member of Sudhin Dasgupta band taught me music with love, patience, devotion and created an interest in music, which help me appreciate higher levels of music.  I attended the program of V. Balsara and listened attentively the song played by him like "Ei Raat Tomaar Aamar," "Kuchh Naa Kaho"etc.  He played the tunes in his keyboard specially made for his public performance named Univox.  I was very much interested to learn keyboard from this person.  I searched the telephone directory and got his landline phone number.  I made the call and an attendant received the phone and told me about "Sourav," a music school at 20, Sarat Bose Road.  This was previously known as Lansdowne.  I used to go to this school and the fees was Rs. 100 for 2 days in a months.  I learnt music there for eight months but left due to the pressure of my studies.  At that time, I was studying Anthropology Hons.

On my first day in Sourav, Mr. Balsara asked me to play a tune in the cottage piano in the well decorated room of Sourav.  I played "Aalo Aamar Alo," a song composed by Rabindranath Tagore.  He was pleased and I got the admission.  Then he used to give me notation in photocopied form and his assistant whom I later became a great fan, Prabir Banerjee, used to show me how the tune should be played.

Now I would love to share an article written in the Bengali newspaper "Dainik Statesman" published on April 3, 2005.  As I saw that there are very few websites which goes into the life of this great musical genius, so I thought it would be a good idea to translate this article into English and let the music lovers around the world know someone beyond, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Vivaldi, etc.  The page where the article was published is called "Bichitra."  It was written on the basis of an interview by Indrani Roy.  It was the last interview of the great musical genius.

V. Balsara wrote this article for "Dainik Statesman" before falling ill.  The article was named "Sekaal Theke Ekaal" (Then and Now):

Times flies away very fast.  I passed 66 years of my life in the world of cinema in which 16 years in Bollywood and 50 years in Tollywood.  The question arises how did this world arose and who are responsible for it?  When I first set my foot in Mumbai, at that time, Khan-sahibs and Ustadjis dominated the industry.  Some brilliant examples are Khan Sahib Mustaq Hussain, Ustad Mandey Khan, Pandit Govind Ram, etc.  The type of music changed with time.  Musicians like Anil Biswas, Master Gulam Haider (Lahore), Naushaad, Hussein Lal Bhagat Ram, Sanchin Dev Barman, Hemanta Kumar came to the scene.   Later Kalyanji and Anandji came.  And finally came Shankar Jaikishen and Lakshmikant Pyarelal.  Those who worked with Rajkapur's movies that are rich in melodious tunes.  A revolution in music world came when Sachin Deb Barman entered the Bollywood.  He changed the form of music totally in Bollywood.  Late this trend was carried forward by Bappi Lahiri and later A. R. Rahman.  Undoubtedly the film music became more developed and rich post A. R. Rahman.  The new type of instruments changed the way music was created in the industry.  As far as I remember, Gulam Haider first introduced Dholak.  Ram Singh brought saxophone when Anil Biswas was the music director.  When Basant Desai was the music director, Ramlal brought Sehnai.  Banjo was brought by Kawas Lord.  Clay Violin was brought by Kalyanji in the film "Naagin."  Forbes introduced vibraphone, which was used in the song of Naushaad "Mohay Bhul Gaye."  David brought an Arabian musical instrument for the music of Naushaad.  Now I am going to discuss on the contribution of the sound engineers and recordists.  The recordists have a great role to play in the movie industry.  Previously a microphone was used in musical instruments and also by the singers.  Instead of only one microphone, now every instrument has a microphone during the recording process.  In 1955, a recordist named Satyen Chatterjee created an echo effect in a big container of water for the film named "Rater Andhokarey."  G.P. Sen used stereo recording in 1975 in "Sound of Sitar."  Previously if a singer or a musician performed a mistake, then the recording was repeated again and again till it reaches its stage of perfection.  The method was not only a wastage of time but not also money.  HMV used wax plate, which used to cost about Rs. 350.  With the development of technology, we are now doing track recording and digital recording.  If a musician or singer commit a mistake, then that area of the recording is deleted and recorded again.  So the time and money are saved in this method.  But there are dark side and bright sides of development.  The musicians know that there fault will be corrected at the right point, so there is no need of repetition but in my opinion, the song loses its charm.

I was a student of Alliance Francaise de Kolkata.  I did the eight months course between my higher secondary and my graduation at Bangabasi College as an Anthropology Hons Student.  This memory of a rock concert was quite some time ago.  I did not remember the exact date.  Bow Barracks, the place where the concert was held was at Bowbazar.  It is behind Bowbazar police station.  It is an area where a large number of Anglo-Indians live. 

A huge stage was built for the concert.  A lot of people gathered.  Some of them seated on the benches, some standing.  The concert was late to start and the attractive feature was Neel and Neel.  Neel Dutt is the son of Anjan Dutt and another guy called Neel is a member of the Bangla Band Krosswindz.  Neel Dutt sang some English songs.  Neel of Krosswindz sang some lovely songs in English.  There was a large number of people some from the institute, some people of the neighborhood, etc.  It is a wonderful concert which attracted many foreign tourists also.  It is lovely to listen to a concert like this.  I have also attended many French festivals while I was a student of Alliance Francaise. 

The concert started with 2 Indians and then the French musicians took the center stage!  One after another the French numbers will set your heart racing!  You feel as if you are in another world!  You feel overjoyed and feel as if you are in France!  I studied this language as once I wanted to go to France!  Music is a such a thing where language can hardly be a barrier.  You listen to one tune after the next and feel ecstatic and overjoyed if the beat and the tune is good!  You nod your head and shake your leg till you become tired after dancing for quite some time!   Well this is life!  You work hard and enjoy your life!!  Forget the anxieties that populate your mind!    

A good way to reduce stress is to hum tunes.  As per a recent research report, if you hum a tune, it will help relieve the stress.  The singers have a good quality of life than the others.  The research result is based on 1100 choral singers in Australia, Germany and United Kingdom.  The research shows that people who joined the singing groups tend to be less healthy than the average person.  They are actually happier than the rest.  They are more satisfied with their overall health.  Don Stewart is the head of the public health at Griffith University in Queensland.  The study was based on 21 choirs, among them 5 based from southeast Queensland.  51% of the choralists had long-term health problems more than twice the Australian norm.  They also scored below average on the WHO scale.  98% rated their quality of life as good or excellent.  81% were satisfied and very satisfied with their health. 

It is always good to hum tunes.  I hum tunes which I listen in the radio.  I love humming and I used to sing in the choir at St. Thomas' Church School when I was in class 6.  Church music and music of Rabindranath Tagore are very sweet to me.  I love to hum western classical tunes also.  Some Bollywood tunes like "Chori Chori Nazren mili" are worth humming!

One fine morning I woke up!  It was my off day.  I  logged in the internet and entered "Youtube."  I listened to some good music of Tagore and some synthesizer tunes and some harmonica and I searched further and listened to some violin tunes.  This makes me chill and feel better!!!  When I  wake up at 4 in the morning, I just listen to the radio.  I have a mobile with radio facility.  I listen to the lovely English tunes and the Bengali tunes.  The Bangla Band tunes, some of them are too westernized and I feel I am listening to the western songs.  I listen to 107.8 Power FM.  The RJ say "0.8 makes all the difference!"  It is true.  Power FM gives you Hindi and English songs you will love to listen.  I think that those who give advertisement in radio get more listeners.  If you think deeply, you will see that listening to something makes you remember more than seeing it.

I often listen to the Western Classical music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Hadyn, Chopin and Vivaldi.  Bach has a style that is quite heavy while Chopin and Vivaldi music are too cool and it soothes your nerves.

It is far better if you listen to the tune and start humming it.  The humming process makes you get involved more with the tune.  When I am going in the bus to my office at Gariahat, I listen to the tunes and hum them along with it I read yesterday's newspaper. 

When I started playing harmonica, I felt that it is quite a difficult instrument.  But as time passed by I felt that it is not a big problem, you can play at ease and you feel so happy when you feel the 'RHYTHM OF MUSIC VIBRATING IN YOUR MIND" and the lovely tunes that makes you "feel good." 

What is the effect of listening to so much music?  Will it affect your hearing ?  You may ask these questions .in reality, it "elevates" your mind and you will see and "I guarantee"  your productivity in office will be more!!!  You will feel that there is little work pressure and you will notice the marked difference. 

You can listen to these music and tell me how they are!!!  Just live with your beloved music and you will see that some music are too good!! Always try to explore new types of music every day!  Expand the area of interest in music! Never be confined with one type, say you love classical, try to explore and you will see that there is fun!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS8F5×07pl8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imOd3hwgnrE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1Uv8U1Xxhw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAKv-MS8RA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gubXilw6RfI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8XHnKSfjTs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dvgf28i_YA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urfinpJIUoM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SPZu2-0EP0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS8eVFq1ZdU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu67pzugkMQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agl_AkcQX-8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i67OnKJSRuM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSrH_oqnrl0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYbbCHc6pdU

Harmonica is a wind instrument.  It is played by mouth.  The harmonica is held by the hand with 2 hands and played by blowing air from the mouth.  With a little air pressure, one can play harmonica.  Soft blowing the instrument gives rise to a sweet sound.  Being a wind instrument, you can play it any time and any where.  It is small and portable.  It can be carried in a pocket.  It has a bellow.  Sophisticated harmonicas have scale change facility.  One can play it in different scales, e.g. C, D, etc. scales.

From my childhood, I loved to play musical instruments.  I have a harmonica and a synthesizer.  I learnt the harmonica for quite some time.  I often play it in my leisure.  I learnt the tactics of playing it.

In a harmonica, there are holes.  The playing of harmonica involves drawing and blowing the instrument.  I learnt it in the regional way, i.e. sa, re, ga, ma, pa, da, ni sa.  The seven holes are named in this way.  It is an octave.  It is similar to a piano.  The holes can be named in the English way as follows and one hole is blown, then the other next to that is drawn and the last two are blown.

It can be shows as follows:

C——- blow

D——- draw

E——–blow

F——-draw

G——-blow

A——–draw

B——–blow

C——-blow

The sound of harmonica is so sweet and nice that it gives the player the ultimate satisfaction.  As one goes on playing the instrument, after 15 minutes or half an hour, one has to take some rest as the air is forced from the lungs to play the little instrument!!

One has to apply cream to the lips.  The lips become dry and take some water and rest at regular intervals of 15 minutes or one hour.

It is always advisable not to share a mouth organ.  A harmonica player's saliva from mouth might cause infection to others.  One's disease might be transmitted to others through saliva.

Insertion of chords in harmonica:  When we play a piano, we use our left hand to accompany or enrich the right hand tunes.  Similarly in a harmonica we are using our hands and tongue to create a chord.

Importance of tongue for a harmonica player is immense!  Folding the tongue like a pipe inside a mouth, if one blows or draws the desired holes, one can create a nice tune.  With the hand, frequently bellowing, it causes the sound to vibrate.  Vibration of sound creates a wonderful effect to the player and also to the listener.

Vibration of tune is done with the left hand.  One has to hold the instrument with the right hand and use his left hand covering the instrument in such a way at the opposite side that the sound gets obstructed.  Now by moving the hand similar to a birds flapping of wings, one creates a vibration of the sound emitted by the mouth organ.

Using the bellow with the right hand creates the effect of chord in a mouth organ.  The tune gets the effect of sharp and flat as we all see in a musical instrument.  The effect of sharp and flat increases the depth of music to a greater degree.  One can use it to play the instrument in different scales.

Mouth organ should not be played loudly.  It might cause strain in the player's lungs.  So it is always advisable to play the musical instrument softly.  One can play the synthesizer loudly by increasing the volume but it is not possible to play too loudly.  After all, the air blown from the lungs is the expiratory reserve volume that comes out with forceful inspiration.  When a player plays a harmonica, he rapidly breathes to take air to breathe.  His rate of pulse increases along with the heart rate.

The tunes played in the harmonica or mouth organ must be POPULAR!!  It must have a social acceptability.  Tunes which people have heard and love to listen to them.  If someone plays among the friends circle, he gets famous as it makes the listener feel good.  Unlike any other instrument, the listener gets involved in the popular music played by the harmonica player.  The sweet sound mesmerizes the audience.

With a harmonica, one can publish music records of popular tunes.  If people buy them regularly, then he will have a reputation in the music market.  Then the person will get offers from musical recording companies.

Harmonica being a little instrument can be carried anywhere.  One can carry it in a vacation trip and pass the time playing it.  One can play it in college and university festivals.  One can teach harmonica and earn well.

Harmonica is an instrument that impresses the young and the old audiences.  The player gets satisfaction.  A musical instrument is a great reliever of stress.  It cools the mind.  It calms the soul.  It makes someone feel good and happy!!  After a hard work in office, if someone take some time playing this beautiful instrument, his life gets filled with joy.