Indian Geek Jams ahoy
April 18, 2016 8:38 AM Subscribe
Tushar Lall arranges Indian classical music versions of well-known pop culture soundtracks. The latest release is Star Wars; there's also Harry Potter, Interstellar, Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean and BBC Sherlock.
Played the Pirates of the Caribbean piece first. KNEW they'd pick the tune up with a tabla and bhansuri (flute). Couldn't help but think that a more earthy dhun - like the south Indian dappu or the Punjabi dholak - could have given it that frenetic energy that Rodrigo y Gabriela's piece had in the OST for the last PoTC movie.
Essentially, feel there's some bhaava(m) (emotion) lost in translation here; there somehow isn't that additional musical insight that you get in re-creating western notes in Indian arrangements. Which is frustrating, because they're so close with that one.
Also, because of that piano base, and the speed, thought the BBC Sherlock piece sounded quite a bit like House of Cards. Also, they didn't do that distinctive pomp-pomp sound in the Sherlock original.
And sure, it's more fusion than a re-creation of the tune in Indian scales, or that very Indian arrangement, the jugalbandi: play the western orchestra till a certain beat after which a Hindustani/ Carnatic orchestra takes over the scale. The immensely talented Krish Ashok, for instance, does this with Silent Night and Skyfall with Carnatic accompaniment, just as The Amit Chaudhuri Project with Eric Clapton's Layla and Hindustani music.
posted by the cydonian at 9:39 AM on April 18, 2016 [3 favorites]
Essentially, feel there's some bhaava(m) (emotion) lost in translation here; there somehow isn't that additional musical insight that you get in re-creating western notes in Indian arrangements. Which is frustrating, because they're so close with that one.
Also, because of that piano base, and the speed, thought the BBC Sherlock piece sounded quite a bit like House of Cards. Also, they didn't do that distinctive pomp-pomp sound in the Sherlock original.
And sure, it's more fusion than a re-creation of the tune in Indian scales, or that very Indian arrangement, the jugalbandi: play the western orchestra till a certain beat after which a Hindustani/ Carnatic orchestra takes over the scale. The immensely talented Krish Ashok, for instance, does this with Silent Night and Skyfall with Carnatic accompaniment, just as The Amit Chaudhuri Project with Eric Clapton's Layla and Hindustani music.
posted by the cydonian at 9:39 AM on April 18, 2016 [3 favorites]
I don't know a thing about Indian classical music, but these are fun. Nicely filmed, too.
posted by wintersweet at 11:50 AM on April 18, 2016
posted by wintersweet at 11:50 AM on April 18, 2016
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posted by splitpeasoup at 8:55 AM on April 18, 2016 [1 favorite]