Thursday, April 14, 2011

Happy Vishu

Thought would be an appropriate time to revive blog after a year! Am glad blogger doesn't automatically delete inactive blogs. Recently found the karaoke track of a marathi song that I sang on stage last september so decided to record and post it. The song is an Abhang (devotional poetry) by Sant Dyaneshwar set to tune by Hridaynath Mangeshkar and sung by Lata ji. The lyrics can be interpreted in various ways. Being a non-marathi speaker, I relied on this youtube link for trying to understand the meaning of the abhang. It is indeed so beautiful. So here goes my attempt.

Song: Mogara Fulala
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Music: Hridaynath Mangeshkar


Mogara Phulala - Marathi Abhang | Musicians Available
Download here

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Wake Up Nandita

.....It's been so long since I posted something here. Thought it was about time to dust my recording equipment and exercise my vocal chords. Work has been keeping me very busy and lecturing large classes has taken a toll on my voice. Partly my fault as I speak loudly despite having a microphone (go figure). I hope the damage is repairable!

So have been really obsessed with Iktara from Wake up Sid. It's one of those songs that I can hear umpteen number of times in a loop. The only other song I had been this hooked to (excluding the golden oldies) was Beetein Lamhe from The Train. So here goes my attempt at this song. Thankfully the main chorus part was already there in the track. However, the male bits were not there so I kind of tried to fill in with my voice (hope it doesn't sound too awful ha ha).

Song: Iktara
Movie: Wake up Sid
Singer: Kavita Sheth and Amitabh Bhattacharya
Music: Amit Trivedi
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya


Iktara (Wake Up Sid) | Music Codes
Download here

Monday, September 28, 2009

Happy Birthday Lata Ji

Wanted to upload Mohabbat Aisi Dhadkan from "Anarkali" on the occasion of Lata ji’s 80th Birthday. It has been my all time Lata ji favourite. Could not find the karaoke so decided to sing it unplugged in one go. Of course the orchestra of crickets outside my window provided some background music….or rather noise(no offense meant to the cricket community).
Song: Mohabbat Aisi Dhadkan
Movie: Anarkali
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Music: C. Ramchandra
Cover by : Nandita


Mohabbat Aisi Dhadkan(Unplugged) - Happy Birthday Lata Ji | Online recorder

Download here

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Zara Zara

This was the first song that I had attempted to sing with a karaoke. I had lots of fun singing with a track for the first time. Unfortunalely, at that point being quite clueless about the whole mixing process. I just mixed my raw vocals with the track and saved it. I have been wanting to redo this song for a while and finally did so today. So here goes... As always your feedback is welcome.
Disclaimer: Though am slightly better with mixing, am still pretty clueless!

Song: Zara Zara
Movie: Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein (RHTDM)
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Original Singer(s): Bombay Jayashree
Cover by: Nandita



Zara Zara (RHTDM) | Upload Music

Download here

Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Magic of Umrao Jaan_II

Greetings from the musical heartland of India-Chennai!! Having settled down in my new place I had no excuses to delay recording. So here goes...
Since the very first song on this blog was from "Umrao Jaan", I wanted to revive my blog with another song from the same movie. Hope to cover all songs from this movie in my blog someday (including the male solo :)). Just love them!!! Attempting one of my all time favourites Dil Cheez Kya Hai. There were some issues with the track so apologize for the beats sounding odd at some places. As always, your feedback is very welcome.

Song: Dil Cheez Kya Hai
Movie: Umrao Jaan (1981)
Music: Khayyam
Original Singer: Asha Bhosle
Lyrics: Shahryar
Cover by: Nandita


Dil Cheez Kya Hai | Music Upload
Download here

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Leavin on a Jet Plane...

...don't know when I'll be back again. I leave for India tomorrow. Have been looking forward to this day for a while now! Countless wonderful memories associated with my stay in the US. Maybe I should dedicate a blog just for them :).

I have been wanting to sing Kesariya Balma from "Lekin" for a while now but never had the confidence to post it here! And honestly, the recording sounded quite awful when I first tried singing it. Then I discovered that hearing a super pitchy song of yourself can work wonders on the frequency and duration of your practice sessions ha ha. So I kept singing this song, so much so that even my husband could sort of sing the alaap in the first antara just listening to me sing it over and over and over. I don't even want to think how irritated my neighbors are with me (good thing we are leaving). Coming to the song. It is in Maand based on the Rajasthani folk song Kesariya Balma, padharo mharo des. The lyrics for the song in "Lekin" are written by Gulzar and the music is by Hridayanath Mangeshkar. He is a wonderful composer and thanks to my friends I have been introduced to his beautiful compositions in Marathi. And of course who else but Lata ji could sing something so complicated with so much ease. Her voice just flows in this song. Here is my first attempt at singing this beautiful song (in the public domain that is). Do listen when you have time and do not hesitate to provide constructive criticism (that too works wonders on the practice sessions ha ha). This blog may not be very active in the next month or two, but I will definitely resume practising, singing and listening once I am all settled. Thanks for all the support :).

Song: Kesariya Balma ; Movie: Lekin

Kesariya Balma (Lekin) | Upload MusicDownload here

Friday, January 9, 2009

Welcome 2009!!!

Wish you all a very happy new year !! Hope all your dreams and wishes get fulfilled. Thought this would be an appropriate time for happy and fast songs. Also, my mother wanted me to sing a fast song in my blog since I was only singing slow songs. So here are two fast songs for you amma :).

The first one is Mujhe Rang de from "Thakshak" sung by Asha Bhosle and composed by A. R. Rahman. He is such a gifted composer and so down to earth. Have a little story to share. During my M.Sc. days a few of us friends had gone to VT (now CST) to watch a movie and do general time pass. As always I had to visit Rhythm House, which was the only store at that time with a huge collection of music CDs and cassettes. And am I glad we went there coz ARR was also there buying music (this was in '99 around the start of his career)!! We were so thrilled and also had no idea how to react. He was so down to earth and was patiently talking (rather listening) to another fan in the store who refused to stop talking to him! My friend (also a huge fan of ARR) and myself spent a lot of time thinking of how to approach ARR and talk to him but finally shied away. A great opportunity lost :(. Anyways here is my attempt at singing Mujhe Rang de dedicated to my mother. Please give it a listen when you find time and as always would appreciate any feedback.

Song: Mujhe Rang De; Movie: Thakshak


Download here

The second song is Yeh Ishq Hai from "Jab we Met" sung by Shreya Ghoshal. She is one of favorite singers of recent times. Have loved her voice ever since I heard her in sa re ga ma. The song is composed by Pritam and parts of it are inspired from the french song Être Une Femme by Anggun (Source: itwofs). Here is my attempt of Yeh Ishq Hai again dedicated to my mother. The track only had some of the chorus bits (dekho na dekho na and pucho na pucho na parts). I did the rest myself. Please listen when you find time and any feedback is welcome :).

Song: Yeh Ishq Hai; Movie: Jab We Met


Download here