The harmonium as a musical instrument is designed to support the vocalist. The problem is that some players of harmonium play it as if it is the hero of the music event. They therefore try to over-shadow the vocalist either by second-guessing the vocalist (and therefore constraining him), or by playing it in such a loud and dominating manner that the vocalist's voice gets drowned in the process.
Then there is a difference in the way one can project the sound by controlling the way the air escapes through the reeds. Some harmonists prefer to play using a single reed as you get a very sweet sound - this is ideal when the musician is an accomplisted vocalist, and only needs support from the harmonist to "fill in" the gaps. However, most people prefer to play using either double or triple reed as the sound is stronger, and it tends to lend better support to the amateur vocalist.
Although normally I play using both reeds, recently I had to play on a single reed as the singer had a very soft voice - and even at low volume the harmonium would have drowned her beautiful voice. You can listen to the recording of that performance of Geethaji singing "Aaj Mujhe Aayike" here - Geethaji sang this as usual very beautifully - though I wish I had played the harmonium better.
1 comment:
Yes, the singers voice is soft and she is certainly singing this song with the emotion of 'bhakthi'. And you are playing the Harmonium beautifully too, very well following the singer. It seems as if you were familiar with this song and did you practice this song before recording them ?. However, half way through, the song changes mood when the dholak starts playing and the song brings in the mood of 'dance'.
Was this recording done with a single mic ?. If so maybe we should place it in between and around the singer, taal, and the harmonium with the chorus singers and the dholak a little farther.
I have downloaded the music so that I can share and listen to it at leisure.
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