Listen to this for a change!

In case you don’t know, the popularity of Indian Hindi film songs, especially of the older ones, is phenomenal to say the least. Not only in South Asia, but in large parts of Africa, West Asia, South-East and Far East superhits of yesteryears are immensely popular, and the singers like Kishorekumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey , Mukesh, Mohd. Rafi, Hemantkumar, Geeta Dutt, Talat Mahmood Asha Bhosle and composers like SD, RD, Madanmohan, SkJk, Salil Chowdhury, Naushad are absolute legends.

I am talking about songs older than 30, 40, 50 years!! Most of the above legends are dead long ago, but their popularity hardly decreased.

Just to give you a sample, I upload this simple song (1971, sung by Kishorekumar, music RD Burman). You can hardly find an Indian who hasn’t heard this one.

Don’t take it as a “typical” hindi film song – there’s nothing like that. There are tens of thousands of songs ( I myself have at least 2000 in my collection) of such mind-boggling diversity that you just cannot put a label like that on anything.

YouSendIt: The Leader in File Delivery.

I won't let you miss something that's enjoyed by one-third of mankind!!

I knew it won't be received well. "Trained" Western ears are often deaf to other music. We, on the other hand, are more fortunate; we can enjoy the best of both worlds!

This is pretty typical of the kind of music I heard growing up in Dubai... Bollywood being all over the place, of course. But I don't hear anything in it that doesn't sound like it's in the Western musical tradition?!

the piece is very enjoyable, very melodic and well orchestrated. but i think you are being too much hard about western ears. we are not that deaf

If I hadn't, you would not have commented

hahahahahahahahaah!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by CaltechViolist

But I don't hear anything in it that doesn't sound like it's in the Western musical tradition?!

Yes, the very most eastern aspect of this song is the language he is speaking. The song however sounds a little bit like a classic-stlye american song along the lines of something from The Godfather (no songs I know - it is just the style that is familiar). It really actually sounds more like a lounge tango or flamenco. Something from the 50's or 60's or even something latiny. I just don't see an eastern influence in this music. If it was truely eastern than it would most likely be written in the Pentatonic Scale (which I find truely boring). This is definately written in the regular western tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone-tone-semitone scale.

Please don't talk about thing you don't know. "If it's Eastern it's pentatonic" - the silliest thing I ' ve ever heard about music, and Whole Tone ? that's a very technical term about music that uses notes with minimum interval of a major second. All Indian ragas and folk melodies use the tempered scale of 12 tones, although there are a lot of microtones used in South Indian music. There are at least 250 popular ragas of which only a few like Malkaus is Pentatonic - and boring ? My foot! I can listen to any good Malkaus recital for hours.

CaltechV, the fact that it sounded "western" to your ears, even though it has shades of two different Ragas, shows that there is nothing inaccessible in Indian music.

no westerners are not deaf we just appreciate good music. i do not like bollywood music what-so-ever, if one genre is worth of the title of most repetative, it is this one

Originally Posted by Aleximo

no westerners are not deaf we just appreciate good music. i do not like bollywood music what-so-ever, if one genre is worth of the title of most repetative, it is this one

Don't be stupid, just cause we like something different doesn't meani it's better. Different doesn't make something right