Playback Singing: Scope and Opportunities

Playback singing is the art of vocal recital, a backstage artist who sang for the artists who plays role in cinema, tele-serials, jingles, OTT, and many other module of entertainment industry worldwide. Like other singer, playback singer need to maintain his/her all attributes of vocal quality in-addition with the script, scene, role play and receptor of the character.

Not all can be a playback singer because of the voice texture and the flexibility that can be mingle with screen artist, the  hero/heroin but nobody knows what kind of voice texture may fit with screen artist. The selection of the playback is purely based on the physique and vocal quality that suit for the on screen artist.  

As a career in playback singer following qualities/ attributes need to developed by the singer.

a. Versatility 

b. Flexible tonality

c. Clear Pronunciation 

d. Diction and clear dialect 

e. Pitch Perfection

f. Knowledge of chords 

g. Habit of shifting scale 

h. Understanding Aesthetics 

i. Realisation of literature 

j. Understanding the scene and character

k. Nature of Assimilation

Looking into the India, there are lots of scope and opportunities that playback singing can be excellent career. Hindi Film Industry, widely know as Bollywood may be one of the best career option. In Hindi Tele-serials, OTT and commercials , playback singer are highly on demand but need to develop the above mention attributes. 

The major challenges for Non-Hindi speaking candidate in Bollywood is diction, the clear dialect of Hindi- Urdu, so one should prepare and learn the proper pronunciation of words -- of Sa, Sha, Ba, Wo, nukta words drives from Urdu like  Ja, Za, Pha, Ka Kha, Ga, and the phonetic of Sanskrit, Hindi and Urdu. 

Like wise in some other film industry of different state i.e. Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Bangla, Oriya, Assamese, playback singing can be a most vibrant profession if your are in music field. But the consequences of playback singing is only possible if one can maintain the attributes mentioned above. Singing for the cinema/ OTT/ TV shows seem easier to those who do not deserve to be a playback singer and it is always a challenging profession for those who wish to rise-up. In regional industry one more challenges to a singer is the adaptation of local dialect and accent so those who are grown up in multi linguistic society can assimilate to the regional dialect and accent. 

Emerging of new industries, online resources and freelance projects, opportunities are increasing day by day. Number of Films, TV serials, Show reels, OTT are flooded in industry so one has to prepare for the industry with enhancing the qualities and efforts to versatility that he/she can sustain in the industry. The most essential part in being the singer is potential learning and proper guidance of Guru so identifying a guru is also a challenging task in present time.  The way of Reeyaz/ Swar Sadhana/ vocal practice is one of the fundamental thing that drives one to towards the playback singing. Correct vocal practice is always an essential part of music and it is only possible with guidance of experience Guru. The detail of reeyaz will be discussed in next chapter. 

https://youtu.be/wLQjecxo69A?si=aS7PXfdVYW7AFIeq

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Kumar Sargam 

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Brihaddeshi: A Transition Period in Indian Music

        Brihaddeshi is another milestone text that spans the period from Natyashastra to Dattilam to Sangitaratnakara. It carries forward the tradition of Natyashastra and Dattilam; and, at the same time, it establishes the Desi Sangita on a firm pedestal. Brihaddeshi bridges the Marga and the Desi class of Music; and, it also provides the basis for the emergence of the Thaat/Mela system of classifying the Ragas.   One could say; Brihaddeshi gave a new birth to Indian Music; and, revitalized its creative genius by bringing the concept of Raga into the very heart of the Music traditions and their sensibilities.

        This text is one of the major references of many earlier authors whose work are now almost disapeare from the lineage of Indian Music. The text attributed by Matang in Brihaddeshi was the collective and conclusive study of the Natyashastra, Abhinaya Darpana and Dattilam. Further he also added references from the text of Kasyap, Durgashakti, Kohal, Maheshwar, Vallabh and Shardul to establish the concept of Raga, Jati Gayan, and Deshi- Marghi Sangeet and other components of Vedic music. Brihaddeshi was composed and released for bibliophile during the mid of seventh century. There is no any concered demography about the exact relase date of the book but it is assumed that Brihaddeshi time was approximately around mid of the seventh century. 

        The Edition of Brihaddeshi is a half lost verson, only of five hundred around Verses are available to us. The available Chapters and verses deal only with music and the term closely related to singing. The Chapters in this book deals with the Concept of Deshi- (Geeta- Vadhya-Nritya), a countryside music defining the characteristics of Grama – (Shadaj-Madhyam-Gandhar), Murchana, Nada, Shruti, Swara and component of vocal practices. He describes all togthere twenty-one Murchan, seven each from Shadaj, Madhyam, and Gandhar Gram.

After allotting a chapter to the Jaati-s, Matanga devotes a special chapter to the Ragas.  Here, he deals with Grama-raga; and the Desi-ragas: Bhasa, Vibhasa and Antarabhasa. These Desi-ragas are again classified into four categories as: Raganga, Bhashanga, Kriyanga and Upanga. Indeed, it is in this chapter of the Brhaddeshi we first come across the definition of Raga as given by Matanga. and, it is his definition that has guided all the later literature (lakshana grantha) on Classical Music. In the history of the Ragas, Brhaddeshi is, therefore, a landmark text. The term Raga seemed to have been in use even prior to 7^th century. But it was not used in Music or in Music-theories in the way we know it and, in the way, use it now.  It is, therefore, difficult to say that the concept of Raga as it is understood today, had fully evolved and was recognized as such in the period prior to Matanga; say, at the time of Natyashastra (second century BCE)

        The Musical Scenario in India was quite unstable during the 8^th century an onwards because of foreign invasion. The religious background and rituals beliefs in India was highly affected because of the political intervension by those rulars. The Turkish, Irani or the Afgans Muslims invasion suddenly changes the social structure of the society in the beginning of medieval period. The Bhakti Adnolan was the the commmandable social unity started by Adi-Guru- Shankaracharya to reform and reunited against the forceful conversion and religious attack by the Muslims Bharta Desh. The Movement was also the savior of the musical tradition in mediavial period, from Bangal to Gujarat, Assam to Multan, Lahore to Madras, Konchi to Kashi, Bhakit movement was widely accepted by the people of India for the resistance of their indegenious culture, tradition, rituals and religious belief. 

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