The Sound of Konkani Music

With its pristine ear-tickling melody gone, the Konkani music, although alive, is kicking rather badly today

By Alister Miranda (Goa Today)

 

It’s been around since time immemorial; its roots lie embedded in the red tribal soil of Goa; the gumott, madhem and kansallem are its earliest exponents; the rhythm is vibrant; the lyrics are reflectively ethnic; the music is Konkani. Perhaps, this profile could well describe the Konkani music of Goa’s golden days. Music that serious collectors are now worriedly hurrying to document and save in archives for posterity.

A short ‘musical’ walk down memory lane, would bring sweet-sounding distinctly Goan notes playing on one’s ear drum. Music that the Konkani soul silently yearns for and identifies itself with. But, alas! Literally, there has been a drought of authentic Konkani music in the recent past, and save for the occasional flash, there has hardly been any brilliant path-breaking Konkani music created for quite some time. Is it the winds of change, or is it utter lethargy, that has failed to lift Konkani music to a new high?

Somewhere, it seems to have lost its way. It has been abused, distorted and adulterated left, right and centre. Making it lie cheek-by-jowl to vulgar jokes, made it lose its remaining virginity. Considering the present-day suicidal onslaught it has had to endure, it can safely be added up that Konkani music must be the one music entity that despite patiently enduring grave transgressions, continues to live on.

That Konkani music has Goan roots goes without saying. And that the wholesome beat it generates has a familiar Kunbi and Gauddi feel, is also beyond doubt. It is like the hearthrob of Goa. More than a hundred years from now when the popular tiatr was taking its consolidatory steps, Pai Tiatrist Joao Agostinho Fernandes brought this rustic beat under the arclights in his tiatrs - the most shining example being the lead song of Kunbi Jaki. It was around this time, that the Konkani beat married the Portuguese-generated Latin American style, giving birth to another distinct Goan form of song and music, the Cantaram. This music, holding aloft satirically penned lyrics, appealed to the common-man Goenkar, but was rather cold - shouldered by the self-proclaimed elite who, at best, settled with the Mando and Dulpods – both rightful siblings of the same Konkani music family. Both grew side by side. But Cantaram sprinted ahead in popularity following the advent of gramophone records. Suddenly Konkani music sailed across the seven seas to warm the hearts of expatriate Goenkars who till then were mainly concentrated in East Africa, and other Portuguese colonies. The likes of Minguel Rod, Anthony Mendes, Alexinho de Candolim, Young Menzes, Jacint Vaz, M Boyer, C Alvares, Alfred Rose, Miss Mohana, Ophelia, etc became household names with their characteristic style of composing lyrics and the original tunes they came up with. The trumpets, saxophones, clarinets, banjos, pianos, violins and raw acoustic drums reigned supreme in those vintage recordings. The salient feature of these songs were that only those who won thunderous applause on the tiatr stage qualified for the turntable. This was the unwritten rule that everyone followed and that’s why each oldie we listen to can be termed as a hit. Unlike the unpalatable stuff that’s stuffed into modern Konkani albums, most of which would have been better dumped in the dustbin. But, relegated to the dustbin of Konkani music history they will surely remain.

Despite the gramophone becoming a rage, the high cost of the record spinner made the avid Konkani music lover heavily depend on the radio station for his dose of music – the radio itself being a luxury in those days. All this changed once cassette players entered the Goan homes. And ‘Melody King’ Alfred Rose it was who took that bold revolutionary step of bringing Konkani music to the masses via audio tape. In the early seventies his first Konkani cassette hit the stands, and the new medium was a runaway hit. The trickle that had slowly started then, has today reached alarming flood-like proportions. Alarming, since all and sundry are being seen wearing the crown of Konkani cassette producers. Talent has now taken a back seat, as today many of those who are low on talent but high on finance can be seen keeping the recording studios busy. And if one would care to view their outputs under a microscope, concluding that Konkani music has almost reached its nadir would not be outrageous.

The sudden spurt in Konkani audio production was seen once Whitney Recordings set up their studio in Margao in 1994. Until then the Konkani artistes had to trudge it out to Mumbai for every recording. The recording activities have picked up even more since another studio ‘Magic Touch’ , owned by Chris Correia, has taken birth in Margao – in fact, both lie a mere stone’s throw away from each other. The other two studios lie on the other side of the Zuari river. Star Systems, owned by Orlando Fernandes, is at Panjim, and Leo D’Souza’s Audio Wave operates from Porvorim. Of course, the studios cannot be faulted for the music that leaves their premises on ‘master’ tapes. But competition, that has led to slashing of rates, is partly responsible for tempting the cantorists to walk into the studios and have their photographs smiling out of inlay cards. Recording an entire album in a studio in Goa can be done for anything between Rs 6,750 to Rs 12,000. Whereas in Mumbai the costs are much higher.

Recording also has become so much easier, with the amount of individual tracks available. Gone are the days where the musicians and singers had to record an entire song in a single take. Any mistake would mean redoing the song. Nowadays, vocals as well as music can be recorded line by line. Numerous effects can be added, some even to cover up mistakes. Alfred Rose, who had directed the music for the film "Bogllant", recalls that, in those days he had recorded all eight songs in a single day. Some kind of a record that!

A few artistes market their own cassettes, but many prefer to have their albums produced and marketed by big Konkani labels like V P Sinari, Dinfa, Manfa, and many others.

But is Konkani music selling? Yes, says Fabian Da Costa who owns the Manfa label. "But sales have come down very badly", he adds hastily. Could this be because of the quality of music being churned out? Yes and no. Fabian points out that if all Konkani music was routed through established labels then there would be some tabs on the quality. He also highlights the fact that a good album may lose out against a bad one, only because the individual producer offers a hefty commission to the cassette seller, who in turn pushes the sale of the one with lesser merit. Another factor that lowers the lucrative aspect of a production is piracy. There is rampant piracy in this small ‘industry’ too. "In Mumbai, piracy of Konkani cassette rarely takes place. But in Goa, I believe it’s on a very large scale. In Gulf though, it’s 100% piracy of Konkani cassettes. We have never been able to get a single pie from the sales done in the Gulf. Ironically the pirated cassettes sold in Goa are being manufactured in Mumbai, so also the masters of thecassette, which go to the Gulf for piracy also fly from Mumbai", says Fausto da Costa, proprietor of Mumbai-based Dinfa Productions.

The hectic activity on the Cantaram scene lead many to believe the falsity that Konkani music is synonymous with Cantaram. "We have two water-tight compartments – the Folk Songs and the Cantaram", points out Suresh Sinari, who fronts the V P Sinari label since 1979. Traditional music still has its own small audience, and beginning from Manuel Alphonso and Oslando there has been an occasional release of traditional and original Goan folk songs. "Traditional music sells on the popularity of the programme and not on the popularity of the singers", informs Fausto. Then there are the Konkani songs with music of Indian classical form, but sadly there are no takers. Only some of Ulhas Buyao’s songs have managed to attain some sort of popularity. Likewise, music produced by Mangalorean artistes does not sell in Goa and vice-versa, points Sinari.

Musical score and orchestration play an important role in Konkani music and its glorious days were of the ‘Nirmon’ and ‘Amchem Noxib’ era, when Frank Fernand embellished those classic Konkani films with his pleasing music. It was the Goan beat that he stuck to. Says ace drummer Abdonio Rodrigues, "I played for both those films, and Frank Fernand used to ask to play Goan Gaudi Rhythm. I wish the upcoming musicians would come forward and learn the true Goan rhythm, since Konkani music is helping them earn." Leo laments, "The big bands never did anything. They never came out with Konkani albums. Recently some of them have cut some albums, but have not done anything new; they have only resung the classics." Yes, the need of the hour is originality and quality; not a copy-cat attitude and quantity.

Many critics lay the blame of the decline of Konkani music at the feet of music directors. But is that the truth? Celebrated musicians Mariano Rodrigues, Babush, Tony Dias, Josinho D’Souza and Agnelo Dias who, jointly, have provided music to countless Konkani cassettes have a different tale to tell. "We are handicapped, as the singers come to us with lyrics set to their melodies and our role is only to provide the introduction, interludes and the fill-ins. We are not given a free hand," says Josinho. Agnelo points out that given their limited role, they would still be able to provide scintillating music, but there are hardly any musicians that can read the musical score. "We cannot write any music for the keyboard and guitar players as they cannot read. If the score leans heavily on the brass section, then again it sounds monotonous," he adds. Another common complaint from almost all the music directors is that there is no professionalism among the Konkani artistes. Most of the singers do not practice earlier, but wait to rehearse in the studio, and then actually, at times, dub line by line. It is a frustrating exercise for score writers to work on Hindi film and English music adaptation, we are told. "More and more youngsters should learn to play brass instruments. Only then Konkani music will come into its own again," opines Mariano. How true, since Konkani music is structured around the brass section.

Goans abroad have also contributed their mite in keeping Konkani music alive and from time to time have even brought out their own albums. Alfred Rose speaks highly of their patronage since he has toured globally and performed his Konkani musical show in almost every Goan destination. But, the expatriate Goans too are now disillusioned with the happenings on the Konkani music scene. Yes, the oft repeated phrase, that music flows in Goans’ blood, might still ring true, but it won’t be out of place to conclude that it has been diluted by synthesised aberrations.

The future may seem bleak. But doesn’t every cloud have a silver lining, and isn’t there light at the end of every dark tunnel? Many like Correia, see that light. Says he, " I am 100 per cent confident that things will change like it has happened to Hindi music. At times a stage comes of stagnancy, but someone will come out of it."

Well, let us recollect the days when the dimunitive ‘golden’ trumpeter Chris Perry turned Konkani music on its head in the early 70s. Until Perry came on the scene, Goa’s so called aristocrats despised Konkani music. But all that changed after the advent of Perry, who made these same people singing and dancing to his tunes. Perry is the one who literally brought Konkani music from the ‘kitchen’ to the ‘living room’. He created the Konkani singing sensation of all time Lorna, and together they rewrote the history of Konkani music. He also had India’s top singers, the late Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle and Usha Uthup sing some of his classics. "While recording with HMV, I would use 20-22 musicians for each recording. HMV would pay for only 6 musicians, at the rate of Rs 100 per musician, while I would bear the cost of the rest", he says. Ask any musician and they will agree that the standard Perry has set may never be achieved again. The re-release of Chris Perry’s hits, with Lorna singing to Babush’ arrangement, pales in comparison to the Original. Why such an attempt even was made is debatable and beats one’s imagination. It definitely wasn’t a tribute, but a money-spinning effort.

There may not be another Chris Perry or another Lorna, but there still have it in them to give us an encore. And we may not be disappointed, as a little bird told us that Perry has a surprise in store for Konkani music lovers.