Once a client of mine asked me to work on some poems from SSC textbooks. I was supposed to search for a music composer, a singer and take care of all technical sides of that entire task of music composition. For the first time the client was not very sure about how it will go on and what will be the end product and many such things. It was not about voice over. So… as usual like a very honest person I exhibited my limitations in coordinating this particular project. I gave them lot of alternative names in music compositions who do compose for children. But they were reluctant to go ahead with other alternatives. The budget was of course very less as it was academic level work and not about making a music album or so.
Many composers refused by saying eLearning budgets are too less to create wonders out of it. No incentive and hence we are not going spend our time and energy on this.
But I took it as a learning for me and started working on it. I had got some tunes from their teachers which are unfortunately based on some filmi songs. Regret to find the reason behind it which says that they had used filmi songs’ tunes just for the children to pick up the poems fast. OH!! And I was supposed to sing them. It was sounding very funny. Need to change this!!
I feel in such experiments we have to come to the children’s level of understanding music. What appeals them, which tunes they will catch up, what scale they will be comfortable, what speed suits them, provided it takes care of the sanctity of academic learning.
Let them like filmy songs. But let them also take the pure joy of childlike school atmosphere. Singing poems in filmy tunes is rather childish not childlike. And….. Finally I found somebody worth for this. He was a music teacher in schools. His understanding of children’s musical grasp was tremendous. It helped in successful completion of the entire project. It also gave me the pleasure of singing after many years.
We did the same experiment with 2nd set of poems. First time for me it was completely “No Commercial Gain at all” kind of a project. Second time may be “No Profit No Loss”. Basically here the involvement was beyond the thought of commercial gain and it was more about professional satisfaction.
But your efforts really pay you back in the long run. Finally the teachers, the client were happy with the new appropriate catchy tunes and the simple techniques we had dealt with rhythm setting etc. Of course it was not possible without the technical support of the studio guys.
To my surprise I was glad to know that henceforth all the pomes will be recorded like this and I am going to handle this. The happiness is not just about independently coordinating music composition project or confidently singing for it but it was more about its result i.e. the way that small uncertain requirement got converted into a demand. The Journey in the small little world of Music for Poems is still going on. Really happy to achieve this.
Madhavi Ganpule
A Poem Sung with Bhagwan Sahajrao for eSense Learning