Remixing And Re-Recording

Is it not interesting in Bollywood that you can often find the good old Hindi songs getting “remixed” and recorded again? The good aspect of this is bringing about a knowledge of these old forgotten melodies and recording them again gives them a new life. However, even though some people do not mind remixing the old songs with the music of their own, the majority of the fans of the oldies, that includes even the young generation, hates the concept of remixing.

If you have heard Lata Mangeshkar or Asha talk about remixing, a sudden expression of rage comes up on their face as soon as they are asked about remixing. Now, there are many old songs that Lata Mangeshkar herself has re-recorded them in her own voice in her album – Shraddhanjali.

So what is the difference between re-recording and remixing?

When the “musicians” of today take an old Hindi song and give it a “modern touch” by changing the beat, a few words here and there and putting in all the DJ distortions, the result is called remixing. In this case, the musician who remixes the song, as a matter of fact, calls that composition his own even though the overall melody and lyrics are retained from the old version!

When Lata Mangeshkar recorded Shraddhanjali, she did not distort the music or the words. She tried to be as true to the original as she could. The use of the modern technology in re-recording the old songs gave a true new life to those songs.

Did Lata Mangeshkar try to prove that she could sing better than the original singers? Absolutely not. Lata knew that the only way to revive the memories of those great singers who were her peers and friends, was to record the songs again using the new technology. And by doing that she did a great service to the world of music and her old friends who are no more with us. We all know Lata Mangeshkar is perfection herself. She does not need to prove her singing anymore!

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