When Kavita Krishnamurthy said now singers only need ‘attitude, not sur-taal’

The use of auto-tune and musical softwares to fix the beat and tune of songs is in common use nowadays. In a 2016 event, singer Kavita Krishnamurthy had shared her views on the use of machines versus talent of singers and said that singers nowadays only need to have ‘good attitude’. (Also read: Kavita moved to tears as Hema recalls their childhood days on Indian Idol 12)

Kavita was speaking at an event in Bangalore in March 2016 when she talked about the difference in the way the music industry functions these days. She said, “A singer like me can sing a five-minute-long song. I have sung for Khayyam saab, and his songs that were ghazal style – you cannot breath in-between a line. (He’d say) ‘My poetry will break’, you know how Khayyam saab and his poetry were. So now, when I am called for a song recording..(sings) ‘Tumko’..Gaa diya, ‘ek aur baar’…Tumko..’Ok Kavita ji next line’, (hums a tune) Bus. (I sing one word a few times, followed by a short line and that’s it).”

“This is how songs are made these days. And, I say, ‘I should sing this line again, in a better tune this time’. But, I am told ‘no, that is not needed. What is it about the tune, we have got machines, we will pitch it for you)’. So, now you do not need to sing in tune, or beat. You sing it in one beat, (Gestures opposite sides) it will be shifted in another,” she added.

Kavita also said, “So you do not need a singer to sing in tune, or with the beat. So, what do you need in a singer? ‘We want attitude, there should be attitude’ (I am told). So, if you have a good attitude, you can all try your hand at singing.”

Kavita has been active in the music industry since the 70s and has sung in many languages including Odia, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, English, Telugu, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Nepali, Konkani, Assamese and Punjabi, among a few others. She has lent her voice to popular Bollywood songs such as Tumse Milkar, Hawa Hawaii, Tu Hi Re and Koi Mil Gaya. She also sang songs with Lucky Ali for his album Gori Teri Aakhein.