Western classical music is participative. Look at the number of people who are involved in a symphony.
— Ilaiyaraaja
You can realise God as you progress in music; nothing in between.
Music is as vast as the sky, the oceans, the universe.
I think of the Tamil poet Subrahmanya Bharati every day, and he is an inspiration in my musical creations.
I would like to inform the public that I have entered into a licensing agreement with Agi Music for manufacturing and distributing my songs in any format and have also granted the license to distribute my songs on digital and new media formats, including mobile ringtones, caller tunes, and online downloads.
I don't believe in making two songs similar. Every composition must have its own unique character.
A good mind should tell the difference between noise and music.
Mere recording of an event will not make it a historical document. It will become obsolete with time. Only those that emotionally connect with the audience will stand the test of time.
In music, there is no country; there is no time.
A mother cooking exclusively for her child might be preparing just rice and buttermilk, but it will be immensely tasty. Fast food, on the other hand, may be very tasty, but it has not been prepared exclusively for you, you see.
My music is for the world. Let them enjoy it.
Do you know it took me 27 years to understand the C major chord on the piano?
To me, music is that which connects human hearts. It is something that takes you to unknown levels.
Right from the 17th century, composers who have taken up music as their means of livelihood went through a hard time financially. They were paid only for commissioned works and public performances. And, when their music became famous, orchestras in other cities and countries would pay a small amount to copy the music.
There is no guru like our own mistakes.
Anyone who holds a pen these days thinks he or she is a poet.
The dictionary contains thousands of words on Tamil music. I am not familiar with most of the words, but it shows the rich past of Tamil music.
I consider all women as mother. I compose poems for any female considering her as mother.
Your understanding of music depends on your capacity to perceive it.
My perception is that there is no distinction in music as many people perceive. The difference lies in the way you hear the music.
Traditional musical forms like 'Parai Isai' and 'Villupattu' are unique, and they need to be protected and nurtured.
In India, most people are not aware or are unconcerned about copyright laws. This has proved disastrous for the music fraternity.
My parents were simpletons. Everyday living was a big thing in that small village where I was born. They had no clue about music.
The Gen X thinks history is a waste of time. This is instant world where only readymade things are valued.
You may go to the temple for mental peace. But you may be distracted there and forget the purpose of your visit. But this does not happen when you hear good music.
When you listen to a song, it should make you sit up and wonder, 'Hey, what is this!' or give you an inexplicable feeling of joy or relate beautifully to the music in you.
One could work on a lot of albums such as 'Thiruvasagam in Symphony,' but with issues such as illegal downloading from the Internet and piracy, it is difficult.
Sometimes, entire songs are ready in just about five minutes.
Everyone's music is made of their own life experiences.
Taking legal action against pirates is a headache for artists like me.
Many ask me why I work with debutants, but I always tell them that there's space for every one in the industry, and if my music helps him, then I'm glad to be of some help. I will never say no to deserving newcomers.
Music has done much more for me than I have for music.
Music is the only medium by which everyone is connected in the world.
Government should take necessary steps to add music into school syllabus and impart knowledge to the students.
Thyagaraja was not a professional musician. He did not sing for situations. He was music himself.
Music should come from the heart. It should happen. That should be automatic, and if you labour on creating music, it will not have soul.
In whosever presence you find peace of mind, devoid of fear, only that person can be your guru.
Any form of classical music is made for youth.
Some people love money, and some people love other things. I love music, and we are all lovers.
Life is not what you expect: it is made up of the most unexpected twists and turns.
Music is a continuous process. You evolve with every song.
When directors tell me they want a song like one, I tell them no song should be like another. I don't listen to directors.
Branding music as 'for the youth' is only an escapist tendency. Preference in music is only about restrictions of the mind.
Music reigns supreme. It does not need a visual prop. While listening to a number, do you enjoy the tune, or do you enjoy it because you imagine someone singing it? In fact, quite a few hits of mine are from films that no one has heard about. The songs still rule, though.
Questioning the origin of music is like asking why the breeze is soothing, why you shiver in exhilaration when the spray from the waterfall hits you.
In my early years, I would be in the studio till 11 P.M. Come home, have bath and dinner, and write music till 2 A.M. I would wake up by 4, sit down to do my music, and be at the studio at sharp 7 A.M.
Many great composers have died in poverty. I have not faced hardships, like having to struggle for food, thanks to reasonable producers.
Ideally, the music composed these days should sound much better because of the technology, right? But that's not the fact. The sounds that you hear out of technological recording are programmed sounds coming out of a computer.
I come from a small village and have had no formal training in music or any classes from the masters of Indian classical music.
Music has the power to divert the violent minds.
