'RD was keen on big band sound'

Manohari Singh is a versatile musician who arranged much of SD and R D Burman's film music, including Sholay, Deewaar, Guide and Jewel Thief. He played the  saxophone, clarinet and flute, and scripted scores for a variety of instruments. Here he talks to Ashwin Panemangalore.

Tell us about your musical roots.
I belong to a family of musicians from Kathmandu. My father played  in an orchestra, mainly for the British. I grew up in Batanagar near Calcutta, where many Czech musicians worked in the shoe factory. A Czech musician, Joe Newman, taught me the clarinet.

Then I moved to Calcutta and played for the New Theatres, where Pankaj Mullick was a prominent figure. So were Kamal Das Gupta and Hemant Kumar. We played in dance music bands at  night clubs. Louis Banks  was there. So I was exposed to all kinds of music, from Western classical to pop to Bengali geet.

How did you get your first break in Mumbai?
Salil Chowdhury persuaded me to come here. I arrived in 1958, and S D Burman gave me a break with Sitaron Se Aage.

What are the most memorable films for which you played and arranged music?
What comes to mind is Jaag Utha Insan, Chote Nawab, Bhoot Bungla and Love Story. I remember Love Story with sadness. RD had passed away and Basu Chakraborty and I completed the score and the music in grief. But the music of Guide and Tere Mere Sapne had the greatest impact on me. I remember doing Bandini with fondness, as also Jewel Thief.

What was it like to work with R D Burman?
R D was very keen on a rich big band sound. Once, we went to America and visited Detroit and heard Stan Kenton's band live. It was wonderful! R D was immensely gifted. He was also an excellent musician and played the sarod. He absorbed all kinds of music and used them to very good effect. He was fun loving and would take us to Khandala, so we could enjoy ourselves and get new ideas. Our music was always team work, with Basu Chakraborty, Maruti Rao and others. We were family.

We had between 60-80  musicians in the orchestra. As arrangers, we wrote the score for each musician. We used about 30 violins and violas and six cellos; 16 brass instruments (trumpets, trombones); reed instruments like flutes and clarinets; guitars, mandolins and 15 rhythm instruments like dholaks, drums and bongos. The musicians were all disciplined and played perfectly, so it was very satisfying. There were many great musicians like Narvekar and Karnad (violin), George Fernandes (trumpet), Kersi and Buggie Lord (drums), Father Cawas Lord (bagpipes) and Anibal Crasto  (guitar, trombone). I also worked with O P Nayyar and Salil Chowdhury.

Who influenced your jazz?
I was influenced by Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman (both clarinet). Johnny Hodges was my idol on the alto sax, and it was a great experience playing Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade in the darkness of midnight in the old days in Kolkata.

How should the compensation for creating a song be shared?
Fifty per cent should go to the arranger and musicians, and 50 per cent to the director, singer and lyric writer.