Melodious voice out of wilderness

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

With a signature line of Doovilen Saduna Liye Bala Liye Bala Liye, Pradeepa Dharmadasa marked her entry into the field of music, embarking on a hard journey through the thorny valleys of jealousy, hypocrisy, cronyism and gangsterism which blight the field of music in Sri Lanka. Every milestone she passed along her long march to limelight was purely on her merit and due to her talents as a singer.

Guided by comparative vision and her control over her voice, Pradeepa Dharmadasa, over the years, proved her Mettel as a versatile singer rendering her voice to songs with diverse music compositions deriving their embellishments from equally different traditions of music. A unique attribute of her voice is her ability to sing songs with indigenous folk music motifs as well as songs with Western music elements. She stands out for her dramatic quality in her voice which is manifested in songs such as Kolomthoten Nav Nagga and Nandan Punchi Hiramane.

Tonal range

Her singing can basically be put into two categories; one her voice range and another singing style. Pradeepa can sing five notes below the concert C and three to four notes above concert C. In the middle range of her voice, Pradeepa can sing six notes below and seven notes from the middle F note in the first tetrachord. Given her voice colour, she has the ability to manipulate notes within her tonal range. A special characteristic of Pradeepa's singing is that she can use head voice or falsetto effortlessly within her articulation.

Pradeepa Dharmadasa

Considering the female singers in Sri Lanka, there are two categories of singers; a group of singers who could sing higher notes and there are others who could only sing notes within a limited range. Pradeepa belongs to singers who could sing notes in the middle range.

For instance, this characteristic is amply manifested in the song Doovillen Saduna Liye Bala Liye Bala Liye that Pradeepa sang for Jayantha Chandrasiri's teledrama Vedahamine in which she has also used her typical voice colour in the musical phrase without regular pulse composed on the words Doovili Doovili.

The property in her voice is that her voice has a dramatic quality which may be due to her commencement of artistic career on the stage. This dramatic quality is present in songs such as Kolomthoten and Mein Ape Iskole (the song has an appealing style for children). Her ability to sing Sri Lankan folk note motifs is manifested in songs such as Nandan Punchi Hiramane Avindin Onna Vasanthe.

Comparative vision

A significant aspect of her singing is that she sings songs in such a manner preserving the identity of the music composer. If a singer is to become successful, he or she should be able to apply her inherent abilities in an appropriate manner which is known as comparative vision in music. Pradeepa is gifted with that comparative vision. Although this mechanism naturally happens, singing becomes unsuccessful when that balance is lost. There are some singers who always try to cover up this inability from time to time with radical facades and by abusing technical knowhow.

It should be stated that Pradeepa has not exploited her privileged position to prop her image up. She became a singer purely due to her inherent abilities and on her merits as a singer.

Duets

Considering duets, Pradeepa is exceptional in many aspects. Songs such as Neka Uyan Vathu Medin ( She sings with Amarasiri Pieris) and Supem Hangum Oben Epa ( She sings with Lakshman Wijesekara) are extremely popular songs. Unlike songs such as Nandan Punchi Hiramane Avindin Onna Vasanthe, Kolomthoten, these two songs are based on the structure of popular songs (Sarala Gee) introduced by the SLBC.

The rhythmic element

The rhythmic element, percussion element and music compositions of Neka Uyan Vathu Medin and Supem Hagum have Western music motifs.

What is obvious is that Pradeepa has skilfully controlled the dramatic property in her voice in these two songs. The fact is obvious that she has a comparative vision to control her voice and applying it to suit these particular music compositions while retaining her identity in voice.

Pradeepa has often been described as an enlightened voice in the wilderness. Her journey to the limelight was purely due to her innate ability.

Pradeepa Dharmadasa entered into the field of music with her signature song Doovillen Sedunu Liye (Female Created out of Dust) in 1989 and since then she has been contributing her voice to the suffering classes.

She earned her Visharada from Bhathkande University of Music and Arts in India. Pradeepa's talents were spotted early in her school days when Somalatha Subasinghe discovered her potential as an actor. Her ability as an actor enabled her to play major roles in seminal productions such as Sinhabahu, Vikurthi, Moodu Putthu and Sathyanganawi.

Her scores of popular songs include Doovillen Saduna Liye, Kolom Thotin, Sanda Ahimi Bambarekya, Supem Hangum Oben Epa, Ha Ha Balagenai and Sathyangana. She has already three albums to her credit such as Sathayangana ,Kandulu Thotupola and Doovillen Saduna Liye.