This post is very special to me... (Note: Read the previous one for the background check on this one.. !)
For the first time I made a serious attempt in representing Raaja's music as Staff notations. The piece I have taken for examination is the Pallavi of the one of the greatest Malayalam songs.. "Thumbi Vaa " from the movie 'Olangal'. I took the Concert version of this piece performed by Raaja himself during his "A musical journey" concert that was played live in Italy circa 2003.
I took the orchestra version because the bass pattern in this track are proper minims (half notes) and hence easy to follow as compared to the original track where the bass pattern though of lesser no. of notes is of more complex time signature. For additional simplification I didn't consider the minute Sangathis etc., Just the lead melody on the treble clef and the cello tracks on the bass clef.
A quick guide to read the above notation is that: Its a score with 4/4 Time signature and the key signature is C minor. I have used "Repeat volta " where each line has to be played twice instead of unfolding them as many times and cluttering the score. As a sample, I employed one slur on the second line to represent the gamakam (ga ma ga ri).. A sheepish attempt at best.. !!
This score also explains the Contrapuntal technique in a very basic form where two melodies are played simultaneously with different patterns and also sometimes in opposite directions crisscrossing each other..
If you want to see the tracks played in real time mapped against Piano Keys, I suggest that you download this midi file here and play it using the Van Basco midi player that can be downloaded here. It gives you a much more clearer idea of how the notes are divided and played simultaneously.
This is a very basic first attempt and I have no idea if the score is written properly. Therefore I would really appreciate if someone gives a open review of this score (CSR ..?); Also please note that the notes in the sheet music are identified by raw hearing and I would be happy to know if there is any odd note that isn't in sync with the original..
Finally to put things in perspective, this the language that the musicians world over communicate with each other. Can you imagine, this is the language with which Raaja wrote the notations for Thiruvasagam or Guru or Hey Ram and musicians from Hungary who never knew anything of Raaja or India or Tamilnadu could play it instantaneously in exactly the same way that he intended. Isn't that amazing..?
In the future, I hope to unravel many of such Raaja's classics in its purest form !!
And Yes, I also hope that the PT Sir would be proud of the black sheep now !!
With Love Vicky
Special Credits: 1.) A wonderful software called Lilypond that helped me notate this score. Its an automated engraving system that can generate printable sheet music in a traditional plate.. It has some extremely handy features such as midi output as well as image output of the score. And its FREE... (Hail Open source !!)
2.) Simple and complete Musical theory pages of the Connexions website such as this one that helped me bolster my basics and clear some doubts that arose while notating this score.
A Frontier that's been talked about enough through stories of legends.. Enough to the point that its considered fashionable just to pretend knowing it all through some easily available jargon irrespective of you actually know the subject or not..!! Now, did that sound like a confession !!?
(In a larger context) I am talking here about the the system of five horizontal lines on which the musical notes are "written" as opposed to the traditional Indian way of rendering music straight out of heart and head... And in the specific context of this blog, its about Raaja's knowledge of writing Western classical music in staff notations at the blink of an eye. (No.. wait.. I am not going to talk about it anymore.. But do something about it.. Check the next post.. )
My fascination to the staff system of Western classical goes a long way back to my school days. The Physical education teacher of our school is also easily the best Western classical violinist of our town (we call him the PT Sir.. PT for Physical Training). PT Sir used to have a small team of school boys who played violin and because of my interest in music I also joined that team. But there was one problem.. He plays Violin the original western classical way of playing by notes while I knew it by the Carnatic way.. And I couldn't read those notes for nuts.. But thanks to my Carnatic background, I could easily memorize the song by head if I hear it a couple of times.. A temporary refuge that I then took instead of learning the notes.. A huge mistake as it still haunts me by stopping to learn the system the way it is...
So I used to happily accompany his troupe and play on all christian marriages, deaths, Church inaugurations and Christmas carels. While playing, I was always told to pretend as if I am playing by the notation so as not to disturb the stage presence of the team where as only PT Sir and our team knows I had converted the whole song into Carnatic swaras, mugged them up already and was playing by head.. So there we were.. A team of 4 trimly dressed young boys in white shirts and bow, lead by a brilliant master, playing so many songs from the score sheets.. Except that one of them was a black sheep :-)
While playing in those days, I have always watched this frontier from distance with awe and never really made an attempt to learn the art. How can everything, i.e., absolutely everything including the articulations and dynamics can be so methodically expressed in paper? How can someone read and process it simultaneously to produce music? Why don't you call 'Sa' as 'sa' or 'C' as 'C' instead of putting a round on a line. Especially when there is a treble and bass clef to be played in parallel, how is it possible for someone to "read" it differently that are made with same symbols...? For instance can you imagine a book where you have to read two sentences simultaneously.. One sentence is in English and the other in French.. made of same alphabets but mean completely something else.. All these simple unanswerable questions fortified my fear towards the system...
Further to that whenever we used to hear about the rich history of this system and all about the great western Virtuosos like Bach, Beethoven and Mozart from PT Sir, all the more the frontier would move in to a land of mythical surrealism.
Then I started seriously listening to Ilaiyaraaja.. and all the stories about his prowess in writing notations... How he is one of the few (or rather the only one) in this part of the world who can write, say an invertible counterpoint up the 10th (as quoted by Guitar Prassana)... And that too writing the manuscripts from his head without the need to use an Harmonium or a Keyboard or... err ... a computer these days....
An opportunity to understand Western Classical system a bit broader (but not deeper) and to appreciate Raaja's musical richness was presented at the music club of CIT. For 4 years we would learn music intensely (wasn't that an engineering college !!?) and play countless number of Raaja songs on many many occasions. Finally I could understand the basic concept of Western Classical system, realize all the chords, understand the time signatures at a practical level and so on. But still the ability to read and write the notations was elusive and remained a final frontier.
After College I made serious attempts (twice!!) to learn the Western classical, taking regular classes from a master. But I could only go as far as learning the new symbols and the conventions. The moment I got to play a song looking at the notes, damn it on my Carnatic instinct, I was memorizing the melody and decoding it to "Sa Ri Ga Ma" paradigm. On subsequent playings only the eyes are looking at the notes while the 'note processing engine' of the head was already switched off. However lengthy the passages where, it would render only the 'unprocessed swaras' as output!! ..!! So the real problem is, If you give me a new score that I didn't knew before, I was caught like a Rabbit in front of the headlights. Besides on both occasions I couldn't continue the lessons beyond 3 months each time for personal reasons.. Thus its honest to say that my efforts to learn Western classical formally were still born.
So, neither could I read the notes with fluency nor write a song in staff notations.
Ask anyone, what is the single most factor that differentiates Raaja's songs from the rest. The answer is bound to be "Orchestration".. Or in more simple terms the art of making a (fairly big) team of musicians working in unison to produce the desired results. Or in colorful language, Orchestration its the art of writing screenplay to the story called Melody.
One such tool available to write the screenplay is employing the String Ensemble as Tremolo strings. Wikipedia defines Tremolo as "A regular and repetitive variation in amplitude for the duration of a single note". If that sounded too text-bookish, try this.. I would like to define it as a way of employing the String ensemble to sketch a measure with innumerable bow strokes; Or dividing a bar into notes of minimum perceivable time signatures; Or decipherable atomic notes per unit measure; The strokes have to be so fine, that on casual listening it should sound disguised as a normal sustained long note but on careful listening it is actually made of multitudes of strands.. Simple speaking, Think off Haldiram's Soan Papdi :-)
I would like to start off with the song Maalaiyil Yaaro (Chathriyan): A casual look at the prelude, and you could be excused for thinking its made of full notes "Pa ga Ma Pa Pa Ma Ga Sa " Prelude of 'Maalayil Yaaro'
In reality, each of the notes specified above are made of tiny flakes of same note lasting for abysmall duration each.. Something like: Papapapapapapa gagagagagagagagag mamamamamamama papapapapapapaapapa
Listen to the above track again.. there you go!!
Note: As far as I know, the Tremolo time signature is spontaneous and is not a strict derivative of 1/4x lasting notes (i.e., not necessarily 1/32 or 1/64th time signature).. basically its asymmetrical within each count but totally put together lasting for the given notated duration.. You can clearly see that pattern in this track and all the tracks to come...
Same phenomenon is observed all over this song.. I am posting this very short beginning of 1st interlude. There are just 2 bars.. Each starting with pizzicato strings (Technique of plucking instead of bowing a String instrument like Violin.. This is worth another blog post..) and finishing in Tremolo strings.. 1st interlude of 'Maalayil Yaaro'
As in the previous clips, The pattern in which Raaja equates Tremolo effect with the pain of prolonged wait in Love symbolizing the return/ arrival of lover is rather unique ('Pirivaatraamai' in Tamil Ilakkiyam (!!??)). The irking wait for the partner is epitomized by one of the most beautiful tremolos of Raaja... The prelude of Sundari..
Maniratnam's picturization of early morning mist (Courtesy: Santosh Sivan..) Solo Flute (and Solo Lady on screen).. A landscape resembling Newzealand-ish outdoors of 'Lord of the Rings' with mountains, lush greenary and lakes... And Tremolo.. Wow.. Wow.. Wow.. Prelude of 'Sundari Kannal' PS: Actually you can watch this Tremolo in action. There are two occassions. once in Jeya TV's Andrum Indrum Endrum.. Now let me recap the definition of Tremolo.. A regular and repetitive variation in AMPLITUDE. Watch Raaja in this video from seconds 48 to 52. The Amplitude of Tremolo raises and falls as gestured by Raaja.. !!
A much more pronounced Tremolo in action in this song is noticable in "Raaja Raajadhan " Live show in Dubai.. that can be watched here http://sinnakuddy1.blogspot.com/2008/02/live-show.html --> Video no: 2 --> Seconds from 22:38 to 23:20. What happened was, clearly the Audio technician sitting in the channel mixer hasn't heard the song before and doesn't have enough knowledge of the song..(this might sound preposterous to you.. but take it from some one who has played 200 stages.. A technician who knows the song upfront is a very very crucial part of the stage show where live music is played by orchestra involving more than 6 channels or so.. stage feedback and mixing are two external factors which can make or break a show irrespective of your team's talent and hard work. The show is worth nothing if your sound mixer technician for the day is a stupid like in this case...) So the technician here, saw a hoard of animated violinists and thought that's the main part of the song and increased that channel's volume least realizing its the Flute and Oboe that was taking the lead there.. The result was a cold blooded murder of a beautiful phrase.. All the hard work of the orchestra goes down the drain.. But I was jumping when I saw that because I could hear the Tremolo uninterruptedly and could understand the transitions more vividly.. A horrible gaffe but it brings a hidden area to forefront even though the result is not pleasing to hear..
There are probably hundreds of songs by Raaja employing Tremolo.. I am copy pasting tracks top of my head..
I would like to close with one remark. Often I get asked by my friends, why am I so biased with Ilaiyaraaja..? Well, I am not averse to other composers.. I definitely am a big fan of quality music where ever that comes from (ARR included, for instance..); but there are reasons why my veneration towards Raaja is unflinching..
Let me again quote Wikipedia: "In music notation tremolo is indicated by strokes through the stems of the notes (in the case of semibreves or whole notes, which lack stems, the bars are drawn above or below the note, where the stem would be if there were one)".
Show me another composer in India/ South Asia who is capable of "indicating these strokes through the stems of the notes" and making a bunch of 40 violinists from Chennai play it..locally right here.. Fully cognizant of the fact that 9 out of 10 who listens these tracks where looking at the hero (probably a Murali or a Ramarajan or a xxx) or the heroine (a Bhanupriya or an Ambika or..) and not noticing the Tremolo..
Well, that's definitely a reason good enough for me to revere for..
Phenomenal improvisation. spontaneously flowing.. (and well played too.. Source: You tube video by: Widiar)
What we guys down south here in India, don't realize is a peer of this caliber among us, right at our backyard... In my view, Conceptualizing such a harmonic melody with seamless arpeggios is been staple diet of Raaja for decades..
For instance, listen to that famous BGMs of Mouna Ragam (the last 27 seconds):
or .. Should I talk about his songs of same type.. Oh! Butterfly, Kaathal oviyam, En Vaanile, Pootukkal Pottalum, Devanin Kovil.. I can go on and on...
Instead of raving any further, With due thanks to the guys who have uploaded the You tube clips, I leave you alone with these Contemporary Maestros..
She announced her arrival in to the Tamil Film Music with a century on debut ("Chinna Kuyil Paadum Paattu").. And then "Paadariyane" fetched her the national award.. There after "Edhedo Ennam Valarthane" found an irreplaceable place in many a hearts.. Later "Ninnukkori Varnam" + Chithra (+ Amala :-P !!) took everyone by Storm.. "Kuzhaloodhum Kannanukku" established her as a 'Jana Ranjaka' singer.. "Devanin Kovil" became a bench mark song for orchestras all over TN thanks to her (and ofcourse Maestro's chorus) even though the song was not otherwise much visible.. "Aathadi Ammadi" presented a different dimension of this great singer..
The problem with such overpowering songs is that, people are arrested at that level and usually the other songs of quality doesn't stand a chance.. Therefore I have this "Discover series", A theme which is recurring in my iPod playlist for all mainstream singers. Chances that these songs captivated you are unlikely unless you are a regular Raaja follower. [Infact all the songs that I specified in the first paragraph are part of my another theme collection namely 'Signature' series for all singers. But its no use blogging about them as those are the routine 'Hit' songs which define a singer's career from the general public's point of view].
The following songs are not necessarily 'unheard'. But of those category that you could vaguely remember them but couldn't recall beyond the first 2 lines of pallavi while the song deserved much more than that from you.. In short, These songs are neither common nor rare. So here I start with some superb songs of Chinna Kuyil Chitra that are usually shown the cold shoulders
1. Vaanam Thodadha Megam - Chinnappa Das
2. Pazhya Kanavai Thedi - Thayamma
3. Oru Pachai Kodi - Mannan (or is it Innisai Mazhai ..?)
4. Ullasa Poongaatre - Kolangal (This song is also found in another playlist of mine called 'Lounge Music' which would be blogged later)
5. Oru Raaja Vandharam - Mounam Sammadham
6. Then Madurai Seemaiyile - Thangamana Raasa
7. Uchimalai Megangal - Vellaya Thevan
8. En Raaja Yaaro - Paarthal Pasu
9. Unnai Naane - Chinna Kuyil Paatu (This song is a best kept secret. Another of those Raaja's experiments where he conceals some notes in a scale deliberately to totally bring about another Raaga's bhavam. This song deserves an exclusive post.. may be later..)
13. Pattu Poo Poo - Veera (Aerobics in Chala Naattai ..?? !! Tone of Chithra during "Paarkkum Paarvaigal" in Charanam is like a square lead.. flabbergasting.. )
I would like to single out 2 songs that should have made the above list but didn't. Because they are quite some high quality songs and somehow I feel they should have been in the 'overpowering' league and not in this list .. And they are:
Vaanam paadi - Sir I Love you (One the very best Shanmuga Priyas of Raaja And Chitra is simply at her best in this one)
Santhosham Idhu - Manidhanin Marupakkam (This song has that magical gift of making you cheerful anytime of the day...)
To round up, there are also songs such as "Kotti Kidakkudhu" ('Theertha karaiyinile', which I am sure she sang with a sore throat). And then there are not so popular Chithra numbers in the classical genre as well.. Such as "Manam Pola" ('Pudhupatti Ponnuthayee', which I also mentioned in my Pannaiya Bagavadhar post..) and "ArulKan Paarvai" from Aanazhagan..
Think about Western Classical and there is Sound of music-ish "Mazhalai Endrum Maradha" (Sethupathi IPS).. How much more such wasted worthies.. !!?? Sigh..
Music Directors in some sense, supersede the Directors of the movie. The reason being, (at least in the context of Indian Cinema) Songs are first recorded and then the scenes are shot. So where the scenes need to convey something visually, it often needs a base.
So the Art of Composing for Movies, often require enormous amount of visualization.. Its not about just a melody/ rhythm arrangement that flows to a composer (which I suspect is how music is made now a days).. But its about conveying a scene, an emotion or even a message through the abstract medium of Music, even without the visuals..
Consider this: A Bunch of highly energetic jobless guys whiling away their time by jamming around: Potta Padiyudhu Now en route their 'vetti' voyage, their voices are interrupted by noises.. Noises from Flights and Trains.. So do they stop singing..? No.. They simply shift the scale of their song to the new dynamic shruthi provided by the noise and go on from there.. Now the director would have explained the rough feel of this song to Raaja.. but how (the hell) was it possible for Raaja to visualize such seemingly impossible screenplay and come up with this blinder..? Potta (Modified Shruti) (Actually the Sadjam is shifted to 'Madhyamam' here and thanks to Kamal's capability of singing high pitches the transpose is seamless);
Now, How about an Ornithologist researching about the musical elements hidden in nature and in the bird's chirping and koo-kooing.. Edalo Laya (Note the bird's sound is always repetitive here much like how a bird would usually do when it has to respond to a call and Janaki just builds up with that as the base)
Same goes for a hero who is always lost in thoughts celebrating an enchanting evening.. Pon Maalai Pozhudhu
If you set about solving the riddle, Thankfully we are also offered a small window in to Raaja's mind while composing.. through the recording sessions made available in the cassettes of Guna, Oru Naal Oru Kanavu etc.. I would like to share with you a particular case in point.. In Guna composing discussions, the Director (Santhana Bharathi) explains that the song is by the hero's friend who is a mystic godly philosopher kind of a person ("Sithar" is the term used); The very next second Raaja presses a chord in his Harmonium - in the "Maya Malava Gowlai" scale. The Notes are Sa+Ri+Pa and then he addess ma to these 3 notes and later replaces Ma with Ga. It exactly evokes that mystic, devotional, serious feel crystallizing the situation.. Its like a memory map in his mind that "sithar" feeling == Sa + Ri + Ma +Pa of Maya Malava Gowlai !! (I later looked up what chord it was anyways.. it came out as: D#M7(b5).. i.e., D sharp major 7th added flat 5th) Guna Composing Session
Now for some crazy situations that only Cinema can offer...
Picture this: Q: How can you express the scene through music, where the shots fired by a (pretty pathetic) sniper miss the hero.. ?
A: By a single stroke of strings at the end of the bar... Vanitha Mani
Now picture this.. Heroine is dreaming about, how her wedding should be and is coming up with all crazy ideas such as - "I want the wedding done on a running train.. I want to have the Pandiths rendering the Mantra in a new foriegn style..!!!!!!!" etc..
To me, composing music to this situation sounds like Goundamani in 'Indian' asking the righteous citizens to put "pathinonnu" (eleven) in order to get a license without bribing.. But Raaja does manage the 'pathinonnu' .. see how.. Kalyanam Ennai
The mild train sound becomes the background Rhythm and "Mangalyam Thanthunane" verse is set to a western 4 part harmony.. much like a church choir...
This is raw imagination... an imagination that could convert the blank, plain textual ideas of the director into something he could picturize upon.. Think about the level at which Raaja visions this song and delivers the music.
In my view, this is what "Composing" is all about..
In the meantime, I've had some consistent feedback on improvements possible on its usability. So finally I tried to address these issues...
1.) Earlier, A portion of the text used to get drowned behind Maestro's picture. I have moved the image to the right. I hope the text is unhindered and is more legible now. Thanks Ramesh, For helping me with a modified background of reduced opacity.
OK.. Now at the face of it (pun intended !!) that may seem the only change.. But thats not all..
2.) I also did some rudimentary java scripting and introduced a custom "Archives Menu" to enable better navigation within this Blog. Due credits to: Kang Rohman's adoption and Geir Landrö's original.
PS: Please let me know if the menu works without any issue (as I would imagine that browser compatibility and their security settings might still pose some problems..)
3.) I have added a "Reader Recommended" section in the archive menu with the posts that have received maximum feedback so far through personal emails as well as comments in the blog.
Recently I read about Yours Musically's Journey with Illayaraja.. Then it occurred to me that there are so many of us out there who all have our own "Raaja Secrets" which our friends and well wishers may not know about but no harm if you let them know.. A way of paying a small collective tribute to our beloved Raaja..
So why don't we play the Blog-Tag game, A concept which is by now age old in the blogosphere. If you are new to tagging, this is nothing but a cheeky game of making a blog post of 5 things about a topic (in this case Raaja) that others may not necessarily know about you and then tag 5 other bloggers to it. So these 5 will share their experience and tag another 5 each and so (Of course on a absolute voluntary basis).. Think of MMM except that you don't have to buy or sell anything :-PP
Ready ..?
Here I start:
The 5 things of me and Raaja that You May Not Know About (Please be as spontaneous as possible.. don't think too much..!! :-)
1.) The moment that introduced you to Raaja.. (I know it could be difficult to pin point a moment.. So treat this question as the Very first Raaja Experience in your Life that you are able to recall... For Example: The very first song of Raaja that you remember.. The very first movie that introduced you to Raaja and so on..)
There are a bunch of about 4 - 5 songs or so from various movies that I still remember watching in the theater with my parents as a very small kid (as a UKG to 2nd std or so). These songs got implanted in mind for some reason and I can't remember which one of them is the first one. Pani Vizhum Malarvanam, Ilaya Nila Pozhigiradhu, Naanaga Naan illai Thaaye, Raaja Magal .. I wasn't humming these songs as a child.. But the visuals and the Audio of these song are as if its tattooed in my mind, that whenever I see/ hear this songs in retrospect I feel a vague sense of Dejavu... I recollect my 1st std.. my school .. the house that I lived at that time.. etc., So the association is deep enough to bring back those very nascent memories as a 6 year old that I had.. Thats the first impact of Raaja's music on me.
2.) Name one occassion where Raaja's music directly/ indirectly influenced your life.
As a 7th std boy, I heard the track "Mozart I Love you" from NBW for the first time. Then I walked up to my mom and said, "Amma.. I want to learn Violin"
3.) Lets take Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi into account. Assuming that one of this is either your mother tongue or native language, name a favorite song in each of the other 4 languages that immediately comes to your mind
My native language is Tamil. So here I name 4 songs that immediately comes to my mind from the rest 4.
Telugu - Edalo Laya (Anveshana) Malayalam - Kulir Aadunnu (Olangal) Kannada - Keli Sade (Gulabi) Hindi - Dilwale (Mahadev)
4.) One song of Ilaiyaraaja that you consider rare and think a song that many people should have known but don't
Ponnumthingal (Anuraaga Kottaram)
5.) Lets keep the last one simple.. Raaja's number that you are hearing right now/ most recently heard..?
Of course, this is also an open invitation for one and all who would like to log their experiences with Raaja. Please feel free to take these questions and add to your own blog. If you do not have a blog, you are very welcome to log your experiences in the comments section below..
In carnatic classical music, there is a very unique application of Aadhi Talam. When the "Eduppu" (i.e., the starting point of the song) doesn't start at the starting point of the Tala cycle but starts after 2 mathras (or 1/2 aksharam into the cycle) its called Madhyadhi Talam. When the song starts after 6 mathras (or 1.5 aksharamas into the cycle) its called Desadi Talam... The Madhyadhi talam is pretty easy to grasp.. but the desadi talams are relatively complex.. Famous Kritis in Desadi Talams are Raguvamsa suda, Bantureethi, Oraju Pusu etc.. From my childhood violin classes I love these krithis (Well, who doesn't...?)
While Madhyadhi Talams are quite common in Film music , Desadi Talams are quite rare... Even more rare is the occurance of both the styles in the same song..
Here I introduce you to the next hero'sglyphic "Majnu Alidha" from the movie "Usire".. A song that I am sure didn't warrant your second look, if at all you managed to listen to it the first time .. But this song is one of its kind experiment from Raaja.. Besides being a very good Shanmugapriya, it captures the sandy storms in the dessert very well.. Wonder if the picturization did justice to it.. Anyways, here you can listen to it so that you may follow what I am going to blabber next..
When the song starts as "Majnu Alidha", it starts as a Madhyadhi Tala song. But unlike normal Madyadi talas (such as Sundari Neeyum, Pothi vecha malligai mottu etc..)which are very easy to follow, this one feels quite odd.. I think this is because any ordinary composer would have set a rhythm for this tune in such a way that the syllable "maj" from Majnu would be the last 2 matras of the previous Aadhi cycle and the syllable "nu" of Majnu starting at the samam. i.e., an application of "Athitha Eduppu" (i.e., pallavi starting before the tala cycle commence) would have sounded perfect here and easy to follow.. But Raaja is not a ordinary composer..
He goes for 'Anagatha eduppu' instead :-) [i.e., pallavi starting after the tala cycle commence].. Here, the whole of "Majnu" starts well after 2 matras.. very very unorthodox.. Rules....?? what ..?
But the real surprise is saved after the first 2 lines.. The 3rd line of Pallavi "Aledheledu huligidharu" starts after 1.5 aksharams, making it an occurance of Desadi Talam.. It continues like this for next 3 lines.. and then when the pallavi chorus reaches "Oleva..Oleva.." the song is back to Madyadi talam.. Only to go back to Desadi Talam, when the stanza starts .. and it stays so until it ends.. The application of Desadi is best illustrated in the stanza and thats why its my favorite part of the song.... The way it coverging back to Madhyadi talam at "Oh.. Oleve" is super..
And I am thinking for a long time now... other than this song, I can't think of the usage of Desadi Talam in another film song.. May be if I double the speed of the Taalam (to a 1/2 kalai Aadhi Tala or something if ever there is such a thing), then I end up with a few such as "Nilave Vaa" (Mouna raagam), Stanza of Kurukku Siruthavale (Rehman's Mudhalvan) etc., But none in the normal oru kalai Aadi Talam's tempo. I would be certainly very interested to know if there are more..
The best part of this song is that, The rest of the song seem to be operating in a different frame of reference to that of Mano's. If you see the Rhythm as well as the remaining arrangements, they go about their business as if its a regular Aadi Tala song. This is unlike the regular carnatic Desadi songs, where the stage is normally well set by the percussionist by emphasizing the start of the cycle well enough so that the vocalist gets a grip to start 1.5th aksharams there after. But here this song is a regular 16 Beat shuffle that we are very used to in Ace of base, Unai Kaana villaiye Netrodu etc.. This pattern is meant for a normal Aadi Talam song and there is no element in this rhythm to suggest it could be used as a Desadi Pattern . That for me is really out of the box.. I am sure Mano might have relished this experiment as remembering to sing with little complicated reference on a rhythm pattern that's his daily cup of tea is a bit tricky. And hope you liked it too... :-)
I leaped out of my seat listening to the Jaladharangam in the prelude of the song - "Kothamalli Poove" - a not so famous song from the movie 'Kallukkul Eeram'. Ever since I heard the Jaladharangam in the song "Dheena Karunakaranae", I have had a fascination towards this wonderful instrument. But blame it on the 'too-many-choices-available' world, I never really had a moment so far to reflect on this instrument... And this song was a trigger to revive my (listening) interest on Jaladharangam..
Contine reading on Jaladharangam, Ilaiyaraaja and "Kotha Malli Poove" below.. Contine reading on Jaladharanagam (only) here.
'Kotha Malli' or Coriander or Dhaniya as you may have known, is a herbal LEAF adding aroma to quintessential Indian cuisine.. So how bizarre a song can be - that glorifies Kotha malli's Poo (flower) while paying no attention to its leaves...? As bizarre as an authentic Jog raag getting no attention in a beautiful rustic south Indian folk song.. This song, Kothamalli Poove from Kallukkul Eeram (Listen to it here) is a high quality melody in Jog Ragam set to a very rural arrangement for a typical Bharathiraja backdrop. This is certainly another hidden Hero'sglyphic :-)
Now Coming to the topic of the blog post, I am fully convinced that the prelude of this song predominantly employs a original Jaladharangam, although its often paired with another instrument in the backdrop. Bbut towards the end of the prelude, you can listen the unique timber of Jaladharangam quiet prominently.. that too in a fast tempo typical of this instrument. The tone can be further confirmed as original (and not electronic) when it appears for brief passages in the interludes again.. Also the application of the instrument alongside Mirudangam and sometimes as an answer to it is quite interesting. The overall setup of the song truly amazes me.. You can visualize a bunch of villagers doing their daily jobs and the village life is well captured in the melody, making the facts of Jog and Jaladharangam insignificant..
Now thats Ilaiyaraaja for you...
The only another Jaladharangam in Tamil film music in recent memory, that immediately pops out in my mind is the song "En Veetil Thottathil" (Gentleman).. But AR Rehman, went for an artificial Keyboard based Jaladharangam tone that clearly lacked the rustic punch of waves moving back and forth across water.. It leaves a mouth 'watering' proposition to imagine what if a perfectionist in sound like him took pains to use the original instrument instead..
Though not popular now, this instrument was very widely used in the Tamil Film music by the likes of G Ramanadhan and KVM. So in that context, its unique that Raaja has used the 'real' instrument, although I must admit sporadically. I am quite curious to know if there are other songs where this unique instrument is used...
Recently our friend CSR, gave us some food for thought with a lateral suggestion on Raaja's application of Madhyamavathi and how in a very unique way he keeps the melody around the later half of the Raaga..That apparently happen to be just the tip of the iceberg as I seem to realize many more such unique selection of notes in Raaja's songs.
The way the song "Mayanginane solla Thayanginane" starts as "Ri Ga Ma Pa" has intrigued me long since I listened to that song. While any self-proclaimed note identifier (like me..!!) can identify this song as a Charukesi, the very first time I tried playing this in my keyboard (Probably I was 12 then and I still clearly remember the oddity of this song), I was really confronted by the unorthodox Ri ga ma pa (and why not "sa ri ga ma"!!??).. But probably my eagerness to play the tune was dominating the curiosity then..
After all these years, when I was jamming around with this song yesterday, I noticed that, that oddity is all over the song.. There is no transition called "Sa Ri Ga Ma" in this song... whatsoever... No "Sa Ri Ga Ma.." but a lot of "Ri Ga Ma Pa..." progressions. How can one explain that...? Sitting in front of the keyboard, I had these 3 feelings..
Puzzled on the reality at hand (pun intended..!!) A bit of unease on this unorthodox pattern.... And above all thrilled ....
And after many attempts, I am able to re-affirm with feeble confidence (!!) that, there is still no "Sa Ri Ga" but only "sa ga" or "Ri Ga" progressions in this song... In other words, If there is a note after Sa in ascending order in this song, then its always Ga while on the other hand around Ri there are no restrictions and the song appears like a normal sampoorna raagam.
As I started reverse engineering with these leads, a very beautiful Vakra Raaga was unfolding in front of me... After some careful dissection, I am thinking may be I have the answer now...
This is a new Janya Raaga based out of Charukesi and I would like to define it as following :
Aarohanam : Sa Ga3 Ri2 Ga2 Ma1 Pa Dha1 Ni2 Sa Avarohanam: Sa Ni3 Dha1 Pa Ma1 Ga3 Ri2 Sa
This structure, seems to be explaining all the oddity. Talking about the song itself, by and large it roves around the second half of the Charukesi scale, same like his Madhyamavathi applications that I mentioned earlier.. And this pattern is not just with the melody but even the interludes.. So its a complete package and it sticks to the rule from beginning to end. There are various places which clearly announces this unique prayogams of "Sa Ga Ri" and "Sa Ga Ma" (note again: there is no "sa ri ga")..
1.) Towards the ending of prelude, Suseela announces through her haunting humming the first occurrence of many such special ones to come with the notes "Sa ga ri sa, ni.. ri.. ma.. ni.. sa..." 2.) Song starting bang on "Ri Ga Ma Pa" 3.) 1st interlude: The bell + guitar theme which comes midway (after the flute) as well as repeated to finish the interlude is: "Sa ga ga.. Ga ma ma.. Ma pa pa pa" (no "Sa Ri") 4.) the stanza melody is a beauty.. Sliding down and climbing again.. just like a bouncing ball loosing its height every time.. but where ever it climbs there is no sign of "sa ri ga" as far as one could see.. 5.) The Saarangi piece in the 2nd BGM is very artistically done around "Pa" and when it abruptly falls to Sa and climbs on a ascent, it goes up with some terrific gamakas, as "Sa ga ri ma ga dha pa sa ni...."
As such, the instances of ascent around the first half of the scale is limited when compared with the descending beautiful folds that dominate the song.. but where there was a strong case for ascent, Sa Ri Ga is clearly avoided and it can only be explained with an astounding Vakra raaga as specified. On a second look, actually it looks pretty impressive scale on the lines of NalinaKandhi or Anandhabhairavi, what with a very aesthetic "Sa Ga Ri Ga Ma" fold... And now in hindsight I could see many such Raaja's Charukesis with such prayogams (such as "kaadhalin Deepam Ondru", "Uyire uyrin oliye", "sakkarakkatti" etc.. ) but none with the precision pattern as in Mayanginane..
There is an unparalleled originality and ingenuity in the way of interesting patterns when it comes to Raaja's application of Swaras .. The most common mistake that people do (including me) is that, there is an overwhelming tendency to label his songs immediately after the first hearing with the (limited) Raagas that people know.. But more often that not, its something else as was this case with Rishivani. Its a pity when you try to fit something in with what you know instead of looking at what it is... The truth is that these songs are diamonds hidden in coal. As how no two diamond is the same, his songs do not want to be associated with the existing similar "popular" diamond.. Rather they needs to be assessed with a open head for what its worth.
May be this raaga is already defined in the carnatic grammar.. But as the golden rule is that one who has the gold makes the rule :-))) - with due apologies for the lack of modesty - I would like to christen this Raaga as: "Raajakesi".
I am not claiming here that Raaja might have deliberated on this tune and invented a new Raaga.. If anything by his own definition music is spontaneous.. So this composition is just like water gushing out of the spring, along with it eroding the note Ri in between Sa and ga with or without his conscience. That's all..
Or may be its absurd (especially if you are a purist) to claim this is a new raaga with such limited application of notes that runs in a song all of 4 and half minutes... but who cares.. as far as I am concerned, I feel like a distant cousin of Columbus...
While somehow I am a bit satisfied on solving a riddle that have haunted me for longtime now, I have to remind myself that, There is still probably one feeling that always supersedes the joy of (petty) Discoverers..
The one that of the Inventor.. Wonder what he feels after every such composition.. Raaja The Raaja!
How do you define Fusion music..? You compose a melody based on a Raaga and set its Rhythm with Drums instead of Mirudangam or tabla, will it become fusion..? For me the idea of fusion is all about ingenuity and creativity. Its NOT the art of leveraging the impending beauty of the merger of two genres of music to your advantage. Rather exploring new avenues on a given genre to see how it fits in or compliments the other genre. Thats how I like to define it. For instance, The essence of a raaga like Madhyamavathi which does not have the swara 'Ga' can still be captured by unusually beautiful sustained 4th chords of Western Classical Music (of Sa + Ri + Pa combination or Sa+Ma+Pa combination of its root note). Or a quality western music song can be set to some complex rhythm arragements borrowed (as Kanda Saappu (5/8) or Misra Saappu (7/8)) from its carnatic cousin.
The identity crisis that the Indian film music faced and faces - is largely due to the inefficiency of the composers who grapple with the chronic problem of deliberately "westernizing" the film songs. 9 out of 10 Indian film songs are seasonal with the sole goal of topping the short term charts and not the long term hearts. This is where a composer like Raaja makes his indellible marks. Right from the 'Chinna Kannan Azhaikiraan' (Kavi Kuyil) to 'Ninnu Vethiki vethiki' (Anumanaspadam) he has packaged Reethigowlai or Sindhu Bhairavi with such ease, that the art of fusion has been invisible and taken for granted. One moment the carnatic melody is in the foreground with a western arrangement providing some supporting techniques. Next moment the roles are reversed. It has always been upto the listener to judge..
Below you will find a list of Fusion songs that are hand picked. The melody of all this songs are so classical, that you can settled into a alap by picking up any of them, while the arrangement of all these songs are very Poppish and electro Jazzish. Absence of Tabla in all of these songs for the beat section is hard to ignore. The innovation of setting chords for these tunes are a highlight in all these songs.. Selection and Application of some of the raagas used here (Dharmavathi, Reethigowlai, Nalina Kanthi, Shanmuga Priya) shows Raaja's wizardry. There is a healthy balance of major and minor scale based songs and it shows Raaja's command of the musical notes while the time sequence of some of the songs (Meetadha oru veenai and Sithagathi Pookkale especially and also Naal Thorum) are highly scientific demonstrating his equal prowess over the rhythm. The whole package of all these songs are too hard to resist. These songs are like the movie - Titanic. If you see the love story, the ship Titanic is at the backdrop and if you see the Titanic the love story is at the backdrop.
Also another similarity that you will notice to the below virtual playlist is that, all of these songs are composed over a five year period... Between 1993 - 98 or so.. Personally an unforgettable time as I was undergoing one of the important transitions of my life .. From homely - school life to a more independent-intense-enjoyable college life.. These are the songs that were with me then.. While the benchmark songs of Raaja's fusion such as "Ninnukkori" or "Nee dhaane endhan pon vasantham" are irreplaceable, this list belongs to my time.. the same difference between watching a classic cricket match recorded few years earlier or watching it live.. Here I present, Raaja's Fusion from the 90's.
1. Endhan Nenjil (Kalaignan) - Nalina kaanthi.. If there is a book called "Vagra Raagas for Dummies", this song would be the first chapter..
2. Sithagathi Pookkale (Raaja Kumaran) - Ragam: Sudha Saveri.. Raaja says "Let it be.. Did you notice I shifted the samam to the fourth count where the electric snare falls and made it as the first count instead..?"; (personally It took me umpteen listenings to understand the rhythm pattern of this song)
3. Maharajanodu (Sathi Leelavathy) - Sarasaangi - The symphonic arrangment for the lines "Idhu Manmadha Saamrajyam" highlights the innovation on fusion that I am talking about..
4. Eem Debba (Ashwamedhagam) - Dharmavathy - Please forgive your mom if she thought you are upto some krithi if she heard you humming the melody (just the tune minus lyrics ofcourse..) from the bathroom.
5. Naal Dhoraum Endhan (Devadai) - Mohanam - Striclty the melody is not 100% Mohanam.. but some of the Sangathis do emphasize the shift of weight to the Dhaivatham in Mohanam.. Other choices I had in the same genre and timeline are Naan Thanga (Time) and Indha Poovukkoru (Poovarasan); But since this one is by Raaja himself, its more closer to me.. :-) Besides the Extended misra Chappu cycles add a great charm to the Fusion setting.
6. Shivamalli Poove (Friends) - Shanmugapriya - Probably the only Jazzish song set to the raaga thats otherwise said to be the favorite of Lord Muruga.. Chitra sizzles in this one... the finishing of stanza is so cryptic..
7. Chembaruthi Pennoruthin (Raman Abdulla) - Madhyamavathi - You should now be able to listen and identify those sustained 4th chords all over. And if you thought singing same lines in two octaves is a new craze patented to today's hip numbers, listen to the stanza of this song..
8. Tholmela Tholmela (Poomani) - Sindhubhairavi - A powerful sindhu bhairavi packed within a very casual and not so fussy arrangement.
9. Meetadha Oru Veenai (Poonthottam) - Composed in Reethigowlai raaga and Set to Kanta Saapu taala, these pointers become static references once the song starts and you realize its more an out of the box Jamming session... Did I say, Nalinakaanthi is the first chapter of dummy's book.. Neee.. should be this one actually...
10. Ennai Thaalatta Varuvalo (Kadhalukku Mariyadhai) - Keeravani - befitting the lyrics the anxiousness of the song is visible (I mean audible.. ) in the rhythm arrangement
11. Alli Sundaravalli (Kangalink Vaarthaigal) - Chakaravaagam - The counts by which the song is divided.. the unorthodox voice arrangements.. this is the kind of the song that strikes you when you least expect it.
12. Alai Meedhu (Kaadhal Kavithai) - Suddha Dhanyasi - Bhavadharini can claim this song as the best thing to have happened to her in life.. Though I had "Kaadhal vaanile" and "Vizhakku Veippom" as strong contenders in this raaga, Wonderful western strings for a Suddha Dhanyasi in Kanta Saappu has to take the cake.. Songs like this can be confidently defined as "only by Raaja".
I am having a Nokia 3500c; And the ring tone I have is that of the defauly Nokia tune..That descending Sankarabharanam bit.. Whenever I am in a public place, I keep checking my phone for incoming calls every 2 minutes only to find out its not my phone but someone else' in my surrounding. Few days back suddenly I heard my phone ringing and much to my annoyance, it was a phone ringing in the soap being played in the TV. Then I had it.. Enough is enough. All these days, its one of those stupidities that given all the resources and tools, still you don't do the small things in life... Finally I shrugged off my laziness off and sat down to clip some captive tracks of Raaja for my ring tone. I came with these 6 tracks after a first sitting.. I thought of some categories while cutting the tunes.. One typical ringtone, One for outdoor, One for calm settings etc..
(Click on the track name to download)
1. Aadum Neram - Ideal ringtone. starts of slowly and picks up momentum if you are still out of reach.
2. Hey Unnaithaane - Let me borrow Sivaji here "Chumma Adhirudhilla...". This one is a good choice for outdoors.. But remember to switch it back in indoors...
3. Pudhucheri - I guess this one sounds like a typical mobile phone track.. I guess you can call it as, "Marching Mix" or something like that and it wouldn't look out of place in the standard phone pack..??
4. All the Time - This one is too mild I guess.. May be for indoor settings.. Let me know if its usable..
5. Oru Kili - I guess the Opening Flute overlaps makes it a catchy tune that gently distrubs you...
6. Kaatu vazhi - An ideal ring tone with a great Raaja Punch to it.
I have tested all of them in my phone.. (Don't use Nokia media manager or something.. Do a simple file copy to your mobile and set it as the ring tone...) and its Rocking !! My current favorite is Aadum Neram.. What would be yours...?
Currently I am listening to the the Flute Sonatas of the Bach. Only one word to describe it.. Hypnotizing... I do not understand WCM completely. But one need not know it in detail to appreciate this aesthetic arrangement of just a single Flute accompanied by a single Harpsichord. (Since Harpsichord is not widely used in today's context, Guitar is seen a worthy substitute. Almost all Western classical Duet performances now a days involving Flute, employs Guitar as the counterpart. This combination of Flute + Guitar is actually heavenly. )
As "All roads lead to Raaja", this experience also led me to him. I could immediately recognize this kind of arrangement with his songs too. While there are many things that are unique to Raaja, its such seamless application of classical techniques on a Indian 'gramiya' (Folk) song for instance, which defines Raaja to me. Listen to the following tracks all of which lasting only about 20 seconds. If I am given the liberty to categorize them with a nice name, I would call them as 'mini flute sonatas' !
(Note: The Sonata in Western Classical paradigm is a musical form that religiously follow certain movements (such as Exposition, Development, Recapitulation and Coda) in a certain order; The clips provided below are by no means a 'Sonata' as in a classical paradigm; As a matter of fact each of these lasts only 20 seconds or so.. :-) Therefore its just a musical name that I am attaching to these clips since they share a common quality in arrangement that could be also noted in a traditional Western Classical Sonata)
1. Prelude of Poove Sempoove (You missed it all these days to take a note of this devine combination .. didn't you..?)
3. 2nd BGM of "Oru Jeevan.. Azhaithadhu" (full of overlaps.. multiple flute tracks and with a running Guitar in the background while a second guitar track evoking a Veena effect...)
4. Prelude of Poovile Medai (Alright. This is not Guitar.. But the background is instead a synthetic Piano/ Harpsichord like instrument. The concept is the same)
5. Prelude Edho Mogam (Its not surprising that he chose this song to show to Mr. Paul Maurrits. The strings section in this song puts Raaja in his own league.. but returning to the point of this blog, the prelude's Flute + Guitar combo is short but the most powerful part of the whole song!)
The piece in 2nd BGM is an ode of Raaja's prowess of blending east and west. The starting Guitar + Flute part is Western Arrangement. The 'Gramiya' flute that follows with Keyboard/ Santoor type of mode is uniquely Indian and Rustic thus forming an Indianized version of the same arrangement. (If you have a keen ear, you can make out that the towards the end of this clip, the keyboard/ Santoor player gasps for breadth. He can't catch up with the speed of the flute consistently and clearly falls out of sync towards the fag end. But in my opinion, These are the areas which exhibits the superior skills of human talent. Because this is a tough phrase for any keyboardist to play constantly for so long at that speed.. Though technically this is a mistake, it exhibits fighting grace of the player on the contrary. At least He has played it manually, alongside the flute player communicating with him while playing in the studio... Live... A far cry from today's programmed loops where notes and beats can be played with micro second precision.. But of no grace...) 2nd interlude of Edho Mogam
7. 2nd BGM of Vaayakkatti (The flute melody is truly a tribute to WCM in TFM. 2 songs from the same movie [solla thudikudhu manasu] in this arrangement is what you call magnanimous)
8. Prelude of Yelamala Kaatukkulla (I am going to be a little lavish here. This piece is my single most favorite short piece of Raaja. The way Guitar strumming progresses along with the melody brings you the question, was the guitar composed for the flute or viceversa. And the flute is such an anti-climax for a rugged Indian nomadic main song. Its very easy to imagine a Philharmonic orchestra flutist playing this track in some Concert hall in Vienna. )
The pattern of Raaja's application here is very interesting. These mini sonatas (I prefer to call it this way, even if it may be outrageous for some !!) are always in the prelude of the song or in the second BGMs. The simplicity is stunning. Their arrangement is very similar to the one employed in Bach's flute Sonatas.. A dominant yet soothing melody in flute very ably supported by Guitar, who most of the times caresses the flute with its chord progressions and sometimes lending a strong contrapuntal support. Always the dialog is started by the Guitar which has its 15 seconds of fame while the Flute silently enters without much ado and assumes the center stage.
There is a complete absence of any Rhythm instruments whatsoever during these phrases. No Bass guitar... (How on earth can a portion of Raaja's song be devoid of Bass guitar..?), No ornamentation by extra keyboard chords.. May be an occasional Gopichand for the folk songs to evoke the Village feel.. thats it.. But 99% of the time, its just the combination of Flute + Guitar. Again only one word comes to my mind... Mesmerizing...
With Love Vicky
PS: If you are interested in listening to Bach's original, be my guest.. (well, actually Laurel Zucker's!! Thank you Laurel!)
Raaja: Vanakkam Thiru Bach Bach : Freut Mich Herr Ilaiyaraaja Raaja: I am honored to have you here. I never imagined this meeting would take place. No words can express my joy. Bach: The pleasure is mine.. I felt very much the same way when you took particular interest to visit me in Leipzig. Raaja: Yes, your music has been a great source of inspiration to me from the early days when I started learning Western Classical Music under my Master, one Mr. Dhanraj. Bach: I have listened to some of your works too. Especially the tracks like the Background score of the movie Johny. Its hard for me to believe why such quality music is not known to many outside your home state. Raaja: Yes. Probably because here in India, Doing music in Cinema is considered the ultimate, and given that my movies are mainly regional, the scope is limited. Bach: I see.. You mean, the only opportunity that exist for you to express your musical views is through the small window of Cinema...? Raaja: Yes.. But I take that more as a challenge than a constraint. For me everything is music. There is only so much that I could spin and yet I have to produce a sugar candy that looks exciting to people every time. That's a real challenge. Bach: Yes. I see your point. For me too, music needs no foundation and has no barriers. Irrespective of its form or cause, there must be an end purpose. The Life, The Feel and The Emotion that the notes evoke on a listener shouldn't be a passing cloud. It should stay at the hearts of the people for ever. Raaja: Yes. I could feel that passion in all your compositions and that's the benchmark I strive to achieve in all my songs too.. Bach: OK.. As and when I was coming to meet you, I wrote this Prelude for violin.. Its the 3rd Partita that I've written in as many days.. This is how it goes...
Raaja: (Speechless).. What can I say. This is master class. E Major, isin't ? Bach: That's correct. Now I would like to understand your music too. Can you explain it to me. Raaja: I am too small to explain music to a man like you. Bach: Come on. I have traveled so far to meet you and you plan to send me back empty handed ! Raaja: Now you are putting me in a fix. Let me see.. Ok I will take the same piece that you played me now and try to explain the Raaga based system of Indian Classical music. Bach: Exciting.. I am waiting.. Raaja: hmm... Sa.. Pa.. Sa... (Hums the beginning of violin Prelude that Bach played..) hmmm... Sa ni sa pa.. ga pa.. sa ri sa ni sa pa ga pa... You See.. that captures the Bhavam of a Raaga called 'Hamsadhwani'.. And then the place where you switched the melody to Harmonic minor, I see a natural blend of our 'Keeravani'.. Midway through you eased out the grip for a brief time, right? I see a place for 'Bageshwari' there.. And then we can go back to Keeravani and Finally the place where you close with E Major, I can bring back the original flavor of Hamsadhwani too. Bach: Fascinating.. So shall we blend both of it together..? Why don't you bring out the essence of Hamsadhwani with my melody as a base and demonstrate it... Raaja: Excellent idea.. I can also show you the other Raagas I mentioned by super imposing vocals mid way through the passage. Here is what we can do. I will start with a rendition of Hamsadhwani; Then you can join me with the prelude.. Bach: Lets start...
(After the composition finishes, Bach leaps to Raaja and gives him a gentle Hug..) Bach: Brilliant.. Brilliant... Raaja: Only because of the base you provided me.. I am having Goose bumps... You see .. Bach: Yes.. Yes.. As I said, Music has no barriers. Indian classical Music is amazing.. The Raagas really bring out various colors and follows such great patterns so religiously. I am also totally floored by your innovation to reduce the tempo of my piece.. you started slowly.. and then you built it up.. Raaja: Yes, we call it the Aalapana or Aalap in Hindustani music...Thats usually the way to start.. Then the normal song is in a more followable and soothing tempo, although in certain compositions like Varnams and Bhajans, during the later half of the song, we will normally speed up the tempo and sing in what we call "Moonam kaalam" Bach: Yes.. Its conceptually the same as what we call movements although the execution is different.. We do have slow, Moderate and Fast movements.. we call it Adagio, Andante and Allegro.. Raaja: That was a great experiement.. Bach: Come on, Lets do it again. Which one shall we take this time? Raaja: Your Bourree in E Minor has been one of my favorites. Shall we take that ..? Bach: You mean the one that I wrote for Lute ..? Raaja: Yes.. the same one.. Can you please play it for me? Then I will try to mix it up with an Indian melody. Bach: So here you go..
Raaja: This is one of a life time composition from you. There is one and only Bach. Someone is yet to be born to compose like this.. Bach: (with a wink) May be he has... Ok.. Come on.. now its your turn.. Raaja: hmm... eh... ok.. Bach: What is it..? what is bothering you... Raaja: Nothing serious... its that again this is a bit faster for the Indian style.. Bach: yes.. thats because its a Bourree.. Its composed for Dance.. Raaja: But I see a brilliant contrapuntal melody if we can play it a bit slowly. Bach: What are you waiting for..? Go ahead.. Raaja: Ok... (Hums) Hmmm... Pa Dha.. Pa ma ga ri sa.. This time you start.. I will catch up..
Bach: (With tears in eyes..) Scintillating... Raaja: I was a bit nervous because I positioned your track in the background. Probably the violin was a bit loud ...? Bach: No .. No.. Its unbelievable how a Western Dance solo track can evoke such a sentimental feeling with an Indian Melody on top. This is brilliant. I liked your simplicity of merging just a solo violin together with the Bass track. Raaja: The cue of Bourree and the path that it paved for me is indispensable.. and yet you are complimenting me ..? We have a saying in my mother tongue Tamil, "A pot that's brimming with water never spills and makes a splash".. You are such a perfect example of that.. Bach: No No.. When Music takes center stage, everything else is irrelevant. I am not alone.. There are thousands of great composers all over the world and one life is not enough to enjoy all the musics in the world.
(Now Vicky is disturbing you.. The background setting is changing... Both Bach and Raaja are walking along a long winding road.. Imagine a audio/ visual fade out in your mind... and we are zooming out as the blog approaches its end.. !!!)
Raaja: Its the same philosophy echoed by our saint Thyagaraja, who lived around the same time as you.. He said "Endaro Mahanubhavulu.. Andariki Vandanamulu"
(Zoom out.. And they become a shriking silhoute from the back.. )
Bach: Yes.. a very noble thought indeed... (Zoom out....)
Deutsch should have been definitely tougher for Raaja to learn. So when he wanted to communicate with a German he chose a much simpler language. Especially when the person in question is arguably the greatest Western Classical Composers of all time...
Raaja composed Two Extra ordinary tracks in his album "How to Name it", probably his most popular work outside film music together with "Nothing But Wind". In that, He envisioned a meeting between Himself and Johann Sebastian Bach. He named the tracks, 'I Met Bach in My House' followed by 'And We Had a Talk..'; Like any other Raaja follower, these tracks are etched in my mind since the school days. And I always wanted to listen to the original compositions by Bach, so that I could understand Raaja better. But only recently did I managed to get my hands on it!!
Now, Bach being a stellar figure in Western Classical Music, had distinctive contrapuntal composing techniques that changed the music for good, for ever.. As admitted by Raaja himself, The influence of Bach on him is significant. So having heard both the original and its Raaja adoption (I've published both of them in the next blog), I couldn't help but to stretch my imagination on this extra ordinary rendezvous.. For me, The timing of this fantasy and its setting is even more interesting. Because in 1982-83, Raaja embarked on his maiden tour of Europe, not to treat his eyes but his soul. There was one place which definitely wouldn't find its place on a Tourist's essential itinerary of Europe, which he was particular to visit. And that was Leipzig, the place where Bach spent much of his life and composed most of his master pieces. What better place for a musical inspiration than the same Church where Bach used to play, conducted his Orchestra and staged his compositions. In his memoirs 'Sangeetha kanavugal' written after this trip, Raaja explains how determined he was to visit Leipzig even if it meant piercing the Iron curtains of the then German Democratic Republic. As he visited that Church and sat in solitude, even if its only for a few minutes, He explains the powerful emotions that took control of him by some divine force. He could feel Bach there...
Having visited Bach's domain first and have had a celestial talk, Raaja was obviously waiting for the moment that they could meet again. And the innovative tracks of 'How To Name It' are the outcome of the return visit of the Great German Virtuoso to No. 38, Murugesan Street, T Nagar...
Its a tale of two Musics.. Western and Carnatic. Its a tale of two Cities.. Leipzig and Chennai. And above all.. Its a tale of two Maestros...
Here is how that imaginative musical conversation between these Musical Gods would have transpired...
Songs by: Raaja - The Singer are very special to me.. because they are lossless conversions of thoughts to music... If you have been following Ilaiyaraaja keenly, you wouldn't miss the fact the frequency of the songs that he sings in his own music has exponentially increased in recent times, bucking the trend in his early years. But that was the time when he was very choosy with his songs, when you could capture the raw, experimenting and yet thoughtfully rich voice ..Publishing here one of my frequented playlist that I call "Early Raaja" which contains Raaja's songs up until initial 80s.
1. Aey Indha Poongaathu Thaalata - Uthiri Pookal (A eight beat version of the Azhagiya Kanne's theme in the 1st BGM is superb)
2. Dharisanam Kidaikadha - Alaigal Ooivadhillai (One of the first song that Raaja sang for Karthik, a trend that he continued for a longtime since..)
3. Sangathil Paadadha - Auto Raaja (Thanks to a crystal clear version of this song that I recently possessed, I am having a great time. Also one of a rare occassion where you can listen to Raaja's rendering of the lyrics besides singing)
4. Metti Oli - Metti (I still remember the impact the song had in me the first time I listened.. Full of soul...)
5. Ennapaatu Paada - Sakkalathi (With the Cow bell's rhythmic movement as the metronome, this is a precursor to all future Thala games of complex rhythm oriented songs. I hope to revisit this song in the blog sometime later)
6. Siru Ponmani - Kallukkul Eeram (This is a high quality song from Raaja.. His composing intellect is exposed by a continuous rhythmic melody connecting each lines as if they never break.. )
7. Sevvarali Thottathile - Bagavathypuram Railway Gate (A sophisticated folk tune. A good duet this one..)
8. Pazhaya Sogangal - Eeravizhi Kaaviyangal (Its a pity that its a short song.. What a prelude...!! Best example of Contrapuntal melody!!??)
9. Chinna Ponnu Sela - Malayur Mambattiyan (A song similar to 'Pon maane Sogam Eno' [oru Kaithiyn diary] in tune and situation. Yet see the striking difference in execution.. this one is folk and the other modern...)
10. Anbu Mugam - Rusi Kanda Poonai (the pallavi makes his mark as a singer in you, with the feel easily expressed in the voice; Application of Strings [particularly Cello] followed by Guitar in the 2nd BGM is brilliant.)
11. Naanaga Naan illai - Thoongadhae thambi thoongadhae (If you didn't know about the Raaja Version of the song, you missed something)
12. Engaanam Indru - Eeravizhi Kaaviyangal (again.. Vaporization of such high quality songs into thin air due to the movie that at least I didn't hear about, is, unacceptable)
13. Janani Janani - Thaai Moogambigai (The movie and its time line marked a defining shift in Raaja's personality as he became deeply spiritual around this time. The song is so powerful that I keep it the last song in the playlist so as to leave its effects to linger around untouched by anything thereafter....)
Whats common among the following words other than being common Tamil Names...? Jeyaraman, Subramanian, Seenivasan, Ramanujam, Santhanam, Arunachalam, Mani and Shanmugasundaram ...
No Bell is ringing yet..? Come on.. you've got to do better if you are appearing for GRE or CAT.. Ok.. how about now..?
Lalgudi Jeyaraman, Valayapatti Subramanian, Semmangudi Seenivasan, Ariyakudi Ramanujam, Maharajapuram Santhanam, Karaikurichi Arunachalam, Madurai Mani and of course the legendary Sikkal Shanmugasundaram who existed only in celluloid !!
You see, the place of Artist's origin is at the heart of Carnatic Music..
If I am to coin a name for Ilaiyaraaja in the same breadth, it would be "Pannaiya Bagavadhar".
Simply because, It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say, Raaja's contribution to Carnatic Classical Music in the modern era is enormous ... Simply because, he has ventured into main stream as well as sub-genres of this classical art form never getting constrained by the cinematic boundary but rather using it as an opportunity in the limited avenue of classical theme based movies... Simply because he is the last standing warrior in composing melodies that stick to a particular scale from end to end and yet packaging it in his own style alluring to a layman.... People who enjoyed "Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiraan" and "Naan Thedum Sevvandhi Poovidhu" and "Endhan Nenjil Neengadha" doesn't necessarily knew its Reethigowlai, Hindholam and Nalinagandhi.
My first Virtual Play list starts with songs that are more classical than filmy. These are the songs that broke the barrier of Cinema within which they are supposed to operate and dared to identify themselves with the much purer Genre.. Read, Song - Movie/ Album - Raagam
Please note by no means, this list sums up Raaja's classical CV. There are lots of songs still left, which would follow in subsequent playlists. I hand picked this ones for a start because of their pre-dominant classical arrangement - That of Mrudangam as the main Rhythm instrument and the three Vs, Veena/ Venu/ Violin for the melody section. Raaja's usage of Veena in Film music deserves a special mention here.. (such as the ones in Indraikku ane indha, Unnai vaaztha vandhane..);
Though I listed strictly classical numbers here, the versatility shown by Raaja even within this genre is astounding. Nadhaswaram and Thavil are very much part of the classical family although not considered mainstream. "Manam Pola" comes close to matching a "Singara Velane Deva" in that sub-genre. So is the sub-genre of "Katha Kalakshebam" which is also considered classical but not mainstream. And to compose a proper one in that form ("Rama Kanavemira") within the boundary that the film music posed (such as a song should last only around 5 minutes), shows the level of grasp required by the composer.
And finally a quick look at the above list and it reveals some risky Raagas to handle such as Ragavardhini (the song came last year.. How many of you seriously cared for such a high quality carnatic number ..?) While the popular raagas such as Kaanada and Charukesi are abundant, one cannot miss the rare ones such as Ramapriya, Saranga Tharangini etc.. Also its clear KJ Yesudos is the man of choice when it comes to strong classical numbers from Raaja. What a devine association it has been...
Some of Raaja's songs are real hieroglyphics. They look attractive and fascinating; But the fact is you don't understand it.. not at least at the first sight. Co-incidentally just a couple of days ago, a fellow Raaja rasigar got in touch exposing me to this maze. Its providential that I was working on launching this blog and he opened up a perfect opportunity and motivation to add some content (Thanks Dileep and CSR !) So here is my lame attempt in cracking open this Ilaiyaraaja code (well, Actually the substitution to Da Vinci doesn't look out of place there I suppose...)
I will try to repeat the basics even if its redundant and boring to some of you. Firstly the Declaration.. This song is simple Adhi Talam ..8 count per beat cycle or as in western terms 2 beat cycles of 4/4; (or actually 8/4 then, if you want to make this beat cycle same as that of Aadhi taalam)
Thankfully the prelude chorus starts in proper Aadhi and enables us to keep track of the song.. So if you simply start putting the plain Aadhi Talam during the prelude, you can complete one Aadhi cycle during the line: "Kottun ga Ko ttun ga Ko ttun ga Kummi Kummi"
This would be our base metronome for the song analysis.
And you will notice the claps during the first lines fall on the count 3 and 7.. The overall beat pattern of the song is a bit electronic and is little complex to follow... But for easier visualiztion, you can switch off the Rhythm track of this song in mind, take the rhythm from lets say, "Aalappol Velappol" and super impose it in this song.. Now you see, it perfectly fits and the basic meter of this song is nothing but "Tha ka dhi mi Tha ka ju nu"..
Ok now that we are in same page (is it..?) let me proceed...
The biggest hide and seek that Raaja plays with us in this song is, 1.) Not every line falls within one cycle of Aadhi Taalam. This is a universal rule composers usually don't tend to break, including Raaja. Else the common man cannot follow the song fully and enjoy.. But in this song, a Few portions of the song comfortably stretches along two (or a little more) cycles of Aadhi Taalam. (If you want to be technically correct you can call it 16/4 , but honestly it doesn't matter as long as you follow the song and know where you are... ); 2.) And to make it super complex, These lines doesn't start on the samam (i.e., not on count 1 but a bit earlier or later);
So If we identify which are those problematic lines, its rather easy to follow this song. The first 2 lines of the song fall in the above mentioned super duper complext pattern.
The first line (Kummi - Kottunga Kottunga) measures 18 counts but the first count of this line is actually the 8th count of its previous measure (i.e., the first word Kummi already starts on the 8th count of previous cycle).. or in other words if you assume the song starts from the lines Kottunga Kottunga, it runs for 17 more counts..i.e., totally this line is 1 count of Aadhi from previous cycle + 2 full cycles of Aadhi + first samam of Next Cycle of Aadhi... all this still in first line... The second line (Kaigal Thattunga Thattunga) runs for 19 counts!! The beauty (or the beast :-P !!) of this line is that,it starts at the 2nd count of its Aadhi cycle or oru idam in carnatic music..(Just like "Endharo Mahanubhavulu...").. This line runs through 19 counts .. i.e., 7 counts from its starting Aadhi.. 8 counts from Next Aadhi.. and 4 counts from the Aadhi thereafter.. Due to this odd number of assymetry, you might be tempted to count Roopakam (Especailly the last 8 + 4..) in between... But those are just the woeful game Raaja is playing by making the sandham deviate a bit and sound like Roopakam.. don't loose focus and keep counting Aadhi..
So when Arunmozhi starts (Iru siru Idhayangal) the song appears to be back in the grasp of common man and right fully so.. as it follows 4 full cycles of 8 beats (Mind you I didn't call this phrase Aadhi as its running with first Thrudham of Aadhi as reference note of start of its cycle !!) The lines Kadhai kadhaiyam Kaaranamam.. Kaaranathil kaadhalaraam" is the ultimate beauty as its 4 cycles of pure roopakam.. 4 * 3 = 12 counts which can also be seen as 4 + 8 or 1.5 cycles of Aadhi.. So "Vaazhga" starts at the proper Samam of Aadhi.. but it lasts only for 7 counts.. because as per the theory when we started, the word "Kummi" starts at the 8th count..
This teasing game doesn't stop here and continues well in to the stanza too... The first 2 lines are ok.. But the 3rd line (Kannal Kaniyum) goes back to stretching itself into 2 cycles of Aadhi..with the split of the Sandham in this lines switching to the "Thaka Thimi Thaka" pattern ("Kannal Kani yum" , "Ella Suvai yum", "Than dhanam ena") and confusing you..
Subsequent phrase returns to normalcy (Thandhane Endru thandhai neeyum) with proper Aadhi... But only briefly.. the maze resumes soon enough at the lines "Thottal Thudikkum Pattam pooochi" and "Vittal Thavikkum Kannam moochi".. as this is pure Roopakam for 8 measures or 24 counts.. (i.e., 8(*3) cycles of Roopakam or simple, 3 (* 8) cycles of Aadhi...) And the "Ooho" ending is pure Aadhi only to remind yourself the Kummi again starts at the last count (8th count) of this Aadhi cycle..
Truly this is one of Raaja's "Thiru Vizhaiyaadal..".. i.e., when he is getting bored, he thinks, ok let me play some games with some lesser mortals out there... But what truly amazes me in this composition is the method to the madness applied.. He conceives an idea and he sticks to it from the beginning to the end even if he completely wanders around in between..
Following is summary of adjustments that he makes so that the song retains its Aadhi structure from end to end and the points that underscore his musical genius... 1.) Always starting the first line at the 8th count of previous cycle, come what may; Superb offsets to bring back the original rhythm flavour of the song such as the finishing of Pallavi (Vaazhga...) and Charanam (Oooh..)suitable for the pallavi to start back at the 8th count..This is a mind which exactly knew what it was doing... 2.) Timely adjustments then and there to switch the song to roopakam so that the reference of the Aadhi smoothly transitions from Thrudham to Samam.. 3.) Beautiful and yet sudden beginning of 2nd Bgm bang on the samam of aadhi by cutting the second line of Pallavi.. (NOte this is the first song that I have noticed from Raaja where Seccond BGM starts after the firstline itself.. normally its after first 2 lines to maintain symmetry... But this is like starting the 2nd BGM after the lines "Raasathi Unna Kaanadha Nenju" itself without singing "Kaathadi pol aadhu" for instance... ); He broke this symmetry because the first 2 lines are anyways assymmetrical (one 18 and other 19 counts..); So assymetry * assymetry = Symmetry !! :-))) You notice the hurry with which that flute and Tabla starts at the 2nd BGM.. just like an acrobat jumping from one swing in time to catch his other partner.. For me this is a defining moment in the song...Absolute precision like a Swiss Watch... 4.) So is the finishing of the song... no theermanams..not even a brief one.. the song abruptly ends at the phrase "Podungadi" as thats where Samam ends but not where that line finishes (which is still 4 more counts away as per the song's construct...) This is the Tradionalist within the experimentalist who wants to give a proper ending with no loose ends...
Entering my 9th year of IT career.. And what good is it if I am not able to make my own template for my blog !! Well, That was the question I had to ask myself to get to this background that you are seeing now...
A cue from blogspot templates followed by a few long nights of customizations and some (first ever) serious HTML programming, I think I have a decent banner for this blog which captures its essence... Isin't ?
Assorting Ilaiyaraaja's albums and making customized playlists has been my hobby for over past 18 years. Listening to a movie album from end to end has never been my cup of tea... (Ultimately cine music is situational and not all situations in a movie is worth remembering unless its a Bharathiraaja or Maniratnam film..) So when I was 12 years old, I already started grouping songs in my mind that I would like to listen (I used to carry a small notepad where I keep entering songs under specific categories so that I don't forget them...). Years later, when I joined College I started recording them to audio cassettes. Although my custom collection of about 100 cassettes is nothing to boast off, it did cultivate in me a deep sense of selective and resonant listening to songs. Thinking about similar songs and grouping them became my favorite background process - whenever I went on a long journey, whenever I don't fall asleep in bed (which is almost never..), whenever I am attending boring meetings !!!
I used to follow a few protocols while compiling my lists. Since the origin of my collection dates back to the cassette age, I used to always record the songs on "60 Minutes" cassette. Hence usually I have 12 to 13 songs per playlist. I found this number very suitable because, the attention span is usually undivided during the first hour and I listen to the last song with the same level of intensity as the first one. Any playlist more than 1 hour is usually not doing justice to all the songs as you would be disturbed one way or the other. Besides 1 hour is a good time to take a break and come back to the next playlist if you are still game. Therefore all my playlists are catered for approximately an hour of listening.
My playlists are based on Musical genres, Singers, Moods, Peculiar traits and most of the times a combination of few of these factors.. But primarily its my amateurish musical orientation that leads in making the final judgment if a song makes its cut to the final 12 of the given category.. I also used to have some substitute numbers to makeup the list in case the recording center didn't have a particular track.
In the pre mp3 civilization when sharing music was such an impossible task, I had a second serious pass time which I necessarily didn't enjoy. And that is to run behind my kith and kin to whom I had lend my precious Ilaiyaraaja cassettes which never came back in time. At that time, making selective choices of songs and recording the cassettes is what everyone wanted but never had the time nor the expertise to do it. Hence I was the one-eyed king among the land of blinds. I even enjoyed a good reputation with the cassette recording centers of my neighborhood since I promoted their business as my friends went to them with my collection.
Since I bought one, The playlist feature of the iPod has been a natural fit to my passion (Disclaimer: I don't work for Apple..) I have spent a fair deal of my free time converting my collections in to digital format as well as making a whole new set of playlists. Thats when it also occurred to me to share my perspective with fellow "Raaja yogis" on web. So one of the regular features of this blog is an online expo of my playlists. Through this the readers can have an opportunity to derive your own playlist if my taste for Raaja's music resonates with yours.
One cannot download/ listen to these these songs here (yet!), but just get a textual version of song list and appreciate them if you have them. The purpose is to give the readers a different perspective of listening to Raaja’s music... A shortcut to make your own playlists.. I plan to publish them as frequent as I can...
So keep watching this space. Here comes an ascii toast (!!) for genuine Raaja fans who want some pointers to make their lifetime Ilaiyaraaja collections....
This blog offers my perspective on Maestro Ilaiyaraaja, The soul who has undoubtedly been a great influence in my life. Its a sequel to
my older Website that I used to maintain for Ilaiyaraaja in '02. Apart from
giving my objective thoughts and subjective emotions on his songs, I hope to bring out some anonymous ultimates. Also a regular feature of this blog
would be 'Vicky's Virtual Playlists' .
I hope
to make this blog, home of my (and of course your) Ilaiyaraaja Experience
One of those run-of-the-mill Indian techie who thinks "I am different!”.
Apart from occasionally junking (I mean Writing), I also do a bit of Violin, Keyboards, sequencing in my PSR 730 and assorting albums.
I listen to a lot of Ilaiyaraaja (a South Indian Film Music Legend), Carntaic, Western classical, Country, Soft-Rock and Jazz.
Personal Finance, Traveling, History and Tamil Literature are my likes too. View My Complete Profile
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