Raaja Paarvai - A Perspective on Raaja

Waltzing Away

2010-12-06T00:12:00.009+01:00

Continuing a bit on my previous post..

All of Raaja's evergreen and ever greatest hits have one thing in common. i.e., besides their mass appeal they are worth in gold from the eyes of an instrumentalist. The singers, as blessed souls as always, invariably take away the lion's share of a song's success. For instance a "Ilaiyanila Pozhigiradhu" or a "Mandram vantha Thendralukku" are "SPB hits" first of all. "Mohan hits" perhaps takes away the second best honor. But they never will be classified under: "Chandrasekhar hits" (the lead guitarist of Ilaiyanila) or "Frank Dubier Hits" - the Trumpeter of Mandram Vandha.. (for that matter we don't even know for a fact who played the trumpet in this song. Frank is an educated guess at best. Speaks for the level of appreciation we tend to show on the people behind the scenes.)

Usually the instrument tracks behind such songs are so challenging, that it takes some effort to play them. Take "Poove Sempoove" for example. For the abilities of Padma shri & Padma Bhushan KJ Y, this song is a piece of cake. But look at the instrument tracks in the song. Be it the Gowrimanohari dished out in Hindustani arrangement in the first interlude or the most unorthodox jugalbandhi of Tabla Vs Drums in the second BGM, the instrumentalists need to be on high alert here. One count that you miss and the whole BGM is gone.. !

Speaking further of the second interlude, If an orchestra is playing it live on stage, you can judge their quality just by this interlude. Its the toughest test for a team not on the scale of individual brilliance of artists, but how well they fare collectively. The constant tracks formed by the bass and hi-hat are quite convoluted in itself. Ironically that's the only reprieve which the keyboardists and the percussionists can latch on to and find out when to start and when to finish their bit. And speed of this interlude is an element to factor in as well. Ask the strings ensemble towards the end and they will vouch for that certainly. Its like a tight rope walk on top of a moat with hungry crocodiles waiting to gobble you if you fall.. But still, the appreciation at our level stops with "some serious sounding" music that matched the visual tension and turmoil the Hero is going through on screen.

Take the innocuous sounding guitar during the prelude for instance. It demonstrates nothing but Raaja's ingenious creativity. D6th Added 9th followed by G6th followed by E minor 7th. Killer arpeggios which is actually a melodic track in itself as opposed to a straight forward side track that such strumming usually is.. The way how the distinct variation from D to G to E comes out despite G6th and Em7th being exactly the same set of notes underlines what improvisation is (i.e., the base arpeggio and the chord transition are perhaps decided upfront and how these two should compliment each other w.r.t right inversions etc., are chosen on the fly based on the most efficient finger traversal). Sada sir who played these arpeggios effortlessly has certainly done a noteworthy job here, but the question is have we noted it before ..? :-)

(Headphones recommended for the below video)

The problem with these musical phrases are that, half of the time they are so nuanced and its unfair to expect a listener to appreciate this. But even those who can, usually does not look beyond how it 'sounds'. The fact though remains that, its indeed a big deal to record such songs of rich content as a team in a live environment. Even if one musician fails, the whole recording has to be repeated. (Remember SPB's famous trivia that it took them 16 takes to record Ilaiyanila due to the guitarist and the results are here to be seen today 25 years since). I was told that the unbelievably orchestrated song of "Idhu oru Nila kaalam" was completed on the first take. And this may not have been the only such wonder.. So next time when you listen to a "nice sounding" instrumental bit from a "popular song", I hope you will try to visualize what it takes to record such complex musical collaborations and give these unsung heroes their credit..

With Love
Vicky

Humungousaur

2010-10-18T02:25:00.057+02:00

This is a word that I learn from my son.. !!

Its apparently a fictitious character in Ben10 Alien Force (another fictitious Mega Cartoon series to begin with.. ! But much more imaginative than our Saas Bahu Mega Soaps, I must admit !). If you ask my son about Humungousaur, he has no difficulties in explaining about what it is.. Its basically the bench mark for anything big.. Nothing can be bigger.. When needed a Humungousaur can grow tall and become even bigger.. It can never be defeated except by (what else) an 'Ultimate Humungousaur' !!

Its that simple..

As imaginative it may sound, the term actually does make sense in real life when applied to the pillars of Raaja's orchestra. While Pyramids of Giza or Great wall of China are known to every one, surprisingly these names are not household names except for the people in the music industry.

Viji Manuel,
Purushotaman,
Sadanandam
Napoleon
VS Narasimhan
Shashi
Vasanth
Noel Grant
Tabla masters Kannaya and Prasad

The list goes on...

They are musicians with unlimited talent and are highly regarded in the Indian film music circuit. Thanks to few friends who are in touch with them, I get to know a bit on how they go about their business in real life. And if anything is to go by, one thing is certain. These people are not just musicians.. They are:

Humungousaurs

If at all there is only one force which does injustice to these giants, its the recording and sound reproduction technologies of late 70s and 80s. Its such a shame that we never got to feel the full potential of "what would have been....!!" of what we listen to in most of Raaja's songs. I have been in touch with many of the friends in the Raaja community.. Listening to his songs in good quality is the holy grail (me included) for all of us. Though I have garnered quite a bit of high quality tracks in the past, I miss (and still do) the quality tracks of certain songs where these Jambavaans' talent is showcased.

Motivated by two other Humungousaurs, I finally decided to do something about it.

One is, Dr. Doraisamy. HOD of my department (ECE) in my college life.. He always used to reinforce the faith in we the Engineers using an interesting analogy!! Teaching the "Electronic Devices and Circuits" from the book authored by Milman and Halkias (the book I still fear the most in my life.. !!), he used to ask: "someone from vocational education can fix a motor if it goes kaput, while you engineers cannot. Does that make him better than you..?" Having made us feel worthless he would go on to give the answer of the question we didn't ask in the first place: "No.. Theoretical science is the mother of all inventions. Without it, there will be nothing.. So without you there was no motor to begin with !!"; While you are wondering, "What is he trying to say..!!??!! Does he imply that you too will end up fixing fans and mixies in your life if you don't pay attention to me..?" he would have completed explaining how the high pass filters work !!

The second one is "Audacity", the open source freeware which has been a GOD to me since I started using it a couple of years back. Although I mainly use it for music clipping, I recently managed to unearth (some of) its hidden features. Last couple of months, I have been putting my select list of songs through its High pass filters, Low pass filters, Amplification, Bass Boosting, Equalization, Leveling, Repairing, phasing and practically every other option available under its "Effect..".

This weekend I cut my first home made CD with the sole intention of celebrating these genius for my personal listening and learning.

I managed to work on about 75 songs.. The songs are of two categories. The first 43 songs or so in this CD are more acoustic.. A few samples are here on display..The remaining 30 odd are electronic beat oriented songs (Like the Rojapoo Adivandhadhu that used a bit more than just the acoustic rhythm kits but still those that are not looped and played live during its recording). I still need to do some minor rework on these.

I am not a sound engineer and I wouldn't say these versions enhance one's listening pleasure.. My aim is that next time I sit in the keyboard, I expect to have it a bit easy in decoding these songs thanks to those Audacity effects and educating myself a bit of sound mixing and post processing along the way.. Now I can say with certainty that these tracks sound many a times better than the originals of the same that I have.

Having felt like Tinu Aanand in Aditya 365, finally I am ready to unveil my fruit of labor of last few weeks...These remastered tracks are the Ultimate Humungousaurs :-PP

(As part of my processing I had to jackup the amplitude in some cases to bring up the hidden sounds up and then suppress the remaining tracks.. Consequentially, If you are using headphones, then keep the volume levels low. It might get too close to your ears for comfort!)

I am able to appreciate the rim shots of Puru Sir while Sada sir is mesmerizing in his re-defining-the-clean-guitar- playing solo..

I am able to listen to the Thani Aavartanam of Puru sir in his drum kit much more clearly.

And how the hell did Viji Manuel managed to bend, pluck and slide his bass guitar (Yes.. he is also the Baap of all bassees from what I learn) all at the same time in that "tttt...toooon" (at the 17th second, before "I Love you".) and then falling back with an unimaginable grace (at 00:22) better than the injured Greg Louganis from his dive board ! Any traces of inspiration from Boney M's "Sunny" which Raaja was forced to take in to account is absolved with this jaw dropping stunt of Viji Manuel..

And the three different Cymbal Rides of Puru sir for the first three "Yaa Yaa Yaa " (in the ending of the pallavi, please please don't miss it..) are nectar to my ears now.. So is the crystal clear keyboard bends on the DX7 by Viji .. The foot pedal of Puru sir is so controlled and warm.. slap bass of Shashi sir starting the lines "Kiji Gaadi..".. crispy strokes

The half beat challenge that gives nightmare for all guitarists in this pallavi.. One time its the Tom at the 2nd maatra of first aksharam and its a single Chaapu in mridangam for the next.. It is impossible to have this kind of live arrangements anymore..

And Majestic is the word for this team work.. !! Scintillating guitars (both rhythm and lead), Puru sir's authority on the drums and Viji the emperor in the keyboard (on your right ear).. What a transformation of the folkish tune that we have known to in "Oru Kili" (Don't miss the crisp Tom at the end of this clip at 1:03.. Philips..!! Fill-ins cannot be with more Sense and Simplicity..!!)

Vasanth Sir with his flamboyance in this bass guitar Gem..

Sada sir in his elements.. Wamping-oo wamping.. and Major 7ths galore in this captivating BGM..

And so is this bend exposing the Sri Ragam. Ri2 is bent so beautifully to reach Ga2 (just) and then back to Ri2. The signature Ri2Ga2Ri2 Sa of Sri.. The lead guitar pieces in the interludes exemplify Fusion.. What playing !!

About the talk of all this Techno music providing the high for the urban youth, அட போங்கப்பா நம்ம ஆளு இந்த பிலிமயெல்லாம் ஒரு முப்பது வருஷத்துக்கு முன்னாடியே காட்டிட்டாரு..
(This has been mastered by Raaja some 30 years ago using manual playing..!!)

And if that is not enough, feel the drum's bass pedal (Dhak Dhak) in your heart here together with the rocking side bass.. Disco.. eh !!

And if there is one song where Tom Tom is exemplified its here. Its not the symbols that provides the groove but the Toms.. what an idea..

And how about some flam para diddles on Misra chappu (found after the Tabla in this interlude..) I still wonder the bass pattern set by Viji sir for such running rhythm in odd signature. I could never visualize that additional bifurcation on the running bass pattern of the pallavi lines until it was enhanced. I still can't get enough of these new extra notes..

And how can you explain such a intensely westernized disco and yet an integral Sarasaangi.. Love the way how VS Narasimhan sir takes off with his solo..

I reworked this track just to feel the warmth of that Snare at (00:08-00:09) of Puru sir.. Followed by inimitable clean guitar leads of Sada sir..

Rediscovering the Oh Premi !! Didn't know this song is as free flowing as these with all the hidden tracks (what with those wamping etc.,) coming to the fore.

How the hell was that bass tone achieved in the beginning of pallavi.. It really sounds Baaasss!! Viji Manuel in Keyboard with funky modes not to be missed in this whole song, especially the 2nd interlude..

And to calm down I fall back to some Major high !!

Finally goose bumps is the only explanation I have for this.. (one of my most satisfying result !)

I am feeling a bit like Caasim to have lost within these treasures with one exception.. I intentionally forgot the password to get out of the cave and come to the real life..

Point Blank!!

2010-07-15T01:45:00.011+02:00

Sometime ago, fellow Raaja affinicado Harikrishna sent me his video of Nenjathai Killathe's Title score. It was the dialog between lead guitar and the bass from the original score which he had played flamboyantly in his keyboard and sent me.

The title track has everything that Ilaiyaraaja stands for.

Surprise:
Every time you listen to Raaja, you will end up discovering something new. For a long time I have looked closely to see if there are any 'Sankeernam' like applications (i.e., 9/8 time signature) from Raaja but to no avail. When I went back to hearing this score, I was treated with a sweet surprise. It's first 4 bars are set to a 9/8 time signature. Even though its occurrence is short, the deliberate placing of Church bells that fall at the first count of all the first 4 beat cycles, conform to a "1234 12 123" rhythm cycle (there by conforming to a Sankeerna Eka meter).

Innovation:
The full length rhythm of this title score is conceived with the idea of a natural jogging rhythm. The initial 9 count oddity augurs well with a feel of uneven rhythm a jogger may follow. As we all know, Raaja chose this idea to signify the romance between the hero and the heroine which develops during their early morning jogs. The song "Paruvame" remains as one of the most adorable song in Tamil and Telugu Cinema to date. But not many are aware that this score already paves the way for it.

Structure:
A classical humming evoking the fresh feel of dawn... What starts as a Sankeerna meter, becomes a regular 6/8 from the 5th bar... This jogging rhythm of "12 12 12" forms the base for a complimenting swing waltz played in an acoustic brush kit... With those days' 80s technology, you hear harmonic recorder embellishments and a bamboo flute played in Indian style responding to it in short but a powerful manner... Controlled strumming of a guitar together with a solid Bass track forms the backbone through out... And both of them break free with a chit chat of their own which is the further focus of this blog post... A complete string ensemble that concludes the affair in a grand style. The whole score is incredibly well structured. No inexplicable wandering of the melody... No waste notes... Its by no means a simple piece. But it sounds simple!

Lets now look a bit closely at that dual between both the guitars...

What is a counterpoint is a question nagging many of us. I view this bit as a good uncomplicated example of a basic counterpoint . I base my view on the following qualities: You can see two independent melody line that are in harmony but follow different rhythmic structure. They overlap each other and yet co-exist beautifully in the end.

Please refer the sheet music to feel this:

Please note the crucial areas where both the tracks overlap and the occurrences of dotted notations that differentiate each track's timing being different. (You can also download the sheet music here. Comments and reviews of the sheet music are welcome.)

(Headphones recommended!)

Imagine composing all these are for a time when we are fervently searching for our seats in the dark much to the chagrin of the voice behind: "சாவுகிராக்கி ..!! சீக்ரமா குந்துப்பா!!" ("You irritant.. ! don't hide me and get settled fast!!")

With Love
Vicky

Araajagam

2010-06-02T00:12:00.007+02:00

Just a small gift to the readers on the occasion of Raaja's B'day....

From the conception of this song to the final product on Tape, It would have probably taken Raaja and his team a couple of hours. It has taken me a few weeks...

Intro:

Song (Pattu Inge - Poovizhi Vaasalile):

Now you know why the title of this blog post is 'Araajagam' (அராஜகம் is a Tamil word - that can be translated as "Audacious").

Its not a co-incidence that 'Raaja' is a sub-string of that!

With Love
Vicky

Everytime the first love

2010-04-26T21:42:00.010+02:00

Just heard the song "Aaro paadunnu Dhoore" from the new Sathyan Anthikad's movie - "Kadha Thodarunnu". Its one of those songs that you hear for the first time and fall flat.

Sathyan has the knack of getting at least one special song out of Raaja for his every movie. Be it the "Koda Manjin" (Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal) or Melleyonnu (Manassinakkare) or "Swasthin Thaalam" (Achuvinte Amma) or "Aatrinkarai" (Rasathanthiram) or "Mandhara Poo" (Vinodayathra) etc., etc., the impact of first time listening of such songs drains you out. You feel fresh as if someone just pressed your 'restart' button.

This song is a free flowing waterfall. As a listener you can clearly differentiate that, this is one song that is not "Manufactured". This was the basic trait of all music directors until the Ilaiyaraaja era. i.e., their specialty is not the creative spark they come up with for each song. Its their ability to finish what was started without going astray. In my personal view, I do not see any modern day composer who is showcasing this ability to build solid syncopation every 2 lines in each songs..

And thankfully Raaja on his 67th year, still has this gift of Spontaneity..

Such as the unexpected lengthy syllable of "Aathmaavil" of second line which starts a half beat earlier than the corresponding "Yaaro" of first, tells you that such tunes just come out that way when he places his fingers in the harmonium.. The rest of the Pallavi toes the cue from there to start ahead of each beat cycle. Chithra and Hariharan flaunting their experience through out the song.. For instance, effortlessly doing some tricky ascending kaarvais at the syllable "ill" (of Aathmaavil... Try oscillating your throat with your tongue attached to the roof and you would know !).

Looks like Raaja is going deeper into genre of free flowing jazz.. His penchant in recent movies to retain the guitar bends with minimal strings ensemble and some predominant 7th and diminished chords in the background, continues in this one two.. But again there is no wandering business.. the song is like a horse on blinders that follows a shifting reference between C# and its relative minor A# but all the time playing around with the same set of notes, the integrity of the song never once in question.

You can clearly feel this from phrases like this.

(The whole song can be heard at Music India online. I hope its legal..?)

Look at the chordensity at "Mazha - Villume Kondu Puthindhoru Vedhana nee" (Sorry for my poor malayalam lyrics). It goes around as F sus4, GbM7th, Eb6th, Fm and returning to A#m I suppose. That second chord of GbM7th is as unorthodox an application possible at that place (If you look closely it almost brings in the feel of Amruthavarshini in a shifted scale of Gb.) And yet it fits more than any normal chord you imagined..And when you thought its all over, then comes the unexpected coda in the form of Twinkle Twinkle. It sums up the overall experiencing of this song...

Both the Gandharams that act like the conjoined twins is the defining face of the song. Beautifully invoking a pensive and pining thought as you listen.. It would have by now triggered the debate among the internet intelligentsia if its a Pahaadi or a Maand. But this is one song where we should leave all such aspects behind (including the ones I blabbered above) and enjoy it for what it is for a moment.

An echoed voice that comes floating from somewhere in the ether, smothers you all around, takes you down the memory lane and brings few flashbacks in front of your eyes and finally puts you to sleep with lot of peace at heart..

Listeners to Raaja are the luckiest because whenever such songs come, they experience the first love all over again..

With Love
Vicky

Sound Of Silence

2010-04-01T22:45:00.009+02:00

I wanted to post this article in March itself (to keep up my personal target of at least one post a month).. Because actually this article was written in March and hence technically I still met my target.. Posting it on April 1st is not to play a poor fools day joke! But, because it is part My latest article in Solvanam. So I decided to mention it here only after that.

The article is in Tamil. (It always feels nice to write in Tamil..) But non-Tamil readers please excuse me.. I will try to update this post with an English translation as soon as I can..

Basically I attempted playing the song in question to highlight the beauty of silence in this song. Though I did elaborate about it in the article, the best way to connect to my thoughts is through the video I guess.. Where ever there is silence in the original song, I tried to play it a bit spontaneous and not necessarily always sticking to the timing .. I thought the inherent feel of the song is best felt that way. Else I just played the melody with a mix of regular arpeggios and original bass track occasionally.

As always, your opinion matter to me the most. So Good/Bad or Ugly I am curious to know what you think of it. I also notated the sheet music for the song, in case you are interested. And of course corrections are welcome !

Enjoy the Sindhu Bhairavi in D Minor..

With Love
Vicky

(Headphones recommended)

Raja Chaapu

2010-02-07T00:25:00.018+01:00

Pongal of '94. After duly monitoring the direction in which the milk boiled over, I knew what I should tell my mom and started counting my chickens. Of course whichever direction it flew out, she will have a theory that its still a good 'sign'. But only 'East' would make her content to the brim that all else would appear irrelevant. Even the thought of letting her sons commit the heinous crime of going to the theater on the morning of a festival...

Mahanadhi is the only movie till date that I have watched First day! First show !!

Watching the movie that day, the background motif for the romance between Heroine and behind-the-bars hero was something inexplicable. Though a usually emotional Kamal Hassan became a super emotional Kamal Hassan on that particular movie and was grabbing the best part of my attention, I could still notice how 'complex' that background score was .. Years later in Coimbatore - thanks to the vast collection of Jaffer brothers who ran a successful audio recording business in Gandhipuram - I came to know, that background score was actually a full blown song which never found its way into the movie. Back in my college music club, Our drummer Rajesh and me have spent quite a few nights trying to understand the song.

You can listen to the song in question here.

Its after all a 8 beats per measure song.. But its neither a 'normal' 8 beat cycle that we are used to in pop/ movie songs nor our Carnatic Aadhi Talam. In fact to discern that its not any monster but just an 8 beats a cycle song, requires some observation. Its because though the song has 8 beats, the strong beats are on 1,3 and 6th beat.

In other words, the key here is the absence of any emphasize on the usual 5th beat where an unmistakable divider is felt in most forms of 8 beat cycles of world music. Its signified by concepts such as Aridhi in our Carnatic music or an odd crash or a base pedal which signifies the symmetry that you have completed the first 4 and entering the next 4.. Much like Berlin's Checkpoint Charlie that proclaims "You are now entering the American Territory"..

But that is not to be in this song!

Therefore, the meter is more of a: 1 2| 1 2 3| 1 2 3|

I really couldn't fit what I heard in this song into any of the known conventions. For a long time it remained as my Reimann's Hypothesis making me wonder how to trap this prime.. But the answer to this puzzle was no where in sight..

Almost a decade and half later, when this query was still haunting me I finally found help. Rasikas.org is a high quality carnatic musical forum where lot of professionals discuss and guide beginners like me. I posted the same query there and got quite a few remarkable and enlightening responses. Following is the summary of that discussion.
- You could consider this meter as a Tisra Mattiya Tala (Which is a cycle of 3 + 2 + 3) with an eduppu at 4th beat. But the problem with this view is that, no 'shift' is perceived in the song whatsoever. Samam is unmistakable and woudln't fit.
- Through an advanced concept called 'Talaprasthara' in Carnatic Music, it could be established that there are 128 permutations in which beat cycles of 8 could be arrived. Our case of 2 + 3 + 3 is actually the 19th combination in this set.
- If I am insisting of having a structure of Dhuratam + Tisra Lagu + Tisra Lagu, then it lacks necessary Talangas required for a regular 'Tala'. So this can not be even considered as a 'Tala', but a more of a Rhythmic form which can be named after you or me.
- It is a song with actually 3 beats, and not 8 beats per cycle, where by the first beat is divided as two sub-beats, 2nd and 3rd beats is divided as 3 sub-beats each. More like an interpretation of: 2/8 + 3/8 + 3/8; It makes this beat cycle one of mixed gathi since each beat is not divided by same number of sub-beats. This is the way how Chappu talams in Carnatic music are interpreted. i.e., They have Tala cycles with no lagu in it but only beats that are not necessarily of same Gathi. Other popular examples are Kanda Chappu (2/8 + 3/8) and Misra Chappu (3/8 + 2/8 + 2/8).

(For academic interest, you can follow the whole thread here.)

To me the last explanation is more satisfactory. Not just because it compliments the other points above, but also the lyrics of this song seem to be beautifully written emphasizing the syllables of the aforesaid duration per each beat. i.e., Solladha = 2/8, Raagangal = 3/8, Ennenna = 3/8 and so on. (Who is the lyricist of this song, any idea..? He has done a fabulous job writing poetic words for such a tough meter..He deserves as much acclaim as Raaja.. I would love to think its Vaali..)

The way in which the experiment is carried on through out the song to bring about variations even in such a tough beat pattern is beyond my imagination;
For instance, take the finishing of Pallavi
Inaindha Sandharpam = 12 123
Izhandha Pon sorgam = 12 123
Thirumbumo = 123
Pudhu Yugam= 123
Arumbumo = 123
+ 5 beats offset by chords
i.e., a total of = 5 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 5 = 24 or 3 cycles of the original meter.

First 4 bars of 1st interlude is a maze agin... Especially the 10 count synth vibraphone that runs from the 6.5th beat of 1st bar and offsets all the way to the end of the second bar.. what an half beat timing man.. Keyboardist's nightmare..

And think of layers of attentive craftsmanship to the main beat.. A Triangle at 2nd and 5th count somewhere in the back. (can be more clearly heard in the pallavi)

So is the variety in ending of interludes with divisions of 5 + 5 + 6 to makeup two cycles. The second interlude where the song switches to Roopakam is one of the enchanting shifts in the song (although from a theoretical view point the song fails to return to the original meter at Samam).

The point I am trying to make is, even though it appears that the beat is running in the loop, its still full of mutations that wanders away in an almost unnoticeable fashion. That is the aesthetics of Raaja's compositions.

As is his ability to simplify a complex thing, he ably demonstrates a dummy's version of this tune in regular 8/8 in the background score that I spoke about. Listen to this string ensemble adoption of the same theme. Who can dare to erase all the rhythmic complexity and make it appear more appreciable to mortal ears. And later the Guitar strummed version of the complex meter returns.. and caps with chromatically embellished finish.

If you are tempted to think, this is an one off indigenous idea that struck him one fine morning by fluke, you are terribly wrong.. A decade prior to Mahanadhi, Raja already demoed a very similar complex meter... It was in fact the title track of Nothing but wind, one of his most significant non-film albums that sealed his status of genius.

Listen to this.

This is a movement with beat cycles of 3 + 3 + 2. Surely not your Adhi Talam next door. Yet we missed it because the lead melody here is set as if its played on top of a normal 8/8; This is highly camouflaging. Once you notice it, you will kick yourself. Because the stress points of the drum beat is highly accentuated by the base pedal very prominently at 1st, 4th and 7th count, while the melody is oblivious to these stress points and takes a more conventional reference. In one sense, this cycle is an alternate view of the meter of the Mahanadhi song. i.e., if you consider the "Solladha" song's meter with an 'Eduppu' at 3rd count you will arrive at this movement's meter.

Instances such as this are proof enough that, time and again Raaja keeps himself savvy with such real experiments. I mean, music experiments in film music often needs to be deliberate. You tell me how often true and meaningful experiments are attempted by composers in Film music whose limits are driven - Not by the technology you possess nor by some stupid script that demands Hero plays an instrument until blood is dripping from his fingers. Music composed with such ulterior aids are already prejudiced in the mind of the listener, that it ought to be good.. Its creator ought to be a genius. This is the reason everyone is a genius now a days.

But its music that's innovated for art's sake that needs to be celebrated.

With Love
Vicky

Discover Janaki Chechi

2010-01-07T22:27:00.026+01:00

My aunt's family used to be radio worshipers. Particularly, the pocket radio from Philips which used to retail under Rs.100 in the late 80s. In order to avoid the clash of - Is it going to be 'All India Radio - Trichy' or 'Madurai' or 'Chennai Vanoli Nilayam' for the prime time show, each of them had their own and used to get drowned in their own world. One of them was a walking encyclopedia of the entire discography of Tamil cinema. Be it the songs of MSV or KVM or Raaja or V Kumar or Sankar Ganesh or whoever it is, You tell her the song name and she used to give you the entire history of it faster than a Google search ! Its through her I came to know of this song called "Neer Veezhchi Thee Mootudhae" from the movie "Kanne Kalaimaane". I used to think thats a original Tamil number composed by Raaja and used to take pride of being privy to such a high class number. Even in my Coimbatore college days, probably only 1 out of 10 knew this song, least realizing the fact that just across the border a few kilometers away, The original version of this song is akin to National anthem. "Thumbi Vaa" from Olangal was and is a mega hit in Kerala.

That song is a odd man out. It gained its fair share of reputation all across the country due to its recent incarnations in "Live In Italy" and "Paa". But there are many more 'its-a-crime-to-miss-this-song' from other languages which people from other states are not aware of. Since its been a while I touched upon Vicky's Virtual Playlists, I thought this time I will take up some of my Malayalam solo favorites of S.Janaki.

Like in other languages, Janaki was the first choice for Raaja's Malayalam songs especially in his early days. Majority of these songs are between 1977 to 1985. Its not a co-incidence that she didn't sing much for Raaja after this in Malayalam. (Chitra was found there after ! She had an edge probably hailing from the state) Another interesting aspect is that some of these songs are for a Balu Mahendra Movie. Hence they standout in terms of quality due to their astounding chemistry. Some of these songs are popular in Tamil as well while the truth is they are originally composed for Malayalam movies first.

So Discover Janaki Chechi !

1. Poovadikalil - Vyamoham
The year is 1977.. A very pleasing light music song with focus on lyrics and melody with not much attention on Orchestration.. Atypical of Raaja, even for those times. Probably it was the compulsion from the producer to give a song sounding like contemporary Hindi music of that time. Even then this serves an indication of Raaja's viswaroopam to come in terms of melodic beauty. I believe the KJ-SJ duet version of this song is actually more popular. This solo version by Janaki is relatively rare.

2. Paalaruvi Paadivaru - Dooram Arike (1980)
Listen to the prelude humming and its obvious this is a folk song. And soon after that listen to the Swing Waltz of Rhythm Guitar and Bass combo in the prelude. If that doesn't leave you dumb, note the seamless shift back to the Folk rhythm of the main song.

3. Tanal Virikkan - Aalolam (1982)
In my personal opinion this is the best Chakaravagam by Raaja. Its obvious why Raaja holds Janaki in high esteem if you listen to such songs. Its very difficult to drip emotions when the song is technically challenging and probably Janaki is one of the best in the business who can do it like second nature.

4. Veene Veene - Aalolam (1982)
Beautiful song. It was reused later as 'Ondra Renda' from the movie 'Thazhuvatha Kaigal' in Tamil.

5. Kiliye Kiliye - Aa Raatri (1982)
Rocking song, which sure must have been fresh sounding at that time (Why, even now actually !). This song is one of my favorites for its Bass patterns.

6. Theeram Thedi - Unaru (1984)
From one of earliest Mani Ratnam Movie, this song is the Malayalam version of 'Roja Ondru' from Komberi Mookkan which also came in the same year. But look at the variation in the presentation of both songs. Listen to the M7th strums in the interludes. What a stylish sound. Compare it with equally powerful but simple rendition of 'Roja Ondru'. Would any one believe both are same melody.

7. Yamuna Theere - Yaathra (1985)
Its Balu Mahendra and hence another regulation Raaja stuff.

8. En Poove - Pappayude Swandam Appus (1992)
This song very closely resembles "Nee Dhaana" from "Thalattu padava" and yet this is a high quality Keeravani in its own right. Espeically very neatly done pallavi finishings by Janaki etc.,

9. Olathumbathirunnu - Pappayude Swandam Appus (1992)
I believe, This is one of those national anthem kind of songs again.. Early 90s was the time when he had a different color to his Strings. It used to create a free falling effect. Listen to Maasi Maasam, Chromatic descents of Finishers in Oh Butterfly, Re-recording of many movies in this time frame such as Nadodi Thendral, Veera etc., Just like the interlude of this song.

Now for the biggie..

10. ThazhampooThaalil - Oomakkuyil (1983)
Balu Mahendra again. There are two unforgivable things about this song. Number one, many many Hard core Raaja fans from Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and rest of India is not aware of this song. Number two, YG Mahendran was the hero in this song :-).

I simply didn't have the heart to edit this song and post only a portion of it.. Because whichever portion of the song I considered, it made a strong case to be the one. What to say of the bass parts of this song..? or the guitar solo in 2nd interlude.. Another testimony to Janaki's inimitable talent of rendering almost impossible things in a way making others look useless. Listen to the feel through out this song.. and the voice control (especially places like finishing of Pallavi) If you are an aspiring singer on one of those TV shows, please attempt such songs. If you can reproduce this emotion with no tinge of artificiality and this level of voice control + note sense as effortlessly, then the trophy is yours.

Hope you liked the guided tour of God's Own Country !

With Love
Vicky

Chordensity

2009-11-30T23:13:00.010+01:00

Having extensively covered Raaja's application of Chords, one particular aspect which I would like to highlight is the density of chords in his arrangements. Let me patent a term for this:

Chord + Density = Chordensity

At constant Temperature, c = n/t
Where c= Chordensity
n = number of chords
t = time (lets say, no. of beats)

(Ok.. the constant temperature part was rubbish in case you are wondering!! :-))

This not to say Raaja's chordensity is always high. Its absolutely dependent on the melody at any given point of time. Most of the time the chords are Walking behind the melody dutifully or walking hand in hand like an able accomplice. The Chordensity here is usually low to moderate. This is how most of the composers compose..

But then suddenly Raaja would go into this Turbo mode, typically overwhelming the melody (and the listener) and pack the punches. Chordensity is at the highest here..

I thought I will demo this with a song..

Now if you see the first two lines of the stanza, It starts with DM7th..

i.e.,
Thedinen = DM7th

He hangs on to this chord for 2 bars, rather unusually long for Raaja's standards.. But all he is doing is going into the stealth mode to come out firing all cylinders.. See this:

Thendralile = DM7th Gmin
Midhandhu Varum = F# Bm
Then malare = E A
Aeee = F#

The Chordensity leaps from zero to 100 in less than 4 seconds.. Better than a Ferrari F40 !

And yet not one chord is mistimed.. Not one chord is out of place. The Chord arrangement fits the melody to the T. Overall aesthetic beauty is stunning.. That is Ilaiyaraaja !

Phrases like this is all too common in Raaja's songs. What is not so common is finding another composer who can do the same.

With Love
Vicky

Disclaimer:
I am not a Guitarist ! I am not a Guitarist ! I am not a Guitarist !
(Sorry if I reminded you of a court season !!)

See this scene from the classic "Varumaiyin Niram Sigappu"

The reason why I can strum some basic guitar is very similar to why Kamal knows Malayalam and Gujarathi...

About 10 years ago, when the over-payed-under-efficient-managers (is there another kind?) of my would be employer decided that they have recruited one too many, they conveniently asked all we green beans, not to join them immediately but to take a stroll and come back 3 months later. I happen to spend those 3 months with a guitarist friend and got mutually inducted.. He has since become a professional guitarist/ composer while what I am doing is pretty obvious to you... Vetti blogging of course :-)

Therefore please don't blame my beautiful guitar for the part that sounds like I am plucking a rubber band wrapped around the lunch box. Its the guitarist :-)

(I am personally cross with the word "Deiveegam" in the end of the pallavi which is D --> F# --> Bm. I did this correctly while plucking (relatively tougher to do) while screwed it up doing the rhythm guitar on both times.. too lazy to redo and left it as such)

And finally, this one is dedicated to Ved, the guy who taught me to guitar !!

Blasco

2009-11-21T22:55:00.015+01:00

It was about 8 months ago that I wrote my Trombone post. As I hinted in that article, the reason why I went behind tracking the Trombone songs in Raaja's music was that, some one was preparing the background for an interview with the leading Trombone player of India, Mr. Blasco Monsorate and I was asked if I can help.

The interviewer was one Mr. Shankar Iyer, one of the editors of a music e-zine named Swar-Aalap based out of Mumbai and now a good friend of mine. Recently Shankar concluded his interview with Blasco. When he shared his memorable moments of Blasco with me, I was equally excited too. During the interview, Shankar showed this blog to him. It seems that Blasco was really thrilled and appreciable of those Trombone tracks in the post. He actually played them for Maestro some 20-25 years ago. Particularly When Blasco heard the Prelude of Sangeedha Megam, he was delirious it seems. Because as musicians they are too concerned about just playing their part and never got a chance to listen to the final output again. So after 23 years, he got to listen to his solo piece in all its glory for the first time in this blog.

Similarly another casual writeup that I made once on the Ilaiyaraaja Yahoo group about the song "Radha Azhaikkiraal" and particularly of its usage of bass guitar caught the attention of Maestro's great guitarist Mr.Sadanandan and he was kind enough to send a word of appreciation through Eddie, another good friend of mine. When the people whose work you write about, acknowledge it themselves, its personally a very cherish-able and rewarding moment :-)

Mr. Shankar's interview to Blasco is not to be missed by anyone who loves Indian Film Music. Unlike asking mundane and formal questions for the sake of asking them, he really came up with some innovative and good questions, which in turn brought the life behind the curtains of recording theaters to us. Blasco uniquely explains the genius of both Raaja and RD Burman. On RD Burman, he talks about the richness of his orchestration, What a visionary he was, How his music was a team work..

While on Ilaiyaraaja he explains, How his work is much complex than any other type of film music in India.. How he is the sole proprietor of everything what we hear.. Honest about the anxiety of musicians that playing for him is no easy task... First hand account on the legend of his notation writing skills.. And some esoteric references to Raaja's other musicians, his brass players et al. Its great to get reaffirmation on the unique and genial working style of Maestro from someone who worked his side by side for 8 years.

With the author's permission, I am presenting you the maestro specific portions of that interview below.

With Love
Vicky

The Interview:

Shankar: How did you get to play in the South? Why did you leave Bombay to play in Madras?
Blasco M.: Kersiji itook me to Illaiyaraja’s recording studio while we were in Madras for the background recording of the movie Mahaan. When we met Illaiyaraja, he put up his reel of a background score and asked me play a Trombone piece. Since I had not carried my Trombone along, he asked me to come again on the following Sunday. He wanted me for a recording on a Sunday, while I was in a shopping mood since it was an off-day.

We returned to Bombay; but the Madras visit was playing on my minds. One fine day (in March 1983), I took my Horn and left for Madras to meet Illaiyaraja. That was when I met popular singer S P Balasubramaniam (SPB) there; he asked me to come for the background music recording of a Telugu movie the very next day. He was very thrilled when he heard my style of playing. “Your style is something different”. He wanted me to meet Illaiyaraja and was keen that I stayed in Madras for a longer time! And 4 days later I got to play for Illaiyaraja!

Shankar: How long did you play for Illaiyaraja?
Blasco M.: I played for Illaiyaraja from 1983 to 1991.

Shankar: How did Illaiyaraja use the Trombone in his music?
Blasco M.: Illaiyaraja’s music, in general, was different compared to Hindi film music. It had lots of syncopation stuff. The Trombone pieces he gave me were difficult to play; they were mostly played off-beat (demonstrates an off-beat playing style). In Bombay, Trumpets were played off-beat and Trombone played on the beat. However, Illaiyaraja’s Trombone was always on the off-beat. I had to be on my guard always while playing for Illaiyaraja. It was a challenge for me as a Trombone player to play for him. That difficult music I don’t think happened in Bombay. And nowadays, there is nobody to write like those days. They just ask us to pick up the notes and play them. Illaiyaraja was very fond of my style of playing. He used to lovingly call me “Blas”!

Shankar: Please explain why Trombone playing in the South was different to its playing in Hindi films?
Blasco M.: South music directors preferred the solo Trombone sound to a group of Trombones. I mostly played as a soloist in the South, whereas I was always part of a brass section in Hindi films. In the south, even if there was a section of Trumpet players, the Trombone was almost always used as a solo instrument. Illaiyaraja used to call 5 Trumpet players on the set, but only one Trombone player!

Shankar: Which other South Indian composers have you played the Trombone for?
Blasco M.: Besides Illaiyaraja, MS Viswanathan, Shankar-Ganesh, Hamsalekha, Deva, Raghavelu, Johnson, Shyam and Ravindran are some other south composers I played for.

Shankar: How about AR Rahman?
Blasco M.: I have done concerts and shows with AR Rahman. I have also played in some jingles for him. As you may know, he played the keyboard with Raja and Telugu composer Rajkoti for a long time. I also played the Trombone in the famous Asha Bhosle song “Vennila Vennila” from the Mani Ratnam movie Iruvar.

Shankar: What do you think were the reasons for your success in the South?
Blasco M.: I would say most of the composers liked my style of blowing. My style of listening first to the composer to understand what phrase he wanted also possibly helped. Also I think my playing blended well with the overall brass section used in songs.

Shankar: Do you remember any of the hit Tamil movie scores that you played in?
Blasco M.: I can’t recollect the names. Some of the names like Nayakan, Appu Raja and background music in a movie called Vellai Roja have stayed in mind.

Shankar: What was Illaiyaraja’s style of composing while creating background music?
Blasco M.: It was no different to the song recordings. It was all just notations. He always wrote the score, the musicians had to read the notations and play. He used to hand over notations to me, which I used to transpose for the Trombone. All his musicians played music based on the notations given. Once Illaiyaraja okayed, all was final. The responsibility was with the musicians’ to play with feeling and passion.

Shankar: Having worked with RD Burman and Illaiyaraja the most, what have you to say about their composing styles?
Blasco M.: RD Burman’s team of musicians always sat together to produce music. On the other hand, Illaiyaraja composed his music keeping the musicians in mind. We as musicians never knew what was in his mind. With Panchamda we had an idea of what was coming. He used to suggest things like “Put one chord here; add this piece here“. There was a sense of excitement for the musicians as there was always some discovery happening. With Illaiyaraja, it was the opposite. He used to sit thinking for the music piece and after a few minutes would get down to writing the notations. He was sure of what he always wanted. He then sat with the musicians for their part and checked if he was happy with it. In about 30-45 minutes, the entire song was finished. When he went back to the monitor room for the final recording, the entire score was in his brain! Many a time, he even challenged musicians on the sequence of playing of their own notes. And not once did he end up on the wrong side. It was a one-man show, literally!

Panchamda had two different types of arrangers for him; Manoharida and Basuda. Manoharida was strong with Western music; Basuda was strong with classical music. It was a combination of the heavy and light musical pieces. This served as a good mix for Panchamda’s songs. With Illaiyaraja, it was all a solo effort. Nobody could tell him to change the style of playing. What was given to the musicians was final.

With regards to the overall styles, they showed 2 different schools of instrument playing. Panchamda was more rhythmic, even his brass section was full of rhythm. The demarcation was clear with a full spread-out harmony. Panchamda also gave a lot of focus to the Strings section. With Illaiyaraja, it was more technical stuff, more hard music. You had to be a good musician to play for Illaiyaraja. It was tough to play for his music. He wanted exactly what he wrote. With Panchamda it was working together, adjusting to everybody’s capabilities and requirements. For Illaiyaraja, what was put on the score sheet had to have no deviation. Musicians had tough times with him. But he definitely had a soft corner for me. It may also be since I was from Bombay or even maybe because I was RD Burman’s Trombone player!

Shankar: What did Illaiyaraja have to say about RD Burman?
Blasco M.: Of course, he liked Panchamda. On seeing the big Orchestra section, he used to jokingly say “Big people, big orchestra”. He used to also like Manoharida's Saxophone playing.

Shankar: Which musicians from Raja’s team have you been closely associated with?
Blasco M.: All from the Violin, Cello and rhythm section. There was Shashi the bass Guitarist, Purushottaman the Drummer, Viji Manuel the Piano player, Narasimhan the Violinist, and Sada the lead Guitarist. And don’t forget Raja himself played the Guitar.

Illaiyaraja’s trumpet player Eugene Lazarus, from Chennai, was a good friend of mine. We worked a lot together. He passed away a year ago. Another good friend was Frank Dubia, Trumpet soloist for Illaiyaraja.

Shankar: Can you tell us something about Illaiyaraja’s music assistants?
Blasco M.: Mr. Govardhan and later Mr. L Vaidyanathan were Illaiyaraja’s conductors. Then came in Judy; even Ram Subu his Viola player conducted some times. One day his drummer Purushottaman conducted; I think he has hence been Illaiyaraja’s conductor till this day.

Shankar: Noted Mumbai musician Uttam Singh also conducted for Illaiyaraja? How did that happen?
Blasco M.: Once when Mr. Govardhan, Illaiyaraja’s conductor, was unwell, I had suggested Uttam Singh’s name. I used to like Uttam Singh’s style of conducting. Slowly, Uttam Singh started to work with Illaiyaraja, becoming a regular with him later.

Source: To read the complete interview of Blasco in the Swar Aalap magazine, click here.

Mudhi Mudhi

2009-11-17T12:57:00.010+01:00

There is a reason why Ilaiyaraaja is next to God for many, especially those who are musicians - Amateur or Professional. Playing any of the track in any given Raaja song is not only a very challenging and enjoyable experience, its also a very addictive one. One which would shift your allegiance to him for good.. Don't trust me? Try yourself at your risk..

So when I heard the new song "Mudhi Mudhi" from Paa, two things struck me at once. First is the simplicity of the tune.. Just with predominant usages of Poorvanga notes of Mohanam (i.e., D, E and F# in this case) how he repeatedly comes up with innovative tunes. Such varied syncopation with such limited resource is like trying to (successfully) create 80 combination with 3 inputs while mathematics claim only 8 is possible; Second is the arrangement that's behind this tune - which is a stark contrast to its simplicity.

"Mojo" of an average listener is so much high now a days that I am sure websites and reviews are already blaring with how "Jazz"-ish and "Cool" this song sounds. So I decided to take a shot at how Jazz it really is..

Although Jazz is not an alien in this part of the world, it has been mostly used in commonly appreciable Swing or Cool jazz styles. But without any shade of doubt, its not usual that you will find such high quality free flowing jazz chord progressions in regular Indian film music. The spontaneity is mind blowing that the tune is certain to motivate the keyboardist to cut loose and bring out his best. Not to scare you with the following chords, but the song's prelude in DM7th is an indication of what to come. GM7th, Bm6th, Bm (9th), A6th, D (9th), A (9th), F# sus (4th), an inversion of C#m 7th (without the perfect 5th note) are some of the chords used in this song !

To demonstrate these chords, I quickly threw in an inbuilt rhythm in my keyboard and arranged the accompaniment track first. Then I played the lead melody of the song. It was a cool tune to play because I haven't had the chance to use Pitch Bend so effectively in a while. The inherent melody of the song which toggles either side of E provided ample scope for this. Then I played the chords in yamaha DX Piano tone on top of this with a higher volume (So its heard better in isolation) and recorded it. Because in the original song even though you hear them, its still very easy to overlook them.

Actually I have taken a hybrid version of the chords from both Shilpa Rao's and Shaan's version. Hopefully (and rightfully) this would demonstrate the genius of Raaja for the new listeners who never heard him before.

You can watch it in Youtube here.

With Love
Vicky

Down With Y!

2009-11-09T12:19:00.006+01:00

My first blogging experience was way back in 2002. Google was just 4 years old then and was an young and upcoming rookie.. The idea of blogging was rather alien to even many net savvy users.

Tripod and Geocities were two very popular free web page hosting services then. They offered users a non-existent sense of achievement by providing a platform where one could 'host' one's own web site (while in reality they were nothing more than a rudimentary html editors where one can type and publish - Which in turn generated web pages where what you typed can be found somewhere in between all the advertisements which you had no control to remove.)

I also jumped the bandwagon then. I used to maintain few web pages on 'geocities.com/violinvicky' about Maestro Ilaiyaraaja. My first web site !!

That website was called as "How To Name It" - based on my all time favorite of Raaja's works. As a true predecessor to this blog, It was about Raaja brand of Fusion and Orchestration. It was established on 2002; Between 02 and 03 I wrote a few articles in them. Many of my Raaja's name-de-guerre such as "Boss of Bass" which have since become part of regular lexicon of Raaja fans, were invented during that time frame.

Yahoo recently discontinued the Geocities service and hence that website is not available any more. (Now, seriously what sense does that make in the era of freebies all over the internet. No wonder their share prices keep going down :-P !!)

Since I don't want to loose those articles, As a stopgap arrangement I am placing them at the Google Sites. Soon I hope to revamp these articles with audio clips so that it gives a better reading experience to the visitors and post it in this blog.

With Love
Vicky

y=f(dhenuka)

2009-10-31T22:21:00.022+01:00

Its been quite a while since I blogged on a Carnatic classical theme. The last posts were perhaps Desadi and before that the Rajakesi. Since then actually I have been longing to come back to this domain. But somehow the topics of my posts of late have been centered on Western Classical. Those have been inspired by some spontaneous moments and hence I couldn't help but blog about them. Its merely co-incidental. So perhaps it has taken another spontaneous spark to thrust me back into what I always consider to be my home turf.

Recently I stumbled upon a song of Illaiyaraaja from the movie Aalapana. The movie itself is a milestone in Maestro's Telugu works. Directed by one of his favorites, Its a classical Dance oriented movie. Going by the high standards that he set for himself in similar classical dance based Sagara Sangamam, one need not even dare think about the quality of songs in this movie. All of them are as classically and critically acclaimed as reaching to the masses. Apparently there are more surprises left in this movie. The song on which this post is based - "Madhana Lathika Hare" is supposedly from the movie Aalapana and it has left me flabbergasted from the moment I listened to it.

Once my first listening completed, I was left thinking "This sounds like "Dhenuka" but do I miss the panchamam here?". Having listened to that song for 'n' times since, I am feeling a little dazed on the magnitude of this find.

The song is indeed the Pa varja janya of Dhenuka and It has the following grammer:
Arohanam : Sa Ri1 Ga2 Ma1 Dha1 Ni3 Sa
Avarohanam: Sa Ni3 Dha1 Ma1 Ga2 Ri1 Sa

A Perfect Shadava Shadava Ragam, this one is also one of many such Anonymous Shadava beauties privy to Raaja (Planning a series on Raaja's Shadava stable of ragas is on my cards for a long time. Hopefully it will materialize soon)

I feel this song is special not just because of its rare raaga, but in the way the melody and the interludes are constructed as well. It starts at Dhaivatham, a relatively unusual swara to anchor your melody upon. The way how both the Pallavi and the Charanam ends are in a real unorthodox descent of the Raaga going as: "Ga Sa Ni Dha Ma Ga Ri" is teasing big time as it descends all the way signaling a landing on the foundation Sadjamam (which is the norm) but instead jumping back to the unique Dha start.

The real hero of this song though is SP Balasubramaniam. I think this song should be a watershed moment in his illustrious career. You would agree with me that, this is a rather uncharted scale to sing. But I am sure he relished the challenge as it shows how effortlessly he pulls it off. The accomplishment is even significant given that the composer has gone to some extraordinary length to bring out the essence of this scale. This is clear as both the interludes are a SPB show with elaborate aalapanas. This arrangement is unusual of Raaja too. Because generally in classical based songs he might pack the interludes with kalpana swaras (Indraikki Enindha etc.,) but leaving the interludes open for singer's aalapana is unprecedented.

The Charanam has some interesting variations in each line as they are repeated at least twice fully scaling the length of this Raaga (I didn't dare use the word "breadth" or "depth" here although for a song that lasts less than the time of a "Thukkada" in a classical concert, the engineering of Raaga is quite phenomenal here);

1. Charanam's first line "Nadha Seema Lone" is sung with some beautiful craftmanship of swaras effortlessly jumping an octave for each swara sung (like sa Sa, ri Ri, ga Ga); And this line anchors on Sadjamam

2. The second line "Palakarinche Andhe" anchors at Rishabam in the end, after displaying some fine nuances such as "Nilichi Choose Sandhe" = daaTu gamakams of sa ri, ni sa, dha ni, ma dha - ga ma dha ni sa)

3. The third line "Korukkunna Aagamyam" stresses the Ghandharam The song is ondra kattai shruti..i.e., C#; Since there is no panchamam you cannot say its either minor or major although because of chinna Ri,Ga and Dha this song gives a quintessential minor feel. So the prime chords available for Raaja are F#minor (more or less the root chord) and A Major. Of all the lines in the song, This line emphasizes the A major so beautifully.

4. And the final push of "Aaa Aaa" in the charanam = sa ri ga Ma and anchors on Madhyamam before talking the mystic descent as explained above already.

Where else can you see such a gradual built up of melody .. eh ?

And don't forget to take notice how SPB efforlessly scales the Mel Sthaayi Dhaivatham in this song. (This happens in the Kaarvai following the first line "Theega meeta kunte" in the 2nd charanam) Its not usual in cine songs that the upper limit of vocals goes beyond melsthaayi Panchamam (At least in the last 40 years). So I think this is a rarity and again SPB at his effortless best.. No false voice.. just plain bold committed singing. Out and out the complete song is a testimony to SPB's Technical prowess, Shruthi precision and Voice control.

As a kid "Tirunelveli Vanoli Nilayam" (Tirunelveli Radio station) was my only source of carnatic music and I never missed their 1 hour program of pure classical concerts between 10 to 11 PM every day (I even remember the station violinist's name who used to play regularly in those programs - Thiruvallur.V.Parthasaarathy); Once a blue moon, they will air some quality instrumental music. One of the popular combination of instrumental music that I always look forward to is the "Veena-Venu-Violin" trio performance. For a change not listening to heavy vocals and just listening to this heavenly combination of 3 instruments in a dark room with open windows thats funneling the cool breeze from western ghats together with the sound of rumblings leaves that resonate with the music waves emerging out an antique mono Philips radio.. Wow.. what a sublime experience...

The prelude of this song is indeed the combination of Veena-Venu-Violin. As illustrated, Its a real joy when Raaja chooses a classical base and retains the same ragam and arrangement through out. (Eg: Poo malai vaangi vanthal, Vedam Nee etc.,); Because when he does that he is at his traditional best. This song is no exception. After CR Subburaman when was the last time anyone cared for such traditional arrangements in cine songs?

Many of Raaja's Songs are a double jeopardy. For one many of his songs never comes out because either they are recorded but not used in the movie or picturized but censored. And secondly, on some of these songs he would have opted for some mind boggling experiment. And sadly we would never come to know it. I personally know 3 or 4 more songs that fall in this category (like the Hieroglyphics post). Needless to say, they will be blogged in future. But what about ALL of those songs that are still lurking around in the oblivion :-(

Finally, if you are wondering about the title of the post:
Dhenuka as such seems not that frequented a ragam in Carnatic classical although Raaja has used quite a few of them. The fact that you feel the song "Udhaya Geetham Paaduven" when you hear the above song is because "Udhaya geetham" is loosely based on Dhenuka (Although I would say its an insult to call it a Dhenuka. Because Udhaya Geetham has some out of the box usage of Ri2 and Ni2 which accentuates the complex nature of the song. But nevertheless..); When I look up in the internet, I found a a janya of Dhenuka called "VasanthaThodi" which has the same arohanam of the one we are discussing here but a depleted avarohanam of just "sa ni dha ma ri sa" (i.e., without Ga in the avarohanam as compared to this Raaga.)

So the only way I am currently able to define this Raaga is through some fun maths. As you know of the ubiquitous y = f(x) equation, 'x' is the input and independent. Based on the function 'f' that you apply on 'x', you get the output of 'y' which is the dependent variable. Here In my case, I know the input and the function.. i.e.,
x = Dhenuka
f = remove Pa
But I don't know what to call the 'y' :-(

So what's the name of my 'y' ..? Anyone ..? please help..

I will close this post by sharing my excitement of discovering something new...

Recently, my other idol Stephen Hawking made a candid statement when he stepped down from the prestigious academic title of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University (the text version is here). He has followed the space and the universe all his life and keeps discovering things. Therefore he is able to crystallize his abstract feeling albeit through a somewhat controversial comparison ;-)

I would just restrict myself by saying, following Illaiyaraaja is similar to following something as gargantuan .. Just like how you look up the space and gaze all those stars all night and discover new galaxies and constellations, exploring Raaja's creations yield similar rewarding experiences..

With Love
Vicky

Update: 2nd Nov

Thanks to Nagaraj and to Sathya_Vrathan from Rasika.org forum (where I had raised the same question) we have finally cracked 'y'. The Ragam is called as "Vatsa" and indeed a janya of Dhenuka. Thank you to both of them. And as far as I know, there are no carnatic classical Keerthanais or Varnams or Swarajathis or other type of compositions. That leaves me to think, Maestro is the first person to use this Ragam (although with my limited knowledge I could well be wrong). Yet another silent revolution.

Pining..

2009-10-25T21:23:00.007+01:00

Tired of writing lengthy blog posts (I can hear you saying the same thing !!);

When I was a kid, one of my favorite section in the local magazines was the one that had a series of pictures and let the reader assume the whole story for him/herself (படம் பார்த்து கதை சொல்க!). So this post is a similar attempt by me..

Watch (rather Listen to) the following videos in that order.. You should be able to get the same point that I wanted to convey through paragraphs after paragraph.

(Headphones recommended!)

(Credits to Tariq Masaudfor the above video; Al alternate youtube version is available here)

(Credits to ILAYARAJAfan1 for the above video; And an audio version of the song is also available here.)

With Love
Vicky

Ghazal

2009-10-15T23:31:00.006+02:00

All right ! This post is not about Raaja. But nonetheless its about Music and I thought its worth sharing with the readers of this blog. My second article in Tamil is published and its about the Ghazal maestros from Pakistan - Mehdi Hassan and Ghulam Ali. Although I do listen to a lot of Ghazal including those of Indian stalwarts Jagjit Singh, Anup Jalota, Hariharan etc., I particularly find the Ghazals of these two Pakistani legends to be a bit more meatier(Musically). I have also been doing a small time research on Ghazal, its history, grammar and some popular compositions. So this article is a culmination of all such efforts over the past few years.

You can read it here.

With Love
Vicky

PS: Its in Tamil. So apologies for non-Tamil readers. I will try to translate it soon and post it either here or in my general blog.

Counterpoint For Dummies

2009-09-28T22:50:00.023+02:00

I had the dilemma of calling this post "10 Seconds = 2 light years"; But it sure does sound off tangent! Then I thought "Andha Oru Nimidam" would be a catchy title (Which means "That eventful minute").. But that was already taken !! (besides a minute feels like a millennium in front of the time scale that I am going to talk..) Finally I settled for a rather unimaginative title, inline with the spirit of my previous post!!

Recently there was a request from fellow musician/ friend, Kumar about the counterpoints involved in one of Raaja's songs.. It was a female solo by S Janaki that goes "Uyire.. Uravil". The title of the movie in which this song is wasted is called 'Mella Pesungal', which means 'Talk Softly'. Unfortunately the audiences of this movie took the name of its title little too seriously I guess.. The movie was never talked about.. and like many other beauties this song too languishes in the oblivion like a ghost seeking salvation!

Whats worse, the portion of the song in question is a bit lasting all of just 10 seconds in the 1st interlude of the song.

You will hear 3 main instruments in this 10 seconds.. These three tracks each of Flute, Guitar and Piano does sound as if they are following the same melody and rhythmic pattern. Poor recording of the early 80s is not helping our cause either. Even then when I first set about the task of decoding this bit, I had no idea what was coming. After all, this is just 10 seconds..

I never understood the concept of this 'light year' in cosmos.. I used to wonder at times, how can there be such vast distances that makes even our Sun, virtually a speck of dust (or even insignificant than that!!)..

Not any more.. Now I know that such unfathomable mismatches do exist in unit of measurements.. Because this 10 seconds took me some light years to understand.. (I do personally recommend you to watch that video in case you missed it in the previous sentence)

For naked ears it feels that during this 10 seconds all the 3 instruments are towing the same line.. If you have a damn good pair of ears, you would know right away that, Flute and Guitar are playing different melodies.. But if you are not Ilaiyaraaja, the only way to decode the ultimate truth is by adopting the patented technique (of how to place your ears on the speaker/ head phone) that I explained in my previous post. :-))

Here is that part again which measured 10 seconds in Raaja's time scale and 2 hours in mine..

This is a counterpoint involving 3 tracks.. What I have done is to unravel each of them separately as midi files as well as to notate them in sheet music, so that we are dealing with the same parameters as the composer and performing artists.

(I was told that, there is some problem that the Yahoo Media Player not being able to play the midis.. I believe you need to have additional plugins in your browser to make this happen. So in any case I am also providing the additional direct link of the midi files. You can download them to your machine and listen to them in your usual music player (such as Windows Media Player). If you still face any problems, please give me a shout...)

1. Here is the First track. This is the main theme played by Flute

Alternatively you can listen to this flute track here.

2. This is the Second track, where a guitar is actually found playing the second fiddle.. :)

You can also listen to this guitar track here.

3. And here is a parallel galaxy to this 10 second milky way. This is Piano going off tangent to the rest..

You can also listen to this Piano track here

4. Finally the String ensemble, played in two tracks to finish off the deal.

You can listen to this String ensemble track here.

And this is how they all sound together..

You may also play them together by clicking here.

(For your review, this was the original again)

From an established western classical stand point, the guitar track is more of a derivative to the main melody and can be quite simply harmonically derived. Such score writing is a given in many classical compositions. So its not such a big deal. But holistically speaking, even a seasoned classical buff must admit the intricacy and the intellectual genius behind this bit.. Especially in the context of below given points..

Look at the platform on which such wizardry is displayed - Some unknown movie in which there is some unknown song, and even worse - it's a sad song which usually doesn't captivate the listener's grip as much as a hero intro song or a love duet or a "kuthu paattu".. But for Raaja where ever he sees the scope for such high quality stuff in any song, he simply goes about applying his intelligence.

Even though the guitar track is regular harmony, the piano track is a sheer genius and out of the box thinking. Such casual application of counterpoints sandwiched between a native melody and tabla rhythm is truly original. As I always say, this is not fusion. This is pre-conceived original genre in which he saw no difference between Sadjamam and the note F (the Key signature of this song) instead he saw them as one. Its like when Raaja is looking at this note, he sees them as green alphabets falling vertically in columns and laughs "The Matrix has you!!"

For such a small period of time, the amount of Workmanship is supreme by any yard stick.. Three soloists (One flutist, guitarist and pianist each) playing in tandem and a string ensemble on stand by to provide the finishing touch with at least few 10s of violinists (who are in turn split into 2 tracks).. So totally 5 tracks for a bit of 10 seconds..

Regardless of the duration, he still finds scope for advanced ornamentation techniques such as Trills for the Piano.

And look at the wholesome aesthetics of this bit.. in spite of what could become a clutter with such overload of instruments, not even a single note is out of place. How is this possible for him..? The answer is here:

(For the benefit of non-Tamil readers, what he is saying here is: "When you get a main idea, you need to again compliment it afresh by writing accompaniment for a different instrument, then again rewrite it for another instrument 2, and then again rewrite, and then again rewrite.. etc. This is called "Full Score Writing", not many people here are aware of this"..)

And below you will find the "Full Score Writing" of this 10 seconds. And again to recap with the score, this is how they all sound together..

(Please remember, this is 10 seconds out of a 4 minute song.. i.e., what you see below is just 4% of sheet music of this song that he wrote.. The score for whole song with an 80 piece orchestra would run for quite some pages I guess. And extrapolate it to significant number of 4500 odd songs that he has composed so far and you will realize what kind of genius we are talking about here..)

Often you will find that Raaja interviews/ stage speeches are on a Spiritual or emotional plane, that lands him in trouble. He is simply put, a very bad orator. And rarely he talks about absolute intellectual stuff regarding music. (If you ask him about music, his responses are usually philosophical). The fact is, he does posses intellectual mind like no other. As his fans or even critics we spare no stone to pick on his "spiritual-talk" blunders. On the other hand, we don't pay as much attention to his real useful intellectual talk. Probably because we prefer the safe route of just "talking" about how he composes "layers of music".. Peeling the onion is hard work and burns the eye, you see..!

Through such "Seconds to Light years" exercise, I wish to clarify one point.. Such ideas didn't go to paper from his head via a computer.. There was no software that filled in the blanks for him. There was no infrastructure whereby he could "process" the idea through zillions of pre-programmed musical techniques that could change the dynamics and texture.. There was no cherry picking on which instrument to choose from precompiled list of exuberant tone banks..

There is only one "thinking" entity in all of the music that he produces.. It commanded him to Write this 10 seconds of notes for flute, and then rewrite another 10 seconds for Guitar and then write 10 more seconds of counterpoint for Piano and then rewrite another 10 seconds for String Ensemble..

And that entity is his intellect..

Unfortunately such entities are suffering a fate similar to WWF's list of species threatened due to man made causes..

With Love
Vicky

PS:
- You can download all the notations used in this post as PDFs here.
- You can download all the Midis used in this post here.

- Credits to Sharankay whose youtube video I have used in this post.

Chords For Dummies

2009-09-01T22:57:00.040+02:00

Often while reading musical reviews or discussions of Ilaiyaraaja (or any genre of music that evolved in the past 50 years for that matter) a popular 'hip' word that one comes across is Chord. While a formal definition or a technical description of that word is available all over the internet, you are expected to be musically 'educated' or at least be aware of the basic anatomy of music to understand those references. Getting more confused, you would usually run for cover to your flamboyant 'expert' next door on the internet. Since he is often throwing this fancy word at you and proclaims to no end that "Wow..What Superb Chords..", you ask him "What exactly is this 'chord' thing? Can you pin point?" or "I am terrified by these Major 7th or minor 9th chords that you mentioned? what are they?", you will most likely see faces that resemble a rabbit caught under the headlamps midway down the road and receive "Hee Hee... Oh.. Adhuva..!!" as the answer.

Many years ago as a novice Carnatic initiated when I started hearing these terms, at least that's the response I received from the umpteen number of guys whom I approached thinking that they were 'Genius' (because of the way how they presented themselves and fooled around innocent people with their Jargon laden talks)

That was the time when I was scared to death by the western classical music in general and the concept of Chords in particular.. With no reliable guidance, with no internet and with no means to practice, all I had was Raaja's songs and loads of determination.. The quality of music tracks then was not of as much crystal clear quality as today, nor did I had these super gadgets of "bass boosting" players or "noise reduction" headphones or "rip off" softwares to eliminate unwanted tracks and just listen to the sound you want in isolation. With a worn-out 2 in one cassette player (which, to copy the popular comical Tamil Adage - would not even fetch me any date fruits!!) and with my ears pressed against its speakers in a manner that would put water tight Swiss watches to shame, I would rewind any given Raaja song at least a hundred times just to play back phrases of two seconds again and again until that exotic chord was fished out of the abyss from deep beneath the vocals and rhythm and the recording noise..

I had many such Raaja songs that served as personal companions to overcome my Chordophobia" :-) The lesser known "Vaanengum Thanga Veen Meengal" from the movie 'Moondram Pirai' is one such song..

As a beginner, You just have to listen to the prelude of this song to get your first direct rendezvous with the Chords..

What you keep hearing in the Prelude of this song until the Flute starts are all nothing but chords.. (Well, the chords continue in the background after the flute starts as well.. but in the first few bars you hear pure unadulterated sound of how a chord feels)

(I already used a term called 'BAR'.. Lets assume a person with little technical background of music hears this song. To initiate him/ her as well as to bolster everyone's basics, lets proceed using some simple non-technical words; So I split this post into two halfs.. Beginner's lounge is the main blog post and I leave the 'technical' stuff separately on the Appendix so that the main post remains lucid)

Part I - Chords For Dummies:

Stage 1: Identify a 'Bar'

The song starts with plain guitar sound played periodically..That is, in the prelude of this song, if you simply start counting 1 2 3 4 along with the song's speed, you will here this. As you go on and hear the prelude you will also realize that there is a repeating pattern to this guitar sound.. And you will 'feel' this repetition involuntarily after every 4 counts..

Hearing that clip again you can recap to be sure that what you heard lasted for 4 counts. This is called One Bar, or rather this lasted for the duration of one Bar. (Please note that a Bar doesn't always last for 4 counts universally in all songs. Songs with 3 counts, 5 Counts, 6 counts and 7 Counts bar are also common in Indian/ World music, although not as common as 4 count based Bars.)
Exercise 1:
Listen to this prelude bit. How Many Bars did you listen?

Stage 2: How does a given Chord Actually 'sound'?

Lets take the same reference bit used for illustration of stage 1. In this one bar of music, you heard a SAME guitar sound through out (although on your 4th count you heard two sounds played fastly. But Lets ignore how that 4th count was divided for the moment)

What you just heard is nothing but a MAJOR CHORD played each time when you counted 1 or 2 or 3 or (the two quick sounds on) 4 . This is an example in isolation, of how a given Chord 'Sounds'.. (a given major chord in this case)
Exercise 2:
Listen to this famous song. Except for the Janaki's voice, what else did you notice in the background?

Stage 2b: Something Extra
Having known how a chord actually sounds, now lets go to the next challenge. That is to identify a slightly more complex 'sound'. "Vaanengum" was the song that helped me grasp the concept of Major 7th chords.. So I would like to continue with it for the illustration..

(For your ready reference, here is the the First bar again.) Now you can already notice that when the second bar starts, the 'sound' of music (!) slightly changed.

Second bar = counts 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = Guitar in the same PATTERN as the 1st bar.. but the SOUND OF THE CHORD IS DIFFERENT

Agreed..?

What you just heard during the counts 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 is nothing but a MAJOR 7th CHORD..

So dear readers, again as I noted before, the objective here is not to get you technically savvy of a Major 7th chord's anatomy. But just to enable you to listen to a (relatively) 'special' type of chord in isolation. That's all.

Mini coffee break:
So now Raaja conducts a revision to you so that you can understand doubly for sure what you have learnt now .. Because the whole stuff is neatly repeated for you..

So here are the first 4 bars of this mystical song.
You have already mastered the first 2 bars.
Third Bar = same as First bar (Feel the sound of a chord.. note where the bar ends)
Fourth bar = Same as Second bar (You started a new beat cycle now.. What you are hearing is a relatively special chord);
Exercise 3:
Hear to this bit. (This is the prelude of the song "Kiss Me" from the band 'Six pence none the richer')
Please focus on the first two bars. What is the similarity that you noticed with the "Vaanengum" Song?
Additional Q: How many bars did you listen now ? ;-)

Closing Note:
I want to close by saying that, its very easy to learn the concept of chords just by following Raaja's songs.. No other source is needed.. I for one am eternally thankful to Raaja for this..

I am still scared to death by these concepts and by no means capable of dissecting and analyzing each and every chord of Raaja's songs..But now the difference is that at least I know 'what' I am scared off.. I know the face of this mysterious force, as opposed to get chickened out by the fear of the unknown..

I feel this post's objective is met if you also sign off with the same feeling..

With Love
Vicky

PS: For the 'Key' of all exercises, refer to the bottom of this post.. If you got them right please pat yourself at the back and of course please do let me know how you fared.

Appendix - An inside view:
This is more of an 'Absolute' interpretation of the samples used so that the musically initiated readers can take home more. Please don't bother yourself with it if you think its too much of information.

1. The First bar of Vaanengum is actually a F# Major chord.
(To be specific, one can feel this chord already relates to the Aadhara Shruthi of the song.. so this chord is nothing but the the Root major of the song.. i.e., the song's key signature is F#). To be more technically correct its played with the omission of the Major third (i.e., A#) on one track and with the inversion of "5 + 1 + 3" (instead of "1+3+5") in another faint track. The bass is played on the alternating half count and is touching the root note F#.

2. The Second bar of Vaanengum is actually the M7th of the ROOT. i.e., its the F# Major 7th chord which in turn is nothing but the F# Major chord + its 7th note on the major scale which is 'F'. (Major 7ths are also noted as M7th for simplification). As a matter of fact the prominent chord sound that you heard in the bar appear more like the minor triad of the Major Third (i.e., A# minor). Its the bass which still anchors at F# which reassures the final Major 7th delivery (i.e., Bass of F# note + the A# minor traid = F# Major 7th)

(Extended) Stage 3 : Chord progressions:

Now lets go to the next step called CHORD PROGRESSION, which is not exactly worth loosing your sleep right now if you are a beginner. On the other hand, now that you know how a chord sounds, you may still follow this section to merely know the "Changing of Chords" in a bar/ set of bars.

Fifth Bar = G#m G#m G#m F#/C# = minor Triad of the major second (i.e., G# minor traid for 3 counts) and the root F# major on the last count of this bar. (Please note that the last F# major is notated as F#/C# since its played with the inversion of 5+1+3 suggesting that its F# major chord played with the inversion of bass note as C#) .
So this is Second Progression Down

Sixth Bar = B B B C# = Perfect Major fourth on first 3 counts and perfect Major 5th on the last count.. So right from the beginning of prelude the progression can be (roughly) summarized as: F# - G#m - F# (With the emphasize on A#) - B - C# .
This is a lucid Fifth Progression UP that loops back to the root when the flute starts..

This is relatively a heavy topic.. So lets park it for now..

Key for the exercises:

Exercise 1:
4 bars

Exercise 2:
Chords.. Chords.. மேலும் Chords:-)
(To be exact, the chords that you heard are of the sequence:
Am F A| A Dm - F|Em G C Am|F E Am||)

Exercise 3: The similarity between Vaanengum and Kiss Me is that:
First Bar = Root Major chord
Second Bar = Root Major 7th chord
i.e., the chords of the opening two bars are of same make. Even though the key signature of both the songs is different (Vaanengum is F# and Kiss me is D), similarity can be clearly felt in respective 'relative' descents. Kiss Me's progression is: Root - Major7th - 7th - Major 7th (i.e., D - DM7th - D7th - DM7th). So if this helped you to make the 'connection' and 'receive' the 'sound' of a major chord and its major seventh together, then you cracked it..
Additional Q: There were 8 bars in that original Exercise 3 question.

Note: we discussed about just the Major7th in this post. We didn't touch upon the dominant seventh (a.k.a 'THE' 7th) type of chords (that I mentioned in Kiss Me's progression); There are various types of chords and each of them has a distinct character. We just touched upon two (popular) variety. Thats all.. If there is enough interest, lets see if we can extend this exercise to each of the known types using Raaja's songs.

A Train Journey With Ilaiyaraaja

2009-08-07T00:33:00.026+02:00

An Article that I wrote for the online Tamil magazine Solvanam (with the title "இளையராஜாவுடன் ஒரு ரயில் பயணம்" or "A Train Journey With Ilaiyaraaja") can be found here.

The irrelevant background on why I treat this to be a credible personal milestone can be read here.

My apologies to the readers who cannot read Tamil. I promise to translate this article in the next available opportunity and post it below.
With Love
Vicky
Aug 7th

========================================================================
Update: 14th Aug
As Promised, here is that translation. This is devoid of the Tamil Verses and cohesive sentences that I used in the original. Honestly I feel that this translation is not doing enough justice to the original. Nevertheless this still gives an idea of what I was trying to say to my non-Tamil readers.

A Train Journey with Ilaiyaraaja

In Tamil grammer, there is a technique known as 'Ani Illakkanam' (ornamentation?). This is often used by the poets to enhance the lyrical beauty (of both the word constructs as well as their meaning). I still vividly recollect all such different 'Anis' from my school days. Out of these, my favorite Ani is the one where a poet skillfully employs the natural backdrop of a given incident to convey his message. It is called "Thar Kuripperra Ani" in Tamil.

In Kamba Ramayanam, When the announcement that Rama would be the heir apparent is made, Kooni is outraged. She tries to plant the seed of jealousy in Kaikeyi's heart by ranting that "you are being besieged by danger". But Kaikeyi responds by saying that, "Every parent in this world leads a carefree life if they have an ordinary son. I have Rama as my son who is exemplary. What possible danger could besiege me?" Kambar wants to convey that, Kaikeyi loved Rama as her own son even if she is not his biological mother. He gets this message across through the practical fact that, Those who have offspring can be rest assured that their kids will support them in the hour of need.

Similarly a flag fluttering in the wind is a normal incident. But in Sillapthigaram, Ilango adigal conceives this natural occurrence as a backdrop conveying a sinister message to Kovalan and Kannagi when they are entering the city of Madurai. He imagines the back and forth movement of the flag in the wind as a warning signal to them that suggests, "Do not enter this city. There is a grave danger here in store for you"

Poets are a privileged lot to have so much of such established norms to enhance the clarity of their communication. What techniques do a Music director have if he has to draw an inspiration from the backdrop of a song? If you close your eyes and listen to the song, its not a easy task to make you 'feel' the situation and circumstantial movements in a song. A successful representation of visual aspects of the song through an audio medium is dependent on not only the individual potential of the Director and the music director but also of the chemistry between the two. This is all the more applicable in Indian cinema that offers a lot of tricky (and often ridiculous) cues to compose. Where else do you have dutifully exercising youngsters who use the excuse of jogging in the morning mist to fall in love.. Or a nitwitted oldy for that matter who is too busy to be perturbed by the petty ceremony of bride watching and would rather prefer making her own pawn. With such tiny details of screenplay facing the real prospect of being lost in translation, a music director is forced to fight his way out to represent it in the song.. As silly it may sound, Using the jogging rhythm as the main beat of the song for the first situation or making the betalnut crusher answer Mrudangam's percussion for the second, indeed requires some advance thinking.

Of all these, the most frequented interesting backdrop in cinema are the songs and scenes that are shot in a Train. Be it the "Kelvi Pirandhadhu Andru" and "Mere Sapno ki Rani" of the yesteryear or "Chayya Chayya" of today, songs that are set against the backdrop of the train have invariably fascinated everyone. However, when it came to expressing the train sound, music directors often stayed conservative, didn't venture much into experimenting and conveyed it through a running symbol of the drum or a maracas and the innovative lot went one step further and added a running rhythm guitar track on top of it.

Ilaiyaraaja however, has been a unique musician in this arena. He shattered the stereotype that train should 'sound' like a train and often brought in his own out of the box interpretation of expressing this feel. He managed it through a gamut of instruments such as a Solo Violin, or a String Ensemble or a Bass guitar or a Shehnai. Besides, the emotional context of his train songs vary widely too. There are happy songs, sad songs, thrillers and teasers. From a picturization view point, the backdrop of all these songs is a mere train. But the onus had been on Raaja to draw inspiration from it in a way it still conveyed the underlying emotional current.

Movies where Trains are an integral part of the story are Raaja's delight. He almost treats them as a predominant character and composes the score. This is evident from the Movie 'Alapana' where the hero is a railway worker and the heroine is a Bharathanatya dancer. The way how their love gradually progresses around the railway station and trains was beautifully expressed just like a Train starting its journey and gradually picking up speed. This is the score during the initial phases of that love. And here is when its moving in full speed and here is when it reappears later with the carnatic background of the heroine.

Two aspects are noteworthy here. He complimented the Director's thoughts (Vamsi) and enhanced the visuals; He used the same tune with a Swing waltz rhythm arrangement and a normal Carnatic arrangement, thus casually demonstrating his musical prowess.

Raaja has successfully passed many such challenges right from the early days of his career. The song Poovarasampoo is a case in point. Even though the main train rhythm in this song is rather explicit, Raaja weaved a musical magic around it by adding a layer of native percussion instrument (Dappu) around it. He pioneered the use of western instruments such as solo violins, Saxophones & Vibraphones for such a folksy song. He leveraged the full potential of Janaki and camouflaged the song behind Sudha Dhanyasi. In the end he ensured that the handicap of importing a fresh face from London who couldn't act for nuts (the then Radhika) was not a deterrent for the success of this song.

Similarly, in the Manjal Nilavukku song, he gave some unplugged moments to even a very senior artist like Susheela, by making her hoot and toot like a train..(With no software available to generate 'loops' at that time, It takes some strumming talent to maintain that kind of tempo in the Rhythm guitar through out the song..)

Following this, in Moondram Pirai Raaja raised the bar of all composers, past and present. The second interlude of the song "Poongatru Pudhidhanadhu" is extreme composing. Just by using a String Ensemble that includes 2 sets of violins and 1 set of double bass & cello, he created the suspense of an secretly approaching train. A credible experiment by any yard stick.

He continued using train to his advantage in many songs that followed such as Pogudhae Pogudhae (kadalora kavidhaigal) and Goods vandiyile (Kunguma Chimizh); He also had the compulsion of composing songs for some ridiculous situations in the meanwhile such as a weird heroine who wants her dream wedding in train or a foolish premise of a nearby train making the protagonists roll off their beds. But the quality of musical output even in such songs were supreme.

Ilaiyaraaja has also used the technique of 'Double Stop' in violins (bowing on two adjacent strings simultaneously) quite frequently to convey the effect of train. As if to represent each track by a string, the way this double stop violin follows the train tracks and culminates in a weeping Saarangi is a nicely picturized sequence showcasing the genius of director, camera man and the music director all at once.

The pattern of Train's sound have always appeared rhythmic to me. Sitting on the window seat and dissecting the 'Tala' of train is my favorite pastime during long journeys. Most of the time the pattern would resemble a 'Tisra Eka Tala' (thagida thagida thagida thagida) or a 'kanda chaapu' (Thaka Thakida Thaka thakida); In between all this, whenever the train passes through a bridge or when its track runs through densely or sparsely populated stone bed, its sound changes. In that process, its rhythm gets changed as well. Finding the starting beat of the new rhythm cycle and counting the Tala is indeed a very triumphant experience.

One can understand that the Train's rhythm doesn't remain the same but waxes and wanes while listening to the Thaalattu Ketkadha song. During the 3rd line (that starts as "Pattu naan adimai") the way the rhythm drops intensity and later picks up speed sounds similar to the natural way in which a train's sound change. The fillins of the rhythm are a bit asymmetric and enhances this feel. Dominant usage of Snar in this song that fades rhythmically as opposed to the usage of a hi-hat (of the drum kit) in regular train songs is a new attempt as well. The connecting flute between the lines sounds like the train's horn. In the interlude that follows, the call and response between the pan flute (that simulates the train horn again) and the Double stop violin is very catchy. The solo violin that continues in Keeravani leaves a lasting impression. So as mentioned before, instead of restricting to the usual train sounds, the way Raaja blends other minute aspects of a moving train into the song's mainstream is astounding.

I haven't seen the song "Kotti Kidakkudhu" in a visual medium so far. But the moment I heard the prelude of this song in which the duo violins sets off the mark like a sprinter, I had an intuition that it has to be a train related song. That doubt was cleared when the song's second interlude arrived. Its the fast arpeggios in the bass guitar this time (Headphones recommended) that aids the train feel. Similarly in the song Sakkara katti, just by using a single rhythm guitar, he lays the foundation and completes the picture of running train in one's mind with the assistance of Strings and Shehnai.

Just like a skillful potter who is capable of turning the raw clay into a shape that he wants, Raaja has a gifted talent of molding a tune to convey any feeling that he wants. The titles of the Gopura vaasalile is a morphed version of the popular song "Devadai Poloru". The tune here though is arranged against the backdrop of a train and it creates an inexplicable tension expressing the fear of unknown that follows in the movie. With Ilaiyaraaja complimenting the wizardry of PC Sriram, this titles ought to be in the hall of fame of audio visual treats. Sadly the visual experience is marred by the titles...

Ilaiyaraaja doesn't always take everything but the kitchen sink with him when it comes to the train. There are numerous occasions where he treats the plain real sound of train as music. During the climax of Mouna ragam, when Revathi leaves Mohan for good and when he realizes that he has to stop her, a violin shares his sense of urgency and runs with him bringing the audience to the edge of their seats. As he reaches the galloping train and realizes that he has made it, the music stops and pure sound of train would reverberate on our ears.. That silence is the most powerful moment in that sequence.. Its that silence which relieves the pressure of the audience as they heave the final sigh of relief.

Besides recording 3 songs a day with 70 piece orchestra, Raaja still managed to find some spare time during the lunch break (!!) in which he (what else, but) composed more music. But this time it was for his pet projects. Composing for no one but oneself was his way of relaxing... "Nothing but wind" is one such album and he also composed a track with the same name in that album. Thinking at a different dimension, he tries to convey that even if life is extinct from the face of Earth, Wind and therefore Music will continue to survive in this universe. In that track too, he uses the plain sound of train among other musical forms.

Final reference is, the climax of the movie Moondram Pirai. The spell bounding music that accompanies Kamal until he enters the railway station, stops the moment he sees Sridevi. Continuing with the music would not have been a good idea for Kamal's great acting against the backdrop of Several natural happenings on the platform. Raaja reads this pulse just like a physician and doesn't start the music until the train leaves the station. As it leaves and its sound fades out in Doppler effect, Jesudoss starts slowly as "Kaadhal Kondane kanavinai Valarthane" alongside the rain. If your heart doesn't feel heavy at that time, its probably a good idea to consult Dr. Cherian and check if its there or not !

Music directors should know when to exercise silence as much as composing music for situations. If not, its obvious that director's effort would go down the drain. It is not an exaggeration to say that using the train, Ilaiyaraaja has demonstrated this silent and clear (!!) message to the generations of composers to come. When you look Indian film music in the context of Train based songs and scenes, Ilaiyaraaja's presence would be foremost. For over thirty years now, this express has left the station of Pannaipuram and is still going on track. Its, we the passengers who are the luckier lot.

With Love
Vicky

Raaja Hindustani III

2009-06-03T23:40:00.044+02:00

Final post in my 3 part series and I must remind the readers of the focal points that I had in mind when I started these episodes. This post is about Raaja's ground breaking ideas on the use of Hindustani instruments and his adoption of other traditional concepts in routine film songs; These adoptions are so subtle that you will find no relevance to the songs specified and the original HCM (Hindustani Classical Music); We have already discussed his presentation of classical ideas in the first post; So this one is about just ideas (be it a concept or an instrument) that were hijacked from HCM and used in absolutely non-relevant patterns and situations as compared to the classical art. In my Comment Factory article, I had specified how Raaja understands the music from all genres at their atomic levels.. How he builds a musical compound of atoms and molecules from various categories that are deemed unfit to co-exist. This post is an epilogue to that statement by going a bit deeper and explaining how this compound is produced using the inspiration of HCM.

The musical Legacy that Raaja will leave when he eventually retires will be many. The most obvious ones would be the way in which he popularized Tabla as an integral part of South Indian Light music scene. Even before him, Tabla was the percussion instrument of choice in film music. But Raaja not only used it on an industrial scale(!) he also pioneered the movement of Tabla rhythm pattern in accordance with the meter of the words like no other. But a more unique legacy that he will leave behind is the way he brought another HCM instrument to the fore.

Shehnai, is certainly one instrument that he loved experimenting with and pushed it beyond it's limits. Thankfully in Pandit S Ballesh, he found an able performer who could deliver his ideas flawlessly and as a team they revolutionized Shehnai's usage in Film music. Although Shehnai has been always widely used in film music even before Raaja's arrival, its not an exaggeration to claim that it was Raaja who unlocked the hidden potential of the instrument as explained below.

Greatness of Raaja should always be evaluated in the context of how he sticks to the tradition and breaks the rules at once.

Shehnai is traditionally used in auspicious and happy occasions such as weddings. Here is a Traditional Application of Shehnai by Raaja. But sensing its obvious connection to Nadaswaram, he also used the shehnai in a Carnatic Classical arrangement to play this authentic melody in Maya Malava Gowlai. And probably Raaja is the only composer to have arranged Western Classical strings for a Shehnai solo. Besides, Shehnai being an instrument of masses, he has promptly used the instrument in a both North Indian as well as South Indian Folk setting.

And he had the audacity of using the Shehnai as Jazz instrument in this bread and butter 8 Beat Acoustic Drum Arrangement while at the same time also used it frequently in jest in his Lighthearted Songs .

I am not sure if there is any another composer who gave such multiple dimensions to one instrument... An instrument that does not even belong in his native culture. So in order to achieve such versatility he need to have a thorough understanding of its timber and range.

Not confining to traditional genres, Raaja also invented unique arrangements such as a combination of Shehnai with Rhythm Guitar Strums (with no percussion) as well as employing Shehnai on dual tracks (usually with Flute but also occasionally with Nadaswarams and Clarinets). The most prevalent application of Shehnai and flute together is unique to Raaja and can be noted in the last part of the ensuing track (as well as in many other popular songs such as Maanguyile, Adi Athadi, Poovoma oorgolam, Rakkama Kaiya Thattu etc.)

In fact Raaja has been so mesmerized by Shehnai that he repeatedly gave the instrument the task of Spear Heading the prelude in many a songs. Besides being an accompaniment in the background, he also wrote lot of Challenging Shehnai Solos to give the instrument its due 15 seconds of fame. These phrases are demanding ones for the artist to play while leaving the listeners spell bound.

And his obsession with the instrument continues till date as can be heard from tracks that are released as latest as A Week Ago.

The most important aspect to note here is that, Shehnai is not an exception with Raaja but an illustration. Almost the same can be proven comprehensively and objectively by analyzing the way he has employed any instrument as the subject. For instance, the same can be said of his usage of Sarangi as can be noted from these Myriad Of Arrangements.
Raaja's Saarangi & Dilruba

He regularly uses Santoor and Sarod as well. (Infact Raaja used a lot of Keyboard Santoor in between 88 - 93, especially in all folk songs; But this one is a real Santoor as exposed by its bass notes). Sitar has been an integral part of Raaja's arrangements from the day one as well(Such as in the songs Ellorum Paadungal, Hey Paadal Ondru etc.,). While music just naturally occurs to him, he is as much a hardworker in learning new genres of music properly. For instance Saarangi Maestro Ustad Sultan Khan works with him as required while its a well known fact that Dr. BalamuraliKrishna collaborates with him where Carnatic classical related references are required.

And talking of experiments, Raaja is probably a rare species to have conducted a unlikely Q&A session between Tabla and Piano as seen in this clip. The stanza is a joy to here as well. So I let it run :-)

The idea of this blog post is neither to highlight the mere usage of these North Indian instruments in his songs (Many before did it) nor to identify the sound of these instruments when they appear in interludes. The point I am trying to get across is the variety of ways in which they are used. For this reason I stop boring you further with posting multiple clips specific to an instrument and proceed to a different dimension.

One particular song that I would like to single out in terms of relatively complete adoption of HCM is "Nadham En Jeevane" from Kaadhal Oviyam. With its Sarangi, santoor and a carrying Tabla, the song is a complete HCM package that is delivered by Raaja Express.

Qawwali is another genre in Hindustani Classical Music which borders around the territory of traditional classical realm on one side and rugged beauty required to cross them over to the masses on the other. As rigorously religious as it is, its also a great genre to relish because of its alluring rhythm arrangements supplemented by the clapping of the "party" who accompany the Ustad. Though some sufi classics are being re-arranged in today's bollywood, Raaja was way ahead in experimenting with Qawwali in his own way. He considerably deviated from the tradition in arranging the melodies with western concepts alien to Qawwali such as complex chords and instruments from popular art forms such as jazz and rock (eg: Saxophone, Electric guitar).
If you go a bit behind the skin to illustrate better, this is how a Traditional Qawwali would sound like. (That was Shahenshah of Qawwali, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saahab) But Raaja's qawwalis sound no where close to the original in toto except for the underlying rhythmic current. For example, listen to this Interlude. Now just listen to the Interlude's Beginning . The phrase starts with a Major 7th chord and proceeds further with a plethora of M7th chords. If you are hearing with a headphone, you can carefully hear the following specific chords in your right ear. The piece starts with AM7th followed by AM7th C#m7th F#m7th followed by DM7th E7th.
The chords during the Finishing Piece of this interlude are: During the first bar, it starts in A Major and the root note keep diminishing one semitone; The second bar follows the same pattern with the chord B Minor. i.e., The 8 chords that you listened are: A C#m A7th F#m7th| Bm BbAug Bm7th Bm6th ||. (You need to listen hard and focus on your right ear to hear these crystal clear chords)
My idea of presenting you with these chords were: If you consider the chords alone, its not possible to imagine they are accompanied by such a Qawwali rhythm. On the other hand, if you take the Qawwali rhythm from this track alone, you cannot imagine that it can have such a jazzish saxophone lead melody arranged with such intricate chords. I don't even dare to talk about the Bass riffs there which is another complex topic altogether. And yet, there they are sounding as ONE COMPLETE BIT as if they were born and brought up together. Listen to the whole piece Once Again. That's what I am trying to tell you !! :-) In fact, the choice of this interlude was random and nondescript. I just picked it up to illustrate that, pick any song and you can find such symbiotic relationships.

I can further illustrate Raaja's qawwali adoptions through the following tracks. You will not only realize how well he understood the original concepts but also appreciate the multilayered exhibition of various genres of music demonstrating their capabilities silently but powerfully.
Raaja's Qawwali
Colorful Qawwalis

Whenever a south Indian appeared in a Hindi movie, he was ridiculed most likely as a Madarasi chewing betal leaves speaking with an accent of 'commu' and 'Goo's (for Come and Go); While a North Indian appearing in a Tamil movie was invariably a "Sate" or "Pattani" chewing the 'Paan Parag' (he is supposed to be a 'Pathan' by the way) speaking in a non-existent language of "Nimbal Ki" and "Numbal Ki"; The fact is both these stereotypes are highly exaggerated or even fictitious. While the film industries across the poles of India were always busy inventing concepts to exhibit each other in poor taste, there has been very little creative efforts made to learn from each other. So in areas like this, Raaja's work has been often taken for granted.

I finish with this final track. Listen to this Song from Pattu Padava. (The Funny lyrics of the track can be easily explained if you know that the characters pictured on the song are from a mental asylum :-) !!). With in a span of 2 minutes you are treated to a Qawwali and then a Carnatic Kalyani and then a Synthetic Rock.

It exhibits at least one fact. Raaja's brand of Hindustani fusion is much like Hindustan itself...

Harmonious existence of genres that have little in common..

With Love
Vicky

Raaja Hindustani II

2009-05-17T23:37:00.026+02:00

Continuing the series of Raaja's Hindustani techniques, in this part we will look at specific Hindustani Raags that he has ventured into.

It is a common knowledge that almost all Raagas of the Carnatic Classical Music (CCM) has a direct or indirect equivalent in the Hindustani Classical Music (HCM). However usually there are miles that separate each of them even though their DNAs match to a fair extent. There aren't many composers who has taken the same set of notes and have given it a both CCM and HCM treatment. Raaja of course in his quest to conquer new musical horizons has consciously ventured into few of those exclusive HCM scales.

To start with we can look at the Raag: Patdeep and its CCM equivalent Gowri Manohari. To make the picture complete, in Western Classical this is same as the scale of Melodic Minor in ascent.
To understand unique applications of Gowri manohari you can listen to a traditional Carnatic piece here.
Guru Lekha

And a traditional Patdeep would sound like this:
Rang Rangeela Banra Mora

As you can see, visibly the Carnatic version does not give the same weight to Nishadam as that of its HCM counterpart. "Ga Ma Pa Ni" is the characteristic Pakad of Patdeep. While the prayogam "Sa Ri Ga Ma" is a strict no no in Patdeep, Its Carnatic counterpart revels on a much fuller set of the first half of the notes (i.e, sa ri ga ma pa); There is a sea of difference in the application of notes. No doubt that Raaja's Gowrimanohari based tunes have won many a hearts in the form of "Dhoorathil naan Kanda" (Same as the song 'Vennello Godari Andahm' in Telugu), "Solai Poovil" or "Muthamizh Kaviye Varuga" (all with their liberal doses of 'Sa Ri Ga'); But its his Patdeep versions that are unquestionably more gripping and surrendering. Here are the most poignant Patdeeps from Raaja :
Kanna Varuvaaya
(The traditional "Krishna kannaiya - Meera" theme of this song accentuates this feel much more)

Oru Kaaviyam

As one can see, in these Patdeeps there is a clear usage of "Ga ma pa ni" usage with not much emphasize on the 'Sa ri ga' patterns; In fact in the song "Kanna Varuvaaya", during the phrase 'Manmadha Mandiram Solli' of second charanam, the song goes as "sa ri ga ma" and suddenly you feel a drop in the intensity. Though the song does sounds a bit out of place there, On the contrary this small deviation helps one appreciate how best Patdeep is handled in the rest of the song.

A similar pair is the Raag: Yaman and its CCM equivalent of Kalyani. Lot of people whom I know consider it 'fashionable' to interchange these two raagas just because they seem to know these two are of same kind. The fact is, Yaman's Aarohan stamps its uniqueness from Kalyani in a way better than the watermarks of world's most sophisticated currencies. See it for yourself:
Tu Jag Mey Sharam

"Ni Ri Ga" or "Ga Ma Dha Ni" are mandatory progressions in Yaman with no scope for "Sa ri ga" or "ga ma pa". And there are no such hard and fast rules in Kalyani although such progressions are considered beautiful. In fact Raaja's favorite pass time appear to be handling Yaman like progressions in pure Kalyani Songs to the point of making it look like Hamsanandhi in Ascent; All though such momentary application of "Yaman" is very common in Raaja's songs (Eg: "Vizhayatta Solli thandha dhaaaaaaaaaaaruuuuuuu" from the song Malayoram mayile, "Paadungal paatu paadungal" etc), there are infact pure gems of yaman from Raaja. I have stitched my favorite yamans of Raaja here:
Raaja's Yaman

It doesn't take one too long to observe the deliberate absence of "Sa ri ga" or "Ga Ma Pa" progressions in these songs. That's Raaja..

Regardless of Yaman or Kalyani, Its a pleasure though listening to any of Raaja's umpteen interludes and melodies that operate around these territories (especially with a liberal addition of Sudha madhyamam his kalyanis usually leave a much more lasting impression):
Such as this collage or
This sample charanam among many such beauties

Of course, among the same lines there is the heavenly "Nee Oru Kaadhal Sangeedham" (As I said in the Part I, Whats it with Mano and Hindustani numbers) or "Oru Devathai Vandhadhu" both of which can be eternally debated as being Des or Tilak Kamod or Shyam Kalyan or.. But as I said, regardless of the tag, these are HCM for dummies and ultimate songs to cherish with.

Another interesting dilemma among the South Indian Intelligentsia is to equate Bageshri with Sri Ranjani; People go at lengths to tag some very popular songs as Bageshri without giving any consideration to what separates the two raagas. While Sri ranjani is a strict Panchama varja raaga based out of karaharapriya, Bageshri does allow the prayog "Ma pa dha ma" in the avarohan; Besides its Aarohan is same as Abogi or in other words the progression "sa ri ga ma" is not allowed here; You can listen to a traditional Bageshri here.
Kanha Giridhari

From a puritan's point of view most of the Tamil songs that are branded as Bageshri in the internet forums are not Bageshri at all; Rather it can at best be defined as a mix of Abogi and Sri Ranjani, if at all one is particular about fitting a raaga to those songs; In fact none of Raaja's songs are Pure Bageshri, even though it could be shocking for some to read this. But if you get down to the work floor and get your palms greasy, you will realize none of these songs have the "Ma pa dha ma" application nor do they abstain from the "Sa ri ga ma" progression; However the handling of lot of Raaja's (and MSV's) so called Bageshri melodies does give due feel of Bageshri where the song revolves around Madhyamam i.e., Some poignant usages of "Sa Ma" and "Ga ma dha" prayogams does in fact evoke the right bhavam of Bageshri and hence its very tempting to call them so; In any case Bageshri per se is perceived to be a very light and liberal raaga and it can't be considered a crime if one maintains his account of certain song as Bageshri; As far me, I consider the following song the best Bageshri of Raaja to date (Even though, this song too doesn't use Panchamam in descent which it should as well as contains some heavy "Sa ri ga" parts):
Ye Jagala

If you see the raaga pairs discussed in this post, they are very very popular scales by HCM standards and yet in the South Indian context they are either not understood or still worse, misunderstood. So gaining control over these gray areas, daring to walk the tight rope and coming out unscathed with both HCM or CCM numbers with these pairs is yet another testimony of Raaja's verstaility. At least for a person like me with no formal education in HCM whatsoever, he has been the gateway to this vast ocean. Since then HCM is a genre which I have come to appreciate very much.

Another area that I wanted to touch upon in this post is about the Ghazal based arrangements of Raaja's songs. Ghazals are a very popular sub genre of HCM; Actually lyrics and poetic beauty are the main allure of a traditional Ghazal and the music's role in a Ghazal is to elevate the lyric and be non-intrusive. Therefore a typical Ghazal is set for minimalistic arrangement with astute beat pattern shifts in accordance to the meter of the lyric. Given this criterion, it is not appropriate to tag tamil film songs into a traditional Ghazal umbrella. However from a musical stand point, Raaja does produce few minimalistic songs now and then which are a pure joy to relish. There is no denial that these songs does create a Ghazal-ish feel. Here is an assortment of such songs although this list is far from being complete given Raaja's repertoire.
Raaja's Ghazals

The scales that are used in these songs are as diverse as one can stretch his imagination, what with unique usage of Hari kaambodhi with hopping swaras (Vaana Mazhai) to the audacious attempt on Madhuvanti (Ennullil Yeno). The arrangement on all such kind of songs is unmistakable with a challenging melody for the singer, minimal to non-existent grandeur in orchestration and some innovative usage of Tabla.

I have already made all the clips that will future in this 3 part series a few months ago. And yet, many of the readers of Part I already connected with this feel and commented in advance of many of the songs that are mentioned in this post. It speaks volumes about how one composer can educate a generation.

Love
Vicky

Raaja Hindustani I

2009-04-13T19:58:00.027+02:00

The movie "Raja Hindustani" was screened at the Archana theater in Coimbatore during my sophomore years.. 99% of the crowd watching that movie didn't understand one word of Hindi and yet the movie was running to packed houses. As far the College students who made the majority of those crowds were concerned, the Hindi handicap was momentarily forgotten in the charisma of Karishma! While this post is thankfully not about the on screen antics of Aamir khan on a rainy evening in that movie, it certainly drives home the point that - it takes something extra ordinary for the penetration of any North Indian art into the Tamil hinterland :-P ; It also offers a glaring contrast that often it needn't be as notorious as this case, For - the real 'Raaja Hindustani' of TN is the one with a double 'a' who has presented North Indian classical music as Trojans that conquered us.

This is a 3 part series in which I plan to (re)visit the application of Hindustani musical techniques, instruments and arrangements by Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja. Part 1 of this series will exclusively focus on pure creations of Raaja in this genre while in Part 2 I plan to take up Realizations of Hindustani genre based raagas and arrangements by Raaja. The last part of the series would focus on how he understood the original traditional concept and adopted it into a version of his own - be it in the deviation from tradition in the usage of exotic Hindustani classical Instruments or some radical experiments that no one else dared before.

In the context of South Indian film music, application of Hindustani style has not been unique to Raaja; Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao's delivery of the Raag 'Dharbari' (or Dharbari kaanada) in "Shiva Shankari" is probably still the benchmark of Hindustani singing that any South Indian singer might want to reach some day. And Composer Pendyala Nageswara Rao would be certainly proud of Ravindran Master for taking off from where he left and constructing a beautiful Sindhubhairavi in the Malayalam Sangeetham. The song 'Hari murali ravam' was not only a composer's delight, it also tested the boundaries of mighty KJ, who in the end of course proved why he is infallible. Speaking of testing the singer's ability, Hamsalekha came close to pinning down the South Indian Baadsha SPB in his "Umandu Gumandu". Winning the national award for that song was an achievement second only to SPB's own personal triumph that he actually accomplished the song as a proof to claim that he is the most versatile playback singer of our generation. (However I am not sure if its an original composition by Hamsalekha or simple reproduction of an established Hindustani number just like How ARR merely 'used' the track 'Bhor Bhaye' in Delhi 6); There have been traditional Qawwalis as well where our composers have shone bright with stars such as ARR ("Haji Ali", "Kwaja meri Kwaja", "Moula Moula - Delhi 6)" etc and Ravindran Master again (with "Tu Badi Maasha Allah") etc.,

Raaja's application of Hindustani music has not been as rigorously classical. But in terms of demonstration of the subject, individuality of the technique and the frequency with which his Wizardry was shown, he probably is second to none from the above list of composers. Raaja is more like the Neil Bhor who famously answered how a Barometer can be used in umpteen ways still relevant to Physics to measure the height of a building other than the one based on pressure which is the 'expected' answer.

In terms of usage of Tabla, Tabla tarang, Dholak and Pakhawaj though, He was certainly in the league of his own as you will see from the clips that follow. As yearly as 1978, he dared to experiment on a full blown scale in the song:
Manjolai Kilidhaano

India 24 Hours was a landmark album from Raaja in terms of showcasing his hindustani capabilities.
- First some experiment with
Tabla Tarang

- As far interweaving Tabla Bols so casually, I wonder if Raaja has any peer in south;
Tabla Bols
This track is a true case of tradition with ingenuity; In the second half of the track, the "Ae.. Aele lo" part is so unexpected and exhilarating.

- Now for some brief Khayal (in Bihag?) with some aid from Pakhwaj
Mini Khayal

- For some astute use of Pakhawaj together with Tabla, you can listen to this clip:
Pakhawaj

Back to film music and Singer Mano had this unexpected surprise in his noteworthy career - A Tarana in Raag Bihag set to Deep Chandi from the film:
Vanna Vanna Pokkaal

And bench mark composition of Raaja's Hindustani came through Pandit Ajoy Chakraborthy's Isaiyil Thodungudhamma; The song is set in a scale unique to Raaja whereby he uses Ga varja version of Kalyani;
Isayil Thodangudhamma
The intricate vocal work on this song is actually a norm in the Hindustani classical. So one can easily appreciate the richness and superior standards of this genre.

There are also few Jugal Bandhis hidden in Raaja songs; This one being my favorite
Sadha Sadha

I don't know whats it with Mano and Hindustani Singing; Obviously Mano was Raaja's favorite at some point as evident from some hard core Hindustani stuff showered on him. The premise of this song based on Raadha - Krishna type of setting must have spurred up Raaja that he came up with such an out and out wonder; I am tempted to tag this in the Raag Dharbari as well but for some "pure" Kanada prayogams; So probably its a mix of both.
Chithra doing a wonderful job initially (especially the oscillation of Melsthaai Ga - to Madhyasthaai Ri - and back to Melsthaai Ga during the pallavi ending is too good).
Gokulame Needhira
(if you listen carefully you can see how Raaja has instructed the singers to pronounce the swaras in the Hindustani way. For instance, Rishabam is pronounced in the Hindustani way; i.e., not like "Ri" with a "ee" sound but more like a "Ray" with an "ay" sound at the finish.)

and Mano left doing the catch up act here.
Gokulame Coda
Usage of Pakhwaj is noteworthy in this song as well.

The song "Ulagil Mudhal Isai Thamizh isaiye" by the master MSV is one of its kind for weaving parts of Carnatic and Hindustani in the same song and producing a genuine fusion. Raaja, being an open admirer of MSV thought himself not to be left behind and produced this wonder
Raagam Azhaithu Vandha
The uncanny knack of choosing both the scales that are Hindustani style based loose Raagas which are also equally popular in the Carnatic domain speaks for Raaja's astute taste. This way the separate portions look alluring whichever way you look at it (Desh for the carnatic part and Kaanada for the Hindustani part)

And in terms of providing light but authentic North Indian numbers, Raaja has proven himself time and again; The latest one being this gem of a song from Naan Kadavul:
Maa Ganga

The range of clips hosted in this post vary from 1978 to 2009; Think about it.. For a period of over 30 years he has fed us with such tasty dishes that we know doesn't belong here; And yet because of the way he "localized" them, we have taken it for granted as if these are wonders that are homegrown down south. Just like the ubiquitously available Tandoori Butter Naan or the Chole-Batura or the Paani Poori in every famous small town restaurants of TN.

With Love
Vicky

Discover SPB

2009-03-18T21:53:00.023+01:00

The most obvious connection between Sharjah and Cochin are the Malayalis. Not so obvious but yet an interesting knot that ties both of them is, Sachin Tendulkar. Almost 11 years to date in Sharjah, He made the sand storm that interrupted a match look less vigorous. It was lost but not before he ensured that its India and not New Zealand that qualified to the finals of Coco-Cola Cup, a trophy India would eventually win, thanks to a yet another stormy display from the same bat.

On another occasion at Cochin, you wouldn't take the figures of 5 for 32, especially if the bowler in question is not a regular.. Your suspicion is understandable.. That match was played on a Fool's day.. However, Tendulkar was named man of the match that day for rolling his arms over ...

Now, I don't want to sound like Navjot Sidhu by calling Tendulkar as Cricket's SPB or SPB as South Indian Playback singing's Tendulkar.. The fact remains that, lots of such enriching, challenging and not-to-be-missed performances are.. well, always most-certainly-missed.

While the 80s of SPB are like the Sharjah performances, the 90s still had enough fizz to rattle the new comers.. For example, one of my most frequented playlists is titled as "SPB Refresher"; They are not the 'Mike Mohan' set of Solos that by and large remain close with the listeners. Nonetheless they are beauties and were quite popular when the movies released.. but slowly faded from memory.. That one goes like:
- Velli Nilave (Nandhavana Theru)
- Poongodidhaan Poothadhamma (Idhayam)
- Keladi En paavaye (Gopura Vasalile)
- Paattu esa paattu (Senthamizh Selvan)
- Enna vendru Solvadhamma (Rajakumaran)
- Chinna Chinna Thooral (Senthamizh Paatu)
- Vana kuyile (Priyanka)
- Thulli Thirindhadhoru (Endrum Anbudan)
- Ila Venil Idhu Vaigaasi (Kaadhal Rojave)
- Hello Guru Premakosam (Nirnayam)
- Vanamellam Shenbaga Poo (Naadodi Paatukkaran)
- Thanga Nilavukkul (Rickshaw Mama)
- Kola Kiliye (Kaakkai Chiraginile)
- Ada Va vaa Raaja (Paatu Paadava)
- Aatamma Paatamma (Nadigan)

This post is not about the above list or songs as popular as them. But Its on a second play list of 90s SPB solos that's named as "Discover SPB".. These are ones like like the Cochin performances... not to be missed. As I mentioned earlier, I have such a 'Discover' series for all prominent singers of Raaja and this is the second in line. But this time I wanted to enhance your reading experience with audio so that you may be introduced to this songs if its your first time.

All these songs are very lightly arranged songs with utmost thrust on vocals. Therefore the onus is on SPB to carry it forward.;

The list goes as:
1. Thene Senthene - those workmanship at the words "Poovee..." ! Thats still the same 70s SPB of 'Kamban emandhaan';
2. Unnai Paadadha Naavum - Always there is a surprise in life.. I didn't notice this song until recently..
3. Kuyile Ilamaanguyile - No proof is needed that this is a tune composed by MSV and arranged by Raaja
4. Chinna Thambi - What vocal parts.. !!
5. Thangakili Tholil - Jam.. With gliss and rolls, thats the word that comes to mind..! (Its the quintessential Tabla in the stanza though)
6. Kinnaram Kinnaram - A song personally close to me.. I still vividly remember this was one of the most sought after song in the Regional Radio's 'Neyar Viruppam' (listener's choice) program
7. Paadi Thirindha Endhaan - The Simmendhra Madhyamam of this song evokes a feel similar to Janaki's Keeravani in 'Kaatril endhan'; But are they treated similar ..!!?
8. Le Le Baba - I think Raaja composed this one when he was still on the Mathyamavathi hangover from 'Vanamellam Shenbagapoo'. No reason to complain though..
9. Nalla Kaarampasu - Similar to 'Adi Komadha', 'Saami Kodutha varam' etc except for the captivating guitar/ flute of 1st BGM; Such guitar for native numbers is unique in Raaja's folk echelon.
10. Chinnanjiru - A Gazhal-ish beauty (from Vocal and not lyrical perspective); The voice is really dancing when he is singing 'Aadudhu'.
11. Annan Ivan Kannan illa - Like Chinna Thambi in the list, This is another 'Wow' song as far as harmony arrangement is concerned.
12. Dhinam Vidindhadhum - One of the few songs where you can find Raaja doing an ARR act or two. Its unfortunate its a short song.
13. Vaigasi Vellikilama - Superb meter.. captivating melody.. well sung..

Finally here is the collage of all these songs - your 10 minute experience of SPB:

Discover SPB

I hope you are able to (re)discover SPB as well..

With Love
Vicky

Trombone

2009-03-03T23:08:00.014+01:00

My first tryst with Trombone was in the year 02. My manager then, a gentleman by the name of Ben was a trombonist at a local brass band. I accompanied him on a couple of occasions during his practice sessions and attended their orchestra's live show once as well (well.. I had free tickets..!); When I heard the timber of the instrument, the background musics of Tom & Jerry, especially of the types when Jerry is spoiling Tom's beach vacation or when he is meddling with Tom's lady cat etc., flashed in my mind. I was truly fascinated to see such a looong instrument. The complicated maneuvers to produce such amazing notes were equally fascinating.. Especially when performed in unison by a group of them...The instrument is truly one of its kind.. (To orient yourself to it, you can either read the wikipedia, which I found rather technical or you can read a simpler account here . Also Youtube has tons of videos on Trombone solos although most are jazz based that requires an acquired taste of listening. )

While the instrument is usually played as an Trombone ensemble in Brass bands - accompanying the main theme by giving punching phrases lasting all of single or two counts typically during the end of the given bar, the potential of this instrument to perform a solo act is second to none.

Actually Trombone is quite common in the Indian film music scenario. In the background scores, it is usually played together with other brass instruments to convey the de-facto 'Thigil' (suspense) effect.. like when the villain approaches the hero from behind with a Knife !!!! While in the movie songs, its used heavily as well particularly for partying songs, patriotic songs etc., Works of RD Burman employed a great deal of Brass instruments including Trombone. AR Rehman uses it as well (even today in songs like 'Azeem-O-Shaan-Shahenshah') But this instrument has always predominantly been used as part of the larger Brass ensemble. Pathoda Padhinonnu.. (insignificant !!); Whatever limited scope that existed for a solo in the interludes of movie songs was besieged by more flamboyant instruments of the brass family. After all, Baagyaraaj and Balakrishna look much "cooler" pretending to play the Trumpet or Saxophone in the interludes, rather than err.. a Trombone !

My interest on this lovely instrument was revived after I came to know that it was one Mr. Blasco Monsorate from the Goan Jazz circles, who usually plays Trombone solos for Maestro Ilaiyaraaja. Fascinated by the idea of trombone solo in regional film songs, I went about searching for them .. What I found were clips of mere 15 and 20 seconds.. but then to think that in a song of 4 minutes where more than half is vocals, this is rather a healthy proposition of length given the plethora of instruments. Besides, the exercise of extracting them and listening in isolation might pave the way for non-trombone aware listeners to appreciate the instrument.

1. Prelude of Sangeetha Megam..All along I was thinking this is trumpet. But I think this is in fact trombone (while in the last part of this section, a trumpet can be heard, floating out of no where and joining the trombone); The tone of trumpet is clearly sharper than Trombone.
Prelude of Sangeedha Megam

2. A Solo trombone starts at the end of 2nd line (oh..Kannal kaanugayaam) and continues through the 3rd and 4 line in the background
Aruna Kirana Deepam

3. 2nd interlude of "Hey I Love you.." Orchestration of this song is very very trendy.. Even Today
Hey I Love You

4. In the interludes of 'Suttum Sudarvizhi', the Trombone can be heard intermittently amidst the orchestral colossus.
Suttum Sudar Vizhi

5. Here is Japanil Kalyanaraman:
Vaaya Vaaya

6. And "Vaanam Kezhe" (Thanks Ramesh for the find):
Vaanam Kezhe

7. 2nd interlude of "Ennama Kannu".. Trombone solo repeated by trumphets;
Ennama Kannu

There are much more applications of trombone by Raaja. Rock n Roll beauties (Ram bum bum, Vaanamenna Mel irukka), magnum opuses ("Sundari kannal oru") etc., But as I said they were always part of a wider Brass section .. Solos hidden in (even well known) songs was quite interesting (well.. atleast for me!) Hope you liked it as well.. Please leave a comment when you can think of more Trombone solos in Raaja's songs...

And finally...

When Jazz meets Banthuvarali, we are treated to arguably the best trombone solo ever written in India by an Indian and played by another (Blasco):
Is It Fixed

Can you beat that ..?

With Love
Vicky

Comment Factory

2009-02-18T23:59:00.004+01:00

An article on Raaja that I wrote for Comment Factory can be read here.
My thanks to the editor of the website Matt, for providing me with the opportunity.

With Love
Vicky

MaaruGo-Maaruga

2009-01-24T00:42:00.009+01:00

I saw the movie Vetrivizha in my secondary school days... 18 years ago..

There are many things I remember of that movie.. The villian played by the character called 'Jinda' was a new face.. I still remember his real name as 'Saleem Gous'..

Name of Kamal as an under cover agent penetrating his network was "Stephen Raj"..

When Jinda asks Stephen Raj to join his gang, Stephen mocks him that he is fit enough to play, only with the Toy guns meant for kids that can be purchased from 'Funskool'..

Mind is a strange thing that somehow remembers a lot of trash.. for ever.. for reasons you don't know...

Other memory that I carried forward from this movie was its opening sequence... Kamal is chased down, Shot and gets drowned in the sea (Falls from a cliff I think ..!!??); Its another trash memory if not for what follows.. The Titles of the movie.. A Rustic folky tune that transformed me that day from a remote corner of Southern Tamil Nadu to the Konkan Coast.. instantly..

Unlike Saleem Gous, it was an experience I carried with me for ever for reasons I know.. Its one of those that didn't go to my head but to a place a feet lower to the left..

To this date, I remember the tune of that pallavi... That visuals... and those intermittent chatter of fishermen (Signaling the dusk and returning home perhaps.. I don't know Konkani, which is my best guess of the language in which the song is based..)

But heart ultimately depends on the head and it could only remember so much.. My cluttered memory never remembered the Stanzas and I had long resigned to the fact that I will never listen that song again in my life, Until I came across the video here..

As I hear this song after all these years, something astonishing strikes me in face...

THIS IS THE FIRST AND ONLY INSTANCE IN A RAAJA SONG WHERE A FULL LENGTH SONG WITH A REGULAR METER IS COMPLETELY BACKED BY GUITAR STRUMMING ALONE FOR RHYTHM + BASS GUITAR... With no percussion instruments whatsoever. Not even symbols or a metronome on the full count..

See it for self..
Maarugo Maaruga

(I think you lost yourself and didn't pay attention.. Why don't you listen to it once more and take a note of the peculiarity.. )

I mean we have songs like "Naan porandhu Vandhu" (Maaya Bazaar) with no rhythm instruments and only voices.. But the specialty here is - the kind of original genre to which this song fits...

Set in Folky environment, with only guitar strumming as the backbone for the whole song, bass guitar providing the necessary drone, sung by a solo lead singer (Raaja in this case) and Solo wind instruments providing the side act (Flute in this case and typically Harmonica) and above all downright SIMPLE and elegant..... This is a perfect fit into the American Folk/ Country Genre made popular all over by the American Singer-Songwriters

Blowing In the wind - Bob Dylan
Starry Starry night - Don M'c Lean
The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel
This Old Guitar - John Denver
Maarugo Maaruga - Ilaiyaraaja..

Its indeed a special feeling...

With Love
Vicky

The Finisher

2009-01-09T20:27:00.022+01:00

Things that are obvious and yet most important are often promptly taken for granted..

Once I attended an introductory session of 'Art Of Living' course. The first question that the presenter asked was "have you ever paid attention to the fact that you are actually breathing all the time..?"; Such a simple question was provided with an embarrassing answer from all of us.. Then he asked "Can all of us close our your eyes and deliberately concentrate on our breathing for 5 minutes?". And when we did, it initially felt weird to focus on such an evident thing, then all sorts of other thoughts distracted the mind... Little later a complex feel engulfed the mind.. and finally it transformed to an uplifting experience that's hard to explain. (Its another matter that I never joined that course despite all this.. Because it was at morning 5:30; I have not seen that time of the day in my life even on a Deepavali day.. hee hee..!)

When it comes to Raaja's music, there are lots of such obvious factors that are just too important to ignore and yet remain so.. Peculiar indeed.. Or is it..! ?

Robin Singh, Lance Klusner and Michael Bevan are no Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara.. And yet these guys are considered modern day greats of Cricket. Why..? Just because of their ability to finish matches.. In the context of a given game, A match winning 20 is much more important than a classic century. And so is that last little portion in a Raaja song.. These parts usually lend an indispensable support to the script of the movie and often such songs culminate in to a finale.

In Musical terms the part that finishes the song is often described as a Coda, although Raaja's application of finishing cannot be always called as Coda as per the norms of western classical music. However Coda is not a term restricted to only western classical and often is loosely attached with other genres of music as well including the recent ones; Its simply a portion that signals the end of the song; It could be a improvised version of the previously used theme in such a way it emphasizes an impending finish or it could be a new unrelated portion that extends the main theme into the finish line. While we may loosely attempt to call the clips described further below in this post as Codas, more often than not they are just a repetition of the exposition (i.e, Pallavi) in a totally new dimension; The term for such phenomenon in a western classical sonata is 'Recapitulation'; A Common ground can be that these clips are applications of Musical Development. As far as my limited hearing of various other Indian and modern day western composers go, Raaja certainly belongs to the exclusive club when it comes to decorating the finishers.

Although I am tempted to call the below applications a 'Recapitulation' or a 'Coda' (as I don't see a good reason why this term be restricted to only Sonata forms), its best if we don't pay much attention to the terminology but simply marvel the often taken for granted realm of musical development around Raaja's finishers.

In these clips, I have taken those songs where there is an impending danger to either the hero or heroine towards the end of the song; The unique conundrum of situations which Tamil Cinema (alone!) brings are refreshingly challenging for Raaja; Where else do you get anti climax-ic situations conceived by a woeful Villain (or sometimes by fate playing dice !!) in which one protagonist's hour of glory/ happiness is their beloved's moment of life and death simultaneously.. (eg: Yaar Veetil Roja, Paadava un Paadalai, Mannava Mannava that are listed below); So you have to compose a "Happy song" and pack it with concealed tension; That "Element of Surprise" as defined is clearly conveyed through these Finishers; And often the modus-operndi of this transformation remains the same magic bullet.. (As also specified in one of my previous post).. The Strings Ensemble !

I have rather deliberately picked some hit numbers for this case-study.. So as to make you focus on the obvious and yet oblivion.. In all these clips you will hear the main theme (i.e., Pallavi) from the beginning passage in a song+ one second of gap followed by the same theme played from the last section of the song with the String Ensemble backings. I think this gives you the opportunity to spot the differences instantly. The strings that starts at the second time around is more like an relay, with the baton handed over from scintillating strings backing from the stanza, usually extending until the finish of the song.

Tip: These clips are better playable in IE (to avoid the plugin problems of other browsers such as Mozilla firefox); Also please use headphones if you can!.. And most importantly conjure up all the patience you can get.. This is by far one of the lengthy posts that I have written :-PP

After all those build-ups :-) Dear readers,
Herewith I am presenting you...

The Raaja's Finishers...

1.) I start with a heavy-weight: A crazy girl's sympathy for an yesteryear heartthrob's tragic suicide turns into love and she goes searching for him (as she believes in her love's ability to raise the dead !!); Did she meet the ghost ..?
Engirundho
(If you can, Watch out for a much more subtle finisher in Raaja's solo version of the same song.. Only one man can do such wonders)

2.) Hero singing in his career defining recording not knowing the least that he is loosing his lady love rather tragically..
Yaar Veettil

3.) Quite a mirroring situation but from the lady's point of view..
Paadavaa

4.) A blind mom ignorantly feeding her baby with poisoned milk;
Mannava

5.) A dancer pair proving their innocence at the seat of god while a conspiracy to kill the hero unfolds.. (You would agree with me that this is a rather an odd selection out here given its folkish rawness.. I specifically chose this because of some superb application of Cello towards the ending.. Cello.. !!?? Are you kidding me..? that giant of a Western Classical Instrument for a Tamil Folk dance.. !!! ??
Getting the desired results is more important.. not how you do it.. this speaks for Raaja's indigenous ideas and unorthodoxy.
Mariyamma

6.) A demented innocent man with a child's heart sings the same song twice - first during his initial days and later to bring back his lady to life; The treatment to the same melody with strings is unimaginable (With strings at double the tempo of an already decent paced song); That flute bit in the end epitomizes the personalities of movie goers while leaving the theaters.. House wives weeping (Aanandha Kanneer), Husbands who were dragged along by those wives Yawning.. Their small kids feeling a sense of achievement having actually visited a theater and watched a movie on the big screen while the jobless youth (Vela vetti illadha pasanga) who came to wile away the time, reaching to their pockets searching for cigarettes ('Dhammu').. Gosh !! we lost those ages of watching movies in small time theaters to the Multiplexes, Malls and home theaters I guess..
Thooliyile

7.) I save the best finisher where the recapitulation is presented for no apparent reason but simply to celebrate Music. With PC Sriram's wizardry on capturing butterflies, this has got to be one of the best audio visual experience.. Especially the beginning of the second interlude.. (If you can resort to the selective Amnesia of forgetting Aishwarya from the frame!).
Oh Butterfly

Now lets come out of this pattern and look at other ways of Raaja's finishers.
There seem to be a subversion of Coda known as Codetta where by the composition extends into a tail piece that is on its own and rather unrelated to the main theme, for a period longer than usual. The moment I read this, the finisher of "Inji Iduppazhagaa", the one where Revathi sings it for Gauthami came to my mind. Its an amazing tail piece. It starts with Revathi singing in front of Gauthami. As the song progresses it conveys Gauthami's farewell from rest of Kamal's Family memebers.. By the time the tail piece gathers pace she would be on the car on her way to the railway station. Then the String ensemble takes over briefly as Kamal and Gauthami bid goodbye to each other. The final bell of the song proceeds as if its hand-holding Gauthami all the way as she boards the train.. And it chugs away with a fade out, together with the train.. I have seen the movie only once and this sequence is somehow etched in my memory.. Art of composing again at work..
Inji iduppazhaga

Also such an extended un-related way of finishing seem to be the norm of Raaja when it came to a highly intense carnatic/ Bhardha-nattiya Numbers such as "Sangeetha Jaathi Mullai, Azhagu malar aada etc.,); Or for that matter dance numbers such as the Dandiya based "Dhillu Baru jaane" or Frolic "EnJodi Manjakuruvi"

Historically, in order to emphasize the finish (esp. in group songs) composers resort to just repeating the Chorus 'n' times together together with (or alternatively) an increase in the tempo of the song; Besides adopting the same technique in many songs to play by the books, Raaja also have mastered the art of subtlety by simply introducing claps that gets periodically doubled in tempo in songs like Aracha Santhanam, Priya Priyathama Raagalu, Paasamulla Paandiyaru etc., While the overall tempo is not increased, the effect of more people joining and the emphasize on the song's ending is conveyed ever more clearly through 1x, 2x and 4x of clapping .. Again Same results achieved as others for finishing but through his own unique ways..

I close with the following jewel on the crown. This clip is an stitched version of 3 passages from the "Composer's Breadth"; What an religious application of Exposition (1st bit), development (2nd bit) and Recapitulation (last bit);
Composer's Breadth
The Exposition is the lead Hindolam piece played softly, Followed by a superb development of the same with string ensemble and finally when it returns as such an arresting fortississimo, it moves you into another world that one of my roommates in college actually wept silently when he heard it for the first time (It was the first and only time where I have actually seen someone crying by hearing to a piece of music)

Thanks for traveling this far. The whole post may appear too obvious to one since you have heard these songs all along. But that's precisely the point. We don't normally look (again) at something we already know.. Its not exciting any more.. However its important to stop sometimes, take a step back and deliberately focus on such factors..

Again... and Again...

So that you are not unnecessarily denied of an uplifting experience that you deserve..

With Love
Vicky

Thumbi Vaa

2008-11-28T21:44:00.014+01:00

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.

Here is the Original part of the track:
Thumbi Vaa (Concerto Version)

And here is the sheet music for this phrase:

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..

Click here to Download this notation as pdf.

And here is the output of the notation in midi format:
Thumbi Vaa (Midi Version)

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.

Final Frontier

2008-11-27T19:24:00.002+01:00

I am entering a Final Frontier..

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.

Until now ...

With Love
Vicky

Tremolo

2008-11-08T21:27:00.027+01:00

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'

Now look at the background of "Nenjame".. The desired effect is achieved solely by Tremolo:
Anu Pallavi of 'Maalayil Yaaro'

Also in the 2nd interlude some beautiful Tremolo well disguised as full notes:
2nd 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..

Prelude of 'Kaatru Poovai'(I Love India)

Prelude of 'Unnai naan' (Kannukkoru Vannakilli)

Last but not the least, The superb Pooerukonum Purantharanum from Thiruvasagam

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..

With Love
Vicky

It was always you Raaja

2008-10-12T23:35:00.016+02:00

Currently listening to Philip Glass..

It was always you Helen...

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 that of Johny
or
Idhayathai Thirudadhae
or
Punnagai Mannan
(Poor quality of the tracks regretted !! )

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..

With Love
Vicky

Discover Chithra

2008-10-11T22:12:00.024+02:00

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..)

10. Kaalai Nera Raagame - Raasave Unnai Nambi (Absolutely brilliant rendition..)

11. Maalai Soodum - Pudhiya Raagam.

12. Then Podigai Kaatre - Poomani

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..

With Love
Vicky

Art Of Composing

2008-10-05T22:20:00.017+02:00

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..

With Love
Vicky

Blog Template V2

2008-09-30T16:54:00.013+02:00

Its been a while since I made the Raaja Template - Version 1.0 (!!) of this blog.

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.

Happy Reading !!

With Love
Vicky

Your Raaja Experience

2008-09-24T00:09:00.007+02:00

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..?

Manasa Sirasa (Mantrigari Viyankudu)

I am tagging CSR, Suresh, Kamal Aakrash, Ramesh and Kamalnath

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..

So lets set the ball rolling...

With Love
Vicky

Desadhi And Madhyadhi Talams

2008-09-21T23:05:00.025+02:00

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..

Majnu Alidha

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... :-)

With Love
Vicky

Jaladharangam

2008-09-07T22:56:00.009+02:00

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...

With Love
Vicky

Rajakesi

2008-08-29T00:11:00.006+02:00

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!

With Love
Vicky

Fusion - 90s Music

2008-08-12T22:59:00.007+02:00

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".

With Love
Vicky

Ringtones of Raaja

2008-07-13T21:15:00.003+02:00

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...?

With Love
Vicky

Mini Flute Sonatas

2008-06-28T22:39:00.023+02:00

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..?)

2. 2nd BGM of Pacha Mala Poovu (This is the sonata in Folk song I was referring to..)

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

6. 2nd BGM of Singara Cheemayile (Soothing... very very soothing....)

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!)

CD2 Complete JS Bach Flute Sonatas by Laurel Zucker

And We Had A Talk.....

2008-06-22T00:34:00.028+02:00

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...

Partita III Preludio

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...

I Met Bach In My House

(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..

Bourree in E Minor

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..

And We Had A Talk

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....)

And the walk continues ....

With Love
Vicky

I met Bach in my house

2008-06-19T23:57:00.004+02:00

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...

With Love
Vicky

The Early Year Singer

2008-06-15T12:30:00.001+02:00

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....)

With Love
Vicky

Pannaiya Bagavadhar: Part I

2008-06-14T18:05:00.011+02:00

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

1. Poomaalai Vaangi Vandhaal - Sindhu Bhairavi - Kaanada
2. Kamalam Paadha Kamalam - Moga Mul - Ramapriya
3. Vedam Nee Iniya - Kovil Pura - Gowlai
4. Nee Pournami - Oruvar Vaazhum Aalayam - Simmendra Madhyamam
5. Aadal Kalaiyae - Sri Ragavendrar - Charukesi
6. Maathru Bhoodeswari - Guru Ramana Geetham - Saranga Tharangini
7. Sabhdhamayee - Sooriyan - Ragavardhini
8. Kaamakshi Karunavilasini - Raajavin Geethanjali - Rishivani
9. Raama Kanavemira - Swati Muthyam - Reethi Gowlai
10. Unnai Vaazthavandhane - Unna Vaazhthi Padugiren - Karaharapriya
11. Indraikku Ane Indha - Vaidehi Kaathirundhal - Abogi
12. Manam Pola - Pudhupatti Ponnuthaayee - Hemavathi
Substitue:Vaaranam Aayiram - Keladi Kanmani - Raaga Malika (Mohanam, Darbar, Kaapi)

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...

Pannaiya Bagavadhar doesn't stop yet...

With Love
Vicky

"Hero"-glyphics

2008-06-11T00:38:00.010+02:00

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...)

Listen to the song here:

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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...

With Love
Vicky

My own Raaja blog template !

2008-06-08T23:42:00.004+02:00

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 ?

Vicky's Virtual Playlists

2008-06-02T23:30:00.007+02:00

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....