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Analysis of Maestro Ilayaraaja's works

Topic started by Music fan (@ 208.154.130.13) on Tue Oct 10 14:34:19 EDT 2000.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Dear fans of music

Of late, there have been many threads in this forum discussing about IR and his music in general. I don't deny that. But many have been just discussing his new albums, his new projects or in general very superficial which does not delve much into the analysis of his compositions. Maestro Ilayaraaja is a peerless composer and he is one of the very few to compose around 4000+ songs and compose music for around 800 movies. He writes music and his creations show his ingenuity. In this topic, I request the musically learned people to analyze some of his great works.

As a starter, please analyze the song "thendral vandhu theendum bodhu" from Avatharam. Please let us know the intricacies the Maestro has used to create this number. Since I am a lay man in music, I do not have much to say about this song, except that the song is in the lines of western classical music. The song is harmonious and great to listen to.

Needless to say, I believe this topic is never a waste of time. Not many have the opportunity/skill to analyze a great composer's music. So, on behalf of music lovers and fans I request people to participate here and analyze many of the gems given by Maestro.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.22.221) on: Wed Oct 11 19:25:03 EDT 2000
  
  PG,
  The point that is being made here is when an interesting discussion is going on the last thing anyone wante here is a digression in the name of praising IR's self or ARR's. Iam an IR fan myself but I feel that it would be in the best interest of the TFMDFers to continue these tidbits in the relevant thread, the titbits thread, rather than posting them in a thread that has been actively discussing music.
  
  Iam ready to discuss with u rega. those anecdotes in the titbits thread. I would also like to know your experiences in those tours with IR.
  
  
• From: hari (@ 129.116.226.162) on: Wed Oct 11 22:20:37 EDT 2000
  
  Ok, now that we have all agreed to return to music..
  
  As suggested earlier, shall we discuss ValaiOsai? We had a group in college, and we performed this song in Culfests. But this was the toughest of all songs to bring out the full "effect". The percussion is really a toughie to emulate on stage. And the keyboard bits (1st interlude) are slightly difficult as well...Please Please, can rjay/kiru/fan or someone dissect this song?
  
  
• From: Srinath (@ 24.25.12.240) on: Wed Oct 11 23:55:38 EDT 2000
  
  My favourite part about Valai Osai is the sound of valaiyal osai right between the prelude and the pallavi !!!
  
  
• From: eden (@ 61.1.250.209) on: Thu Oct 12 00:19:33 EDT 2000
  
  Rjay!
  Great analysis of one all time great song, `EdhO mOham'! (a song that reportedly captivated RD Burman & impressed Paul Mauriat)
  
  I had just one negligible crib with this song, the nasal voice of Krishnachandar (poNNukkenna Achchu nEththu, nenjukkuLLa sARakkAththu)...Well, let me try to explain this out -Had it `in contrast' helped us appreciate the extravagance of instrumentals & the magic of SJ? Was that the idea of IR (that had he employed SPB, he would have distracted us with his magnificient vocal presence)?:-))
  On a still lighter vain, was IR budget conscious since his elder brother was producer of `kOzhi koovuthu'?:-))
  
  Well, let's wait for Srikanth's analysis of chords of this song and/or move on to the next song, may be either `valayOsai' or `rAjA kaiya vachA'...& can also parallely discuss on the lines Kiru had suggested i.e. a broad categorisation of the great numbers or IR (though there bound to be a lot of overlapping as this man includes too many ideas on the same song):-))
  
  Digression:
  Rjay, I have e-mailed you a list of 1000 selected songs of IR, once compiled by some DF'ers in a thread as `good' ones and any 100 from that list may be picked and analysed / classified for the benefit of TFM admirers.
  
  
• From: fan (@ 63.225.173.111) on: Thu Oct 12 00:21:58 EDT 2000
  
  I am still searching for the song, i dont have it, can someone tell me where it can be found.
  
  
• From: bb (@ 216.217.80.201) on: Thu Oct 12 01:36:50 EDT 2000
  
  vaLayOsai is here:
  http://www.swara.com/index2.shtml?string=valay&index=title
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.22.221) on: Thu Oct 12 02:08:02 EDT 2000
  
  Avathaaram is here
  
  http://songs.swaramalika.com/tamil.shtm
  
  actually the above site has many films that can be used for discussion here. Iam not sure if the audio is all that good. will try searching for more links.
  
  
• From: G. Kuppusamy (@ 156.153.255.250) on: Thu Oct 12 03:28:15 EDT 2000
  
  Friends
  
  Digression:
  what happened to you all? r u guys turning bad? how have u left those good 'kuzhai adi sanndai' of TFM-DF and getting into one of the "most worst" things in tfm, 'analysis of raaja's songs'.
  hmmm...kaalam kettu pochu. yellam indha music fan, rjay, kiru, vijay, hari pondra ariviligalal vandha prechhanai. OK yekkaedo kettu ponga, 'neechal theriyadhavanae kadalla moozhgadhada' appidinu sonna ketta thaanae.:-):-)
  
  nanbargalae i want to clarify one thing many of u are asking IR to shun TFM and take only WCM projects, many of u want to try his WCM in TFM, many of u want him to churn out his imbibed music called 'naatupura paadal', tell me what will he do.. poor IR has only one body to cater all your needs. So my request is let him pursue whatever he feels...andha sudhandharamaavadhu yennudaya 'chella mottai kirukka raaja'vukku thaarungal.
  End Digression:
  
  In another thread i was asking about 'manidha manidha ini un vizhigal sivandhaal ulagam vidiyum' from 'kann sivandaal mann sivakkum'. Many people say 'kalaivaaniyae is composed in aarohanam ( i believe aarohanam means ascending swaras for that raagam, correct me if im wrong), but i feel, long b4 that 'kalai vaaniyae' he has shown this thing in 'manidha manidha' song. oh! what a song man...it will really wakeup any lazy person and make brisk and march towards a goal. Even at its end that song never descends, though it recedes to slower pace of recitation. Gurus my humble request is please add this song also in your 'analysis hanumaan vaal' (a.k.a raaja's good songs for analysis... inga paarungada 100-rae-100 song pick panna porangalam IR-rudaya list-la irundhu...nalla vedikkai)...
  
  keep this job and spirit up guys.
  
  Thanks
  Kuppu
  
  
• From: rjay (@ 208.51.40.112) on: Thu Oct 12 11:07:08 EDT 2000
  
  Friends,
  
  I hunted down for Aedho moham last night and
  a friend gave me the cassette. I have digitized
  the song sections and uploaded on to the page:
  http://www.geocities.com/rjaymidi/aedho.htm
  for the purpose of analysis and discussion. The
  audio quality is not that great, so we will use
  it until someone can get us a CD version. I request Raja and Rajangham will permit us to use this for
  learning purposes.
  
  Later I plan to update the page with the
  analysis and results.
  
  
  Srikanth, eager to get from you the chord progressions and other expert observations!
  
  Eden, thanks for the list, that was monster.
  
  Kuppu, the short listing was for study not
  for evaluation. Oru panai sotrukku oru soru padham. I am sure the list will improve the classification, just like the music is improving the theory and not vice versa.
  
  Kiru, Vijay, Kishmu, we can move onto classification.
  
  
  Thanks
  RJAY
  
  
• From: satish (@ 139.85.161.184) on: Thu Oct 12 12:37:50 EDT 2000
  
  Rjay
  you can find "edho moham " at
  http://songs.swaramalika.com/cgi-bin/media/search.cgi?lang=tamil&film=Kozhi+Koovudhu&exact=1
  
  
• From: kishmu (@ 198.102.112.201) on: Thu Oct 12 12:39:39 EDT 2000
  
  One thing that is prominent in valai osai is the bass line, which Iam sure everyone would have listened to. It is made to "sink in" with the lyrics - the intention I think was to give some intensity to Kamals expression of love (like his character in the movie). Lets move on with that...
  When we analyze, I would like to keep the chord progressions apart from instrument use. That would keep people that dont understand chords also interested. If possible insert MIDI / Audio clips that elaborate your point. One idea here is to educate also...
  And let us also discuss techniques, like the bass line giving power to the lyrics. This has been used in other songs as well (one example that comes to mind is Metallica)...Likewise, if we could give meaning to a technique used, it would be great.
  One more thing, lets not call anyone "experts". Even listeners can be good musicians eventhough they dont play an instrument. By calling a select few experts just becoz they are technically better off is to keep others wondering that there is something to music that they dont know. Technical knowledge of chord progressions is just a tool, just like education is for academics. If you know how to use it, u become good. Of course, personally, I began to appreciate music more when I came to know the chords and little basics. Nevertheless, I still like to learn to appreciate music more. I would like simple explanations, and not music vocab that people dont understand.
  Finally, people that know carnatic, please give raaga analysis too.
  Thank you!
  
  
• From: aruLaracan (@ 134.124.160.10) on: Thu Oct 12 12:44:45 EDT 2000
  
  hi all,
  
  due to a very personal reason, i would like you buffs to discuss rAjA's other favorite "dhEva sangItham". i would really appreciate this. You will find this song at Anand Mahadevan's page http://www.users.fast.net/~anand/ .
  
  PS: i really wonder why rAjA added this to his list!!
  
  
• From: kiru (@ 192.138.149.4) on: Thu Oct 12 12:46:32 EDT 2000
  
  Ravi,
  Now your description of the song makes more sense. But I had to go back to read 3 or 4 posts. I think you should put your description also in the HTML (foll. the structure of the song in your first), nicely separated with the clip as link in the begin/end of a paragraph.
  Thanks !! Very educative..
  
  Now back on classification - I think we should pick name one category, define and let people contribute songs to that category.
  I volunteer you for this :-)
  
  
• From: kiru (@ 192.138.149.4) on: Thu Oct 12 13:11:53 EDT 2000
  
  >>PS: i really wonder why rAjA added this to his list!! <<
  Well..with all humility..especially with gurus around here..here's a layman's opinion.
  This song is representative of IR's style of song-making. A true 'sample'. The only difference is - is done using WCM instruments and very 'polished' in music style and recording. Will sound familiar to a WCM trained ear.
  
  
• From: fan (@ 216.190.255.35) on: Thu Oct 12 13:14:15 EDT 2000
  
  
  Some of the interesting points I noted while hearing,
  I have played this song long long time ago. I might be not 100% correct but I am sure I am almost close.
  The song is set to sindhu bhiravi, We use to play in Eminor because naturally Eminor suites sindhu bhairavi perfectly. The tape I had also had this song in EM.
  Unless we see the actual notations is hard to tell the actual scale composed.
  
  Opening:
  The score starts of with a bell tone then a flute solo lead. Takes us directly to “the mood of the song. This is followed by a flute score, this has an interesting counterpoint using a harp sound. The counter point is more like playing arpeggios.
  
  The harp plays the next 2 notes of the lead flute note This opening score has 3 part arrangement, Flute for lead - harp playing the counter and a bass.
  (1 2 3 )Flute play the 1st note --- 2 and 3 will be played by Harp and flute. Bass guitar harmonies with the flute lead on the bar.
  
  
  Bass:
  Pallavi Bass part structure is very interesting. More than the percussion this actually adds lot of weight to the song. The bass part is split into 2. First part is build with 4 notes then followed by 6 same notes (I need to check this with my keyboard, instead of a ping pong table I have been asking for a piano in our recreation room for a long time now my office is yet to permit me to get one. So wait till I get home tonight)
  
  This is pattern played through out the Pallavi based on the chord progression.
  Mostly it would be L5th |7th |root | (Pa NE SA SA | SA SA SA SA SA SA) combinations based on the chord. I might be not 100% correct here.
  If you note this pattern changes a little to bridge the song back to pallavi. Here just the first top note is played based on the chords to support the tune.
  
  In the saranam the bass is completely different, rather than staccatos, it has more swing. The 3 noted structure moves with the tune rather than percussion. The bass is filled with bongos at proper intervals. Good drum programming.
  
  Counter points:
  First bgm has good chunk of counter points using guitars. Saranam Lines : “Kane en kanpata kayam”, You can hear a counter point played by the string section. Strings counter the song till the end of the saranam. Male voice counters with the female vocals in harmony in the second bgm.
  
  The famous “Raja Style” :
  A score or a pattern is played by one single instrument (guitar here) and over this different scores come one after another. , You can hear this in many places in the song. Second bgm is good example.
  
  Some hidden score that areoften missed:
  In the first bgm there is chord whamping following the guitar lead (flute like sounding patch) , This is very important without lead will sound really empty.
  
  Cello/double piece at the 1st bgm end, since it is played along with other strings, it adds lot of weight, this is often missed by normal ears.
  
  Chord punching using DX7 bells is followed through out the song. , all the chords are on the
  bar.
  Male voice over the flute in the second bgm.
  
  I think I will post more if I start playing it.
  
  

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