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Tamil Film Music Cateogories

Topic started by Mukund (@ internet-gw1.hea.com) on Tue Mar 10 17:54:59 EST 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

I want all of us to participate in a healthy discussion to come up with reasonable definition of different kinds of music cateogories - thereby shedding more light to unexplored areas of Tamil Film Music as it is becoming more and more "international" :-) by the day. This process is simply to increase the knowledge base.

Cateogories that come to my mind are Carnatic, Western Classical, Jazz, Fusion, Flamenco, New age etc. -- :-) so many terms and so little definition.

As for Carnatic and Western Classical, their foundations lie basically in melody and harmony based approaches to music.

What are the foundations of other kinds of music ?
Are they based on the use of certain kind of instruments ?

Since TFM-DF consists of varied set of people with inclinations towards different musical tastes as well I am hoping a lot of them to contribute for this article

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: aruLarasan (@ jinx.umsl.edu) on: Tue Mar 24 20:27:30 EST 1998
  
  kAnchanA, great work. Where do you find time for such a summary.
  
  a quickie. As for as I know, the first best song to effectively use
  volum control (dynamics) is paruvamE in nenjaththaik kiLLAdhE. What a song!
  
  
• From: mux (@ internet-gw1.hea.com) on: Wed Mar 25 13:30:37 EST 1998
  
  Hi,
  
  Kanchana: Thanks a lot. Like arul said it is great work. You have sparked off a good discussion into WC, I guess.
  
  This music store is in exactly same fashion as you described. It has casettes in Carnatic, Hindusthani, music from Pakistan, Middle East, Meditteranean, Reggae, Rap, .. it goes on. One can listen to any CD before buying.
  
  Pal:
  I was just kidding. I thought the :-) would have conveyed the feeling. I was not a least bit serious. Incidentally, I also remember the time when you were trying to tell me what are "accidentals". We later went on into the discussion about one song (I dont remember it right now) of ARR where you told me there were some accidentals. I asked in a total complete ignorance, whether ARR would be aware of such accidentals when he composed it OR whether these crept in :-))
  
  OK now pertaining to the discussion, my understanding is that by playing in diff keys implies different chords, right ?
  
  About enge nimmadhi, I was thinking about it yesterday when reading about volume dynamics. In fact, way I came to it was I remembered that MSV had used a lot of veenais for the song. As I was wondering about the use of so many instruments the fact of volume dynamics came into picture. I was thinking that I should check that song.
  
  Let me check out other examples you guys have given.
  
  BTW, I want your comments on Poomalaiye thol serava song.
  And also abt thendral vanthu theendum pothu where at the start one set of chorus is followed by another chorus - smaller group, two sets of violin s each at different volume levels and then IR's voice and all of them exist at the same time. This gave me a good idea of same theme coming into the "stage" in different forms.
  
  I could see a lot of mixing of notes among instruments in "thendral vanthu ennai thodum" too.
  
  Mux
  
  
• From: pal (@ 128.101.145.87) on: Wed Mar 25 15:44:02 EST 1998
  
  yeah, mux. thendral vanthu has lotsa counter points... same as poomaliyE...
  
  yeah, I recollect the incident about accidentals! :-) It was lot of fun those days...
  
  Kanchana, I have this doubt. SInging in parts and counter point is so similar! If the counter points follow the voice simultaneously then it is singing in parts, is it? or is there anything more to it?
  
  
  
• From: Kanchana (@ ww-ta03.proxy.aol.com) on: Wed Mar 25 20:17:04 EST 1998
  
  Pal, aruLarasan, Mux:
  Thank you. It was my pleasure sharing the little I know.
  
  Pal:
  If "singing in parts" means breaking down the theme into its component motives, and each motive is sung alternatively by different "voices", then isn't it a contrapuntal composition similar to the fugues from the Baroque Era in theory?
  
  Let me present an example and see if this is what you have in mind.
  
  A 90s song which has fascinated me in terms of the deceptively simple elegance of its composition is rAsAththi en usiru ennadhillE from thirudA thirudA sung by Sahul Hameed & Choral Group; music composed by Rahman. Let me briefly outline the structure of that song as I see it (experts, please educate me if I'm wrong):
  
  pallavi
  Instruments: None. Solo and Choral Group Vocals.
  
  Lines 1 & 2: Hameed solo followed by harmonized humming by choral group.
  
  Lines 3 & 4: Same as 1 & 2; choral lead(Sujatha?) introduced for the choral section.
  
  charaNams 1 & 2
  Instruments: Solo Vocal. Choral Group alone is supported very gently by rhythm guitar (thanks, PG!). No other instruments.
  
  Lines 1 & 2: First half sung by Hameed and second sung in countermelody by Sujatha & chorus. Line 2 as example:
  tharisakkAttu OdaiyilE kaNdAngi thuvaikkaiyilE//
  thuNiyai nanaiya vittu manasaip pizhinjavaLE
  (// indicates the split between Hameed's & Choral Group's sections)
  
  Lines 3 & 4: same as lines 1 & 2, but now with partially overlapping countermelodies. Example:
  kalyANach chElaiyilE kaNNeeraith thudachchikkittu pORavA pORavAthAn//
  pORavA pORavAthAn poNjAdhiyAp pORavAthAn
  (such a partial overlap is called "stretto".)
  
  Lines 5 & 6: same as lines 3 & 4, but Hameed finishes his lyrics and continues into the choral section with a strong humming as a countermelody, and Sujatha projects her countermelodic humming into Hameed's solo lyrical section. Example:
  andhak kazhuththOrath thEmalaiyum kAdhOra machchaththaiyum pArppadheppO pArppadheppO//
  pArppadheppO pArppadheppO powrNamiyum vAradheppO
  ("stretto" plus a full conventional counterpoint thru strong humming.)
  
  This song appears to borrow from the fugue concept, where the overall theme is split and alternated between several "groups" (here, Hameed and the choral group). The charaNams build up "tension" by increasing the degrees of overlap between the countermelodies. Two different types of counterpoints seem to be used.
  Overall, the song has a very rich texture with minimal instrument usage, and good use of harmony and counterpoints in vocals.
  
  Pal, I'm still "training" my ears to catch the different types of counterpoints as imitation, inversion, augmentation etc. So, please jump in with any comments/critique you may have, so I can continue to learn. Thanks.
  
  
  
  
• From: NOV (@ 202.184.134.10) on: Wed Mar 25 22:06:15 EST 1998
  
  Kanchana - Fascinating facts and a clear explanation for even novices. Good job. Phew, I think I'm ready to do a thesis on the subject. :-))
  
  
• From: Kanchana (@ ww-tf04.proxy.aol.com) on: Thu Mar 26 09:06:18 EST 1998
  
  NOV, thank you.
  
  Pal:
  For the record, the example line for lines 5 & 6 in the charaNam of rAsAththi should be as follows, and not as I've written above. Apologies.
  
  Lines 5 & 6:
  nAn thandha malligaiyai nattAththil pOttu vittu
  araLip poochchoodi azhdhapadi pORavaLE //
  kadalaik kAttukkuLLE kai adichchu sonna puLLE
  kAththilE ezhudhaNum pombaLainga sonna sollE
  (stretto plus a conventional counterpoint thru strong humming)
  
  As I said before, the song borrows from the fugue concept and relies heavily on harmony and counterpoints to provide its rich texture with minimal usage of instruments (just rhythm guitar for the choral section.)
  The fundamental melodic concepts are from the green rice fields of TN, where groups of women in colorful sarees sing simple lines in unpretentious tunes as a group as they go about their work. (idhu nAn siRu vayadhil pArththu, kEttu, rasiththu, innum maRakkAdha gAnamum kAtchiyum.)
  
  
• From: aruLarasan (@ psiphi.umsl.edu) on: Thu Mar 26 17:58:40 EST 1998
  
  Am listening to radio6. They are now playing an excellent song from nenjirikkum varai. the
  song is nenjirukkum engaLukku nALai yendRa nALirukku. This is a very good
  example of swing (at least the opening).
  
  
• From: bs (@ www1.access.bt.com) on: Fri Mar 27 06:14:46 EST 1998
  
  Prof:Kanchana:-))))
  Ungal classil adiyenum ullen...:-))) Summa Kalakkureenga:-))))
  
  1st year 1st bench payyanidam irunthu itho a bunch of questions :
  
  Do all symphonies follow the pattern U have detailed above??? If so what is the skill/creativity of the composer in making it different from others.. In other words what is the creative part a composer plays in composing the symphony..
  
  Connected to symphony... What is the role of the conductor of the orchestra in playing symphony??
  What are the skills that orchestras like Royal Philharmonic possess that makes them very special???
  
  
  Ivlavu questions pathu bayanthidatheenga:-))) Munnadiye sonna pola 1st bench questions - so payyanukku definita vishayam theriyathu, but hi-funda question kettu impress panna ninaikkiran, pavam:-))))
  
  BS
  
  
• From: RV (@ nat-20.avanticorp.com) on: Fri Mar 27 14:27:03 EST 1998
  
  Kanchana: Kalakkitteenga! Very nice explanations for WC and Jazz.
  
  Just one question though: In the explantion for counterpoint, you hv mentioned that same melody at different times is counterpoint. I thought that is called a fugue. Can you pl. clarify ?
  
  

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