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how does Ir compose a song

Topic started by Jeeera (@ 206.175.176.2) on Thu Oct 31 18:02:15 EST 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

This is a woderful article written by somebody. I picked it off the IR's group. This is a huge one but explains in detail how and what he does to compose a song. After reading thsi I was stuck with Awe. Does this man have had any time to do anything else other than mudic. Enjoy!!.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Jeera (@ 206.175.176.2) on: Thu Oct 31 19:02:22 EST 2002
  
  
  
  
  Background Music (Re-recording)
  
  Once the edited rough-cut version of the film is ready after the dubbing, a screening is
  arranged for Ilaiyaraaja. This print is called "double-positive" film in industry parlance. Because
  there are two positive films that will be run simultaneously. One will contain the visuals and the
  other will contain the dialogues. And during the re-recording sessions, the music will be recorded
  on another positive sound film. Of course, now a days, if it is done in DTS/Dolby formats, then it is
  recorded on tapes/CDs. This projection will not contain the special effects sounds like opening of
  door or moving of a car or train or even the dishum dishum sounds of the fight sequences. Just
  visuals with dialogue.
  
  Once this screening is over, Ilaiyaraaja will start his sessions immediately. If he sees the
  film in evening then his sessions will start from 7 AM the next day. And normally the re-recording
  sessions are called 7 to 9 sessions; that is from 7 AM to 9 PM sessions with breaks for break-fast
  at 9 AM, lunch at 1 PM and evening snacks at 6 PM.
  
  For this re-recording session, unlike a song recording, all members of the orchestra will
  be present. Because in a song he knows exactly the kind of instruments that will be needed. But
  in a re-recording session, you don’t know when will you require which instrument. Hence every
  one will be there. That is, apart from the regulars like the electronics group comprising keyboards,
  guitars, the rhythm players, flute, all the others like the violins, cellos, double-basses, the
  brass section comprising sax, trumpets, trombones and sitar will also be present during this rerecording sessions. Some times, special players for Brass, Saarangi, etc. will be called for these sessions from Bombay to add strength to the regular local players. These RR sessions may take anywhere from 2.5 days to 6 days depending upon the complexity and load. If the film has more number of songs then Ilaiyaraaja’s load comes down that much. Instead, if it has more visuals than dialogues like in a Mani Ratnam or Bharathi Raaja film then his load goes up.
  
  If the first reel has the credits running and it requires music, then it is kept aside as the
  last work of the project after finishing all other reels. Some times if it has a song, then he need not
  bother about this.
  
  Now the projections at the studio will be reel by reel, each reel running for approximately
  10 minutes. In some reels, if there is a song, then the rest of the reel should be seen for potential
  music inclusion.
  
  The reel is projected. The whole orchestra, some 70 players, and the director, and all
  others in studio watch the film in the hall with Ilaiyaraaja. Ilaiyaraaja sits in the centre of the hall
  with his harmonium in front of him and resting his score pad on that. He is a picture of sphinx like
  concentration watching the reel and the happenings there. As I said, this version of the film does
  not contain special effects sounds. So Ilaiyaraaja has to take that also into consideration and
  there may be some shots where he may leave them blank without music to be filled up later with
  special effect sounds.
  
  Once the reel is over, the lights come on. During the screening one can see Ilaiyaraaja
  making some short notes on his pad. Ilaiyaraaja waits for a few seconds, I think more to adjust
  his eyes to the light, than for any thing else.
  
  He starts writing on his score pad. He does not hum any phrase or use his harmonium.
  
  When you see this scene, you may think that this man has seen this film many times to decide
  the cues for music and the compositions needed. But he is seeing the film only for the second
  time.
  
  The whole theatre goes into silence mode and what you can hear is only the rustle of the
  paper and the scratch of pen.
  
  Judi and Sada pull up a chair and sit on either side of Ilaiyaraaja with their notepads
  ready. Behind Ilaiyaraaja, other players start assembling with their notepads in hand. Oblivious of
  all these hustle and bustle, Ilaiyaraaja is seriously writing the score. And the players from different
  groups start copying their individual parts then there, if there is any thing for them in that reel. You
  see, there is no time to waste; to wait for him to complete the full score and then take xerox
  copies for every one and all other luxuries that you enjoy in a song recording.
  
  You can notice one group calling the others who are chatting outside with their tea and
  smoke, "Brass is there, go in". You can see the brass players rushing inside to copy their parts.
  
  The sitar player who is sparingly used normally, and usually spends most of his time in rest
  during the entire re-recording session will get a call when he least expects it. He would have seen
  the reel with Ilaiyaraaja like all others and might have thought that this reel contains nothing that
  may demand a sitar and might have gone out again to relax till the next reel is projected. But
  then, with Ilaiyaraaja, you can never predict what will he do next. Suddenly the sitar man gets a
  call to come in and take his score.
  
  Now Ilaiyaraaja has finished his writing. Players are settling in their seats. And Judi gets
  his clarifications and makes sure that all those who have copied their parts have done it right by
  checking the score of each and every group. Every one is ready on their seats. (Now a days,
  some times, Ilaiyaraaja uses a key-board and he directly feeds some of the portions into it from
  his mind and the rest he writes down as usual. For Hey Ram the re-recording for which he plans
  to record in India and also in the Europe with a classical orchestra, he directly composed on the
  key-board and the attached computer with the score management software printed out the entire
  score. Once you input the score to this software then it becomes easy to separate the parts of the
  score instrument wise and print them separately and also a combined score for the conductor.)
  
  Now the orchestra knows that there are six musical pieces in this reel and the
  instruments involved in each of these pieces and the length of the pieces. But nobody knows
  where this music pieces are to be fit in. Where they are going to begin, where to end.
  
  Of course, they are not bothered about the ending. Because Ilaiyaraaja writes exactly for
  the time required for the sequence. With out using a stop watch or music editor, he normally
  writes music that exactly fits the required timing. May be, he has a mental clock that while
  deciding the start cue and end cue for a music bit, is also capable of calculating the exact footage
  and the required timing for that footage!
  
  For example, I am taking a reel from the Mani Ratnam film Mouna Raagam, which I
  consider one of the best study materials on background scoring in film music.
  
  The reel starts mid-way after the song Oho, Megam Vanthatho.
  * Revathi comes home thinking the boy who was to come and see her for marriage would
  have gone back. No, he was still waiting to talk with her. Her mother and others scold and get her
  ready. She is pushed into the room where Mohan is waiting.
  * This meeting with the boy is some thing she wanted to avoid but couldn’t. Now she enters
  the room with a lot of reservations and confusions. She starts talking to him hesitatingly to begin
  with. First she says she won't say sorry for keeping him waiting. Then she talks about herself, her
  character, her concept of marriage, etc, and why she feels she could not be a good wife to him,
  etc.
  * Finally when she asks Mohan to talk some thing, he says "I like you very much" and pushes
  off.
  * Every one is happily talking that the boy has agreed for the marriage and about the
  preparations to be done.
  * Nobody asks Revathi her opinion. Her sister-in-law reminds every one about this. Her father
  asks her opinion. She says no. Every one was very unhappy and asks her to give reasons. She
  says no again and again.
  * Her father stands up and talks about his middle class background and his responsibility of
  getting her other sisters married, etc.
  * Now Revathi asks her father whether he wants to sell her to some one to clear his
  responsibility.
  * Her father slaps her.
  * She walks out of the house, goes and sits on a roadside stone talking to herself, it is a
  moon lit night.
  
  When Ilaiyaraaja completes the score for this reel, the orchestra has the following:
  
  1. A short piece with Guitar and Keyboard
  2. A single stroke bang on the mridangam
  3. A small piece by Keyboard, sitar and Guitar
  4. Guitar, Keyboard and Strings.
  5. A flute piece started with Guitar and later keyboards join to repeat what they did in # 4.
  6. A piece beginning with violins and answered by the cellos. At the end the key-boards join
  giving some kind of night effect.
  
  Ilaiyaraaja gets up and without even looking around to see whether all of them are ready
  (they are), starts putting them through the score for a short rehearsal. Piece by piece. Once he
  has put them through all the pieces in this reel, he signals the operator to start the reel screening
  again.
  
  The reel starts running again. Now Ilaiyaraaja watches the movie in silence. And the
  orchestra is in a constant alert waiting for his signal. He looks like a man possessed, with total
  concentration on the screen. His hands ever ready to conduct the score.
  
  # When Revathi enters the house with her mother asking whether they have left any thing
  for her to eat, she stops dumbstruck seeing Mohan and all others. When Revathi sees them,
  Ilaiyaraaja's hand signals the Keyboard and Guitar.
  
  # While getting dressed, Revathi hears that the boy is still waiting because he wants to talk
  to her some thing; his hand signals the rhythm man-for the single stroke bang on the mridangam.
  This player was waiting for this because he knew that his piece was the next one in this reel.
  
  # Revathi enters the room and sees Mohan. Now his hand signals the sitar player (he is
  sitting behind him and Ilaiyaraaja does not bother to see any body, his concentration totally on the
  screen only. Any way, the sitar man knew that it was his turn next). This piece is some kind of a
  broken piece with silence or, as he calls in music parlance, with rests in between. This is to go
  with the emotions of the character that enters the room with a lot of reluctance and reservations.
  
  # Just before Revathi completes her initial intro saying "I am not going to say sorry for
  keeping you all waiting" this piece ends giving a bit of silence.
  
  # When she completes this sentence, Ilaiyaraaja signals the next piece by Guitar,
  Keyboards and strings.
  
  # The music on its own ends just a few seconds before Revathi completes her monologue
  and tells Mohan that she won’t be a good wife and asks his opinion. What was written fits exactly
  only that much that Ilaiyaraaja has planned. More over, the silence created before Revathi
  completes her monologue and waits for Mohan’s answer is intentional in creating a tension.
  
  # When Mohan says that he likes her very much, Ilaiyaraaja signals the Rhythm man
  again and then the Sitar man. This is some kind of a short dialogue between Rhythm and Sitar
  
  # The next piece starts when Revathi’s father starts talking about his poor state, etc.,
  Ilaiyaraaja signals the Guitar, flute and Keyboard. After the initial flute bit, the Keyboards repeat
  what they played in the earlier piece, that is, when Revathi was talking with Mohan.
  
  # Revathi starts replying her father…
  
  # Now Ilaiyaraaja signals the string section to be ready; once her father slaps Revathi, his
  hand moves like a flash, the Keyboards withdraw and a new piece starts with violins and they are
  answered vigorously by the cellos. This dialogue continues till Revathi comes out of the house
  and sits on a road side stone, talking to herself; when the moon is shown, Ilaiyaraaja signals the
  night effect key-boards to join.
  
  Listen to the re-recording tracks of the movie in my other site Maestro's Songs Archives
  This process is called "Synchronizing the music with the visuals". When Ilaiyaraaja does
  this process, that is conducting the score while seeing the movie, Puru is busy marking the
  beginning cues of each and every piece and also where exactly it ends. The starting cues he also
  marks in the form of the reel counter that is running above the screen. Of course, Ilaiyaraaja also
  in between, when he is waiting for the next cue, gives Puru and other members involved in this
  reel some finer instructions about the other aspects. And if there are any pieces for chorus voices
  they are also ready with the orchestra. Normally when he sees the full film, he gets an idea about
  the reels in which he would be needing chorus voices, and accordingly they will be called. They
  won’t be present all the time like other members of the orchestra.
  
  Once the reel is over, Ilaiyaraaja gets into the Mixer Console room and Puru takes on the
  role of the Conductor for the session. The reel is screened again with the speakers in the hall
  switched off and Puru with his headphone listens to the dialogue and watches the screen and
  conducts the orchestra for the different cues. Again individual groups play from the different
  mikes and booths.
  
  They play once when Ilaiyaraaja listens from the console and balances the tracks. And
  the next time it is take. They record the pieces one by one. The whole process normally takes
  anywhere between 1 hour to 6 hours, depending up on the complexity.
  
  Ilaiyaraaja says that the most important instrument in his armory is ‘silence’. All other
  things are just instruments to create that ‘silence’. He just uses other instruments to leave at the
  ‘silence’ point to create tension, excitement or melancholy. If you have keenly watched his
  background scores, you can notice, just at that moment when you feel tension, then you can
  notice that he has stopped his music, that is why you are feeling the tension or concentration.
  
  This he uses effectively even in fight sequences, when suddenly he stops the music and leaves
  only the effects to go on and that makes you attentive suddenly without your realising it.
  
  Some times, the director may not have finalised his version of some of the scenes. In
  such cases, Ilaiyaraaja would record two or three version of music for that reel, one for a version
  with the particular scene and one with out that scene. He is always particular that if the director
  removes that scene later then the music should not appear to be stopping abruptly. Hence in
  such cases Ilaiyaraaja will give two or three versions for the director to choose later.
  
  While seeing the full film, he gets an idea whether he is going to compose a new theme
  music for this story or going to use one of the song tunes as the theme. And many times he has
  many themes for many characters or situations that gets repeated throughout the movie in
  different variations to create different moods. When he takes up the music writing for credits (first
  reel or some times partly first reel and partly last reel) he weaves these themes in to that or uses
  the song themes. It all depends on what mood he wants to create.
  
  In Thalapathi when he found out that the final film had more on mother-son sentiment
  than friendship sentiment as originally narrated to him during the composing sessions, he decided
  to use the Chinnathai song as the theme. He used that in different variations to build the
  emotional colour of the story as a mother-son story.
  
  In Idhayathai Thirudathe, the credits come on only after some time when Nagarjuna gets
  into an accident and rushed to the hospital. If you notice, the music is nothing but the theme
  music of the film, which you will hear later many times, in many variations, throughout the film but
  now here it is like a slow movement, depicting tragedy.
  
  In Mouna Raagam he has a theme music with two variations. A fast paced one is for
  Karthik and a gentle, slow paced one for Mohan. And the first reel when the credits are on, you
  can hear both in that. In the same film when Karthik leaves his house for marriage, the police take
  him away. When he is travelling in the jeep, mid way through, the music starts. First a gentle
  beginning with keyboards and when he jumps from the jeep, drum strokes come on. When he
  starts running, a solo violin starts a tremolo, which is answered by other violins and cellos. Now
  this dialogue reaches its crescendo and suddenly when Karthik sees Revathi who is sitting on top
  of the steps on the other side of the road, the first violins burst out the theme music and they are
  answered by the second violins and cellos; it continues through the process of Karthik getting
  shot at and ends with Revathi completing her flash back story.
  
  In Gopura Vaasalile, the first reel when the credits come on after the initial scene when
  the friends board the train to go to Ooty, the entire sequence is the train and the scenic hill track
  to Ooty. The music is a beautiful Concerto for Flute and Orchestra. With the solo flute taking on
  the theme of the film and later joined by the strings and other players and later the flute taking on
  the song themes from the film.
  
  To quote from Thalapathy again, it has many interesting examples to show how a correct
  musical score can add a lot of depth and colour to a scene.
  
  # The scene where Mammooty suddenly asks Rajani to marry Bhanupriya and both of
  them are shocked. Very effective use of Strings and keyboards add weight to this scene. And
  when they are shown entering the Colony, he uses the melody of the unused song
  Putham Puthu Poo Poothatho… first as a solo humming and then with Shehnai/Saarangi to
  portray the true feelings of the characters and situation.
  
  # The scene where Jaishankar tells Rajani that he has a mother and Rajani refusing to
  believe that at first and then requesting Jai not to tell her that he is alive as she should not come
  to know that her son is such a bad element. See how effectively he has used chorus voices with
  keyboards and strings.
  
  # Again the scene where Bhanupria and her kid come to the clinic and leave the shawl of
  Rajani in which Srividhya had thrown him away many years back. Srividhya calls out the girl and
  gives the shawl. The girl narrates the story of the shawl. While Srividhya realises the enormity of
  the statement, the kid takes the shawl away and Srividhya helplessly looks at the shawl slipping
  away from her hands, as if it is her kid that is slipping away from her hands. The music here is
  marvelous with santoor effects from the keyboards.
  
  # The scene where Srividhya visits Rajani. Chorus voices with keyboards effectively create
  the build-up for this reunion scene.
  
  # When Rajani comes to meet Aravindswamy to request him to go out of that town on
  transfer- Rajani sees Shobana on the top of the steps. The moment they see each other, a solo
  violin in slow tempo, takes on from the Sundari song pallavi "Naan Unai
  Theendamatten.." and other strings give minimal support. The music stops just giving a few
  seconds of silence before Rajani starts talking, asking Shobana "Nalla erukkia".
  Some times he has to do the filling up before or after a song. For example, in
  Chinnathambi, when Prabu and Kushboo come out of the house the song Povoma Oorkolam
  does not start immediately. There is a length of shots when Kushboo is seen enjoying the beauty
  of the nature, the green fields, the birds, the wind, etc. Now Ilaiyaraaja has to fill up this portion
  with a music which should effortlessly continue with the song that is to follow. If you watch again,
  please notice, how beautifully the strings and flute are used to create that.
  
  In the same way, the stick fight and the song Santhu Pottu that follows that in Thevar
  Magan. Ilaiyaraaja is aware that this is not a serious fight scene, just a play kind of thing. So he
  decides to treat this differently. At first when the fight starts, the rhythm bangs are used to create
  tension. And as the fight slowly progresses, the individual rhythm play has become a full-fledged
  song kind of thing, some kind of a dance music. You may even wonder whether the fight was
  picturised for the music or the other way round. It is so perfect. But it is some thing done during
  the re-recording. Finally when the song begins, it looks like the extension of the stick fight dance
  music.
  
  In Apoorva Sakotharargal, during the initial scenes when Nagesh and gang poison
  Srividhya the violent music with strings and brass begin. And it is followed by a varied rhythm play
  when they try to escape through the fields and the gang chasing them. And the credits start after
  the killing of Kamal and suddenly the music changes to a eerie, mystery kind of thing with flutes,
  brass and rhythms. And when the scene changes to the river with the boat in which Srividhya
  tries to escape, a solo flute takes over with the theme of the story and strings answer it. And this
  theme we will hear many times in the story to follow.
  
  Some times during the re-recording sessions, he may decide to fill-up a scene with a bit
  song or even a full song. Bit songs have happened many a time. But the most notable and
  popular full song done during the re-recording sessions was the famous Das, Das,Chinnappa
  Das song in Kadalora Kavithaigal.
  
  When Ilaiyaraaja saw that reel he did not write any thing and took the next reels after
  that. Every one including the director was wondering why. And in the afternoon after lunch, when
  Ilaiyaraaja came to the session he was ready for a song recording, with the full score written
  during the lunch break. In the film, it appears as if the picturisation was done for a song, but in
  fact it was the other way round. The song will start with a Veda like hymn rendition Oru Kaalai
  Thookki… from the scene Satyaraj standing on one leg and goes on from there.
  
  Most of the directors feel that after his re-recording the whole film looks so different from
  what they conceived or expected it to be. It is much much more than their imagination. And
  Ilaiyaraaja's main trait is that he does not do any thing to force himself-either in songs or in
  background scoring. He does just what is required for the scene, how to add value to that or how
  to support that or how to cover some flaws that can not be corrected now. And his concentration
  and sincerity is the same for all whether it is a Ramarajan film or a MR or BR film. Even in a third
  rate film, if you notice, his work would be of the highest order. Of course, if the film is so bad then
  even his music can not do much to revive that. Some times, if the director is around during the
  sessions, Ilaiyaraaja cheks with them whether what he has composed is fine. But he has
  established such a great reputation to correctly gauge the mood of a film and write the
  appropriate musical treatment required to enhance it, most of the directors just leave every thing
  to him; that is the complete editorial freedom to decide the cues, the type instruments and the
  score.
  
  Some times the directors kill his songs with their own ideas. A good example is the
  famous Sundari song from Thalapathy. It is a song depicting war. It has a powerful orchestration
  with a lot of strings and brass and chorus voices. But in the film the director killed the song with
  excessive use of horse running effects, did you notice?
  
  There are many a time when Ilaiyaraaja has done RR for two films simultaneously.
  Thevar Magan was one such film. It was a typical Diwali release and it was one of those times
  when Ilaiyaraaja used to have at least half a dozen movies for simultaneous release. And every
  director will be working on the final edit version till the last minute and every one will be forcing to
  complete the RR some how to give them time to do the balance work and release the pic for
  Diwali.
  
  In such a situations, Ilaiyaraaja will have two orchestras in two studios. In studio-A he will
  see a reel, write the score, sync the score with the film and give instructions to one of his
  assistants like Puru or somebody and they will record the pieces one by one.
  
  While they do this, he will go to Studio-B and see a reel from the second film and do the
  same thing there-see that reel from where he left in the last session in that film, write the score,
  sync it with the film and record the pieces himself or leave that to the boys to complete the take
  while he goes back to Studio-A, where by now the recording of earlier reel would have been
  completed and he takes up the next reel for scoring.
  
  Imagine the magnitude of mental pressure. Different stories, different situations
  demanding different kind of score, different threads and themes to follow, and our man
  effortlessly criss crossing between the studios.
  
  And he changes the schedule (seeing the film reel by reel, writing the music,
  synchronizing it with the visuals and recording the pieces) when he does work for a film that is to
  be recorded in DTS or DOLBY.
  
  In such cases what he does is this. Sees the full film once as usual in a preview theatre.
  And starts seeing the reels one by one in the preview theatre (instead of his recording theatre).
  Writes the score for each and every reel. During this sessions he has his main assistants like
  Puru, Viji, Judi and some more people. Then and there his score will be copied section wise and
  extra copies made for the orchestra.
  
  And when this is over for all the reels, the scene shifts to the recording theatre. He starts
  seeing reel by reel. Conducts the score with the orchestra, syncs it with the visuals and goes for
  recording. He does this because the recording in DTS or other modern formats are directly done
  in CD or tapes in multiple tracks. The balancing and mixing becomes complex like a multi-track
  song recording and takes a long time than his normal recording sessions when the recording is
  actually done in sound films. Also, these special sessions will have a lot of new musicians who
  are new to his style. Hence it would be better if the full score is ready on hand for the sessions.
  That would save a lot of time. His BGM tracks done in such latest formats can be easily
  converted into individual albums-for example Mahanadhi, Kaalapani, My DearKuttichathan,
  Kaadhal Kavithai, etc.
  
  But his other BGM works can not be done that way. Because normally the re-recording
  music is recorded directly on sound films. Hence they may have to be re-recorded again from the
  old scores if you want to get them to album quality.
  
  You would be able to appreciate the amount of work he does with just a single viewing of
  the rough cut film when he is able to give such a good quality musical support to them. Without
  the aid of lists of music cues, a music editor or even a stopwatch, Ilaiyaraaja is able to compose
  accurately a piece for a particular film cue which fits exactly not only the required timing but also
  the mood and pace of the action on the screen, heightening the tension if it was a fight scene, or
  enhancing with beautiful lyrical melodies the romantic mood of a love scene, or just adding
  spontaneously joyous excitement rhythmically to a dance scene.
  
  John Williams is another composer whom I admire very much. Like Ilaiyaraaja, he also
  writes every thing himself, without depending on arrangers/orchestrators like most of the MDs in
  Hollywood. But do you know the time he took for writing the score for Phantom Menace-Episode
  I? The rough cut version was given to him some time in October 1998. And he was ready to
  record the score with the London Symphony Orchestra in February 1999. And he himself admits
  he would have seen the film at least 50 times in the course of composing the score.
  What kind of output will Ilaiyaraaja produce, if he gets that kind of time and resources?
  
   
   
  
  
• From: Siva (@ 203.126.218.98) on: Thu Oct 31 21:39:25 EST 2002
  
  Jeera,
  
  It was fabulous. Hats off to R. Ananthanarayan, the explanation was as if we were watching a movie with music by Ilayaraja, of course!!! :)
  
  
• From: Teja (@ 63.201.144.200) on: Thu Oct 31 22:08:14 EST 2002
  
  Awesome job. I am going to watch Mounaragam, Geetanjali, Dalapathi again with these notes !
  
  

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