Sunday, July 5, 2009

Raja's rhythm innovation stage 2

This requires structuring a first pallavi and charanam in Western and follow it up with the second charanam and pallavi in Indian.

Though there are several tracks where Raja has used these techniques, let me draw your attention to two top-of-mind tracks...

Oh Vasantha Raja from Neengal Kettavai (1985) is another outstanding Raja innovation rhythmically – pallavi 1, interlude 1 and charanam 1 all use Indian rhythms complete with mirudhangam, tabla. Suddenly in interlude 2 and charanam 2 everything switches to western drums and finally returns to the final pallavi 3 in Indian rhythm!

Let's hear the pallavi 1, interlude 1 and charanam 1 and pallavi 2 of the song, all set to Indian rhythm....



 

Pay attention to interlude 2 and charanam 2 and you will notice that the composer has switched the rhythm to Western drums...



Lastly, let's now hear the final pallavi 3, where composer switches back to Indian rhythm...




Pazhamudhir Solai from Varusham 16 (1989) is a complex mix showing the composer’s ease with any type of rhythm arrangement – the pallavi 1 and the charanam 1 are in Western arrangement. The interlude 1 alone is set in Indian rhythm. Then the composer chooses to reverse everything – the interlude 2 is in Western and the pallavi 2 is set to Indian! In a way, this track also qualifies for stage 1. As this is a fast paced song, it is easy to miss out on the experiments that Raja does with this wonderful tune...

Let's first hear pallavi 1 set to Western rhythm...





Let's next hear interlude 1 set to Indian rhythm...




Observe that charanam 1, pallavi 2 and interlude 2 is set to Western rhythm, just opposite of interlude 1...




Next, let's hear the charanam 2 set to Indian rhythm....




Let's lastly hear pallavi 3, set back to Western rhythm...




Another example from Raja's Malayalam work - Ponnavani Poomuthe from Man of the Match (1996). The track starts off in a peaceful tabla based rhythm and continues all the way till the first charanam. The composer chooses to change the rhythm to Western drums from interlude 2 and charanam 2. The song returns back to its original Indian rhythm for the final pallavi.

Another song that has a strikingly similar rhythm arrangement to Ponnavani Poomuthe is the track Uruginen Uruginen from Anne Anne (1983).
The track starts off in a bongos based rhythm and continues all the way till the first charanam. The composer chooses to change the rhythm to Western drums from interlude 2 and charanam 2. The song returns back to its original bongos for the final pallavi.

The nice part is, if you did not pay attention to the rhythm setting, it does not matter. In the hands of a master like Raja, transitions are so smooth between rhythm patterns, it is easy to miss his experimentation.

6 comments:

KUMAR said...

Nice analysis of Rhythm Patterns !

Pazhamudhircholai is from Varusham16 (1989).

ravinat said...

Thanks Kumar. I have corrected the post.

This is not the first time this is happening. I get so caught up with creating the clip, uploading the right clip and ensuring that the text and the clip are in the right place, I sometimes overlook some details.

Thanks for pointing out.

Ravi

Suresh S said...

Ravi,

You are doing a great job as usual.

One more song which has Indian rhythm in the first charanam and a western rhythm in the second is the song from the Malayalam film, 'Manasinakkare', "Mellai Onnu Paadi". I have heard this song so many times but it was after quite a few listens that I noticed that Raja has changed the rhythm of the second charanam to western one. The first charanam has a tabla following it. So well done that you completely miss it!! Ultimate success for the composer.

ravinat said...

Suresh

What you mentioned about Mellai Onnu so true. Unless you focus on the rhythm arrangement only, it is next to impossible to see what the composer is doing. That's part of the difficulty with Raja's music - he presents it so well that you forget the technicality. But that is another manifestation of genius, I suppose.

Ravi

ரமேஷ் குலோத்துங்கன் said...

Nice Post..One of my favourites in this category is Rajathi Raja un thandhirangal from Mannan..

ronnie said...

Also in "ooru vittu ooru vandhu" song in karakattakaaran.....