Bass Guitar Unusual conversations

Raja’s use of bass guitar is famous and we did cover this briefly in some of the earlier posts – ‘Basically Raja’. While there are so many examples on how Raja has used the bass guitar as part of his C&R arrangements in his interludes, I will call out two top of mind examples. The clip below has two segments separated by a few seconds of silence.

1. The first segment is from the song Thogai Ilamayil from Payanangal Mudivathillai (Tamil 1982). The first 5 seconds is a fantastic conversation between a bass guitar and a flute
2. The second segment is from the song Laali Laali from Swathi Mudhyam (Telugu 1985). Between 10 and 15 seconds you can hear a beautiful conversation between a bass guitar and a veena. Beyond that, the conversation gets into a counter melody which is outside the rules of this section. You may notice that between 15 and 25 seconds, a flute joins the melody and plays a different melody; between 25 and 30 seconds, the flute is replaced with violins

These are very unusual arrangements that only a gifted composer can think of. I am sure there are other such clips I may have overlooked. Readers may throw in their comments.

Let’s hear the sample of Raja’s bass guitar unusual conversations…

 

Bells Unusual conversations

Raja uses bells extensively in his interludes and he has used bells with other instruments in a very melodious way that has been an identity for his music throughout the first three decades. Synthesizers started appearing in the 80s and he exploited them very intelligently in his compositions.

We will first take a look at his Bells-Flute unusual C&R’s:

1. The first segment is from the song Sindhiya Venmani from Poonthota Kavalkaran (Tamil 1988) and is a short 5 seconds of conversation between the bells and flute. The call from the flute is long and the response from the bells is short
2. The second segment is from the song Un Paarvaiyil from Amman Kovil Kizhakaala (Tamil 1986) – again a short 3 second conversation between the bells and flute
3. The third segment is also from the song Un Paarvaiyil from Amman Kovil Kizhakaala (Tamil 1986) – again a 7 second conversation between the bells and flute and is from the second interlude of the song
4. The fourth segment is from the song Raasave Unnai Naan from Thani Kaatu Raja (Tamil 1982) – this is from the prelude of this song and runs for about 13 seconds and the conversation is long for the bells that meet with a short flute response
5. The fifth segment is from the song Shenbagame Shenbagame – Sunanda version from Enga Ooru Paatukaran ( Tamil 1987) where the flute response is very short to the long call by the bells

Let’s hear the sample of Raja’s Bells-flute conversations…

Let’s look at some of Raja’s Bells-guitar conversations next.

1. The first segment is from the song Roja Ondru Mutham Ketkum Neram from Komberi Mookan (Tamil 1984) – the call is from the bells and the guitar responds to the call
2. The second segment is from the song Shenbagame Shenbagame from Enga Ooru Paatukaran ( Tamil 1987) – the call is from the guitar and the bells respond to the call

Let’s hear the sample of Raja’s bells- guitar conversations…



Let’s next analyze some of Raja’s Bells-violins conversations.

1. The first segment is from the song Ennullil Engo Engum from Rosapoo Ravikaikaari (Tamil 1979) The call is by the violins and the bells respond to the call
2. The second segment is from the song Oh Vasantha Raja from Neengal Kettavai (Tamil 1984). The call is a very short one by the bells and response is relatively a long one by the violins. In this segment, you can hear the C&R arranged 8 times over with minor variations to keep the interest of the listener
3. The third segment is fromt h song Thaalaatum Poongatru from the film Gopura Vasalile (Tamil 1990) where the call is a very lengthy call from the violins for which the bells respond very briefly. It is almost the opposite of segment 2, but the melodic arrangement makes this whole orchestration interesting
4. The fourth segment is from the song Unnaithaane from the film Nallavanukku Nallavan (Tamil 1984).  The call is a lengthy one by the violins and the response is almost of equal length by the bells.

Let’s hear the sample of Raja’s bells- violins conversations…



Let’s next hear some of Raja’s conversations with Bells and other instruments. This will be a medley of instruments working with bells.

1. The first segment is from the song Punchai Undu Nanjai Undu (Unnal Mudiyum Thambi Tamil 1989 or Rudraveena Telugu 1989). The call is by percussion and the response is by bells.  In this particular arrangement, both the call and the response are very short
2. The second segment is from the song Shenbagame Shenbagame – Sunanda version, from Enga Ooru Paatukaran ( Tamil 1987). The call is a lengthy one by the shehnai and the response by the bells is short
3. The third segment is from the song Sindhiya Venmani from Poonthota Kaavalkaran (Tamil 1988). The call is by the synthesizer for which the response is from bells (this is technically also from the synthesizer)
4. The fourth segment is from the song Oru Thanga Rathathil from Dharma Yudham (Tamil 1979). The call is a lengthy one by the bells and the response is a short one from the veena

Let’s hear the sample of Raja’s bells- and other instrument conversations…




These are top of mind examples of the C&R arrangement that Raja has done with Bells. With these segments on bells, it must be obvious that the innovation Raja did with the limited power of the 70s/80s synthesizers is remarkable.