Jathi - Unusual conversations

Raja had the opportunity to set to music several songs that had a dance background. Jathis are part of the dance tradition and Raja has considered it as another musical instrument, in my view. He has used them as part of his interludes, charanams and sometimes as part of his pallavis too.

Let’s explore Raja using jathi in C&R mode in this post. The segments are from the song Ther Kondu from Ennakkul Oruvan (Tamil 1984).

1. In the first 5 seconds, the call is by the jathi voice and the response is by the mirudhangam. Very routine in the dance circuit
2. Between 15 and 20 seconds, the call is by the flute and the response is by the jathi voice. Now, Raja takes standard practice from the dance circuit and replaces it with his own creativity
3. In the third segment after 27 seconds, Raja further embellishes this with the call from the violin and the response is by the jathi voice.

Let’s hear the sample of Raja’s unusual jathi based conversations ...

Chorus Unusual conversations

Raja uses chorus extensively in his interludes and we have analyzed it in a series of posts on how he has exploited voices in his compositions. We will see how he has exploited chorus and instruments such as flutes, guitars or violins in a C&R mode. First, let’s take a look at a sample of Raja’s unusual conversations between chorus and flutes.

1. There are two segments in this illustration. The first segment is from the song Madurai Marikozhundhu Vasam from Enga Ooru Paatukkaran (Tamil 1987). In this segment, you will hear rapid C&R interaction between the chorus and the flute – both the call and the response is short and is repeated three times
2. The second segment is from the song Malligaiye Malligaiye from Periya Veetu Panakkaran ( Tamil 1990). Here the chorus’s call is quite lengthy and the response from the flute is equally lengthy

Let’s hear the sample of Raja’s unusual Chorus-flute conversations...

Let’s next move on to chorus conversations with guitar.

1. The first segment is from the song Marakudaiyal from Manasinakkare (Malayalam 2003). The call is from the chorus played with the distortion guitar in the background. The response is a short one from an electric guitar (could be a synthesizer) and the C&R is repeated 4 times
2. The second segment is from the song Puzhaiorathil  from the film Adharvam (Malayalam 1989). There is a reversal of role here. The call is by the electric guitar and the response is a lengthy one from the chorus.

Let’s hear the sample of Raja’s unusual chorus-guitar conversations...

Let’s next move on to chorus conversations with violins.

1. The first segment is from the song Ponmane Kovan Eno from Oru Kaidhiyin Diary (Tamil 1983). The call is from the chorus set in scat mode and the response is from the violins
2. The second segment is from the song Poonkatre Theendhathe from the film Kunkuma Chimizh (Tamil 1985). The call again is from the chorus and the response is from the violins.  The chorus is set to Indian melody this time.

Let’s hear the sample of Raja’s unusual chorus-violin conversations...

These are top of mind examples. If one does deeper research, a number of other examples will surface.