Our journey
on uncovering intricate harmonies from obscurity continues…
Aaraaro
(Anand -
Tamil - 1987)
Raja had
very good introductory songs for both Ashaji and Lataji. His first song for
Lataji was 'Aaraaro' from Anand (Tamil 1987), which had a
below average performance.
This post is about one of the most soothing harmonies written by Raja for the song Aaraaro from Anand.
This post is about one of the most soothing harmonies written by Raja for the song Aaraaro from Anand.
Please do
the following to listen to this song and enjoying it: 1) Listen to it
uninterrupted once and I am sure you'll enjoy the melody and the flow of the
arrangement without the detail. 2) The second time around, please stop at the
places I have listed below and listen - you'll appreciate the genius better.
Listen to the prelude.
Harmony passage 01 : 0:09 to 0:30 secs - The whole passage has a simple Alto part in a synthesizer which is common for all the 21 seconds. The other parts - bass lines, flute, synthesizer, violin lines come and go. You can just play this 21 seconds in a loop and when they say in English, 'Peace and harmony', you'll understand why.
Harmony passage 02: 1:08 to 1:22 secs - Two harmony parts are played by the violins between 1:08 and 1:14 in preparation for the countermelody that follows. Violins play another melody on the other two parts with the two harmony parts continuing as before. Very melodious, simple and beautiful counter melody that is typical of Raja. There is no bragging here that he knows these techniques and the flow of this harmony passages is the highlight of this song. Right match to the queen of melody.
Harmony passage 03: 1:23 to 1:31 secs - The two foreground harmony parts are adjusted to become the background melody and the synthesizer now plays the foreground melody. You can simply call this as harmony and walk away and one is not mistaken. However, the switch of the violin parts between passage 02 to passage 03 defines the master from the boys.
Listen to the prelude.
Harmony passage 01 : 0:09 to 0:30 secs - The whole passage has a simple Alto part in a synthesizer which is common for all the 21 seconds. The other parts - bass lines, flute, synthesizer, violin lines come and go. You can just play this 21 seconds in a loop and when they say in English, 'Peace and harmony', you'll understand why.
Harmony passage 02: 1:08 to 1:22 secs - Two harmony parts are played by the violins between 1:08 and 1:14 in preparation for the countermelody that follows. Violins play another melody on the other two parts with the two harmony parts continuing as before. Very melodious, simple and beautiful counter melody that is typical of Raja. There is no bragging here that he knows these techniques and the flow of this harmony passages is the highlight of this song. Right match to the queen of melody.
Harmony passage 03: 1:23 to 1:31 secs - The two foreground harmony parts are adjusted to become the background melody and the synthesizer now plays the foreground melody. You can simply call this as harmony and walk away and one is not mistaken. However, the switch of the violin parts between passage 02 to passage 03 defines the master from the boys.
Harmony passage 04: 2:34 to 2:50 secs - the synthesizer plays a simple repetitive melody covering one part of the harmony and the flute joins the fray with its own counter melody. This is arranged as a three part (the bass lines obviously take one part). The flute melody is such a soothing one that you almost forget it is playing counter to the synthesizer. Raja does this in many of his compositions. Give one of the instruments the dominant part.
Let’s hear Aaraaro
…
Ore
murai un dharisanam (En Jeevan Paaduthu
- Tamil 1988)
This song is one of the fine soothing melodies of Janaki for Raja. Most of the commentary I have seen about this song is about the melody and Janaki's rendering. Nothing to take that away. However, if you observe closely, the orchestration is subtle and dense at the same time. The greatest victory of orchestration is it should disappear within the fabric of the song and not stand out as a separate entity. Even Raja does not succeed often in this aspect. This is one such gem that needs to be described as the voice and the melody camouflage orchestration so well.
Thanks to Kadar Majee for a quality upload.
This song is one of the fine soothing melodies of Janaki for Raja. Most of the commentary I have seen about this song is about the melody and Janaki's rendering. Nothing to take that away. However, if you observe closely, the orchestration is subtle and dense at the same time. The greatest victory of orchestration is it should disappear within the fabric of the song and not stand out as a separate entity. Even Raja does not succeed often in this aspect. This is one such gem that needs to be described as the voice and the melody camouflage orchestration so well.
Thanks to Kadar Majee for a quality upload.
0:00 to 0:24 seconds - Starts off with a beautiful harmony
of violins arranged in two parts and synthesizer playing the third
part (till 7 secs).Two sets of voices are arranged in harmony between 8 and 18
seconds for the final play by the synthesizer to the pallavi. These are back to back harmonies
with instrument and voices.
Interlude 1
Interlude 1
1:03 to 1:09 - this is a beautiful C&R between the flute and the
synthesizer
1:10 to 1:19 - this is another C&R between Janaki's humming and the flute
That's two back to back C&R arrangements.
1:20 to 1:32 - This is such a sweet but complex arrangement that only Raja can do. It is a unique PolyCare arrangement. The constant background part is that of the cellos. The foreground call melody is from the sitar. The response is from the flute. In between these two C&R phrases, Raja stops the background cellos and introduces the guitar as well. Put simply, it is something like this: PolyCaRe +guitar+PolyCare+guitar. These 10 seconds are worth in gold!
Interlude 2
1:10 to 1:19 - this is another C&R between Janaki's humming and the flute
That's two back to back C&R arrangements.
1:20 to 1:32 - This is such a sweet but complex arrangement that only Raja can do. It is a unique PolyCare arrangement. The constant background part is that of the cellos. The foreground call melody is from the sitar. The response is from the flute. In between these two C&R phrases, Raja stops the background cellos and introduces the guitar as well. Put simply, it is something like this: PolyCaRe +guitar+PolyCare+guitar. These 10 seconds are worth in gold!
Interlude 2
2:37 to 2:42 - this is a simple C&R between the sitar and the flute
2:56 to 3:04 - harmony passage with, synthesizer and flute
3:05 to 3:13 - harmony arranged with voices and violins
Such beautiful arrangements with sitar have become a thing of the past. There is no reason for overuse of the synthesizer and electronic instruments as it is hard to arrange them in a camouflaged manner. Another great walk in the part that will remain in memory for a while.
2:56 to 3:04 - harmony passage with, synthesizer and flute
3:05 to 3:13 - harmony arranged with voices and violins
Such beautiful arrangements with sitar have become a thing of the past. There is no reason for overuse of the synthesizer and electronic instruments as it is hard to arrange them in a camouflaged manner. Another great walk in the part that will remain in memory for a while.
Let’s hear Ore
Murai Un Dharisanam…
