Nearest Neighbor – Guitar and Synthesizer

Today, most guitar sounds in popular music are actually played on the synthesizer. However, there are some songs, where Raja has chosen tones that are close to a guitar and placed them next to an actual guitar. This requires an out-of-the-box thinking that can potentially backfire. While some may have, this post will include a few examples, where the experiment worked very well. As with all other nearest neighbor examples, there is no one technique that he follows. I will describe them along with the clips. 

The first 18 seconds of this clip is the song ‘Thene Thenpandi Meene’ from Udhaya Geetham (Tamil 1984). The guitar and the synthesizer play the same notes and still you can clearly hear them separately too. Thought he composer places them this way, it is not out of place at all. The second part is from the song, ‘Ponnil Vaanam Poothathu Kolangale’ from Villu Paatu Kaaraen (Tamil 1992). The composer chooses to have the guitar and the synthesizer as a parallel counterpoint, enhancing the beautiful composition. The last part of the clip is from the song ‘Vasantha Nilave’ from Sooryan (Malayalam 2007). In this clip, the composer arranges a call from the synthesizer for which the guitar responds.

 Let’s hear these Nearest Neighbors – Guitar and Synthesizer