Cleverfolk – a Raja genre

There is a widespread view among music listeners that Raja was responsible for popularizing folk music in films. In most interviews Raja vehemently denies it and quotes several examples of composers who have done folk compositions before him. However, this view somehow has stuck to the listener’s mind and he is unsuccessful in trying to reset it. Let’s step back and analyze why most listeners associate him with film based folk music.

Before diving deep, let’s get to a common understanding of what we mean by folk music. Here is a text book definition:

Folk music is the traditional and typically anonymous music that is an expression of the life of people in a community

In the Indian context, it is more associated with music traditions of the countryside. In other words, it is culturally very dependent on the language, rituals, and beliefs of the countryside. Unfortunately, this gets a bit twisted when applied to film music. For instance, any colloquial usage of the language is justified by most composers as giving a ‘folk feeling’ to the composition. The folk lyrics are hardly anonymous, but written by a lyricist who gets credit. Our journey is about analyzing Raja’s music contribution in the genre confused as ‘folk’, and not trying to dissert on the definition of folk music.

As I mentioned in some earlier sections on Raja’s folk work, he rarely composes folk music in its pure form. He flavors it in several ways and has created a genre called Cleverfolk in the process. His flavors are so nice, that most average listeners tend to associate all his flavors containing musical lyrics with a colloquial touch as Raja’s folk music. In my view, this is the reason, why even Raja has been unsuccessful in resetting this popular opinion.

How do we approach Cleverfolk and its various flavors? In order to navigate this genre, let’s have some fun with ice creams as they come in many flavors too. According to the food sciences department of University of Guelph, Canada, the top ice cream flavors are:

1. Vanilla

2. Chocolate

3. Chocolate Chip

4. Butter Pecan

5. Strawberry

6. Neapolitan

7. Cookies and cream

8. Rocky Road

9. Cookie Dough

10. Cherry Vanilla

11. Coffee

While the idea of ice cream flavors looks good, I do not want anyone to assume that I intend promoting Haagen Dazs or Dreyer’s or Baskin Robbins! Ice cream impressions are very pleasant and personal and more importantly very hard to reset. Many composers have served ice cream before (meaning folk music), but here is a composer that has served it in so many flavors that most consumers think that they are enjoying ice cream for the first time!

Let’s see the flavors that Raja serves and use the ice cream flavors to categorize them:

1. Cleverfolk unflavored: this is folk music presented in its native form without any major orchestration and other frills.
2. Vanilla flavored Cleverfolk: this category has folk lyrics presented with simple orchestration and tabla (simple or complex) for rhythm. Please bear in mind that tabla and shehnai, which feature in a number of Raja’s folk compositions are North Indian instruments.
3. Chocolate flavored Cleverfolk: this category has folk lyrics presented with camouflaged WCM interlude arrangement. You need to train your ear to unearth the WCM arrangement that is cleverly masked by the rhythm arrangement.
4. Chocolate Chip flavored Clever folk: this category has folk lyrics with WCM interlude arrangement (not camouflaged). Like the chocolate chips, the WCM arrangement simply stands out and you do not have to go searching!
5. Butter Pecan flavored Cleverfolk: this category has folk lyrics that have South Indian folk instruments used in the rhythm arrangement (not tabla).
6. Strawberry flavored Cleverfolk: this category has folk lyrics with camouflaged CCM based melody. Like strawberry, it has a distinct color that is easy to identify!
7. Neapolitan flavored Cleverfolk: this category has folk lyrics with western rhythm arrangement. This is easy to identify as the use of the Western drum kit or the synthpad makes it easy to identify and separate them.
8. Cookies and cream flavored Cleverfolk: this category has folk lyrics with mixed rhythm arrangement (Indian and Western). This is relatively easy to identify when you hear the track and not watch the associated video clip.
9. Rocky road flavored Cleverfolk: this category is folk lyrics with interludes set to rock music style arrangement. This is not a staple flavor and is available only as a special one. You have to go searching for this one.
10. Cookie dough flavored Cleverfolk: this category has folk lyrics with Jazz style interlude arrangement. This is not a staple flavor and is available only as a special one. You have to go searching for this one.
11. Cherry Vanilla flavored Cleverfolk: this category uses chorus arrangement which are inspired from folk music traditions. This is easy to identify because chorus arrangements are easy to recognize. However, Raja uses folk style chorus arrangement in tracks that have perfect (uses the language grammatically) lyrics also.
12. Coffee flavored Cleverfolk: this category is a catch all that has traces of any of the 10 other flavors! Let’s not explore if we would get Coffee flavor when we mix other flavors listed. You get this flavor when the ice cream is delivered to you in such a way, that you cannot simply call it any of the 10 other flavors.

There is no specific reason, why a particular flavor is chosen for a category – they are just random with the sole objective of making this analysis as fun. As folk involves language elements, I will stick mostly to Tamil compositions. I will include a few other languages where I feel confident that the composition is indeed folk. With every month, I will try and serve three flavors. As I mentioned in my rhythm series, these are top of mind examples based on a sample of 1,500 tracks from Raja’s work, which is roughly a 25% sample. Feel free to include examples that qualify that I may have missed. When someone serves you ice cream in 10 flavors when you went looking for one, he becomes the ice cream man. That’s my view on why even Raja cannot erase this opinion!

One more thing, before we jump into the flavors. There is bound to be some repetition between these sections and the rhythm stages we analyzed. There will also be some overlap with material that was presented earlier as Folk revisited. However, there will be lots of new material as well. As a departure from the past, audio clips presented with the flavors will be collages of some songs and not individual clips.

Unflavored Cleverfolk

This flavor has folk music presented in its native form without any major orchestration and other frills.

Needless to say, this is not hugely popular in film music as it lacks the ability to sell well. It’s still called Cleverfolk as it still does not fall into the strict definition of folk music where the lyricist in unknown. It does not use any clever orchestral arrangements and tells a simple story. Two examples come to my mind.

Vetalai Vetalai from Rosapoo Ravikaikari (1979) has almost no frills and tries to tell a story of an innocent villager who is going to the nearby town to buy things for his wedding. The song is embedded with dialogs where the other villagers tag along and ask this villager to buy some more things.

Vaaranea vaaranea vattamulla arakkan from Devathai (1997) is an interesting track and tries to bring out the village festival situation in its music. Complete with beliefs and traditions of the villagers in South India, it uses thavil and duffel/frame drum and urimi in its pallavi.

I am sure there are some more examples. However, these are hard to find.

Vanilla flavored Cleverfolk

This category has folk lyrics presented with simple orchestration and tabla (simple or complex) for rhythm. The flavor is by way of flute, guitar, bells, violins and synthesizer embellishments!

This is the most poplar flavor, where Raja uses freely his tabla based rhythm arrangement with flute, shehnai and violins throw n into the mix. The trouble with this flavor is that it has too many examples and is impossible to list them all. Some of the top of mind examples…

Maman Oru Naal Malligapoo Kuduthan, Uchchi Vagudeduthu from Rosapoo Ravikaikari (1979)

Oothakathu Veesayile, Vadatha Rosapoo from Gramathu athiyayam (1980). The Oothakathu Veesayile track has the bass lines standing out, though not as much as Naan Erikarai. All the usual Raja elements such as synthesizer, guitar arrangements are present. Vadatha Rosapoo is known for its guitar work.

Adi Aathadi, Rasave Unnai Nambi, Antha Nivathaan from Mudhal Mariyadhai (1985) – all these tracks have a colloquial lyric and has extensive orchestration by Raja. The track Antha Nivathaan even has some intricate counterpoints in its prelude!

Maalai Karukaiyil from Neethiyin Marupakkam (1985). This track uses violins and synthesizer extensively.

Chinnamani Kuyile, Poova Eduthu from Amman Kovil Kizhakale (1986). The first track uses a duffle but the second track is a simple tabla based song. Note that both these songs use guitar and synthesizer extensively which has nothing to do with folk.

Madurai Marikozhundhu Vaasam from Enga Ooru Paatukaran (1987). This track uses the shehnai, violins and synthesizer extensively.

Naan Erikarai from Chinna Thai (1992). This is a classic example of bass guitar usage by Raja where the bass guitar stands out. This song has a rich orchestration complete with synthesizer, violins and guitar.

Padasa kolusu from Thirumathi Palanisamy (1992). This track uses bells, violins extensively in its interludes.

Kannil Edho Minnaladichiruchu from Pon Vilangu (1993). This is a track with simple orchestration.

Aathorathile, Manu Tholuonnu, Rokkam Irukkara from Kaasi (2002).These are simple tunes with simple orchestration.

In the example s cited in this section, there is extensive use of non-folk instruments such as violins, guitar, bells, synthesizers to embellish the folk lyric. This adds flavor to the music and makes it very interesting.

The clip below has interludes from 4 tracks we discussed. Maaman Oru Naal, Oothakaathu veesaiyile, Raasave Unnai Nambi, and Aathorathile. All of them are backed by tabla and have extensive flute use. I avoided tracks that have heavy violin usage. That’s Raja’s Vennila flavored Cleverfolk…

Raja's rhythm innovation stage 14

This requires using only voices as rhythm for an entire track.

It is next to impossible to keep the listener interested with just voices still honoring all the constraints of a film music composition. You do not even have the freedom of an instrumental interlude. In other words, you need to have voices for rhythm, voices for interludes and the main melody obviously uses voices. It voices all over and yet, you need to still keep it interesting. This is the toughest experiment any composer can engage in. Raja comes out with flying colors with his track Naan Poranthu Vandhadhu from Maya Bazaar (1995). The rhythm backing with voices by Mano* is very impressive. Raja has used choruses in most places and the melody is so pleasing.

Notice the pace of the voice based rhythm backing of the charanams – it is not blindly set at the same interval – Raja has carefully thought through the rhythm lines, written it and carefully orchestrated it. This is an orchestration nightmare – you need the right voices, the right pitch, the right intervals and total coordination between the chorus singers. This is not something where you can mask errors under a heavy bass guitar or strings – there is only one option – perfection! Raja has not compromised in any way because of his use of just voices – the song has its interludes and the interludes are different from each other. In the charanam, the voices back the main melody and the song has a nice prelude and a postlude too. Raja uses even laughter as music! In most the tracks that involve vocal harmony, Raja is invariably involved in the singing in some parts at least (he does it even in Nandhalala (2009) tracks), and he does it with this track also.

Some parts of the prelude are violin lines sang between the female and the male voices. The bass lines are beautifully executed using voices. In the first interlude, after Raja sings his phrases, there is about 5 seconds of outstanding simulation of a lead and bass guitar by just voices – that’s a master stroke. This is repeated in the first 5 seconds of the second interlude too. However, this time around, you have female voices too. The female voice is also used to simulate typically a phrase where Raja would use either a trumpet or shehnai.

Please observe the laughter of a group that Raja uses at the end of the track. The pitch of the laughter keeps swinging – goes a notch below and then a notch high and then a notch below. Those who understand conducting will know that getting these three phrases to perfection is a nightmare.

In my view, this one track is enough to demonstrate the grasp that Raja has with Western harmony when it comes to voices. If I ever have to prove the genius of this man with just one track, I will just go for this one! The track proves the composer’s mastery over rhythm, harmony, melody, arrangement and total commitment to perfection. Now, who can set the bar higher than this?

Let's hear the master stroke from the genius. I have the second interlude, charanam and the third pallavi in the below track. You will also be able to appreciate the sweat that has gone into the conducting of the laughter too. I will leave you with this track, as it speaks more than any words can...

Errata: Mr. Napolean Selvaraj (Arunmozhi) clarified that he and Viji Manuel were the main singers behind the song and not Mano as I have stated here.

Concluding notes on Raja's mono rhythms

The approach that we took to analyzing Raja’s rhythms is by no means all encompassing. There are several rhythm innovations that Raja has demonstrated in his 5000 odd tracks that no ONE method can capture it all.

For instance, our approach does not capture some very complex rhythm experiments that Raja has done with time signatures: example, Thappu Thakilu MeLam from Manjeera Dhwani (1998 Malayalam). Or his heart beat rhythm experiment with the song Om Namaha in Geetanjali (1989 Telugu). Or his lap tapping rhythm of Paruvame in Nenjathai Killathe (1981). Or Thatharam from Guru (1997 Malayalam). Recently I uncovered a devotional film song where Raja has used some amazing rhythm arrangement. I am not touching on usual cinematic stuff such as a moving train’s, or bottle sound being used as rhythm – too many MDs have done it (it’s easier to list ones who haven’t). The point is, if you approach the subject from a different angle, you are bound to uncover a lot more.

We will get back to the topic of rhythms at a later stage covering off some rhythm instruments and Raja’s work on poly rhythms.

Fusion Demystified

I am sure some of you get lost with ‘knowledgeable’ Raja fans bragging about the fusion Raja does between various schools of music. These pundits use a lot of technical terminology of ‘ragams’, ‘scales’ etc, that you are not able to connect with. When they tell you about ‘Ninnukori’ or ‘Thoongatha Vizhigal’ from Agni Natchathiram (1989), you are lost as all you hear is a nice tune with heavy westernized rhythm work. However, you have a keen ear and can at least tell a folk number from a Western number or from a Carnatic number.

Raja has done great service by demonstrating what fusion is so that a lay person can easily comprehend. Here are four examples, where anyone who has a good musical taste (no formal training required) can easily understand how the various musical systems can beautifully co-exist. In other words, what musical fusion is all about...

Suramodhamu from Aditya 369 (Telugu 1991) is an excellent such number. To start with, the song sounds like Carnatic (set to Kalyani ragam) and towards the end, SPB jumps in and the rhythm arrangement switches from mirudhangam to drums. Even in the lyric, it talks about rock-n-roll! How did Kalyani become rock-n-roll? Let’s not worry about it. That’s fusion example 1.

That was easy, wasn't it?

There is a duet version of Vanamellam Shenbagapoo in the film Nadodi Pattukaran (1992). This starts off with a female voice in a Carnatic setting (set to ragam Madhayamavathi) and everything goes with mirudhangam and the works that you are led to believe that you are ready for a Cutcheri. From the second charanam, SPB jumps in with full folk and the rhythm switches to a folk melody based rhythm! When did madhayamavathi switch to folk? Leave it to the master! That’s fusion example 2.

Let's hear Vanamellam Shenbagapoo...

Again, simple stuff, isn't it?

There is an unassuming song by Jayachandran which begins ‘Naadirukkum Nilamaiyile’ in Ullam Kavarntha Kalvan (1987). Raja freaks out showing what fusion is all about – the song starts off as folk, switches to Carnatic (set to ragam Shankarabharanam). Touches on Western phrases (rum bum tu ru etc.) and finally switched back to folk! He liberally uses tabla, mirudhangam, ghatam and also demonstrates various emotions - all in one song. That’s fusion example 3.

Let's hear Naadirukkum Nilamaiyile...

In the hands of the master, everything gets easier. He does not even fuss about it!

Another example where the fusion is very obvious is En Jodi Manja Kuruvi from Vikram (1986). The song starts off with a Western rhythm arrangement and stays that way till it gets to the second charanam. When SPB goes ‘Eru pidikum’, the rhythm arrangement is suddenly the tabla with typical folk type arrangement! It’s easy for anyone to see the difference in arrangement and how Raja fuses two schools of music so flawlessly. That’s fusion example 4.

Let's hear En Jodi Manja Kuruvi...

I am not going to repeat myself anymore. In these 4 examples, Raja shows how easily he can switch between the three systems he is an expert, Carnatic, folk and Western.

We must all thank this genius for taking the mystery out of the fusion business. All the four tracks appear so effortless for this gifted composer.

No more confusion about fusion!

Raja's rhythm innovation stage 13

This requires using a complex set of rhythm patterns with both Indian and Western rhythm throughout the track – all components of the track.

This is the stage that is hard to scale, as you must have a complete mastery over rhythm arrangement. In reality, when I heard a couple of tracks where Raja has demonstrated this level of sophistication, I started tracking backwards on a possible journey that Raja might have made to get here. This is dead serious experimentation, where you must have total control over not just writing music but conducting it very well with a talented orchestra. This is a stage of both genius and hard work. I am sure there are a few more tracks that Raja might have done this, but I am aware of two, one each from Tamil and Malayalam. The Tamil one is set on a jazz setting with a folk lyric and the Malayalam one for a dance set to a Hindustani flavored tune.

Thangakili Kaiyil Vacha from Manam Virumbudhe Unnai (1999) – this song is has a folk lyric, but set to a mix of jazz and folk style rhythm arrangement. Let’s dive a bit deeper into this track.

1. The track starts off with an unassuming prelude with SPB’s voice accompanied by no instruments. You have no idea of the experiment that follows.
2. The prelude and the pallavi are set to a jazz rhythm in western drums (W1) – the lyric is very folky. Let’s call this particular rhythm pattern as W1.
3. The interlude 1 is interesting – very modern jazz arrangement complete with trumpets, chorus. The rhythm pattern continues with the W1 arrangement from the pallavi for almost all the 30 seconds, but for the last 4 seconds. The composer has a beautiful transition with only claps as rhythm. Let’s call this W2.
4. The charanam 1 is a very interesting. The charanam is divided into 8 phrases. The first six phrases are set on a 6/8 Indian tabla arrangement (I3). For the last two phrases, the composer switches to an ultra fast jazz beat complete with the bass drum (W4). The transition between the charanam and pallavi is done by just adjusting the tempo of the jazz beat cycle. I have not heard another Indian film song that uses this jazz technique.
5. Interlude 2 is equally interesting. It starts off with a 5/8 Indian tabla rhythm arrangement (I5) for about 20 seconds. There is about 10 seconds of no rhythm with just play of synth and flute. The last 5 seconds, the composer switches the arrangement to a 5/8 jazz rhythm (W6) before turning control over to the charanam.
6. Charanam 2 works on a different meter for the Indian rhythm. Structurally, both the charanams are similar. The composer chooses a faster 6/8 arrangement (I7) for the first 6 phrases. The last two phrases are set to the same rhythm arrangement as charanam 1 (W4).
7. Pallavi 3 works on the same jazz rhythm arrangement as the other pallavis. However, the composer throws claps into the mix creating another rhythm pattern (W8).
8. In summary, here is the rhythm flow by the composer: W1-W2-I3-W4-W1-I5-W6-I7-W4-W8. In all, the composer has chosen 5 Western rhythm patterns and 3 Indian in a single track. The flow of the melody is in no way affected by this behind-the-scenes experimentation.
9. By now, it should be clear, what it takes to set this bar. He just reset his own bar higher by several orders of magnitude. In today’s world of loops and libraries, here is still a composer, who is innovative to the core!
10. You start wondering if this composition is Jazz or folk. Let's say it the Raja way: How to Name it?

Let's hear the prelude and the pallavi 1 of the track. Points 1 and 2 are applicable...

Let's next hear the interlude 1 full of Jazz, sax play followed by claps. Point 3 is applicable....

Let's next hear charanam 1, where the composer mixes the Indian and Western rhythm arrangement. Point 4 is applicable...

Let's next hear interlude 2, where the composer again throws another innovative mix of Indian and Western rhythm separated by some nice synth based counterpoint. Point 5 is applicable...

Let's next hear charanam 2, where the composer uses a slightly different Indian rhythm arrangement compared to charanam 1. Point 6 is applicable...

Let's next hear the final pallavi 3. The composer throws in some chorus, claps to complete the track. Point 7 is applicable...

Now, is this Rajazz or Jazzolk?

In Malayalam – Ghanashyama Vrindaranyam from Kochu Kochu Sandhoshangal (2001) is a mesmerising dance track. This is a track from the first Sathyan-Raja combination film. It is not clear what Sathyan had in mind when he narrated this song situation to Raja. Both the dance tracks in this film, Shivakara Damaruka and Ghanashayama Vrindaranyam can blow anyone’s mind for its orchestration. Let’s dive deeper into this track…

1. The prelude is completely done with synthesizer and is about 30 seconds and is backed by a drums rhythm – a slow 6/8 rhythm (W1). You get absolutely no inkling of the Raja experiment that is about to follow.
2. The pallavi is interesting to say the least. The pallavi has 6 phrases and the rhythm pattern alternates between Indian (I2) and Western (W3) in this fashion: I2-W3-I2-W3-I2-W3. It’s pretty easy not to observe this, as Raja arranges the transitions so smoothly that the melody is intact and unaffected. Note that there is no splitting of words to accommodate the rhythm intervals. That’s the work of a genius arranger and composer!
3. Interlude 1 is fully backed by the tabla. It uses two patterns, let’s call this I4 and I5. The second pattern I5 is set to a Hindustani flavor, when only the tabla plays.
4. Charanam 1 is structured with alternating rhythm patterns very similar to the pallavi 1. The charanam has 6 phrases. It alternates as W3-I2-W3-I2-W3-I2. Again, the flow of the melody is completely unaffected.
5. Pallavi 2 is set fully to Indian rhythm – I2. Please notice the way the transition from the charanam 1 to pallavi 2 is arranged – it flows as a continuous Indian rhythm (I2).
6. Interlude 2 is completely different from interlude 1. It starts off with a jathi recital by a male voice (Unnikrishnan?) which is backed by the congo drums (I6), followed by a flute and synth play followed by female humming.
7. Charanam 2 is structured with alternating rhythm patterns very similar to the charanam 1. The charanam has 6 phrases. It alternates as W3-I2-W3-I2-W3-I2.
8. Pallavi 3 is different from Pallavi 1 or Pallavi 2. The pallavi is repeated twice. The rhythm pattern for the first occurrence of pallavi is backed by mirudhangam (I7). The pallavi is backed by a loud bass drum and thimila (I8) for the second and final rendering of the pallavi.

The orchestration and conducting of this track requires several things: a) very talented orchestra b) extremely tight timing c) very good conductor and arranger and d) a genius composer with tireless energy.

With a melody such as this track, the composer could get away with a simple 6/8 rhythm and still deliver a hit track. This shows Raja’s commitment and an endless enthusiasm to experiment. You need to have imagination to set the bar so high, let alone achieving it.

This track qualifies for many of the stages that I have listed so far. The pallavi’s are arranged differently within the same song. The interludes are arranged differently. Only the charanam’s have a similar pattern.

In summary, here is the rhythm flow of this track: W1-I2-W3-I2-W3-I2-W3-I4-I5- W3-I2-W3-I2-W3-I2-I6- W3-I2-W3-I2-W3-I2-I7-I8. That’s Raja’s genetic code of rhythm arrangement for 4 minutes!

Let's now experience it bit by bit. Let's first hear the unassuming prelude and pallavi 1 with the mixed rhythm arrangement. Points 1 and 2 are applicable...

Let's hear interlude 1. Point 3 is applicable...

  Let's next hear charanam 1 and pallavi 2. Notice that every phrase has a switching rhythm arrangement, very similar to the pallavi. Point 4 and 5 are applicable...

Let's finally hear the interlude 2, charanam 2 and pallavi 3 where the composer throws some more innovation into the mix. Point 6, 7 and 8 are applicable...

In both these tracks, Raja easily shows that he can easily throw 7 or 8 rhythm patterns into a song and create a very pleasing melody, folk, Jazz, dance song with a majority of his listeners not noticing. It’s hard to figure how this man is wired! I am sure that he is not making any extra bucks for this extra effort – he just gifts such gems for us to preserve!