Techno Baroque – a melody perspective

Raja has been very successful with melodies in the 21st century as he was in the previous century. Most listeners do not pay enough attention to his very nice synth work. In reality not much has changed from a melody perspective other than usage of fewer instruments due to the trend in the industry. Raja has been using synthesizers for a very long time. Most of the flute and violin ludes from the 80s and 90s were accompanied by their synth cousins. The traditional instruments have become cousins to the synth mainstream. Other than this switch, all is good in the melody world. He has experimented this all along the 90s and now has the right mix that makes his tracks so attractive and hard to replicate. There is an increased emphasis riding on his melody composition abilities. 


Let’s start with some examples. Oru Chiri Kandaal – Ponmudipuzhayorathu (2005 Malayalam) is an outstanding melody. The prelude is based on a synth violins. The rhythm is based on a simple techno 4/4. The pallavi is backed by synth violins. Observe the synth rhythms – it has the typical sustainance that is typical of techno (reverb). Observe the pallavi – apart from the usual Raja bass, there is also synth bass – another technique from the Techno world.


The first interlude – starts off with synth violins in counterpoint with bells. Nice synth violin work follows – the interlude is shorter than a 80s interlude. All regular strings are replaced with synth throughout the charanam. This is not just a mechanical 4/4 – it has all the Raja embellishments and the bass guitar is as prominent as ever. As with the pallavi, the bass guitar now has its synth cousin accompanying it. 


The second interlude starts off with a beautiful guitar and veena in counterpoint mode. Control is given back to the synth violins and flute – again a short interlude. The final transition to the charanam 2 is done beautifully by a synth flute. Raja chooses the real veena as opposed to the synth cousin that we hear constantly these days. The second charanam is orchestrated the same way as the first. This track is as good as any of Raja’s top 80s/90s melody track.


Let's hear this wonderful melody...





Shwashathin Thalam from Achuvinte Amma (2005 - Malayalam) is another outstanding melody.  The prelude is fully written with synthesized music. This would have been typically done with violins by the 80s Raja. The pallavi is backed by keyboard as well as synth violins. 
Observe the pallavi’s synth backing. Think for a moment that these are played by a string section of about 8 violins. You can hear clearly a lead violin and the sort of hiss that accompanies it to generate the feeling of many strings playing together. This is called ‘noise’ filter addition in the techno world. There are several forms of noise filters available with most VST (Virtual Studio Technology) software packages and they have to be used carefully. The techno artists use it to get some crazy funky effects with their heavy drum loops. Raja uses it for his purpose. Nothing goes thru the Raja shop and emerges the same way!


The interlude 1 is very interesting – it starts off with nice flute work in counter with synth violins. Reminds you of the Raja’s 80s. But he embellishes it further with keyboard!  This is followed by his signature synth violins. The track is fully backed by synth pad based rhythm. Pay attention to the synth pad rhythm closely. This is not played the same way as you hear in most TV shows. The rhythm is further enhanced with VST effects that sound like a bubble at the end of the beat cycle. 


The second interlude is starts off with keyboard work followed by a call and response arrangement between synth violins and keyboard. The final handoff to charanam 2 is done the Raja way – brief bursts of synth violins with brief rests. Throughout the track, the synthesizers create a hiss that was there with Cheeni Kum tracks as well. 





The charanams are backed by synth violin and some synth sounds that appear like the old wah wah pedal for the guitar. The synthpad rhythm is accompanied by finger snaps that are machine generated. Pay attention to the last 2 seconds of the charanam to the pallavi transition – this bass line cannot be played with a regular guitar – you get the sense of a note that is literally slipping rapidly down a valley – this is done by playing with delays and filtering – you hear these as funny slip beats in the techno world. Raja uses it for transition between a charanam and a pallavi – very innovative use of a VST technique for Indian music. He leaves his own stamp behind in his usual majestic way. This track was done in 2005. There are several Bollywood songs which are still using techno as such and they sound so foreign! 






Mandarapoo Mooli from Vinodha Yatra (2007 – Malayalam) is another outstanding melody (set to Kalyani) fully set to synth rhythm. The prelude is fully synth play with flute. The bass guitar work in this track is outstanding. Again observe the use of selective noise filters as in the ‘Swashanthin Thaalam’ song in the prelude.


The pallavi is backed by the synth rhythm along with the rhythm pad. Notice, that this is not the standard 4x4 of the techno world. Raja uses the time signature he requires for his Indian melody. 


The handoff from the pallavi to the interlude has the usual Raja stamp written all over it. He uses the synth rhytm to bridge both of them so seamlessly. I cannot think of a better application of the synth rhythm for Indian music – even some of his old tabla based melodies show deliberate transition management. The first interlude is starts off with synth and bells. This is followed by further synth work and followed by guitar. Briefly, you can notice that for about 3 seconds or so, Raja cuts out all synth rhythm to show how the synth pad alone would sound. 


The second interlude starts off with rhythm and flute. This is followed by flute and synth again and ends up with some further work with synth. In the 80s/90s all the synth was done with a whole bank of violins. This track can easily make it to Raja’s top 100 melodies.


Also, please note between 0:08 and 0:20 seconds, in the interlude clip, the flute and the synth playing in good old fugue mode – what else to call it other than Techno baroque?


Let's hear the ludes of Mandarapoo Mooli ...







The charanam is backed by synth fully. Notice the use of synth flanging – another techno trick - when Swetha hums   Notice the last bar when Swetha descends to the pallavi – Raja does not use his old techniques – 1) cut out all strings 2) Use of percussive time management or 3) use choir to back the falling notes. Instead, he uses beautiful synth notes with a big delay to ascend opposite to Swetha’s singing.  Even if this was a patch, it is very innovative application to an Indian melody.    


Let's hear the 1st charanam and second pallavi of Mandarapoo Mooli ...







Mella Oornthu Oornthu from Nandhalala (2010 - Tamil) uses a lot of guitar and keyboard throughout the track. The prelude starts off with some great guitar and keyboard work. The keyboard and guitar are used to back the pallavi also (no violins). Observe the use of a brush and the kick drum in the pallavi and has no synth bass accompaniment. He uses very nice female choir to back the pallavi – this is rare in his 21st century compositions.


Interlude 1 starts off with the keyboard and bass guitar followed by chorus. Notice that the synth cousin is playing along with the real bass guitar. Charanam 1 is backed by synth violins and keyboard. The only thing that is a bit ordinary is the use of synth violins to back Raja in the charanams – it definitely does not make you sit up and take notice.


Interlude 2 has some very nice guitar and keyboard counterpoint to start. This is followed by a short keyboard work before transferring control to the charanam 2.


This track is like the old guitar melodies of Raja such as Alli Thantha Vanam from Nandu (1981) or Poonthalir Aada from Paneer Pushpangal (1981). This time around, he keeps traditional violins out and gives importance to keyboard. This is perhaps the least techno track in this section!


Let's hear the ludes of Mella Oornthu Oornthu...







In the same film (Nandhalala), Raja has created another outstanding melody – Kai Veesi Nadakura. This track starts off with some nice keyboard prelude followed by nice flute work.  The pallavi is fully supported by keyboard. This is a different melody with several singers. Notice that the vocal melody rides on top of the synth melody which plays in a loop. Notice  the last two bars. There is an additional synth melody the composer throws on the left channel while the synth melody continues on the right channel. This is Raja – unlike his competitors who look for the multi-layered electronic music (more on this later) to create a single effect, Raja layers multiple melodies on top of each other to create a multi-effect musical experience. He finds ways within the electronic music world to create his musical imagery and not let the electronic world control him. Once you understand the musical imagery of Raja, you can appreciate any genre he touches – it is a kaleidoscope of ideas drawn from several musical schools, but the imagery is not coming out of a random shake but clearly designed pattern of ideas.


Interlude 1 is interesting. It has synth violins, flute and keyboard in total synth! This is followed by flutes that turn control over to the charanam. 


Interlude 2 is different. It starts off with synth flute. This is followed by the synchronized synth violins, keyboard and flute. The second charanam is orchestrated similar to the first one. 


Let's hear the ludes of Kai Veesi Nadakura...







The entire charanam is backed by the synchronized synth violins, flutes and keyboard. There are at least 4 synthesizers (or rack modules) in action in my guess. The first 4 bars are backed by a combo of synth violins. Flutes, bass and piano. The middle 4 bars have only the synth bass and keyboard. The last 4 bars are supported by two synth keyboards playing on the left and right channels. Notice that the melody played by the two synth keyboards (perhaps two rack modules) are different. Notice the pitch and tempo of both these melodies. Say hello to Bach in the background! Who will think of this, other than Raja? Who said Bach and baroque is forgotten in the Techno world?


Let's hear the first charanam and second pallavi of Kai Veesi Nadakura... Pay particular attention to the last 4 bars...






Thendralum Maruthu from Valmiki (2009 – Tamil) is another nice melody track fully set to synth rhythm. The prelude is a nice synth melody – throughout the track, there is very nice solo violin usage.


The pallavi is nicely backed by keyboard and flute. The bass guitar is in full play. Interlude 1 is interesting – a solo violin plays along with synth violins. A couple of bars is played with two solo violins taking turns so nicely (I call one as foreground and another as background) with the synth violins. Stunning work of real and electronic strings - 17th century and 21st century beautifully coexist!  (24 secs to 52 secs in the clip) The transition to the charanam is brilliant with very nice play of solo violin and the synth keyboard playing exactly the same melody. One of the finest interludes of 2009! The charanam is backed by synth bass and keyboard.


The second interlude starts off with keyboard work and some complex rhythm work. The second charanam is orchestrated the same way as the first.


Let's hear the ludes of Thendralum Maruthu...







Shrungara from Prem Kahani (2009 – Kannada) is another interesting melody. It starts off with some nice keyboard work and supported by synth rhythm. The synth rhythm that Raja uses in this track is becoming more common – there is a keyboard-like sound accompanying every beat on the synthpad. More on this in the next section. There is no need to back the main melody with any other instrument as a result. Did you observe that the first 18 seconds of this track is a wonderful cell phone ring tone, second to none?


The first interlude starts off with a synth followed by some nice synth violins in counterpoint with synth! The second interlude starts off with only the rhythm part followed by some synth work. Finally, the keyboard based veena play is interesting and some nice synth flute work.


Let's hear the ludes of Shrungara...







Let’s analyze the charanam next. With the exception of the bass guitar, no other instrument accompanies the singer which is typical of Raja tracks – no detailed string sections backing the melody. However, the bass guitar sings its own melody, as it with most Raja compositions! Notice the note at which the bass guitar leaves the charanam – does it not remind you of ‘Naan Yerikarai Melirukka’ from Chinna Thai?


Let's hear the first charanam and second pallavi of Shrungara... Pay attention to the transition with the synth bass...







All these demonstrate that Raja’s focus is more on his ability to compose melodies. The interludes are smaller than before and most of it is synthesized computer generated music. All the seven tracks discussed in this section are great melodies, and have heavy use of synthesizers and synthpads. Though interludes are smaller than before, but are still catchy. Baroque is not forgotten. There are several counterpoints, fugue techniques in only the tracks listed. This is not layered studio music created with Fruit Loop Studio. 


Please do not interpret my commentary and conclude that Raja has put away his traditional violins and other strings to the back burner. He is very selective about its usage. Here are two examples from the last 9 years, where he has extensively used real violins and cellos in his compositions: 1) Thoorigai Indri from Ajantha (2007) is a wonderful orchestration treat using real violins with the synthesized ones with cellos and double basses  2) Enge Nee Sendralum from Kannukkulle (2009) uses solo, regular violins, synth violins and cellos.


In essence, Raja sounds pleasantly different! His bass lines, his baroque is all intact (that’s the way the man is wired). His tabla has disappeared and he uses violins, double basses and cellos very selectively. His shehnai, veena, sitar have been replaced with the synthesizer.


In order to appreciate Techno music, it is important to get a good understanding of the world of electronic music technology. We will next take a deep dive to understand the components of electronic music technology. 


After that, we will return to analyzing the Raja’s rhythm shift in the Techno world.

A simple introduction to Techno Baroque

As with polyphony and other WCM ideas, we will go from the known to the unknown. We have all heard Raja’s great conventional baroque compositions from the 80s. Let’s look at some his earlier works and also its newer techno baroque versions to understand the difference.


Ananda Ragam from Paneer Pushpangal (1981) – this is a classic Raja composition from the 80s, where he used a whole bank of violins in harmony and created this track which is still difficult to reproduce. Set to Carnatic ragam of Simmendramadhyamam, this has been one of those all time favorite for most Raja fans. 


Let’s hear the original composition…





Let’s hear En Nenjin Ragam from Udhayam (2006) – this carefully avoids use of tabla that was extensively used in the original composition. The prelude uses the violins as in the original composition. However, the violins backing Shreya’s voice through the pallavi are all synthesized ones. The first interlude has synthesizers backing traditional violins everywhere and the flute work remains as in the original composition.  The second interlude is done mostly with synthesizer supporting the original composition (the second and first interlude were done with traditional violins only in the 80s composition). Throughout both the charanams the violins backing the singers are synthesized violins. Raja had used bells extensively in the original composition and this remains the same in the 2006 rebirth. Also, Raja avoids the shehnai (he replaces them with santoor) that was used in the first interlude in the 80s composition.


Let's hear the 21st century version...





Let’s hear Jyotheyale from Geetha (1980) – one of the famous melodies of Raja from the 80s.  This is a nice duet fully written with guitar, violins, bells and flute. The pallavis are fully backed by conventional violins. The first interlude is a great example of harmony of violins and uses vocal humming. There is some synth and bells along with the violins. The track uses drums throughout for rhythm. The second interlude starts off with sliding violins and has some nice bells work and some great violin and flute harmony.


Let’s hear the original composition…







Now, let’s hear Jaane Do Naa from Cheeni Kum (2007). This has the same melody as Jyotheyale and uses keyboards extensively in the piano mode. The rhythm arrangement is with synth pads and is completely different from the Jyotheyale and the tempo is a little faster. The first interlude uses all synthesized violins and keyboard, preserving the harmony elements. The charanams have synth violins backing Shreya’s voice. The second interlude is structured differently from the original and uses synthesized violins throughout. 


Let's hear the 21st century version...





Next, let’s look at the track – Kulzhaloothum Kannanukku from Mella Thiranthadhu Kadhavu (1986).  The prelude is famous for its flute work. The first interlude is a simple one by Raja standards, which has simple orchestration. The charanams are backed by regular violins. The second interlude starts off with a violin/flute counterpoint and has some synth play followed by violins and bells. The rhythm is traditional conga drums for the pallavi and tabla for the charanams.


Let’s hear the original composition…





Baatein Hawa from Cheeni Kum (2007) has the same melody as Kuzhaloothum. Notice the strings are fully replaced by synthesized violins. Also, the congas are replaced by a 4/4 synth pad. The bass guitar does its usual work as in all Raja compositions. The first interlude works off two synth violins in counterpoint, This is followed by a synthesized violins in counter to the synth violins. The charanam is fully backed by synth violins. The charanam also is backed by a 4/4 synthpad rhythm. The second interlude has the rock guitar and synth performing some wonderful harmony, followed by some nice jazz play with the sax. Finally control is transferred to the charanam by some great piano style keyboard play. In the earlier Raja compositions, the piano was always suppressed by his majestic violins – not anymore in the techno baroque world.


Let's hear the 21st century version...





Some of you may be thinking – this is cheating! Here is a Raja fan trying to pass his recycling of old tunes as a new genre!


This is just an introduction and we will see in the next few sections, the workings of this new genre on tracks that have no precedent. No recycling – just new genre! 


In summary, this is what we have seen in our introduction:

 

1. Raja replaces his rhythm with simple 4/4 synthpad based rhythms
2. Raja replaces elaborate violin sections with synth violins
3. He switches to synth flute where appropriate
4. He maintains strict harmony and does his usual counterpoint work
5. He throws an occasional new genre into the mix (most of Raja’s Jazz sax work in Cheeni Kum is a good example)
6. He keeps his bass lines intact
7. He keeps his bells intact
8. Some of his usual guitar work is replaced by keyboards
9. Piano style keyboard work is given more prominence.

Techno Baroque - A Raja genre

There is an old joke with orchestration:

When ain’t baroque, don’t fix it.

The opposite is quite true with Raja. He brings in Baroque style composition regardless of the era he operates. Raja has been criticized by both his fans and detractors for his excessive use of synthesized music in the last 10 years or so. There have also been allegations that his music has become outdated and his new experiments are not working. In this blog, I have maintained that he is as modern as ever and have always provided examples from his entire career span.

If you look at the criticism on the surface, it may appear to make sense. A few scratches and the underlying reality shines. When the biggest banners and directors have deserted Raja, how is he able to survive with small time directors? In 2009, he completed about 18 films in all major Indian languages – Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. This counts only films that were released. There is only so much your past reputation can buy. There must be some truth to what’s driving one of the most prolific composers of 2009 – few film music composers have such a track record to show after almost 34 years in the competitive film industry. The truth is he is indeed very modern and is set to compete with everyone including composers the age of his grandson!

As usual, we will argue about his new technique that is making him successful in a different way. Here is a musical genius who is reborn in his own lifetime. This series of discussions will speak to his new tools and approach to music making in the 21st century.

Raja in the 80s composed songs making Bach proud (he considers Bach as his mental guru). He started moving away from just guitar, violins and flute to the modern electronic sound with the Roland/Korg synthesizers. Without exception, his compositions between 1985 and 1995 feature a lot of synthesizer, bells. Despite all the modernity, he still wrote meticulously the bass lines and stuck to his short score format – it was four part nevertheless. He continued to make Bach and Hendel proud. Little would have Bach imagined that a villager from Asia will apply his ideas 300 years later using modern electronics six ways to Sunday.

After 1995, he started using a lot of synth drums and sequencers as part of his composition but still stuck to his baroque fundamentals. Slowly, as he replaced some of his violins, tabla, shehnai with his synth sounds, most listeners were unable to keep pace. The criticisms are very loud and were similar to the ridicule he went through in his early days as a composer. His earlier attempts with fusing CCM and WCM were criticized even more than his synth sounds of today. We did not hear the decibel levels of those noises, as the amplifier of noises – internet, was absent. At least, some of today’s critics blunt their criticism as they give his long career of success due credit. In the late 70s, he had no track record to defend as a composer – he faced fireworks from both the CCM and WCM world. Now, he sounds very Techno and jarring to the 90s and early 21 century listeners. Also, in this time period, assembling large string ensembles became hard as most musicians switched to the new electronic sound. This makes life difficult for someone who is used to writing scores for large string/brass/wind ensembles. Any other composer would have packed his bags and left. Raja seems to have experimented and found a new direction to his music. His experiments in Malayalam films with synth sound has turned out to be great and in the last nine years or so, (2001 onwards), he has settled into a new genre of music I call Techno Baroque.

How can you have Techno and Baroque together?

That must be a crazy concoction! There is no genre with that name, but I use it to describe what Raja has been doing in the last 9 years (as of 2010) or so with some of his music. We all understand the Baroque style of music composition and Raja has been doing this for a few decades. We have also described it in great detail in the section ‘What’s the fuss about harmony – Part 1’. Now, what’s this Techno genre of music?

Techno features an abundance of percussive, synthetic sounds, studio effects used as principal instrumentation, and, usually, a regular, 4/4 beat usually in the 130 - 140 bpm range, sometimes faster, but rarely slower. Some techno compositions have strong melodies and bass lines, but these features are not as essential to techno as they are to other dance genres, and it is not uncommon for techno compositions to deemphasize or omit them.

There are many ways to make techno, but a typical techno production is created using a compositional technique that developed to suit the genre's sequencer-driven, electronic instrumentation. While this technique is rooted in a Western music framework (as far as scales, rhythm and meter, and the general role played by each type of instrument), it does not typically employ traditional approaches to composition such as reliance on the playing of notes, the use of overt tonality and melody, or the generation of accompaniment for vocals. Some of the most effective techno music consists of little more than cleverly programmed drum patterns that interplay with different types of reverb and frequency filtering, mixed in such a way that it's not clear where the instrument's timbres end and the added effects begin.

We have a big problem – please note the two statements that can cause a lot of grief in this definition:

• it does not typically employ traditional approaches to composition such as reliance on the playing of notes
• a regular, 4/4 beat usually in the 130 - 140 bpm range

That does not cut it with Raja. He needs to have his Baroque style notes written for music at any time – so he will employ a traditional approach. The techno musicians were weak in writing score sheets – instead, they improvised, sticking to some convenient limitations. Rhythms – 4/4 is too simplistic for Raja – throw that out of the mix. 130-140 bpm range does not suit Indian film music that well as it can get monotonous and pretty hard with lyrics. And throw traditional melody composition on top of all this drawn from CCM, WCM and folk – now, you got the new genre – Techno Baroque.

Notice two more important ideas from the Techno world that has left most of his fans and detractors equally confused:

• A little more than cleverly programmed drum patterns that interplay with different types of reverb and frequency filtering
• It's not clear where the instrument's timbres end and the added effects begin

There is a lot of confusion about some of the rhythm patterns and instrument timbres that Raja uses recently (2009/10) as a result it gets very hard to take apart some of his recent compositions. It’s pretty hard to analyze tracks of Pazhassi Raja (2009) or Kadha Thodharunnu (2010). Analyzing some of the karaoke tracks of Kadha Thodarannu clearly shows how he is easily able to mix genres and blend them easily – the song ‘Aaro Padunnu’ has the rhythm set to techno, the keyboard set to modern electronic Jazz and the melody is still Indian! It takes a lot of experimentation to get to where Raja has got. In my view, he has not only taken a wild beast called Techno and domesticated it, but also trained it to coexist with his other farm animals! To put it otherwise, here is the new bar he has set for all Indian composers! Baroque style music by itself is quite boring beyond a point unless you embellish it with other melody elements such as CCM, folk techniques. Techno by itself is quite monotonous and not so pleasant to the average Indian film music listener. An appropriate mix of these two schools of music – one from the 17th century and another from the 20th century is something only an ultra modern musical genius can think of. Welcome to the new Raja!

Cherry Vanilla Cleverfolk

This category uses chorus arrangements which are inspired from folk music traditions. Chorus arrangement is a staple technique of Raja and he has used it on every genre he has worked with. However, he uses both folkish chorus as well as Western choral arrangement in different combinations.

Kannodu Kannu from Paalooti Valartha Kili (1976) is a nice folk tune supported well by chorus.

Kothamalli Poove from Kallukkul Eeram (1980) has the first interlude with folk style chorus set in a farm setting. The second interlude has a similar chorus arrangement.

Megam Karukkaiyile from Vaidehi Kaathirunthaal (1984) is a masterpiece of sorts. As discussed earlier in the section

‘Introduction to polyphony’, the male and female choir alternates between Western and folk arrangement throughout the track. It is arranged as a call and response type arrangement.

Poo pookum maasam from Varusham 16 (1989) – the track starts off with a chorus repeating the main singer’s lines. The transition from the charamans to the pallavi is arranged as a chorus. The choir also sings melody lines in interlude 2.

Puthu Rootile from Meera (1992) – this track starts off with a male chorus in a folkish style – it is arranged as a nice harmony. The pallavi has the male choir supporting the main singer. The charanams have similar choir support throughout the track.

Rasave Unnai Naan from Thanikattu Raja (1982) is an interesting track. The first interlude has a nice choir arrangement which is hard to classify. It is neither folkish, nor Carnatic but a nice creative arrangement! At least I have no way of describing it. The second interlude has the female choir singing melody lines supported nicely by some guitar work.

The clip below starts off with Kothamalli Poove followed by Pudhu Rootile. Finally the track has Rasave Unnai Naan. Observe the difference with folk choir treatment for all the three tracks. Most casual listeners think that the choir arrangement for such folk choir is identical – nothing can be farther from truth.

Coffee flavored Cleverfolk

This category is a catch all that has traces of any of the 9 other flavors!

Aayiram Thamarai Motukkale from Alaigal Oiyvathillai (1981) uses the kummi style composition completely set to subhapanthuvarali ragam. It’s hard to classify this track as it has folk, Carnatic and Western flavors supported by chorus!

Ilangathu Veesuthe from Pithamagan (2003) has folk lyrics, beautiful western orchestration for a karaharapriya ragam based tune. Again another quintessential Cleverfolk that has Western, Carnatic flavors for a folk lyric!

Thendralai kandu kolla from Nilave Mugam Kaatu (1999) – the interlude, is a clear demo by Raja of a light music piece, a sloka and a folk piece all overlapping. He goes back to his old famous quote that all musical systems are the same. A light music piece where Raja throws a slokam in parallel with a folkish female voices!

In the track Raman kadhai kelungal in the film Sippikkul Muthu, Raja uses the folk technique of kadha kalashebham – conventional religious storytelling. However, he sets the track to the reetigowlai Carnatic ragam. The lyric is not folk, the technique is, but the track is set to a Carnatic ragam – only Raja delivers such surprises.

Thendral Vandhu Theendum Podhu from Avatharam (1995) – the lyrics are folk, but the orchestration is completely Western, the rhythm arrangement is Western and Raja throws also chorus into the mix, not to mention a few counterpoints into a folk track!

There are several tracks of Raja which are set to the folkish style lullaby when the lyric itself is not folkish! Example, Thooliyile Aada Vandha from Chinna Thambhi (1991).

The clip below has three tracks. It starts off with ‘Aayiram Thamarai Motukkale’ followed by ‘Thendralai kandu’ and finally ‘Raman kadhai kelungal’. Observe the variety of flavors Raja throws withi just these three – kummi, subha panthuvarali, Sanskrit slokam, folk rendition, western orchestration, kadha kalashebam, reetigowlai all in those 3 minutes. That's like being inside a coffee grinder with flavors ranging from Brazil to Coorg!

 

I have attempted to provide a menu with some examples of the Raja Cleverfolk flavors. By no means is this complete. He took the basic ice cream and flavored it 6 ways to Sundae (pun intended) and he is fighting the world that he is not the first ice cream maker.

Though we have extensively analyzed Raja’s folk work, this is just one approach. It does not cover several aspects of folk music as that was not the intent. However, most of the analysis on Raja’s folk are serious ones and leave out his various flavoring to the folk idiom. I hope the readers enjoyed this fun ice cream trip.

Cookies and cream flavored Cleverfolk

This category has folk lyrics with mixed rhythm arrangement (Indian and Western). As we saw in the rhythm series of posts, this is a Raja specialty and he has ensured that switching Indian and Western rhythms are in every possible genre of composition.

In this section, unfortunately, we will have to repeat some of the tracks from ‘Raja’s rhythm innovation stage 8’ as some of the tracks in that post had folk lyrics.

Balegara Balegara from Bhagyadha Balegaara (2009) – this is the latest from Raja using switching rhythms in his latest Kannada venture.

Unnai Maathi from Uthamarasa (1993) is a typical Raja song that appears very folk from lyrical and arrangement. The pallavi is backed by both drums and tabla in alternate phrases. The female voice is backed by western drums and the male voice by tabla. The charanams are also set the same way – male voice backed by the tabla and the female voice by western drums.

Sandhu Pottu from Devar Magan (1992) is another track where the lyric is folkish and the rhythm arrangement is very sophisticated. The arrangement uses several patterns with the tabla and the dialogs are backed by western drums.

The clip below has two tracks (both charanams) – the first one is Sandhu Pottu followed by the charanam of Unnai Maathi. Notice the alternating rhythm arrangement between Indian and western drums in both tracks.
 

The cookie is perhaps the Indian rhythm and the cream is the Western or the other way around. While Raja has done several of these as discussed in the Rhythm Section, his folk application of this technique is limited. However, very pioneering and unique.

Rocky road flavored Cleverfolk

This category has folk lyrics with interludes set to rock music style arrangement. Mostly, Raja serves this flavor with the rhythm arrangement. Prior to Raja no one dared to serve this flavor!

Aasai Adigam Vachu from Marupadiyum (1993) is served with rock beats! The prelude of this song starts off with the heavy beats. The guitar usage in this track is very interesting (electric). The second interlude uses the wah wah guitar for the folk song!

Nila Athu Vanathu Mela from Nayakan (1987). The track starts off with a nice guitar strum as though it is another regular song and deflects you with its rock beats. The lyrics are folkish. The first interlude uses nice saxophone with the rock beats making you wonder if this is Jazz or Rock! The second interlude misleads you even more – the saxophone is on a counterpoint with the nice guitar melody!

Yeh aatha from Payanangal Mudivathillai (1982). The guitar work in this song is amazing that you tend to ignore it given the nice tabla rhythm throughout the song. The second interlude of this track is noteworthy – the rock style guitar strumming in counterpoint with the western flute makes you forget for some time that this is supposed to be a folk type track.

The clip below has two tracks. It starts off with Aasai Adhigam and ends with Nila Athu (charanam). Observe the sax and the nice counter melody with the guitar in the 2nd interlude of this otherwise folk song. Vintage Raja…

While most of the present day tracks use the same western rhythm arrangement, they miss out on the rich folk flavor. The difference is in the way Raja orchestrates. The flavor does not suffer in any way because he chooses a Western orchestration method - that's the genius of Raja. Very folky, very Indian, the orchestration happens to be western for those who choose to observe and enjoy.