Gems of raja under various genres of music

[saraks]

Yes it has. Its a brilliant song with a totally out of the world experience. Any kind of explanation about this song experience won't do justice to it.

http://music.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=92032

[crajkumar_be]

Yes it has. Its a brilliant song with a totally out of the world experience. Any kind of explanation about this song experience won't do justice to it.

http://music.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=92032

[app_engine]

Nice topic. Though I may not be able to contribute much, I feel I can throw in some songs that seem to be "away from others" and someone knowledgeable can try to fit it to some genre.

What about 'motta mAdi' in Anjali? Somehow I feel there is no similar IR song (at least not among the popular ones). What genre does this belong to? (I don't think it's an amalgamation either).

[RAGHAVENDRA]

Good topic. I am a die hard fan of Mellisai Mannar M.S. Viswanathan. After him there is a very wide gap and in the list to follow him, Ilaiyaraaja tops it. There is one song which did not get notice of the public but is a masterpiece. I don't know in which category this songs fits in. It is the song "Ila manadhil pala kanavu" from the film SELVI. The orchestration of this song is simply superb. I dont know if this song is available on the net.
Raghavendran.

[kiru]

A genre of music is mostly identified by the beat, chord or instruments used.
Most of us in the 30s can identify a disco beat. For eg, the beat changes in the thani kattu raja, and the lyrics say it is disco. Some TRajendar song also has lyrics identifying disco.

(American) Country music/Blue grass uses the banjo. Folk music used the acoustic guitar. Flamenco - guitar used specifically for playing flamenco music. Waltz is another kind of classical (listen to the Waltzes of Straus, famous waltz is the Emperor's Waltz) beat pattern see in many songs in TFM from the days of MGR/Sivaji.

Just like disco there are many kinds of dance beats which are popular at times and fade away. For eg. there is a song in kizhakkum mErkkum that is actually a hip-hop beat.

Getting back to instruments - hard rock is definitely identified the electric guitar whose sound is driven to distortion, using feedback. The guitarist plays it in front of the speaker (driven by the guitar amplifier) and the microphone picks up the sound from the speaker (its own sound) as well.

Classic rock (Eaglies, Santana /w samba influences) drums and bass guitars to maintain rhythm. Some amount of strings was also used. This was the most popular (POP) form of music for a long time (before the dance club/rap scene). I consider IR's music to be born out of this genre of music for most practical purposes. Listen to Simon and Garfunkel you will notice the similarities.

Psychedilia, to me seems, like a or one of the special cases. Because it is based on the feel it creates (dreamy/drug induced state). If I remember, the hero in thoongAthE thambi thoongAthE , is a drug addict. I think IR instinctively must have come up with this effect (he surely has had a good listening of classic rock genre).

In this sense, I think, anything that is popular, widely listened to is POP music. It was rock earlier and now mainly dance beat oriented music. Maybe I should correct myself, dance oriented music was there always, IR, has used folk dance beats for a variety of songs (including ones for sad songs).

I am not sure about that Vikram song being Jazz. Jazz is about improvisation, in that sense, it is like our indian music. Same line is repeated with variations. I think the Vikram song is actually a carnatic jathi, masquerading as rap music. Very innovative.

Afro-tribal - African music is usually credited with very complex and varied beat patterns. In South India, tribals living in the hills enjoy beat oriented music. (Pl. note these tribals are also afro/australoid in their appearance. It will be a digression to bring up the theory of africa/india/australia being one at one point of time) . In IR's songs if the lyrics/situation refer to hills, we get beat oriented music from him (malai kOvil vAsalil, viLakku vaippOm, meen kodi theRIL (best in this genre, I think) ).

March is a beat played on a 'snare' drum. Some of us might be familiar with it from our school days (when we had a 'march past' on sports day) or by watching the Republic Day Parade in Delhi. Ravel's Bolero is a famous march music, that I know of. IR has used this in many places (as he is well-versed in many classical forms) including hEy Ram, interludes of the song in thalapathy etc.

More Later.

[ananth222]

I think the Vikram song is actually a carnatic jathi, masquerading as rap music. Very innovative.

great post kiru. thanx! I especially liked this line. this song suddenly makes more sense in this light... "thakita thakadhimi tha dheem tha thakita huhuhohahahaa..." - brilliantly done by Kamal! brilliant humming parts, great instrumentation.. one for the ages..

I think though "march" often uses snare drum, its more to do with the marching feel, even without snare drums (sometimes without any drums at all, such as Mozart's "alla turca"). I think "manitha manitha", "aruna kirana deepam" and "adadaa ahangaara" also qualify as marching music. esp. "aruna kirana" manages to achieve that feel in a 7 beat rhythm.

[vasanth2006]

Good topic. I am a die hard fan of Mellisai Mannar M.S. Viswanathan. After him there is a very wide gap and in the list to follow him, Ilaiyaraaja tops it. There is one song which did not get notice of the public but is a masterpiece. I don't know in which category this songs fits in. It is the song "Ila manadhil pala kanavu" from the film SELVI. The orchestration of this song is simply superb. I dont know if this song is available on the net.
Raghavendran.

Beautiful song....I have heared instrumentation version of this song also .... But i dont have online link.....

[vel]

kiru, thanks for explaining these genres. You have mentioned movie names in many places but without mentioning the song - pls specify (hey ram, thalapathy, kizhakkum merkkum etc)..

[crajkumar_be]

I think the Vikram song is actually a carnatic jathi, masquerading as rap music

Wow Never thought of it that way. Just thought it was the first song in IFM with rap (and this was before MC Hammer was famous in India!)

[crajkumar_be]

pls specify (hey ram, thalapathy,

Possibly he meant "Ram Ram", "Sundari kannaal" interlude....