Strings of Raja

Last night, in my zoom show, I brought up a new topic that can be expanded and discussed here. This is about the strings of Raja. While everybody agrees that Raja's strings are special, nobody seems to elaborate. I took the risk of trying to explain why Raja's strings are so special though we had/have a number of composers who were/are violinists by profession.

First, some history. TKR was a violinist composer. We also had Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan for some years as a composer, and he was a violinist. Ousepachchan in Malayalam is a professional violin player. There are a few others, whose name escapes me. Feel free to add them to the list. The point here is, Raja is not. He is a guitarist. Despite that, he is known for his strings. Even the worst of Tamil TV channels, will get a few violinists when they organize a 'Raja round'. So, everybody agrees, but nobody cares to figure out how this happened. This series of posts will explore how Raja systematically learned about the instrument and became a master at conducting it and also experimenting with it to the point that I would place him alongside John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith, Hans Zimmer and their ultimate guru Richard Wagner. Why do I bring Wagner into this? You can make violins sound fine, melancholic, pleasing, and also room filling, but you require horns to make is all sound grand. Now, you need to become good at brass as well as strings to do that. That is the pinnacle of orchestral arrangement for films. This is the place that no Indian composer has got to.

Only Raja has.

Historically, Raja, was a harmonium player, learning to play the classical guitar from his master Dhanraj. By accident, Raja gets introduced to GKV and is described erroneously as a good, 'music director' instead of a 'good musician'. GKV, hurriedly tells the young Raja to show up for recording the next day and manage his violinists. Young Raja is challenged and embarrassed that he has to deal with experienced violinists, when he did not know much about the instrument itself. He hurriedly tries to find equivalents for his harmonium notes with violins and tries to conduct a string section the next few weeks and gets constantly ridiculed by the violinists. Unperturbed, he tries to understand how the instrument is played and slowly gets on top of the notes for violin. These are well documented by Raja himself in his autobiography. The real detail that is missing is between his understanding of violin notes and the use of the right violin strokes.  As any violin expert requires a very strong understanding of how various violin strokes work and when to use which stroke. More importantly, when composing music, you also need to have a very strong understanding of how to combine strokes and create an impression. Most violin conductors just specialize on that. As a composer, you need to go even beyond that. You can choose several combinations such as this.

• A stroke played by a group of violins and another stroke being played in harmony as a solo
  
• A type of stroke being played by a group of violins and another type of stroke being played by another group of violins in either harmony or sometimes in a contrapuntal way
  
• Violin strokes being mixed with other instruments - flutes ,lead guitar, bass guitar, veena, sitar, shehnai ,you name it
  

You can see how quickly this can get out of hand. When Raja says that Puru, or Prabhakar can qualify as a composer, he means just this. They are able to do most of what I have listed here, except write the music itself. Raja also mentions that he soon had a complete understanding of the instrument (I guess that this could be due to his friendship with the L.Shankar, L.Vaidyanathan and L.Subramaniam with whom he spent a lot of early days), that he could tell an out of pitch violin stroke in a group of 50 violins and pin point the violinist who did not play it right.

In order to understand how he got there, it is important to understand the basic strokes of violins and how they have been used by the great composers worldwide.

We have to get back to some fundamentals of the instrument and how it is played before getting to the 'expert' level (which I am not). Even if you are not a violinist, one can easily get a good sense of this instrument by a few simple YT videos. Some caution: Firstly, most of the violin strokes are in Italian and have no English equivalents. Second, one needs to know about a few parts of a violin that really helps understand strokes better.

Key to the understanding are some parts of the violin itself.

Neck and fingerboard - The neck is the long piece of wood that sticks out from the body. Glued on top of the neck is the fingerboard. This is a smooth flat piece of wood where the musician presses down on the strings to make notes. Unlike a guitar, the fingerboard on a violin is smooth and has no frets.

Bridge - The bridge is a hard piece of wood that the strings lay on top of. It's at the bridge that the strings stop vibrating and sound travels from the strings down into the body of the violin.

Strings - The violin has 4 strings all tuned to a fifth apart. They represent the notes G, D, A, and E.

The bow of the violin is made up of the stick and the horse hair. The stick gives the bow strength and is where the violinist holds the bow. The horse hair is what is rubbed against the strings to make vibrations and sound. The horse hair connects to the stick at the frog on one end and the point on the other.

Source: Various Internet sites

Now, these are not all parts of a violin, but the ones that matter to understand the important strokes that are played with a violin.

There are several hundred videos on YT where they clearly demonstrate how to play different violin strokes. There are several others that are meant for those already learning violin. However, I found this particular video, to the point and also explaining a number of basic violin strokes very well. It does not include pizzicato (plucked strings) however. As I mentioned before, almost all strokes have Italian names. I used the audio from this YT video and split them by strokes and used them for my show. Eventually, when it makes it to my blog, I will use those clips as well. As there is a tech limitation of audio files in this forum, you have to go back to this video every time and understand the stroke and its sound. I will repeat the video when I talk about each stroke for your convenience...

The video talks about a number of strokes and we will see most of them with Raja examples. Disclaimer: these are strokes that existed for violin long before any of our times. Raja has simply exploited these techniques in his work.

The video discusses several strokes, such as :

1. Collengo
   
2. Detache
   
3. Legato
   
4. Matelle
   
5. Ponticello
   
6. Ricochet
   
7. Spicatto Sautille
   
8. Staccato
   
9. Tremolo
   

It does not discuss Pizzicatto. While most of these strokes have examples from Raja's work, I could not find examples for a few. Collengo, Spicatto Sautille are two of them. Matelle is sort of component stroke that is part of Staccato.  From the next post, we will see examples for 7 of these strokes. Feel free to include examples for strokes for which I could not locate Raja examples.

Detache

Let's begin with Detache. By itself, it does not sound like a great stroke and perhaps needs to be combined with others to make it sound pleasant. However, when a master comes along, he can even turn this into a fantastic piece of music. Some examples of Raja's work with Detache.



One of Raja's all time great hit, Rakamma Kaiya Thattu (Dhalapathi 1990) was based on Detache stroke played by VSN and Prabhakar. The solo violin parts use this stroke heavily.

Another example, is the song, Pon Veyilile from Oru Yaathra Mozhi (Malayalam 1997). Hear the interlude from 1:06 onwards and he uses Detache heavily. Also, in the charanam, this stroke is used in the background a lot. When I wrote about this song in another forum earlier, one of the readers told me that he did not know how to describe how Raja comes and sweeps your feet off from within the charanam with his violins. It's all Detache magic.



Feel free to add more examples. For understanding the stroke, go back to the video that demonstrates the stroke.

Ricochet

This is a stroke that may not be new to Indian listeners. Several Carnatic violinists have made it familiar for us. When you go to any Ganesh/Kumaresh or L.Subramaniam concerts, they play Carnatic notes with ricochet strokes to demonstrate their skills with the notes and the instrument. Rarely, this is used in film music. However, I found an exception with Raja.

In the Uthiri Pookal song, 'Naan Paada Varuvaen' (1979), the violin parts that follow Janaki saying 'Nalla Vaasingo' is just ricochet strokes. Hear the below video from 4:12 onwards.



Let me know if you know more examples of this stroke. Please go back to the definition video before you hear this for what a ricochet stroke is.

Ponticello


As the definition says, it is creating a whispy sound by playing close to the bridge. Though I am not 100% sure, the song, "Naan Kaadhalil Pudhu Paadagan" from Mandhira Punnagai (1986?) appears pretty close. Feel free to add more examples or correct me if I am wrong. The second interlude in my view uses this technique.



Go back to the definition and hear the track from 2:40 onwards.

Legato

It is considered one of the 'lazy' strokes in violin and also shows how steady a player is with the instrument. Go back to the definition.

There are several examples for this. The best one, is Auna Nuveena from Rudramadevi (Telugu 2015). The first interlude from 1:07 uses the lagato stroke.



Another example, for this stroke is the song, 'Kanavil Midhakkum' from Eera Vizhi Kaaviyangal, but this song is sort of a violin masterpiece and it uses several strokes. Listen for this stroke from 3:07 onwards...




Feel free to add other examples...

Pizzicato

As I mentioned, this involves plucking of the strings and not using the bow. There are hundreds of videos on just how to play pizzicato alone. Raja has exploited it in a number of songs. I will showcase a few.

The prelude of the song Rasaleela Vela from Aditya 369 (Telugu 199x), exploits this technique very well.



The song Olathumbathu from Pappayude Swantham Appus (Malayalam 1992) also uses this technique in a lullaby  song. Only Raja can think of such crazy combos. Pay attention to the violins after 1:28 and you can see Raja exploiting this stroke from that point onwards. What is beautiful is the way he applies pizzicato for the last phrase of the charanam and uses it as a simple connector to the pallavi.  Salute, Raja[color:9c7d=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)]!



The song 'Maalayil Yaaro from Chatriyan (Tamil 1989) also uses this technique throughout the song. However, I use that song as a great example of tremolo strings too!

I am sure you can find several more examples of Raja using this technique. 

Tremolo

This is a Raja specialty. I have not heard other composers try tremolo in the Indian context. Though the video says that it does not follow a time signature, I do not think it is correct. The tremolo strings are one of the hardest to arrange as the notes that are played between two violins are fractions of notes apart. This requires great skill for both the players and the composer. The most popular example is the prelude of 'Sundari Kannal Oru Seidhi' from Dhalapathy (1990). This creates a vibration that is hard to record as it is of low frequency and one can clearly feel it in a Raja concert.



There are other tracks where Raja has used this stroke. Kadha Pola thonum from Veera Thaalaatu (199x). Hear it from 3:00 onwards where Raja uses this stroke.



Another song where Raja uses both the pizzicato and tremolo strings throughout the song is Maalayil Yaaro from Chatriyan (1989). 



Please add more tracks as I am sure I am missing a few.

Staccato

This is the violin stroke film composers love. It has been the stroke that has been exploited the most by composers. I like the small time composer Raghunanthan for his song in Neerparavai - Para Para by SG as this song is orchestrated singly handedly using just this stroke.



Raja has used this stroke extensively and also very creatively. I will begin with a song that Raja once dismissed as a simple exercise in Simmendramadhyamam. This is the song, 'Ananda Ragam' from Panneer Pushpangal (1982).



A few more examples. Ennathil Etho from Kalukkul Eeram. Hear the second interlude from 2:36 and Raja freaks out using this stroke.



He uses this in the second interlude of Mugilo Megamo from Megha (2013).



Another old song, where he uses this stroke extensively is the song 'Sevvaaname Pon Meghame' 

 

Now, for the creative part, Raja uses this stroke as the train sound itself in Poongatru Pudhidhaanadhu from Moonram Pirai. The second interlude has this stroke repurposed.



In the song Pesa Koodadhu from Adutha Varisu, Raja sets the rhythm of the pallavi using staccato violins and base guitar.



There are hundreds of Raja song that use this stroke. What makes him different if all these are staple strokes for every violinist?

ravinat,
arumaiyana alasal. katru koLLa vendum.

tremolo sound.

yahoo group period. Udal thazhuva thazhuva paatil varuadhu tremolo endru solli irundhar endru ninaikiren.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew-2JllgIaM

Usha wrote:ravinat,
  arumaiyana  alasal. katru koLLa vendum.

It's all  CSR's fault. He got me started with all this       Tell him!

This information about strings is provided to every violinist when they train and they practice these. Regardless of whether they get opportunities to play all of them, they do know these strokes. Most composers use these strokes as they see the situation demands. In other words, the strokes by themselves do not make you a great violinist or using them does not make you a great composer. 


So what does?

Go back and hear every example I provided for each stroke. There is a sea of difference between the definition video and the examples videos. Raja never uses any of these strokes in isolation. There is a very intelligent mix of them and also they are part of the larger harmony context. This is where the man stands out from the boys. With 'Pesa Koodadhu' there are beautiful basslines that go with the Staccato. With Maalaiyil Yaaro, there is pizzicato that goes with the tremolo. With Sundari Kannaal, there is a beautiful flute melody that goes with the tremolo. In Rakamma, the Detache is between two violins and this is an endless list. Some of the Staccato strokes, such as 'Poongatru' is part of a larger harmony context and more importantly a contrapuntal one too.  He has risen several thousand levels above these strokes. Or else, it would have been very simple for others to catch up. 

He uses his wide arsenal of tools from Western Classical music and these strokes are a small part of it, though quite dominant in sound. When the general public views him as a great strings composer, it is just that, the violins are capable of sweeping the listener's attention more than his work with the synthesizer or the guitar or the flute. To the normal listener, the non-violin instruments do not provide that attention grabbing capability other than some of his super hit ones with those instruments.

That's all there is to it. In my view, he is not just a great strings composer, he is a great composer. Period.

ravinat,

CSR idam kaetaen. sonnar. Yahoovil sonnadhaga.

CSR sonna example for tremolo ------ Unnai kanum neram

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMeqFT3pSnU

Usha wrote:ravinat,

CSR idam kaetaen.  sonnar. Yahoovil sonnadhaga.

CSR sonna example for tremolo ------ Unnai kanum neram

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMeqFT3pSnU

CSR is always correct!

ravinat wrote:

Usha wrote:ravinat,

CSR idam kaetaen.  sonnar. Yahoovil sonnadhaga.

CSR sonna example for tremolo ------ Unnai kanum neram

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMeqFT3pSnU

CSR is always correct!

ha ha ha.. anal avvalavu seekirathil solli thara matar ravinat....

Why is it so hard to uncover violin strokes in Raja's music? It's like looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack. The stroke is either played by one or more violins and is also part of a larger harmonic arrangement. Isolating them as examples only works on some musical parts. It's like walking into a workshop filled with a thousand stations and isolating a 3/8th inch spanner. You'll be lucky when you can see that spanner lying on the floor of one of the stations that is empty. In most others, it is placed somewhere in the workstation that only the a trained technician can isolate. 

I took up this example of a giant workshop deliberately. This workshop of Raja isn't one of those 'car only' shops. It has some giant trucks that make the whole process even more harder. Where does the giant come in the world of music? The four wheelers become 18 wheelers with brass and woodwind. The eighteen wheelers are the compositions that have violins and horns and is a specialty of the Raja world. What is very difficult to comprehend is his ability to scale from a tiny motor cycle to a giant 18-wheeler at a moment's notice. You will notice that the terms 'brass' and 'horns' are used interchangeably. We will focus on the brass and woodwind next.

One of the biggest mysteries of understanding Raja's orchestration is his origin of understanding of brass and woodwind instruments. There is no clear evidence on how and where he learned this part. He (is) was a harmonium player and he quickly understood the keyboard and the synthesizer. He went through the excruciating training with strings which I described and it is understandable that he was able to extend it to the entire family of instruments. He trained as a guitarist and one can understand the origin of his guitar and basslines. There are simply no pointers on the brass and woodwind instruments. Before we go deeper, we need to clearly define, what we mean by brass in the western classical sense and what woodwind instruments are.

In general, the following instruments are considered 'brass' and they have a special place in a symphony orchestra, called , 'brass section'.

• Trumpets
  
• French horn
  
• Tuba
  
• Trombone
  

They contribute to the grandeur of Western music and they are extensively used in many western compositions.

Woodwind instrument is a bit confusing family and the accepted woodwind instruments in a symphony setting are:

• Flute
  
• Oboe
  
• Clarinet 
  
• Bassoon
  

The confusing instrument is the saxophone as it is an instrument with a reed and is made of metal. Some classify it as woodwind and others classify it as brass.

Ref: https://www.orsymphony.org/learning-community/instruments/brass/

ravinat wrote:One of the biggest mysteries of understanding Raja's orchestration is his origin of understanding of brass and woodwind instruments. There is no clear evidence on how and where he learned this part. He (is) was a harmonium player and he quickly understood the keyboard and the synthesizer. He went through the excruciating training with strings which I described and it is understandable that he was able to extend it to the entire family of instruments. He trained as a guitarist and one can understand the origin of his guitar and basslines. There are simply no pointers on the brass and woodwind instruments.

IIRC, IR had once told that he himself made a flute from bamboo and started playing.
(I'm not sure if it were my imagination or I really heard him say this)

Malaiyalam film Guru... indha padathirkaga pudhu vidhamana instrument seidhar endru kelvi pattu iruken.

ravinat,

 indha paatil tremolo iruka?

Nila adhu vanathu mele from sylvian post.. ivarudaiya pakkathil sound quality nanraga irukum.

https://medium.com/sylvianism/ilaiyaraaja-the-lyricist-part-1-the-sensuous-side-236b1dd48213

roja poonthottam song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1zHkLf_xZY

Usha wrote:ravinat,

 indha paatil tremolo iruka?

Nila adhu vanathu mele from sylvian post.. ivarudaiya pakkathil sound quality nanraga irukum.

https://medium.com/sylvianism/ilaiyaraaja-the-lyricist-part-1-the-sensuous-side-236b1dd48213

roja poonthottam song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1zHkLf_xZY

Nila adhu Vaanathu mele has other good orchestral elements. Definitely not tremolo. What you hear is a very fine set of notes played on the clarinet (my guess). The second song, 'Roja Poonthotam' is also not tremolo. I think you are getting confused with pizzicato. Please go back to the violin strokes video and get a better understanding of how tremolo sounds. It is like 'tremble' - the vibrations must be shaking as the notes are pretty close to each other. Maybe, these two words are not related, but 'tremble' helps you remember how tremolo sounds. Imagine yourself sitting in the Canadian tundra with two winter jackets - you'll get it  If you didn't carry the jacket, you'll feel the staccato