Music strategy that works in the long run

Most discussions I see these days on the internet tend to strive for the political correctness. Most YouTubers and writers tend to brush aside Raja and Rahman as legends on the same sentence and move on to either build on these composers' work or move to the newer composers that were based on the work of these composers. Nothing can be farther from truth than this. I was thinking about some of the discussions I have been having with friends and they seem to be influenced by such social media undercurrents. My views on Raja as a composer never gets swayed by such carefully crafted propaganda. He still stays heads and shoulders above any film composer from India. 

One of the things I observed in the popular discourse is that, most folks pedaling such ideas earlier used to "demonstrate" their knowledge by saying something or the other to showcase the difference between the two composers (most of it is silly); now, they even paint it as though there is no difference between these two composers. They are simply from two different eras and continue to exert influence today in some form. This is complete BS as the music strategy followed by these two composers is starkly different and Raja's strategy has worked over 5 decades and AR's has lost it steam in under 15 years.

I want to dive deep into the strategies employed by these two composers to demonstrate why Raja's strategy is superior. In particular, I would like to explore the following sub-topics:

1) Classical music as the foundation as opposed to loose genres
2) Compositional techniques as opposed to new age electronics and software
3) Modernity as opposed to just departure from the past
4) Blending musical systems as opposed broad brushing from various genres of music
5) Rhythmic exploration as opposed to the idea of "modern sounds"
6) Deep rootedness as opposed to global exploration
7) Uncompromising style as opposed to what I call "SouthNorth" concoction


I will try to add more topics as I uncover them.

I am of the same opinion as well though I lack your knowledge to provide technical comparison as you do.  I look forward to your analysis.

Classical music as the foundation as opposed to loose genres
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Let us explore the foundational aspects of both these composers. Raja came in with a very strong classical western background. He quickly picked up the gigantic Carnatic classical form of Indian music. Even in his very early days, he was able to demonstrate his mastery over these two genres with songs such as En Iniya Pon Nilave or Uravugal Thodar kathai in the Western genre or Chinna Kannan Azhaikiraan in Carnatic classical in the 70s. With his increased confidence by way of training, he added a number of Carnatic compositions in the 80s (Kovil Pura, Salangai Oli, Sindhu Bhairavi, UMT etc) and many such films had beautiful CCM parts, new raga exploration) and he unleashed WCM based compositions as a matter of routine ever since he started his career as that was very natural for him. Armed with this huge arsenal, he still has an inexhaustible range of compositions that are based on solid harmony principles and beautiful interpretations of Carnatic ragas. The RaGas of the world are still exploring his work from the 80s and 90s even today. There are hundreds of analysts still uncovering Raja's classicism from Gurucharan to the YouTubers who are trying to interpret Raja's harmonies. I particularly liked what one of these YouTubers said about his work - "I make fun of composers and that's the focus of the channel, but came out empty other than the Rajini song for Raja, as his work is so perfectly crafted". His recent addition of very modern Jazz elements in Modern Love Chennai, still leaves one with awe as he continues to solidify his foundation even more.

Rahman had this pseudo "modern" outlook by dismissing everything that was done before him, hoping that it will serve him for a long time. That is a strategy that lost steam beyond the 90s. His Chinna Chinna Aasai was supposed to be reggae and his electronic sounds and new style beats in Thiruda Thiruda (particularly Thee Thithikkum) were considered 'new age' tfm. Even though he brought in SPB and other star singers and had a string of hits that almost eclipsed others, something was foundationally shaky. The basic harmonies were outsourced (meaning,  written and conducted by others) and the superficial 'Western' like music definitely gets you popularity in the charts but lacks longevity. There are so many western classical music techniques that were untouched, so many ragas that were never used simply due to the lack of knowledge in this area.  While all this superficial clever 'Western' new age stuff may not appeal to someone who understands music deeply, it does appeal the money bags of Bollywood. The so called "new sounds" got exported to Bollywood, and ever since MM, SC, SD and RD, Bollywood has been running light on real fuel. While this helped Rahman till the early 21st century, he ran out of fuel after that. As the foundational elements are very loose, it can be easily replaced. Rahman's Hindi compositions do not make you sit-up anymore. His work in Mimi, or Goatlife were pedestal to be mild. Rahman kept exploring genres but there were a few standouts. The Indian audience seem to not care anymore. From a dominating composer to a 'me too', Rahman's journey is littered with foundational problems with his classical music exposure.

An analogy from physics is apt here. Gravity is a weak force but is effective over long distances. Classical music is like gravity. Most electronic music and modern genres are similar to strong nuclear forces. They are effective in very tiny distances only!

Compositional techniques as opposed to new age electronics and software

Despite his huge commercial success with his music till the 90s, Raja never cared about his achievements when it came to exploring and trying out new compositional techniques. Throughout the 1990s, Raja kept experimenting with very rare ragas and tried to blend it with synthesized sounds that were available in the 90s for the first time. Where required, his priority shifted to pure Carnatic compositions as well (example “maasaru ponne varuga” in MMG for Devar Magan). It was a delicate balance of not giving up pure strings (Guru, Kaala Paani) and synthesized ones (Friends, Veera) in the 90s. However, his composition style changed post 90s despite the old style being hugely successful. His music in the 21s century, beginning with his melodic content blending with synthesized strings and percussion in Malayalam film music (Achuvinte Amma, Manasinakkare, Rasathanthiram) was still relevant and won a number of hearts in Malayalam. Even though his volume in Tamil was reduced, he still has Julie Ganapathy (enakku piditha padal, Idhayame),  Oru Naal Oru Kanavu (Kaatril Varum Geethame), Ramana (Vaanaville). When challenged, he did come out with a complete deviation from his comfort zone – example, Om Sivoham from Naan Kadavul, completely in Sanskrit for a Tamil audience. His approach to folk and Carnatic bent over a groove (Ilankaathu veesuthe from Pithamagan) clearly showed how Raja kept his arsenal modern, keeping his foundation as strong.

Contrast to the Raja approach of staying strong on fundamentals, Rahman quickly gave up his Carnatic experiments beyond the 90s. He somehow created an impression that sticking to CCM was not very modern and it limited a composer. Raja continued to demonstrate the opposite. Post 90s, the Rahman magic lost its edge primarily due to not being solid on the classical foundation. His commercial success continued, but his music had the ‘mayfly’ nature to it though there were exceptions. He tried modern genres in Yuva and he couldn’t lift MR’s film from disaster. He had a string of disasters in the first 5 years of the 21^st century (Raja has equal duds in Tamil during this time). The Oscar lifted his spirits but his venture into British Broadway music (Bombay Dreams) was recycled stuff that did not strike any chord. He tried a few films in Hollywood but could not get the freedom he got with Indian film scoring. While his background scores improved from the 90s, he was unable to get anywhere near the bar set by Raja. Rahman tried various techniques with new music software but that did not buy him any edge as the audience were slowly getting used to other clever deployment of the same software. The myth that Rahman created crystal clear recording also got busted in the first decade of the 21^st century as other composers caught on. Rahman tried gospel and other forms of western music but their shelf life was short lived as his audience was not church going anyway. He tried sufi sounds and beyond the initial novelty, it failed to stick (Guru, Jodha Akbar).

The bottom line is this: when a huge wave comes at you, the survivor is the one who moves to high ground and recalibrates himself to the next few more waves.

Modernity as opposed to just departure from the past


In Indian film music, orchestration has always been an after thought. The  main vocal tune is the one that is in focus when any composition is taken up. This is true for all composers. The orchestration is chosen by Raja specifically to fit the situation that is portrayed to him. There are several occasions where his treatment of a situation is counter intuitive, but makes the overall song very pleasant to hear. For example, the song ‘Niram Pirithu Paarthaen’ from Time, has an orchestration that has rock and roll elements as well as a very jazzy treatment. However, these coexist and do not impact the pleasure of hearing the main song. A few more examples will clearly demonstrate that Raja does not stick to any forcible orchestration methods and the film’s visual and story elements drive it. Set to Kalyani, the song ‘Sundari Kannal’ from Dhalapathy has some grand symphonic orchestration as the director wanted it. Set in the same ragam, the song ‘Kaatril Varum Geethame’ from ‘Oru Naal Our Kanavu’ has traditional Indian orchestration. A synthesized interpretation of the same ragam was used in the song ‘Mandarapoo Mooli’ from Vinodhayaatra (Malayalam). A very traditional interpretation of the ragam Sriranjani was done with the song, ‘Naadham Ezhundhadadi’ from ‘Gopura Vaasalile’ and a completely opposite westernized treatment was achieved in the song, ‘Vasantha Nilavin’ from Suryan (Malayalam).  He does not do music to sound different from MSV or KVM. He doesn’t dismiss them as ‘not modern’.
 
One of the earliest comments by Rahman was that Indian film music was very boring with overuse of table and dholak and he is there to change all that. His goal was to take a complete departure from the past and make everything that comes from him look polished and modern. This claim lasted less than a few years, though such a rebel claim from a new composer has its attraction. The attraction lasted longer than the claim as most ordinary listeners even today think that he is very modern due to his ‘departure from the past’. Nothing can be farther from truth as I will prove that most of his post 1999 hits simply used Indian percussion instruments and they were hardly a ‘departure from the past’. Let me begin with ‘Malargal Kaetaen’ from OK Kanmani, set to rhythm with mirudhangam. ‘Maayava Thooyavaa’ from Iravin Nizhal also uses mirudhangam. “Innum Konja Neram” from Maryan uses ghatam. ‘Yaarumilla thaniaraiyil’ from Kaaviya Thalaivan uses tabla. The song ‘Ae Hairaitein’ from Guru uses tabla. There are so many other examples of successful songs of Rahman that did not depart from the past at all. There are far more examples for how his 'departure from the past' backfired in his 21st century career. The new young composers don't make such a fuss and they seem to be doing better than Rahman.
 
Bottom line, departure from the past for the sake of deviation sometimes lands you in unchartered territory which could be just that – devious. It may not even be a new path.

Blending musical systems as opposed broad brushing from various genres of music
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Let’s be clear about the trend with blending musical systems in popular music in India: it no longer exists. The audience over the past 25 years have been trained to consume new western musical genres as is and new composers do not make any attempt to blend it with anything ‘Indian’. In fact, genres in its original form is considered ‘trendy’ and is supposed to paint the composer as a ‘modern’ one. The only thing Indian about such music is the use of the Indian language such as Tamil or Telugu for its lyrics.


Given this backdrop, how did Raja adjust himself to this trend? Let’s look at the use of western harmony in the last 2 decades or so. He simply waits for an opportunity where he can use the technique in a subtle way and though the overall song is in a particular genre, he uses harmony to enhance it and barely anyone notices. That is a masterful touch and such songs are barely discussed in forums of any kind. Let’s take his example of a children song in ‘Nanadalala’ – Oru Vaandu Kootame. In the charanam, he introduces harmony with children and it fits into the composition so well! Raja does not go about bragging about his such use of harmony and the song itself does not feature in the film.  The second example is the song ‘Kadellam Vayalu’, a folk song executed in western harmony throughout for the film Ulagammai.  Both these examples are like icing on the cake. The cake itself is good and the icing makes it even more delicious. Raja has done several of these in his earlier career and this is nothing new to him. His music for My Dear Kuttichatthan in the 80s already had harmony parts for children and his Megam Karukkaiyile for Vaidegi KaathirunthaaL already had folk parts executed as harmony.


Rahman attempted several genres in his album ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa’. The hit song, Manippaaya has a thirukkural part at the end arranged as a harmony. An otherwise melodious song by Shreya, the thirukkural perhaps was a good ‘situational’ addition for the film’s narration, but hardly fits into the framework of the song. Here is a case of forced harmony that sticks out like a sore thumb. Some of the AR attempts in the 90s with harmony were better than his current compositions. His Pachchai Nirame from alai Payuthe was very executed and so was Ooh lalala from Minsara Kanavu as they did not disrupt the main melody.


Bottom line, it is better the stick to your foundational strengths of melodic content when you try to blend in foreign elements into your compositions.