Maestro's WCM Sweetheart - The Counterpoints

Great thread and posts, V_Sji!

While listening to the recent magnum opus 'vAnam mellakkeezhiRangi' during the morning drive to work, I was reminded of your writing about the song every now and then.

Most music directors in the Indian film field can only dream of composing such a number! (I doubt whether some of them can even reproduce it properly if the notes are given )

And the other master stroke 'saRRu munbu', the song's ending had my eyes kalangified! Shocking / stunning / incredible - ippadiyE sollikkittE pOgalAm...

innum niRaiya ezhudhunga!

Thanks'nga. Intentionally I am not listening to NEPV, as I have stored it to hear in some special time (just like a kid storing sweets for eating later). Yes, NEPV again has tons of counterpoint techniques employed. Will write whatever I know, but really, I don't know anything. :poruththaruLga:

Nice write-up V_S!

My fav song. The counterpoint singing the first saranam is also one of my fav.

En kanmani en kadhali is another song that enchants me. SPB in a interview remarked how difficult it was to get the counterpoint right from tech standpoint.

Pudhidhaai kaetkum puththam pudhu keerthanam from Raman Abdullah.
Before I begin to describe the intrinsic beauty of this song's interludes, I must present with some
essential hyperlink to wikipedia article Wikipedia on counterpoint which gave me some insights into Raaja's counterpoint technique.
Being an illiterate on such complex subject, I approached to listening to this composition by maestro - purely by my instinct and perception aided by a little notion on 'threading' processes simultaneously as I learnt from my computer programming background. I must say that the resultant vision has made me look at western classical music and Indian classical music with its folk background in a new light. More of that later.
First let us listen to this soothing track for a typical Balu Mahendra 'heroine introduction' song. First thing Raaja establishes is the context - the where part of the song - this is not a 'plains' or a 'seaside' song - it is a hills song - the fact is set by a very simple female chorus harmony in indian tribal style - but there is a sophistication to it - because it is fashioned into a wavy tune of its own which Raaja's flute and synth pickup and then there is a brief interaction between the two finishing/baton passing to a rhythm pattern which is not a simple tabla - but a set of drums alternating with a chendai - this is the base rhythm pattern of the song. It repeats throughout - and not without any reason - more of that too later.
When the lead voice begins - there is no lengthy aalaps - very madhyama sthaayi - simple rendering - because there is no emotional charge in the song - the heroine simply saunters through scenic locations and nothing more - it is a lazy afternoon walk taking in the beauty of ootacamund hills and the music needs to describe ooty and its hills to a blind man and boy it does - by way of superb interludes and we can begin into the simple counterpoints - not very tough to discern. Two sets of instruments - one synthesized flute (or some kind of pipe), and the other - some sort of strings - with a tinge of middle eastern flavor - they play out two different melodies - both dissimilar - this is a puzzle - where can these tracks meet - they break the fundamental definition of counterpoint - there is no combination that yields a harmonic resonance - a little patience yields a sweet surprise - hidden silently were a bank of violins that take flight at the time point when this steady choppy interplay of counterpoint ends and play a pleasant carnatic melody that signifies the 'freedom of the soul' and Balu mahendra takes promt cue and fades out into the orange sky after a flush of blue sky. Then the second charanam plays in the same serene fashion with chitra's completion of every sentence now punctuated by the chendai which is like the fleeting glimpse of a waterfall hidden behind the stretch of hill stretches - visible now , only to vanish , hidden as the traveler's car takes a turn and then reappear again only to provide the pleasant sensation of sight for a brief time in passing.
Then the second interlude manifests and we are in for a surprise again..
The haunting tribal chorus rejoins us and this time it has a pretty integrated counterpoint resonating in a harmonic way with the shrill (small bamboo) flute and this time their counterpoint results in a set of pipes - chiming again in two different tracks in parallel - but this time descending to the ground (as opposed to ascension in a crescendo in the end of the first interlude) - the magic of recreating a picteresque hill side in pure 'sounds' is complete and to paraphrase Kavignar , "I literally search for the ultimate creator who could have conjured up such a spectacle".

Now harping back to my experience after repeatedly hearing this melody is this.. Western classical music - though composed of individual strands - makes tremendous sense only when they come together to describe something beautiful - like nature - just like how a scientist walking into the amazon finds tremendous order in the movements of individual creatures - be it plants or animals - and finally as a ecologist marvels at the tremendous harmony of the rain forest when all the individual movements of every organic being in it - be it a rivulet trekking through a dense forest, or an army of marching ants walking towards their next feast, everything together make the final harmony while the individual strands counterpoint and punctuate each other - there is no better musical system to denote this than Western Classical Music's orchestral form. Carnatic or Indian music is the "aathma darshan" - or the vision of the self - as it plays the part of the silent witness observing and partaking the individual coda of melodies as they emanate from mother nature. There is no need to fuse these together as they are already together and the separation is simply the myth created by ignorance - Raaja made this dawn on me when he used the tribal harmony in an altered fashion to make it harmonize with the flute and pipes in this song. This vision will stay with me thanks to the guru - Shri Raaja.

Wonderful post Jai. You summed it up nicely. Initially (in the prelude) the flute only follows the chorus (as a harmony), but at the end when the chorus sing 'lele' down, flute goes up providing perfect counterpoint.

Great job V_S ,
Counterpoints is a topic which is abundant in Maestro's music. Apart from IR , you would hardly come across countermelodies not just in TFM but in Indian Film Music in general..
So in a way we can say Maestro is a pioneer in this area and has enhanced the listeners appeal to an alltogether different level.
Also , it was apt that you started with the gargantuan of all counterpoints Poo Malaye.

Speaking about counterpoints or parallel melodies , one other song though not spoken of regularly but which never ceases to amaze me is Poovile Medai also from Pagal Nilavu.
The combination of flute with the keys is just magical.
The prelude is a very nice ringtone one can have
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew3ydyh3pKI

skr,
That was a wonderful pick!. The counterpoint between flute and synth keyboard excellently brought out. Thanks for bringing this up.

Full Song. Ever charming Rajini!

V_S ,
Thanks for bringing up Ponoviyam , it was quite a recent find for me and i truly feel its a once in a millenium song.
Pah what a gorgeous composition , no amount of words will be able to justify the grandeur of the song.

One song which has been fascinating me tremendously is Pongum Aagaya Gangai from Aagaya Gangai.
I couldnt control myself and i happened to write to Mr Chandrasekhar Ranganathan (Purus brother and guitarist of Ilaya Nila) about this song , was thrilled that he replied too.
Posting my message and also his reply.

Sir ,
This song has been fascinating me for quite some time..Wondering how that unison was achieved in the first interlude with the violin counterpoints , on top of that you have a flute also..And whats that guitar technique in the second interlude , is it Flanging ?? To add to all this , you have chorus adding harmony in the prelude plus bass backing , an interesting rhythm pattern , guitar counterpoint with keys in the second interlude and for nativity flavour you have an Indian classical touch in the combination of Mridangam + Flute ..Its astonishing to think all this packaging has been done in a mere 4 and half minute song and best thing it all sounds so amazing.
To achieve this co-ordination , the musicians must have been an extraordinary talented bunch..Imagining how the mood must have been in the studio after this song was recorded..And to think this number was recorded over 30 yrs ago seems even more astounding..I dont think an orchestra would be able to reproduce this number even today with all the technology available .. Vintage 80s music of the highest order..Feel spellbounded by the sound achieved. A big salute to Maestro and team. Please do listen Sir and we would love to know your views.
Pongum Aagaya - Aagaya Gangai


And this was his reply ,
Hi RS,I felt very happy about your analysis.There are many songs which were not big hits at that time.The unimaginable work of Raja will be in each and every bit of music.If I remember right I played the E.Gtr and Sada played Vibraphone !I used a Korg Wah Wah pedal in the 2nd BGM.Phaser is used mostly in all the bits to avoid the static effect of of slow notes.I don't think I used flanger in this song.

Nice work V_S, Jai and SKR. Please continue to give more.

Welcome Punnaimaran. Nice to see you here

skr,
Sorry I missed seeing your wonderful post on pongum aagaaya gangai. Just now seeing it. Thanks a lot for sharing this. What a song!

I was recently listening to Rajathi Raajan intha Raja song.. this song is the gospel for rhythm arrangements, all throughout the song and in interludes, it is nothing but just vocals and rhythmic intstruments (incl bass guitar),as explained by a rhythm player in that Yugi Sethu show.

But, as I was listening to it, esp in the 1st interlude, I was thinking this could be counterpoints in rhythm - the sounds alternate/overlap between high pitch/low pitch/medium pitch sounds (drums, cymbals etc - enakku ithula ellam knowledge romba kammi). I was curious if our more musically enlightened forum members can tell if this theory is correct?

That is, are there counterpoints/other WCM techniques that can be applied to sounds, as opposed to, notes/chords? If so, I am sure our Raaja has explored that in 1000s of songs!

Thanks V_S. I would be thankful if some one writes about the song "Uravugal Thodarkathai" form Aval Appadithaan.