Ramesh on Music: my (re)mixes

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Ilaiyaraaja's Cyclic Interludes

About 5 years back, I posted 6 of Ilaiyaraaja's cyclic interludes in this blog. By cyclic interlude, I am referring to an interlude (or prelude) which starts with a specific phrase, then meanders around and then returns to that same phrase before starting the charanam (or pallavi).

I then noticed 7 other songs with similar pattern. So I compiled all 13 of them into a single track starting from the oldest (as per the release date). This technique/pattern has been used by Ilaiyaraaja even recently in a song from Dhoni. Go ahead and listen to the cyclic interludes below:

Here are the songs featured in the above track:

Idhazhil Kadhai from Unnal Mudiyum Thambi
Sivarathiri from Michael Madhana Kama Rajan
Kuyil Paatu (Happy) from En Raasavin Manasile
Kuyil Paatu (Sad) from En Raasavin Manasile
Povoma from Chinna Thambi
Oh Butterfly from Meera
Ellorum Sollum Paatu from Marubadiyum
Ennavendru Solvadhama from Raajakumaaran
Piraye from Pithamagan
Ilaimaikku Oru from Oru Naal Oru Kanavu
Malle Puvvu from Malle Puvvu
Yaarum Thodatha from Ajantha
Vaangum Panathukkum from Dhoni

And as an experiment, here is another version after excluding the music in between the repeating phrases. Even though the interlude is shortened, you won't find the flow missing. Listen to the first clip posted above and then listen to the one below.

There could be more such songs. If you come across any other song, leave a comment.

Oora Therinjukitten - Cover Version

Here is our cover version of the song Oora Therinjukitten, which was originally composed by Ilaiyaraaja for the film Padikkadhavan.

Singer: Srivatsan
Karaoke Track, Recording, Mixing: Sripathy Ramesh
Video, Editing: Anbu Chezhian
(Thanks to Aravindhan for some additional video clips)

Listen to it and let us know your feedback.

On a related note, don't miss our earlier cover of the song:
Andhi Mazhai from Raajapaarvai.

Nenjathai Killadhe

The song Paruvame Pudhiya Paadal from Nenjathai Killadhe was performed at the Ilaiyaraaja concert and it was so nice. SPB's voice, the jogging rhythm simulated by tapping on the thighs, the 1st interlude - Sada's classical guitar, the Strings section, harmonium, etc., were the highlights.

A few months back, Vicky had written about the title score of Nenjathai Killladhe. The title score was very good and quite interesting with the various mood changes. It starts with the same jogging rhythm used in the Paruvame song. Read more about this title score and listen to it on Vicky's blog.

Since it uses the same rhythm and the same relative scales - E Major and C# minor, I thought it would have been even better if the orchestra had played the Nenjathai Killadhe Title score and then continued to the Paruvame song. That would have just been awesome. Here is a mix I tried with the title score and the original song. I had slowed down the tempo of the title score to suit the Paruvame song.

Nenjathai Killadhe - Title Music and Paruvame by sripathyramesh-1

Sundari Kannal Oru Seidhi - Strings section

When I went to the Ilaiyaraaja Live concert earlier this week, the orchestra was doing rehearsals / sound check of the 1st interlude of Sundari Kannal Oru Seidhi song. Each section was being played separately and I captured the audio of that rehearsal. I then listened to the individual sections and I tried recreating it using my keyboard and my computer. Here is the final version of the Strings section. I have skipped the chorus section and the horns section here.

Sundari Kannaal Oru by sripathyramesh

You can listen to the individual sections here:

Sundari Kannal Oru - Individual Sections by sripathyramesh

Let me know your feedback and drop in your comments. If you want to know the exact notes or want the midi file, let me know.

Endrendrum Anandhame - Ilaiyaraaja

Rajiv Shankar introduced me to the song "Endrendrum Anandhame". It is a funky song by Ilaiyaraaja and is set in Sarasaangi raagam!

Listen to this song here:

Another intersting thing Rajiv pointed me out was the play in the time signature. The pallavi and rest of the song seemed to be in 3/4 except for the anupallavi - 'vaalibathin rasanai..." in 4/4. The beat seems to be similar for both portions. That is because for first 2 lines the beat plays 4 bars of 3 counts each and for the next 2 lines (vaalibathin..), it plays 3 bars of 4 count each. Very interesting to note this.

What I later noticed is that the melody (mainly charanam and 1st 2 lines of pallavi) seems to be in 6/8 time signature rather than 3/4. But the beat and bass follow 3/4 time signature. I don't know how to explain and so I added a tabla rhythm over the song to try to demonstrate that. Here is that version:

Endrendrum Anandhame by sripathyramesh

Beat : 1 2 | 3 4 | 5 6
Melody : 1 2 3 | 4 5 6

I may be wrong too. So please correct and educate me if I am wrong. What do you think?

Jotheyali / Vizhiyile / Jaane Do Na on the Harmonium

This song, Jotheyali, was originally composed by Ilaiyaraaja for a Kannada film and that was a huge hit. This song was later reused as Vizhiyile Mani Vizhiyil in a Tamil film, Nooravudhu Naal. More recently, Ilaiyaraaja reused this again as Jaane Do Na in the Hindi film, Cheeni Kum, with a totally different arrangement.

This song has got wonderful melody and chord sequences. I wanted to try it out and so I set the basic arrangement for this song and created the Karaoke track. I then played the harmonium on top of the track and recorded it. Let me know your feedback.

Microphone used: Tascam DR-07mkII digital audio recorder

Notes: http://www.tfmpage.com/notes/ir/viz2.txt
Chords: http://indiankeyboards.11.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?p=613#613

Andhi Mazhai - our cover version

Here is a cover version of the wonderful song 'Andhi Mazhai Pozhiguradhu' from the film 'Rajapaarvai'. It was originally composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

We thought of performing this song for a band competition and that is when I started to take the notes and chords of the song and then created a karaoke track just for reference. But then for different reasons, we dropped this song. Recently I recorded the vocals for this song with my colleagues Srivatsan, Vijayalakshmi, Baranidharan and another colleague Anbu Chezhian captured it on Video. He did the editing of the video as well.

Presenting Andhi Mazhai:

Singers: Srivatsan, Vijayalakshmi, Baranidharan
Music track, Recording, Mixing: Sripathy Ramesh (Original music: Ilaiyaraaja)
Video Shot and Edited by: Anbu Chezhian

Do let us know your feedback in the comments section.

Thenpandi Seemayile - Strings Section

About a month back, I wanted to decipher the Strings section of Thenpandi Seemayile song from Nayagan. The lead melody was easy. And with some equalization of the original track I was able to find out the notes for the rest of the orchestra. It was fun deciphering this and understanding the harmonies involved.

I sequenced the same piece on my computer. Here is the violin section, followed by the viola section, the cello and double bass section and finally all of them playing together. I am not really good at listening to a piece and reproducing it perfectly on keyboard. So if there are any wrong notes, please let me know so that I can correct them.

Thenpandi Seemayile - Strings Section Details by sripathyramesh

My next target is the opening strings section of the 'Singing Self' piece from Nothing but Wind. The good part is that I chanced upon the practice session of the orchestra at the venue for the 'Nothing But Wind' concert held at Chennai. And I recorded a small section on my mobile. Sorry for the poor audio quality. Here, you can listen to the individual sections doing the mic check and then all of them playing together. Refer the link below for the recording.

http://soundcloud.com/sripathyramesh-1/nothing-but-wind-concert-rehearsals

Do share your thoughts in the comments below.

Some ARR pieces repeated

Here are a couple of instances where A R Rahman has reused some of his earlier pieces in songs. These are just 1 or 2 line pieces and there is no harm in doing so since the originals are also his. You can hover your mouse over my photo on the comments bar at the bottom of the track to find out details about the songs mixed.

Rahman Repeat by sripathyramesh

I also read that one of the re-recording pieces in Roja was later the charanam of Telephone Manipol song. Also the rerecording piece of Kannathil Muthamittal became the pallavi of a song from the hindi film Ada.

Other music directors have also done that. Harris Jayaraj has incorporated one rerecording piece from Vettaiyadu Vilayadu (plane sequence with Jo) in the song Mudhal Naal Indru from Unnale Unnale. Similarly HJ had used a rerecording piece from Minnale into a song, Pinju Thendrale, from Majnu.

What do you think of this? Also let me know if you know of any other similar reused pieces.

Ada Remix Entries

Around 10 months back, I posted a blog article on the remix contest by ARR and Nokia for the promotion of the film, Ada. I participated in it and was planning to publish the files only after the results. The deadline was over on June 15 2008, but they just ignored the contest after the submissions. No news what so ever. So I am publishing my entries for the contest below for your feedback. Let me know your views.

PS: From their Terms and Conditions, the rights for all the remix entries are owned by Nokia.

By submitting your remixed entry for the online/offline contest you hereby agree and consent to Nokia having all the Intellectual Property Rights of such remix and Nokia may use your remix in its future promotions in any manner whatsoever. You confirm all the IPR rights to Nokia and you also agree not to claim any IPR rights on the same in future.

Jai Ho Rahman

Congratulations to Mr. Rahman on getting the Oscar awards ! You truly deserve it.

On celebration of this, I am currently having the Jai Ho song (from Slumdog Millionaire) as my mobile ringtone. I have edited it slightly. Here is the ringtone version:

Jai Ho Ringtone by sripathyramesh

I have also edited the O Saya song (again from Slumdog Millionaire) for using it as a ringtone. Here is the edited version below:

O Saya Ringtone by sripathyramesh

You can download the above ring tones and use it, if you like them.

Remix of New York Nagaram

Of late, I don't get much time to blog. So I am just posting some of my earlier works to keep this blog active. I did a small remix of the New York Nagaram song for the background of a particular video. I just added some beats and adjusted the levels. You can listen to the remix below. Let me know your views.

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Thottal poo malarum Remix

Here is my remix of the old thottal poo malarum and the "new" thottal poo malarum song. Since both the songs were in the same scale and shruthi, it was easy. The tempo of the old song alone was changed to match the new one.

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