ILAIYARAGAM

ILAIYARAGAM Research Posts

Research Post 3 - Bass Nuances

Raaja's idea of composing bass is nothing short of an experiment. Traditionally bass is played with a pattern,
which is more suiting the rhythm of the song. Sort of playing a second fiddle.. A good example of his own is
'Maasi masam alana ponnu' song. There is nothing great about the bass track of this song. Bass is just played
at full timing of every bar, giving a good grand 'dharrr.' effect. But a song like this (with ordinary bass
tracks) is an exception in his music. 90% of his songs have extra ordinary bass patterns. A song like 'Vaan
megam poopoovai thoovum' is benchmark for bass compositions in a song. The bass goes on in a world of its
own, in its own rhythm pattern, gliding along the rhythm track, following the melody dutifully.. Numerous
examples that I can think of are: 'Athadi ammadi then mottudhan', 'Putham pudu kalai', 'Raasathi unna..
kaanadha nenju', 'ivaloru ilanguruvi', 'Kanmani anbodu kadhalan', 'Anjali Anjali Anjali', 'Manram vandha
thendralukku' etc.. Watch the bass tracks of these songs. They have their own pattern but still suiting
themselves very well within the rhythm track. In short they are like 'Kuru nila mannargal' enjoying a space of
their own under a big king (which is the song itself) and not taking a back seat. Many a times this unique
pattern is complex enough to be considered a counterpoint in itself. Few examples of this are, Starting of
2nd interlude of 'Poonthalir aada', Finishing of 1st interlude in the song 'Anjali Anjali'(This is a Piano piece for
only 2 bars, which goes in descending order with the notes of first half in an octave. Watch the bass, its
composed with the notes of second half in an octave. Great counterpoint), the starting of 1st interlude of

'Meenamma'(During

the

trumpet)

etc.,

Second thing, which is unique in Raaja's bass writings, are: the bass in his songs doesn't sound BASS!! (not
really low). They sound relatively at a higher level. The last two strings of bass guitar are more used than
the lower two.. Songs like 'Vaanilae then nila', 'Vaan megam', 'Neer veezhchi thee mootudhae', 'Unnai naan
paarthadhum' (Beautiful song from an unreleased movie called 'Kannukkoru vanna kizhi'- How many of such
raaja's treasure are we missing ??!!), 'Devanin kovil moodiya neram', 'Malarae Malarae Ullasam', 'Oho Megam
vandhadho' etc etc.. are good examples for this. This is a novelty which aids the bass to be clearly audible
than
sounding
itself
just
loud
and
not
clear
!!
Third thing is the well-constructed chord progressions around his melody. This give the bass track a very good
base to switch them along with the chord progression, making it sound very beautiful There can't be a
better example other than the great 'Kadhal oviyum'. The first two lines of the charanam are so complicated
with almost one chord per word. And Bass switches quite nicely glued with the chord progression. Pallavi of
'ooru sanam' is another one. In general not even in one song can you notice a place where the bass is
sounding
out
of
scale
Fourth thing is they are used as very well connection phrases between lines or as an answer to other tracks..
This is quite unique to Raaja.. Take for example, 'Raasavae.. Unnai vida mattane' from Aranmani kizhi.. The
bass has a very un-orthodox pattern and fills the song even during the pause between two lines. More
example for this can be 'Kannan vandhu paaduginraan', 'Ilampani thulir vidum kalam', 'Ilamai idho idho',
'Rojapoo aadi vandhadhu' He also aptly makes the bass answer another melody track. You can notice this in
the second interlude of 'Kadhal oviyum'. Bass answers chorus initially and Veena later. Prelude of 'engengo
sellum'
is
another
one
here.
Fifth thing is, there are portions in his song given specific importance for bass. During this only bass guitar is
played for few bars as a part of interlude or main melody. The beginning of the 2nd interlude of 'Enna
satham indha neram' is a classic example. Beginning of Second interlude of 'sangeeta megam', prelude of
'idhu oru nila kalam', Beginning of Second interlude of 'valaiyosai kala kala', prelude of the song 'kalam
kalamaga vaazhum' etc are few of those songs where Bass assumes the center stage and does a brief 'thani
avarthanam'.
Sixth aspect one can think of is his usage of Bass in semi-classical songs. Everyone knows about Raaja's
versatility in this area. Everyone also acclaims his way of music as a great fusion and giving the carnatic
music with a western personification. But has anyone looked into how adept is he using the bass guitar in
native songs of Indian classical origin. Take 'nee dhanae endhan pon vasantham' for instance. A beautiful song
set in the Madhyamavadhi raga. The bass guitarist of this song can proudly feel he has achieved 'something'
in his life. Such complicated is the bass pattern, but still in the Raaga: madhyamavathi. Take the song 'Oru
pattam poochi' from kadhalukku mariyadhai. A great song in Jog. Especially in the second interlude of this
song when KJ does a alapanai with 'Poovana en nenjam', the bass track just slides around. You can witness
some 'arajagaman'-a bass tracks in naattai in the song 'Pani vizhum malar vanam'. 'Ninnukori varnum' is
another one to follow. How is this possible for him? The answer in his own words is 'There may be rules in
music. But even as Beethoven said, "Rules are my humble servants", you can break them if you have a valid
excuse. Since I'm not aware of any existing rules, the new things that I do are not any violation, but
innovation'. Take any song composed in a pakka raagam by Raaja, and analyze its bass track. The bass really
seconds
his
thoughts.
Now days, the trend in Tamil music is catching on more with World music. Hip Hop, Rap and Technos are hot
now. In all these styles there is a constant bass track played all thro' the song irrespective of any variations
in the song. (Songs like Ace of base and similar numbers in Tamil). The point made here is not to debate if
this style of music is good or bad. But versatile composer's like Raaja has shown us that the things other way
around is possible. For instance, songs like 'Raaja kaiya vecha' where he has used two different bass tracks
for the same main melody. The main pallavi is composed in good major. But whenever the pallavi is sung
after 1st and 2nd charanams, he converts the movement of the song in to a total minor scale. He uses Bass
as one of the powerful weapons for this transition. Also there are songs like 'Kanmani anbodu kadhalan'
where for there are atleast 3 different bass tracks for the same pallavi. When Janaki first starts the song
with a tune, there is a short and sweet Bass track played at regular intervals. Soon after when the song
starts in full flow, bass beautifully fills up the all the blanks in the first track and makes it into one

continuous track. Much later when the song ends and re-starts again (with la la la..) it's a 3rd different bass
track. Another striking example is the song 'Megam kottatum'. If you see the melody of first line (Megam
kottatum) and the second line (Minnal vettatum) of this song is same. But the bass tracks are totally
different and jump almost half an octave lower between first and second line. Also in subsequent lines it's
just
mind-boggling.
Finally it's his competence to use synthetic bass in today's electronic world. Before anyone else could
venture he used it as early as Punnagai mannan. (In the synth computer bit, 1 2 3 4). Even 'Kalam
kalamaga' has some excellent synth bass. Until recently even Songs like 'Arumbum thalirae' from
chandralekha saw some wonderful synth bass. Unfortunately this song went unnoticed. But listen to bass in
this song. There is no percussion track in the pallavi. The bass compensates for it.. Also all his new songs
from movies like Time, Friends etc., also had good sensible use of synth bass.
The point is, many tamil music listeners doesn't even know something called bass guitar exist. Still why is he
composing such superb bass tracks song after song. It's the same way that god has created so many beautiful
landscapes, animals, plants and flowers in this universe which most of us are unaware of. Why did he create
so
many
things
that
go
unnoticed?
The answer would be...that is the joy of creation...

- click here for Research Post 4

- click here for Research Post HOME

Article Courtesy - Vicky (Vignesh Subramanian - vignesh_s@mail.com), ilaiyaraaja yahoo groups.

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