ILAIYARAGAM

ILAIYARAGAM Research Posts - 7

Raja Composes !! - A Comprehensive Write-Up on his style

Making music-The ilaiyaraja way!

In Western classical world there are two distinct classifications of music. One is program music and the
other is absolute music.
The first one is the idea that music should describe stories and concepts. The other one is making music
as it comes to your mind without any preset ideas. That is the belief that music should exist solely to
express musical thoughts.
What Ilaiyaraaja does in films is basically program music as he does them for a given situation or scene
or emotions.
In films there are two classifications. Creating song music and creating background score for the
completed feature film. In the industry parlance scoring for the background music is also called as ReRecording (RR).
Song music
Tune Composing
Ilaiyaraaja has a sitting with the Director/Producer when the entire script is narrated to him. Then they
explain the significant cues in the story where a song may fit in. Some times when they are confused and
cannot decide a cue for a song, Ilaiyaraaja with his experience suggests appropriate slots in the story
where a song can be used. Some times they may have two sessions-one to narrate the story and another
session to compose tunes for the songs.
Now assume that they have identified five song situations in this film. Now they start the process of
finalising a tune for each song.
Ilaiyaraaja sings aloud with his Harmonium various tunes for a given situation. Every thing is recorded on
tape. Some times this session will go on with endless tunes from Ilaiyaraaja and finally the
director/producer deciding on one. Some times the session will be over in less than 45 minutes as
happened with Director P Vasu forChinnathambi. Vasu says, "One by one as we went through the
situations, Ilaiyaraaja started churning out tunes and then and there we decided very fast and every thing
was over so soon".
When they agree on a particular tune for that song then that tune is recorded in a separate tape. A copy of
which will go to the lyric writer. During this session itself they will decide the lyric writer for this song.
During this composing session, Ilaiyaraaja will have only his assistant in-charge of vocal section Mr.
Sundararajan. This old man is in-charge of maintaining the tune tapes library.
Once the tune is finalised then Sundararajan will write down the tune in the swara notation form. This will
come in handy to him when he sits with the singers during the voice recording and also during the song
recording with the orchestra.
As I said, the day of actual recording of this tune may be on the same day or quite some time from the
time they had the composing session.
Composing the full score
On the day of recording when Ilaiyaraaja arrives at the studio at 7 am, Sundararajan is ready with the
particular tune tape in Ilaiyaraajas room. The director is on hand to give him a gist of the situation again
and also his idea of the song and the way in which he plans to picturise it.

For example, if the director says that while the heroine sings this song he is going to intercut the scene
and going to show some approaching tragedy, then Ilaiyaraaja has to take care of this fact in his interlude
music in the song.
Example is Paadava Un Paadalai song in Naan Paadum Paadal. When Ambika sings this beautiful
melodic song at the studio, the director intercuts and shows the scene where Mohan rushing in his car
which would eventually get into an accident and kill him. The interlude music will be appropriate to the
scene.
There is another similar song involving Mohan and Ambika; in the song Yaar Veettu Roja Poo
Poothatho in the film Idhaya Koil where Mohan sings the song in the studio while Ambika is shown in
trouble. Of course, this song also has some memorable string passages.
Similarly, another good example is the beautiful song Vaanil Vedivellisung by Janaki/Mano in Honest
Raj. The wife is singing the song, in a flash back sequence, and when Vijayakanth sings in the present,
after the death of his wife, the rhythm changes totally. The whole song scenes will go back and forth from
the present to the past. In the same way if the director says that he plans to use a big group of dancers
for this duet, then Ilaiyaraaja has to use chorus voices positively and then he has to structure his
orchestration in such a way.
With all this inputs in mind he listens to the tune once again (he has to, as in between the time of
composing this tune and the day of recording, he must have composed many any other tunes and also
heard many other stories and seen many other films for re-recording).
Normally the string players- Violin, Viola, Cellos, Double Bass, Brass section, etc. are not part of the
regular orchestra for songs. So if he is going to use strings and any other special instruments like Sitar,
Veena, Sarangi, Shehnai, etc. then he informs his Programme assistants Kalyanam and Subbiah. It is
their responsibility to get the players in time for the rehearsals and recording.
Now he starts writing the entire song with orchestration in his bound pad.
Ilaiyaraajas musicality is more than a talent. The ideas that come to him are, in reality, completed in his
mind and only have to be written down on paper. This is composing at the highest possible level. This is
the gift that has won him honours as he has time and again demonstrated that he could provide
embellishments or variations for a piece without prior notice or preparation. This is always evident when
he makes on the spot corrections or modifications to the score for a song or background music as he
takes the orchestra through the score for the final take. Contrary to popular belief that because he writes
music and hence he is too theoretical in his music making, he is capable of making and does make mind
boggling changes to the score at the last minute with out it affecting the over all control of the
composition.
He says that once he sits with all these inputs in mind, the entire song comes to him as a flash at three
distinct levels.
On one level the complete rhythm pattern of the entire song. The second is the entire orchestration. And
the third is the entire vocal patterns needed.
His problem is the usual one-the mind is faster than his hand. So he says, "As I start writing, the entire
pattern keeps changing dynamically. So what is finally turned out is not the one I got at the first instance. I
dont know whether the final one is better or the first one would have been the best combination." He
used to ask jokingly, "Is there any equipment available that would get the entire score from my mind at
one go when it strikes my mind at the first instance?

As is his practice, the score sheet will contain the session time on the top-right hand corner-whether it is a
7 AM session or an afternoon 2 PM session.
Till 1989 Ilaiyaraaja used to record two songs per day. One in the morning and another one in the
afternoon. Some times, he has even recorded four songs a day with two orchestras in adjoining studios.
The top left-hand corner will have the singer name for this song. He also writes the production company
name and the song name if it has been finalised already with the lyric writer.
Now it is 7.45-8 AM. The score is ready.
What Ilaiyaraaja writes is called Short-Score format in music parlance. That means it is not a full score
yet; still there are a few things that he takes care during the rehearsals/recording. More over, because
most of the players have been with him for many years and the chemistry is very strong, he can take the
liberty of leaving certain things unsaid on the score, which the orchestra players will make out on their
own or Ilaiyaraaja can verbally fill those missing pieces during the rehearsals.
The score will contain every thing. Including the chorus portions, the words or phrases for the chorus
parts, male/female, solo/group, and every thing will be there. If he wants a double or treble flute or some
other things like mixing of a solo violin in multiple tracks, every thing will be clearly written there.
Though he writes in western staff notation format, he marks some of the parts in swara notation form also
in Tamil for the benefit of the players; this is in addition to the western notation
On the other hand what he wrote for his work with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) was in fullscore format. It was concert hall music. Once the score is published then any orchestra in the world could
play that music in their programmes. Hence that score would contain every thing. What the conductors
normally change is the tempi and other minor things in the score.
In a studio recording short-score format, for example, if a flute joins the violins in the middle of a passage
and goes out, Ilaiyaraaja need not bother about writing every thing there. If he has written the melody that
the flute player has to play, then the tempo and scale and pitch etc. he can verbally instruct during the
take. And from his mixing console he can adjust the flute channel volume with reference to the volume of
the violins so that he can decide which should be in the foreground and which should be in the
background.
But in concert music full-score format, this balancing of various instruments has to be on the score-on
paper. Added to this, writing for live instruments is not an easy task, as it requires deep knowledge about
the range of each and every instrument and also the capability of the players available with you. You
cannot write some thing for the violin and ask the sax player to play it (there is no electronics in a classical
Symphony Orchestra, you remember).
On top of this, writing for concert hall music requires a very strong imagination. What do I mean?
Imagine, when the full brass section is playing a passage along with the string section and if I want to
write this flute melody interlude, I should know the level at which to write the flute portion so that the flute
will be heard amongst other instruments in that particular passage.
Do you understand the complexity of writing concert music for a classical symphony orchestra?
Rehearsal and Recording
The orchestra players have started arriving at the studio. They all wait to see the score as students wait
outside the examination hall. Now, senior violinist Judi goes inside Ilaiyaraajas room and comes out with

the score. Judis is in-charge of copying and distribution of score sheets to everybody. He is also
responsible to follow the on-the-spot corrections and adjustments that Ilaiyaraaja may make during the
course of the rehearsal and recording and make sure that these corrections are made on the individual
copies of the players. He has a look at the score and other members of the orchestra cuddle around him.
If the score is a simple one then the players heave a sigh of relief. If it is a tough one, then they straight
away start their practice to be ready before Ilaiyaraaja arrives for rehearsals. Now the score goes for
xeroxing. Some 20 to 30 copies are made depending upon the number of players.
Ilaiyaraaja has his breakfast in the mean while and by 9 am he comes out of his room and proceeds to
the studio hall. The full orchestra has assembled there and every one is seriously practicing their portions.
His first stop is with Puru (R Purushothaman), the man in-charge of the complete rhythm section.
Ilaiyaraaja explains to him the general rhythm scale of the song with the clapping of his hands. He
explains the rhythm changes during the course of the whole song and the multiple rhythm patterns that he
wants for this song. He also explains to Puru the kind of sounds he wants for each and every rhythm
patterns. Puru plays some sections on his Octopad and gets himself clarified. He also plays sample
rhythm sounds from his Samplers for Ilaiyaraaja to select. Once Puru is clear as to what Ilaiyaraaja wants
then Ilaiyaraaja moves to the Indian rhythm section players (comprising Tabala, Dolak, etc.) if they are
available and goes through the motions for their portions in their language as Nadai, Thala kattai, etc.
Apart from his Rhythm areas, Puru will make himself clear about the whole song in general including the
portions of all other groups.
Then he stops with his keyboard and electric guitar group comprising Viji Manuel (son of legendary
Handel Manuel) and Bharani on the keyboards, Guitarist Sada (son of late music director Sudarsanam)
and others.
Of course, the score contains every thing including the chords they have to play. The
Keyboard/Synthesizer players will have their portions marked on the score sheet as SS, SS1, SS2, QX
Prog, and SSVoice or in the name of some unavailable instruments like BagPipe, Santoor, Oboe, etc.
In some of the string and flute portions the keyboards would join the live instruments. And also whenever
brass section is playing then also Viji and other keyboard players will join the live brass players to give a
much richer and bigger sound. This is more so due to the non-availability of that many brass players in
the field. Many a time the keyboard gang will be required to join the live chorus group with their
synthesizer voices.
You must have noticed that in many of his songs the string portion is almost a mix of live strings with
keyboard strings. In the same way the flute passages are mostly double or treble flutes with Neapolean
(Arunmozhi, the singer) playing the live flute and Viji providing the support with his keyboards. Some
times Neapolean will play it twice in different tracks so that the final output will look like as if three flute
players were there.
One good example is the song Kaadal .. by SPB/Chitra from the film Gopura Vaasalile. Or even
the Povoma Oorkolam song from Chinnathambi has a beautiful double flute passage in the second
background. Of course, the Gopura Vaasalile song has a beautiful orchestration with subtle things like
SPB will start the Pallavi and Chitra will repeat it; but when SPB completes the pallavi, Chitra will join him
for the last sentence and from then on start the pallavi all over again while SPB will withdraw; that is, the
last word alone they will sing together. It was a beautiful little touch. In the same way the song Poo
Malaye from Pagal Nilavu sung by Ilaiyaraaja and Janaki. It is a research material. Both of them will be
singing different saranams in different octaves simultaneously.
Now he goes to the centre of the hall where a score stand with his original score pad is ready for him.

He first goes through the portions of the string players.

He puts them through their portions one by one from the various passages he has written in this song (he
refers them as Backgrounds-1st, 2nd, 3rd, like that; if the song opens with music then it is 1 st BGM, the
music that comes after the Pallavi is 2nd BGM, like that it is classified). Corrects them in their dialogue play
as well as group play as First Violin group and Second Violin group and also with the Cello group. He also
makes sure that they understand clearly, in particular, the rests and pauses in their parts. Of course,
abrupt rests and pauses in his scores are his hallmarks. So are the little things like interludes between the
lines in the pallavi or saranam or some times even in between words.
Once the section wise rehearsals are through, Ilaiyaraaja puts the orchestra through the full song.
Now Sundararajan hums the vocal part of the song with the orchestra playing the full song. During this full
song rehearsal, which is a sketchy one, Purus drum machine will just give a measured beat to
accompany the orchestra because he has not programmed his sections yet.
During this phase, Ilaiyaraaja corrects the orchestra if there is any problem in exactly understanding his
phrasing demands and also the portions involved in song-follow; that is the players including the string
section who will have portions to be played during the song also. In many of his songs you can find that
the orchestra is having a continuous dialogue play with the singers. An excellent example that
immediately comes to my mind is the song Adho Andha Nadhiyoramfrom the film Ezhai Jaathisung by
Janaki, in this song you can find the strings in constant and vibrant dialogue with the singer in both the
saranams.
Some times, if he finds that the orchestra finds it difficult to play a particular phrase or passage, then he
will either ask them to practice again and again and be ready for the take. Of course, during the take if he
still finds them struggling with it, then he would make amendments to the score. After all, work has to go
on.
When I talk about Ilaiyaraaja giving instructions, it is all very precise and to the point. For an on-looker, it
will all look meaningless. In mono syllables or just some gestures. But there is an invisible communication
channel between Ilaiyaraaja and his players.
Once this rehearsal session is over, Ilaiyaraaja retires to his room.
During this period Puru will be busy programming his sequencers and Viji, Sada and other electronics
people with their programming work. Rest of the orchestra will be busy practicing their portions. This will
take quite an amount of time.
During this period the Lyric writer arrives with the song and Ilaiyaraaja goes through the written song and
checks whether it goes with the tune with out any hitch. At the end of this session the final song copy
okayed by Ilaiyaraaja is ready for voice mixing. This is also the break period for Ilaiyaraaja to spend some
time meeting visitors, reading or writing. In fact most of the pieces in his two albums How To Name
It? and Nothing But Wind was written casually during such breaks.
At around 12.30 when his Rhythm section programming is complete and all others are ready with their
parts, Puru gets into the Mixer Console Room and takes on the role of a Music Producer. (In the music
parlance the one who sits on the Mixer Console and listens to the various channels and balances them to
produce the desired results is called the Music Producer).
Now Puru goes through each and every section (key-boards, guitars, rhythms, strings-violins, cellos,
double-bass, flute.) asking them to play their parts and balances their volume levels on the mixer. This
becomes more complex with the electronic instruments as they are directly connected to the mixer and

getting the right volume at the console in relation to their own individual volume settings becomes a little
bit complex.
Once done, Judi or another senior violinist Prabakar take on the role of a conductor and puts the
orchestra through the full song. The individual groups like live rhythm players, brass section, flute and
others will be in their respective booths. Only the string section and the electronic gang will be in the main
hall. And Sundararajan will be in the voice booth to hum the song or some times instead of this a violinist
will play the song along with the orchestra to keep the cue for them.
With the orchestra playing the full song and listening from the Console, Puru tries to adjust the levels of
various tracks and channels and arrives at a level, which he knows Ilaiyaraaja would accept.
Having been with Ilaiyaraaja from his college days, for almost two decades now, Puru should know better.
Once this done, word is sent to Ilaiyaraaja that every thing is ready for the final take (that means, for the
actual recording!).
Ilaiyaraaja listens to the full song from the Mixer Console and gives some finer corrections and
adjustments. Some times, this last minute embellishments would tax the orchestra so much that they may
require a few more practice runs before the take. Once Ilaiyaraaja is satisfied, they start the "take"
process. Again and again this process continues till finally Ilaiyaraaja says it is through.
Some times, he may listen to the full song play from the console and leave instructions for corrections and
adjustments if any and then leave the rest of the work of actually completing the take to Puru and others
and retire for lunch. He has to write the score for the afternoon song, you see!
If the song is a complex one then they record a basic track first with the rhythm section and the vocal cue.
Later on they will mix the strings, flute and other portions one by one in separate sessions.
All these works including the voice mixing sessions with the singers, Ilaiyaraaja used to do earlier. His
able assistants have taken over those run of the mill tasks from Ilaiyaraaja. The team works like a welloiled machine leaving Ilaiyaraaja to concentrate on the creative side.
Occasionally Ilaiyaraaja himself will be singing the voice track for the song instead of Sundararajan
humming it or some other violinist playing it along with the orchestra during the take. For example the
famous song Vaa Vaa Anbe from Eeramana Rojave. This is a two-voice song sung by Yesudas and
Janaki. During the take Ilaiyaraaja sang both the parts effortlessly. Later Yesudas and Janaki mixed their
tracks listening to Ilaiyaraajas track.
Some times the track version he sings becomes so good that it is retained in the CDs/tapes while another
version by a regular singer is recorded for use in the film.
For example the famous song Idhayam Oru Koil from IdhayaKoil. Ilaiyaraaja originally had a version by
himself and Janaki sung during the take. Later he had another version mixed by Balu and that was the
one used in the film. In the same way he sang the voice track for the song Ennai Thaalatta
Varuvalo from Kadulukku Mariyadhai. Later Hariharan listened to Ilaiyaraajas track and sung his version,
which was used in the film. Fortunately they retained Ilaiyaraajas track also without overwriting it.
Later, depending upon their availability the singers will come and mix their voices. At that time
Sundarrajan will be in-charge of the sessions to train them with the help of the tune tape, the swara
notations he has made of the tune and also with the help of the score sheet which precisely tells you the
entry and exit points. If Ilaiyaraaja is available or if he feels the song is a difficult one, then he will be there
to personally mix the voices. In the same way, the chorus voices are mixed later in separate sessions.

Background Music (Re-recording)

Once the edited rough-cut version of the film is ready after the dubbing, a screening is arranged for
Ilaiyaraaja. This print is called "double-positive" film in industry parlance. Because there are two positive
films that will be run simultaneously. One will contain the visuals and the other will contain the dialogues.
And during the re-recording sessions, the music will be recorded on another positive sound film. Of
course, now days, if it is done in DTS/Dolby formats, then it is recorded on tapes/CDs. This projection will
not contain the special effects sounds like opening of door or moving of a car or train or even the dishum
dishum sounds of the fight sequences. Just visuals with dialogue.
Composing the Score
Once this screening is over, Ilaiyaraaja will start his sessions immediately. If he sees the film in evening
then his sessions will start from 7 AM the next day. And normally the re-recording sessions are called 7 to
9 sessions; that is from 7 AM to 9 PM sessions with breaks for break-fast at 9 AM, lunch at 1 PM and
evening snacks at 6 PM.
For this re-recording session, unlike a song recording, all members of the orchestra will be present.
Because in a song he knows exactly the kind of instruments that will be needed. But in a re-recording
session, you dont know when you will require which instrument. Hence every one will be there. That is,
apart from the regulars like the electronics group comprising key-boards, guitars, the rhythm players,
flute, all the others like the violins, cellos, double-basses, the brass section comprising sax, trumpets,
trombones and sitar will also be present during this re-recording sessions. Some times, special players for
Brass, Saarangi, etc. will be called for these sessions from Bombay to add strength to the regular local
players.
These RR sessions may take anywhere from 2.5 days to 6 days depending upon the complexity and load.
If the film has more number of songs then Ilaiyaraajas load comes down that much. Instead, if it has
more visuals than dialogues like in a Mani Ratnam or Bharathi Raaja film then his load goes up.
If the first reel has the credits running and it requires music, then it is kept aside as the last work of the
project after finishing all other reels. Some times if it has a song, then he need not bother about this.
Now the projections at the studio will be reel by reel, each reel running for approximately 10 minutes. In
some reels, if there is a song, then the rest of the reel should be seen for potential music inclusion.
The reel is projected. The whole orchestra, some 70 players, and the director, and all others in studio
watch the film in the hall with Ilaiyaraaja. Ilaiyaraaja sits in the centre of the hall with his harmonium in
front of him and resting his score pad on that. He is a picture of sphinx like concentration watching the
reel and the happenings there. As I said, this version of the film does not contain special effects sounds.
So Ilaiyaraaja has to take that also into consideration and there may be some shots where he may leave
them blank without music to be filled up later with special effect sounds.
During the screening one can see Ilaiyaraaja making some short notes on his pad. Once the reel is over,
the lights come on. Ilaiyaraaja waits for a few seconds, I think more to adjust his eyes to the light, than for
any thing else.
He starts writing on his score pad. He does not hum any phrase or use his harmonium. When you see
this scene, you may think that this man has seen this film many times to decide the cues for music and
the compositions needed. But he is seeing the film only for the second time.
The whole theatre goes into silence mode and what you can hear is only the rustle of the paper and the
scratch of pen.

Judi and Sada pull up a chair and sit on either side of Ilaiyaraaja with their notepads ready. Behind
Ilaiyaraaja, other players start assembling with their notepads in hand. Oblivious of all these hustle and
bustle, Ilaiyaraaja is seriously writing the score. And the players from different groups start copying their
individual parts then there, if there is any thing for them in that reel. You see, there is no time to waste; to
wait for him to complete the full score and then take xerox copies for every one and all other luxuries that
you enjoy in a song recording.
You can notice one group calling the others who are chatting outside with their tea and smoke, "Brass is
there, go in". You can see the brass players rushing inside to copy their parts. The sitar player who is
sparingly used normally, and usually spends most of his time in rest during the entire re-recording session
will get a call when he least expects it. He would have seen the reel with Ilaiyaraaja like all others and
might have thought that this reel contains nothing that may demand a sitar and might have gone out again
to relax till the next reel is projected. But then, with Ilaiyaraaja, you can never predict what he will do next.
Suddenly the sitar man gets a call to come in and take his score.
Now Ilaiyaraaja has finished his writing. Players are settling in their seats. And Judi gets his clarifications
and makes sure that all those who have copied their parts have done it right by checking the score of
each and every group. Every one is ready on their seats. (Now days, some times, Ilaiyaraaja uses a keyboard and he directly feeds some of the portions into it from his mind and the rest he writes down as
usual. For Hey Ram the re-recording for which he plans to record in India and also in the Europe with a
classical orchestra, he directly composed on the key-board and the attached computer with the score
management software printed out the entire score. Once you input the score to this software then it
becomes easy to separate the parts of the score instrument wise and print them separately and also a
combined score for the conductor.)
Now the orchestra knows that there are six musical pieces in this reel and the instruments involved in
each of these pieces and the length of the pieces. But nobody knows where this music pieces are to be fit
in. Where they are going to begin, where to end.
Of course, they are not bothered about the ending. Because Ilaiyaraaja writes exactly for the time
required for the sequence. With out using a stop watch or music editor, he normally writes music that
exactly fits the required timing. May be, he has a mental clock that while deciding the start cue and end
cue for a music bit, is also capable of calculating the exact footage and the required timing for that
footage!
For example, I am taking a reel from the Mani Ratnam film Mouna Raagam, which I consider one of the
best study materials on background scoring in film music.
The reel starts mid-way after the song Oho, Megam Vanthatho.

Revathi comes home thinking the boy who was to come and see her for marriage would have
gone back. No, he was still waiting to talk with her. Her mother and others scold and get her
ready. She is pushed into the room where Mohan is waiting.

This meeting with the boy is some thing she wanted to avoid but couldnt. Now she enters the
room with a lot of reservations and confusions. She starts talking to him hesitatingly to begin with.
First she says she won't say sorry for keeping him waiting. Then she talks about herself, her
character, her concept of marriage, etc, and why she feels she could not be a good wife to him,
etc.

Finally when she asks Mohan to talk some thing, he says "I like you very much" and pushes off.

Every one is happily talking that the boy has agreed for the marriage and about the preparations
to be done.

Nobody asks Revathi her opinion. Her sister-in-law reminds every one about this. Her father asks
her opinion. She says no. Every one was very unhappy and asks her to give reasons. She says
no again and again.

Her father stands up and talks about his middle class background and his responsibility of getting
her other sisters married, etc.

Now Revathi asks her father whether he wants to sell her to some one to clear his responsibility.

Her father slaps her.

She walks out of the house, goes and sits on a roadside stone talking to herself, it is a moon lit
night.

When Ilaiyaraaja completes the score for this reel, the orchestra has the following:

1.

A short piece with Guitar and Keyboard

2.

A single stroke bang on the mridangam

3.

A small piece by Keyboard, sitar and Guitar

4.

Guitar, Keyboard and Strings.

5.

A flute piece starting with Guitar and later keyboards join to repeat what they did in # 4.

6.

A piece beginning with violins and answered by the cellos. At the end the key-boards join giving
some kind of night effect.

Ilaiyaraaja gets up and without even looking around to see whether all of them are ready (they are), starts
putting them through the score for a short rehearsal. Piece by piece. Once he has put them through all
the pieces in this reel, he signals the operator to start the reel screening again.
The reel starts running again. Now Ilaiyaraaja watches the movie in silence. And the orchestra is in a
constant alert waiting for his signal. He looks like a man possessed, with total concentration on the
screen. His hands ever ready to conduct the score.

When Revathi enters the house asking her mother whether they have left any thing for
her to eat, she stops dumbstruck seeing Mohan and all others. When Revathi sees them,
Ilaiyaraaja's hand signals the Keyboard and Guitar.

While getting dressed, Revathi hears that the boy is still waiting because he wants to talk
to her some thing; his hand signals the rhythm man-for the single stroke bang on the

mridangam. This player was waiting for this because he knew that his piece was the next
one in this reel.

Revathi enters the room and sees Mohan. Now his hand signals the sitar player (he is
sitting behind him and Ilaiyaraaja does not bother to see any body, his concentration
totally on the screen only. Any way, the sitar man knew that it was his turn next). This
piece is some kind of a broken piece with silence or as he calls in music parlance, with
rests in between. This is to go with the emotions of the character that enters the room
with a lot of reluctance and reservations.

Just before Revathi completes her initial intro saying "I am not going to say sorry for
keeping you all waiting" this piece ends giving a bit of silence.

When she completes this sentence, Ilaiyaraaja signals the next piece by Guitar,
Keyboards and strings.

The music on its own ends just a few seconds before Revathi completes her monologue
and tells Mohan that she wont be a good wife and asks his opinion. What was written fits
exactly only that much that Ilaiyaraaja has planned. More over, the silence created before
Revathi completes her monologue and waits for Mohans answer is intentional in creating
a tension.

When Mohan says that he likes her very much, Ilaiyaraaja signals the Rhythm man again
and then the Sitar man. This is some kind of a short dialogue between Rhythm and Sitar

The next piece starts when Revathis father starts talking about his middle class state,
etc. Ilaiyaraaja signals the Guitar, flute and Keyboard. After the initial flute bit, the
Keyboards repeat what they played in the earlier piece, that is, when Revathi was talking
with Mohan.

Revathi starts replying her father

Now Ilaiyaraaja signals the string section to be ready; once her father slaps Revathi, his
hand moves like a flash, the Keyboards withdraw and a new piece starts with violins and
they are answered vigorously by the cellos. This dialogue continues till Revathi comes
out of the house and sits on a road side stone, talking to herself; when the moon is
shown, Ilaiyaraaja signals the night effect key-boards to join.

This process is called "Synchronizing the music with the visuals".

When Ilaiyaraaja does this process, that is conducting the score while seeing the movie, Puru is busy
marking the beginning cues of each and every piece and also where exactly it ends. The starting cues he
also marks in the form of the reel counter that is running above the screen. Of course, Ilaiyaraaja also in
between, when he is waiting for the next cue, gives Puru and other members involved in this reel some
finer instructions about the other aspects. And if there are any pieces for chorus voices they are also
ready with the orchestra. Normally when he sees the full film, he gets an idea about the reels in which he
would be needing chorus voices, and accordingly they will be called. They wont be present all the time
like other members of the orchestra.
Once the reel is over, Ilaiyaraaja gets into the Mixer Console room and Puru takes on the role of the
Conductor for the session. The reel is screened again with the speakers in the hall switched off and Puru

with his headphone listens to the dialogue and watches the screen and conducts the orchestra for the
different cues. Again individual groups play from the different mikes and booths.
They play once when Ilaiyaraaja listens from the console and balances the tracks. And the next time it is
take. They record the pieces one by one. The whole process normally takes anywhere between 1 hour to
6 hours, depending up on the complexity.
Ilaiyaraaja says that the most important instrument in his armory is silence. All other things are just
instruments to create that silence. He just uses other instruments to leave at the silence point to create
tension, excitement or melancholy. If you have keenly watched his background scores, you can notice,
just at that moment when you feel tension, then you can notice that he has stopped his music, which is
why you are feeling the tension or concentration. This he uses effectively even in fight sequences, when
suddenly he stops the music and leaves only the effects to go on and that makes you attentive suddenly
without your realising it.
Some times, the director may not have finalised his version of some of the scenes. In such cases,
Ilaiyaraaja would record two or three version of music for that reel, one for a version with the particular
scene and one with out that scene. He is always particular that if the director removes that scene later
then the music should not appear to be stopping abruptly. Hence in such cases Ilaiyaraaja will give two or
three versions for the director to choose later.
While seeing the full film, he gets an idea whether he is going to compose new theme music for this story
or going to use one of the song tunes as the theme. And many times he has many themes for many
characters or situations that get repeated throughout the movie in different variations to create different
moods. When he takes up the music writing for credits (first reel or some times partly first reel and partly
last reel) he weaves these themes in to that or uses the song themes. It all depends on what mood he
wants to create.
In Thalapathi when he found out that the final film had more on mother-son sentiment than friendship
sentiment as originally narrated to him during the composing sessions, he decided to use
the Chinnathai song as the theme. He used that in different variations to build the emotional colour of the
story as a mother-son story.
In Idhayathai Thirudathe, the credits come on only after some time when Nagarjuna gets into an accident
and rushed to the hospital. If you notice, the music is nothing but the theme music of the film, which you
will hear later many times, in many variations, throughout the film but now here it is like a slow movement,
depicting tragedy.
In Mouna Raagam he has theme music with two variations. A fast paced one is for Karthik and a gentle,
slow paced one for Mohan. And the first reel when the credits are on, you can hear both in that. In the
same film when Karthik leaves his house for marriage, the police take him away. When he is traveling in
the jeep, mid way through, the music starts. First a gentle beginning with keyboards and when he jumps
from the jeep, drum strokes come on. When he starts running, a solo violin starts a tremolo, which is
answered by other violins and cellos. Now this dialogue reaches its crescendo and suddenly when Karthik
sees Revathi who is sitting on top of the steps on the other side of the road, the first violins burst out the
theme music and they are answered by the second violins and cellos; it continues through the process of
Karthik getting shot at and ends with Revathi completing her flash back story.
In Gopura Vaasalile, the first reel when the credits come on after the initial scene when the friends board
the train to go to Ooty, the entire sequence is the train and the scenic hill track to Ooty. The music is a
beautiful Concerto for Flute and Orchestra. With the solo flute taking on the theme of the film and later
joined by the strings and other players and later the flute taking on the song themes from the film.

To quote from Thalapathy again, it has many interesting examples to show how a correct musical score
can add a lot of depth and colour to a scene.

The scene where Mammooty suddenly asks Rajani to marry Bhanupriya and both of
them are shocked. Very effective use of Strings and keyboards add weight to this scene.
And when they are shown entering the Colony, he uses the melody of the unused
song Putham Puthu Poo Poothatho first as a solo humming and then with
Shehnai/Saarangi to portray the true feelings of the characters and situation.

The scene where Jaishankar tells Rajani that he has a mother and Rajani refusing to
believe that at first and then requesting Jai not to tell her that he is alive as she should
not come to know that her son is such a bad element. See how effectively he has used
chorus voices with keyboards and strings.

Again the scene where Bhanupria and her kid come to the clinic and leave the shawl of
Rajani in which Srividhya had thrown him away many years back. Srividhya calls out the
girl and gives the shawl. The girl narrates the story of the shawl. While Srividhya realises
the enormity of the statement, the kid takes the shawl away and Srividhya helplessly
looks at the shawl slipping away from her hands, as if it is her kid that is slipping away
from her hands. The music here is marvelous with santoor effects from the keyboards.

The scene where Srividhya visits Rajani. Chorus voices with keyboards effectively create
the build-up for this reunion scene.

When Rajani comes to meet Aravindswamy to request him to go out of that town on
transfer- Rajani sees Shobana on the top of the steps. The moment they see each other,
a solo violin in slow tempo, takes on from the Sundari song pallavi "Naan Unai
Theendamatten.." and other strings give minimal support. The music stops just giving a
few seconds of silence before Rajani starts talking, asking Shobana "Nalla erukkia".

Some times he has to do the filling up before or after a song. For example, in Chinnathambi, when Prabu
and Kushboo come out of the house the song Povoma Oorkolam does not start immediately. There is a
length of shots when Kushboo is seen enjoying the beauty of the nature, the green fields, the birds, the
wind, etc. Now Ilaiyaraaja has to fill up this portion with a music which should effortlessly continue with the
song that is to follow. If you watch again, please notice, how beautifully the strings and flute are used to
create that.
In the same way, the stick fight and the song Santhu Pottu that follows that in Thevar Magan. Ilaiyaraaja
is aware that this is not a serious fight scene, just a play kind of thing. So he decides to treat this
differently. At first when the fight starts, the rhythm bangs are used to create tension. And as the fight
slowly progresses, the individual rhythm play has become a full-fledged song kind of thing, some kind of
dance music. You may even wonder whether the fight was picturised for the music or the other way
round. It is so perfect. But it is some thing done during the re-recording. Finally when the song begins, it
looks like the extension of the stick fight dance music.
In Apoorva Sakotharargal, during the initial scenes when Nagesh and gang poison Srividhya the violent
music with strings and brass begin. And it is followed by a varied rhythm play when they try to escape
through the fields and the gang chasing them. And the credits start after the killing of Kamal and suddenly
the music changes to an eerie, mystery kind of thing with flutes, brass and rhythms. And when the scene
changes to the river with the boat in which Srividhya tries to escape, a solo flute takes over with the
theme of the story and strings answer it. And this theme we will hear many times in the story to follow.

Some times during the re-recording sessions, he may decide to fill-up a scene with a bit song or even a
full song. Bit songs have happened many a time. But the most notable and popular full song done during
the re-recording sessions was the famous Das, Das,Chinnappa Das song in Kadalora Kavithaigal.
When Ilaiyaraaja saw that reel he did not write any thing and took the next reels after that. Every one
including the director was wondering why. And in the afternoon after lunch, when Ilaiyaraaja came to the
session he was ready for a song recording, with the full score written during the lunch break. In the film, it
appears as if the picturisation was done for a song, but in fact it was the other way round. The song will
start with a Veda like hymn rendition Oru Kaalai Thookki from the scene Satyaraj standing on one leg
and goes on from there.
In the same way there was an incident during the re-recording of the Rajni film Panakkaran.
There was a scene of Rajni and his sister. They have an argument about how long can Rajni go inside the
swimming pool water. Rajni goes inside and his sister starts counting. During this period the villain
Charanraj comes and forcibly takes her away to a jungle. There is a length of scene where she was
chased by Charanraj. The score here is a melancholic flute trills accompanied by tabla. You know who
was the flutist for this piece? None other than the great Hari Prasad Chaurasia.
When Raja was doing the music for this reel during the morning pre-lunch session he stopped the work
midway and took the next reel. The players did not know why he took the next reel without completing the
earlier reel.
During the post lunch session Hari Prasad Chaurasia came to see Raja. After spending some time talking
to him while doing the take of other reels, Raja asked the earlier incomplete to be taken up. Then he
asked Chaurasia whether he is ready to do a small piece. Chaurasia said Oh, that was a pleasant
surprise Raja, would love to play your music any time. Then Raja said I kept this piece aside when I
heard you are in town and coming to see me in the afternoon.
Most of the directors feel that after his re-recording the whole film looks so different from what they
conceived or expected it to be. It is much more than their imagination. And Ilaiyaraaja's main trait is that
he does not do any thing to force himself-either in songs or in background scoring. He does just what is
required for the scene, how to add value to that or how to support that or how to cover some flaws that
can not be corrected now. And his concentration and sincerity is the same for all whether it is a
Ramarajan film or a MR or BR film. Even in a third rate film, if you notice, his work would be of the highest
order. Of course, if the film is so bad then even his music can not do much to revive that. Some times, if
the director is around during the sessions, Ilaiyaraaja checks with them whether what he has composed is
fine. But he has established such a great reputation to correctly gauge the mood of a film and write the
appropriate musical treatment required enhancing it, most of the directors just leave every thing to him;
that is the complete editorial freedom to decide the cues, the type instruments and the score.
Some times the directors kill his songs with their own ideas. A good example is the famous Sundari song
from Thalapathy. It is a song depicting war. It has a powerful orchestration with a lot of strings and brass
and chorus voices. But in the film the director killed the song with excessive use of horse running effects,
did you notice?
There are many a time when Ilaiyaraaja has done RR for two films simultaneously. Thevar Magan was
one such film. It was a typical Diwali release and it was one of those times when Ilaiyaraaja used to have
at least half a dozen movies for simultaneous release. And every director will be working on the final edit
version till the last minute and every one will be forcing to complete the RR some how to give them time
to do the balance work and release the picture for Diwali.

In such a situation, Ilaiyaraaja will have two orchestras. In studio-A he will see a reel, write the score, sync
the score with the film and give instructions to one of his assistants like Puru or somebody and they will
record the pieces one by one.
While they do this, he will go to Studio-B and see a reel from the second film and do the same thing theresee that reel from where he left in the last session in that film, write the score, sync it with the film and
record the pieces himself or leave that to the boys to complete the take while he goes back to Studio-A,
where by now the recording of earlier reel would have been completed and he takes up the next reel for
scoring.
Imagine the magnitude of mental pressure. Different stories, different situations demanding different kind
of score, different threads and themes to follow, and our man effortlessly shuttling between the studios.
And he changes the schedule (seeing the film reel by reel, writing the music, synchronizing it with the
visuals and recording the pieces) when he does work for a film that is to be recorded in DTS or DOLBY.
In such cases what he does is this. Sees the full film once as usual in a preview theatre. And starts seeing
the reels one by one in the preview theatre (instead of his recording theatre). Writes the score for each
and every reel. During these sessions he has his main assistants like Puru, Viji, Judi and some more
people. Then and there his score will be copied section wise and extra copies made for the orchestra.
And when this is over for all the reels, the scene shifts to the recording theatre. He starts seeing reel by
reel. Conducts the score with the orchestra, syncs it with the visuals and goes for recording.
He does this because the recording in DTS or other modern formats are directly done in CD or tapes in
multiple tracks. The balancing and mixing becomes complex like a multi-track song recording and takes a
long time than his normal recording sessions when the recording is actually done in sound films. Also,
these special sessions will have a lot of new musicians who are new to his style. Hence it would be better
if the full score is ready on hand for the sessions. That would save a lot of time.
His BGM tracks done in such latest formats can be easily converted into individual albums-for
example Mahanadhi, Kaalapani, MyDearKuttichathan, Kaadhal Kavithai,etc.
But his other BGM works can not be done that way. Because normally the re-recording music is recorded
directly on sound films. Hence they may have to be re-recorded again from the old scores if you want to
get them to album quality.
You would be able to appreciate the amount of work he does with just a single viewing of the rough cut
film when he is able to give such a good quality musical support to them. Without the aid of lists of music
cues, a music editor or even a stopwatch, Ilaiyaraaja is able to compose accurately a piece for a
particular film cue which fits exactly not only the required timing but also the mood and pace of the action
on the screen, heightening the tension if it was a fight scene, or enhancing with beautiful lyrical melodies
the romantic mood of a love scene, or just adding spontaneously joyous excitement rhythmically to a
dance scene.
John Williams is another composer whom I admire very much. Like Ilaiyaraaja, he also writes every thing
himself, without depending on arrangers/orchestrators like most of the MDs in Hollywood. But do you
know the time he took for writing the score for Phantom Menace-Episode I? The rough cut version was
given to him some time in October 1998. And he was ready to record the score with the London
Symphony Orchestra in February 1999. And he himself admits he would have seen the film at least 50
times in the course of composing the score.
What kind of output will Ilaiyaraaja produce, if he gets that kind of time and resources?

- click here for Research Post 7

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Article Courtesy - Ravi Ananthanarayan (ravi_ananthanarayan@yahoo.com)

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