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[N Y MURALI]

HAI EVERYBODY

I WATCHED WITH INTEREST OF VARIOUS OPINION ABOUT THE RAAGA OF THIS SONG. ONE GENTLE MEN HAS WRITTEN THAT THIS IS IN RAAGA "BHANDUVAARAI". ANOTHER OPINION IS THAT IT SHOULD BE RAAGA "SUBHA BANDHUVARALI".

I WANTED TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS SONG. THE MOMENT I PLAY THIS SONG IN MY KEYBOARD I ALWAYS FALL IN TEARS BECUASE IT CONVEYS SO MANY EMOTION OF AN YOUNG WOMAN'S THOUGHTS ABOUT THE RECIPROCAL LOVE SHE EXPECTS FROM A MAN.

MY HUMBLE OPINION ABOUT THIS SONG IS THAT IT IS NEVER IN A RAAGA.

FIRST LET US SEE WHAT IS THE SWARAM OF RAAGA BANDUVARAALI

THE AAROGANAM IS " SA RI1, GA1, MA1, PA, DAI, NI2, SA
THE AVAROHANAM IS "SA, NI2, DA1, PA, MA1, DA1, MA, GA1, RI, SA.

THE SWARAM OF RAAGA SUBHA BANDUVARAALI

THE AAROGANAM IS " SA RI1, GA1, MA1, PA, DAI, NI2, SA
THE AVAROHANAM IS "SA, NI2, DA1, PA, MA1, GA1, RI1, SA.

I HAVE PLAYED THIS SONGS NUMBER OT TIMES IN MY KEYBOARD. THE SWARAMS THAT COME WHILE PLAYING THIS SONG ARE

SA, RI1, GA1, GA2, MA1, MA2, PA, DA1, NI1 NI2.

THE FACT IS THERE ARE ONLY 12 SWARAM IN A SHRUTHI (carnatic term) OR SCALE (western term) .

HERE IN THIS SONG YOU NOTICE 10 SWARAMS ARE USED TO CREATE THIS MELODY PIECE OUT OF 12 SWARAMS.

THERE IS NO RAAGA EITHER IN HINDUSTANI OR CARNATHIC MUSIC LIKE THIS. YOU ALL KNOW THAT IN CARNATIC MUSIC THERE CAN BE ONLY MAXIMUM 7 SWARAMS WHICH ARE CALLED SAMPOORNA RAAGA WHICH MEANS COMPLTE. THERE IS NO EIGTH SWARAM IN CARNATIC.
THERE CAN BE ONLY 1 OUT 2 "RI", "GA" . "MA", "DA", AND "NI".
WHERE AS IN THIS SONG THERE ARE 2 GAS, 2 MAS, 2 NIS. TOTALL VIOLATION FROM THE RAAGA RULE.

IN HINDUSTANI STYLE AT LEAST THEY ALLOW TWO OF THE SAME SWARA FAMILY TO CO EXIST IN A RAAGA. IF YOU TAKE A RAAGA KAAPI YOU WILL HAVE 2 GAS THAT IS GA1 AND GA2.

WHERE AS IF YOU TAKE THIS SONS, IT HAS 3 SWARA FAMILY OF SWARAS WHICH CO EXIST IN THIS MELODY. THAT IS GA1 & GA2, MA1 & M2, NI1 & NI2. IT DOES NOT QUALIFY THE RAAGA RULE EVEN IN HINDUSTANI MUSIC.

AND OTHER THAN CARNATIC AND HINDUSTANI NO OTHER WORLD MUSIC HAS GOT THE RAAGA CONCEPT.

SO WE CANNOT CALL THIS SONG BY ANY RAAGA. BUT HOW THEN THE MASTER CREATED THIS COPOSITION. HE USED A WESTERN METHOD CALLED CHORDS. WHAT HE HAS DONE IS THAT HE HAS TAKEN A SET OF 4 CHORDS AND USED THE NOTES (SWARAS) OF THOSE CHORDS AND USED EXTRA SHAPR NOTES TO LINK EACH CHORDS. MSV HAS A UNIQUE STYLE OF COMPOSING HIS MELODIES. THIS IS ONE AMONG 1000 OF SONGS HE HAS COMPOSED IN THIS METHOD. THAT IS WHY WE ARE NOT ABLE TO IDENTYFIY THE RAAGA NAME.

OF COURSE THERE ARE SONGS HE HAS COMPOSED IN A PARTICULAR RAAGA. THAT IS A DIFFERENT MATTER.

I HAVE POSTED MSV COMPOSING STYLE IN THAT SECTION IN 4 PARTS. LOT OF DETAILS ARE THERE.

I TAKE LEAVE OF YOU

SEE YOU THEN

N Y MURALI

[parthavi]

Dear Mr.Murali,
Your analysis is interesting, though the technical aspects are not intelligible to me due to my Swara Agnana. But I differ from you when you say a particular song is notbased on a particular raagaa.

When people identify a song with a raagaa, it is because of similarities. But you point out the differences and say that this song is not in this raagaa.

Sometimes, we find shades of more than one ragaa and different people may focus on different aspects of the song. Film songs may deviate from the standard swaraas for the raagaa. That is part of the creative process. I think you may find that even in some of the songs which you consider to be in a particular ragaa, there could be deviations at certain places.

People say 'unakkenna mele indraay' is based on Sindhu Bhairavi. But MSV said in a recent episode of Endrum MSV that this song was inspired by a Hindi song. He also sang the pallavi of the original song. Perhaps the original song itself had a Sndhu Bhairavi base or MSV might have adapted the song to Sindhu Bhairavi.

So raagaas might be the bases for many songs, though the base may be hidden by the structural excelence.

P R Swami (parthavi)