Yuvan Shankar Raja's Change in Style
R and B, remix have been the heart and soul of YSR's music nowadays. But refreshingly and surprisingly there has been a turn in YSR's musical expertise in deepavali. Let us take out 1 song out for some analysis.
I was listening to pogadhe and i was instantly mesmerised, i am a hardcore fan of piano and when i heard his piano usage in the song, without even relating to the lyrics i could feel the longingness of a lover in that song. But more surprising is the similarity of solo english songs of a similar theme. Most english solo songs..usually soulful consist of such instrumentation with the piano and to a slight extent either acoustic guitar or bass guitar. And their lyrics complemented by just the piano can make them run in charts for long. Of course the vocals have to be in synth or it will be all to waste.
Now to the instrumentation. Let us hear the piano. It is not soothing with a similar rhythm. It is not put there to add a soft effect to the song. It actually has some orchestration. The difference of YSR's piano and the piano used in english solo songs(soul/blue music) is the notations. The piano of YSR stops at 3/4 levels but there is a variety of notations used in the prelude while in english songs it does not go more than 3 notations and the level may vary according to the singer's voice. Lets listen to the prelude. YSR starts off slowly, just three notations then a sudden high pitch with 1 notation and the three notations repeating again and when he moves on further the 1 notation that came with the high pitch moves on to two while the earlier three notations remain the same. And theres a slight deviation in the self building notation in where theres a pause after it ascends supposedly depicting "Pogadhe" in a do re me and then stop.
Just listening to the piano piece over and over again i just at times cant believe YSR did it..variety of notations yet so soothing and soulful. The acoustic guitar thats follows straight after continues the tune on and gives a slight dim in momentum as YSR reaches onto the ending of pogadhe(the high pitched part). That is where the maturity of YSR shows and his understanding of melody. The thing about melody is it must not be just melodious music...there should be a harmonious marriage between the vocals and the music.
Another point to mention is the fusion used in the second interlude. The carnatic violin returns back in a even more complicated manner after Oru Naalil. The mandolin and the carnatic violin give us a rare fusion with mild acoustic guitar sounds in the background to give us a orchestra of honey. In Oru Naalil the carnatic violin was very soulful, but except for two different orchestration styles it was virtually the same...just going straight for your emotions. But here it has more changes in its mood, more reduction of speed notably where the mandolin comes in and still keeping the same soulful impact. This is just ARR territory but even then he had a single instrument dominating the tune, this is just beyond...all instruments dominating yet not destroying the tune. Only one problem with this mellifluous song, Yuvan's difficulty in reaching the high levels at times..but even then the orchestration is so poetic that it sounds like a tiny matter. Lets hope YSR continues his new style and perhaps really set a trend.
I was listening to pogadhe and i was instantly mesmerised, i am a hardcore fan of piano and when i heard his piano usage in the song, without even relating to the lyrics i could feel the longingness of a lover in that song. But more surprising is the similarity of solo english songs of a similar theme. Most english solo songs..usually soulful consist of such instrumentation with the piano and to a slight extent either acoustic guitar or bass guitar. And their lyrics complemented by just the piano can make them run in charts for long. Of course the vocals have to be in synth or it will be all to waste.
Now to the instrumentation. Let us hear the piano. It is not soothing with a similar rhythm. It is not put there to add a soft effect to the song. It actually has some orchestration. The difference of YSR's piano and the piano used in english solo songs(soul/blue music) is the notations. The piano of YSR stops at 3/4 levels but there is a variety of notations used in the prelude while in english songs it does not go more than 3 notations and the level may vary according to the singer's voice. Lets listen to the prelude. YSR starts off slowly, just three notations then a sudden high pitch with 1 notation and the three notations repeating again and when he moves on further the 1 notation that came with the high pitch moves on to two while the earlier three notations remain the same. And theres a slight deviation in the self building notation in where theres a pause after it ascends supposedly depicting "Pogadhe" in a do re me and then stop.
Just listening to the piano piece over and over again i just at times cant believe YSR did it..variety of notations yet so soothing and soulful. The acoustic guitar thats follows straight after continues the tune on and gives a slight dim in momentum as YSR reaches onto the ending of pogadhe(the high pitched part). That is where the maturity of YSR shows and his understanding of melody. The thing about melody is it must not be just melodious music...there should be a harmonious marriage between the vocals and the music.
Another point to mention is the fusion used in the second interlude. The carnatic violin returns back in a even more complicated manner after Oru Naalil. The mandolin and the carnatic violin give us a rare fusion with mild acoustic guitar sounds in the background to give us a orchestra of honey. In Oru Naalil the carnatic violin was very soulful, but except for two different orchestration styles it was virtually the same...just going straight for your emotions. But here it has more changes in its mood, more reduction of speed notably where the mandolin comes in and still keeping the same soulful impact. This is just ARR territory but even then he had a single instrument dominating the tune, this is just beyond...all instruments dominating yet not destroying the tune. Only one problem with this mellifluous song, Yuvan's difficulty in reaching the high levels at times..but even then the orchestration is so poetic that it sounds like a tiny matter. Lets hope YSR continues his new style and perhaps really set a trend.
posted by Chandrasehar at 4:31 PM
5 Comments:
That was a great writeup, well analysed.
Keep up the good job. Expecting more from u
Exactly said, when I heard the song first time, I got mesmerised. Though not have words to say about his music, your review reveals it.
I thought he was trying to bring in the effeft of "New York nagaram" song, composed & sung by ARR.
I wish YSR's tamil pronounciations improve..
Music sir i did hear the same style in the starting when Yuvan tried to drag it like ARR..but thats where he only brings in the feel..i prefer his more slower and emotional style of using the song like karthik said in milliblog while ARR used a faster tempo while maintaining his emotions with the rhythm. :D
Awesome review.. I loved the serenity in this song! And the piano - goes wihtout saying.. on eof YSR's best composition..
I liked the bit when he turns the pitch high "uyiray uyir poguthadi..."!
Too good a review! cheers!!
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