Film Stats & Assorted queries

[app_engine]

SS,
Interesting question.

Since I've written kavidhai's once upon a time, let me try to explain why it's better to have mettu first, for great listening pleasure

Though the kavingar can have a lot more creativity in subject matter / uvamai / words etc when he is not restricted by an existing melody, he/she is STILL restricted by rules relating to timing / sandham / structure, if it had to have music added to it (and not totally free form, like pudhukkavidhai / vasana kavidhai etc). On top of this, there are always grammatical restrictions, linguistic restrictions etc that limit the permuations / combinations in word play anyways. (For example, you cannot write 'pAtti vadai sutta kadhai' as 'pAtti vadai sutta nari' or 'pAtti kAkkA sutta vadai' etc )

So, adding an "additional constraint" of an existing melody need not totally cripple his imagination. OTOH, though there are some restrictions in melody making also (certain arrangements of notes - even though musical notes - will be called 'noise' and not mettu), the permuations / combinations are infinite To give a poem and ask the MD to fit in a melody will severely restrict creativity (though at times it can be circumvented by stretching a syllable here and there or adding la-la-lA kind of humming etc).

My vote is always for mettu first & pAttu next

[Nerd]

For a lyricist, no tune means he/she can let their imagination run wild
Ditto for a musician.

[NOV]

has been proven again and again that writing tunes for lyrics brings forth the best in songs.
of course in the hands of a reasonably capable lyricist.

writing lyrics to tune will result in maane thEne, naanE veenE kind of insipid songs

[SoftSword]

app,
i agree on the tune first, words next...
pls write on tune for already existing words...

on paatti sytta medhuvadai

nerd..
i agree a musician will hav freedom to create when the paper is white...
like he can come up with different tunes in different ragas, etc.,
which is easy? - is my question..

[SoftSword]

has been proven again and again that writing tunes for lyrics brings forth the best in songs.
of course in the hands of a reasonably capable lyricist.

writing lyrics to tune will result in maane thEne, naanE veenE kind of insipid songs

yes but not all songs can be balanced on tune and words right...
a song can be tune heavy or word heavy based on the situation....
if u take a 'namdhanamdha namdhanamdham... namdhanamdham' or 'nivedhaa' song, aint they beautiful?

[NOV]

are you donning solomon papiah role here vadivel?

[SoftSword]

are you donning solomon papiah role here vadivel?

visayam therinjukkalaamnu dhaan topic start panen nov...
namakku thonuradha sonna dhanae adhu sari thappunu naalu peru edutthu solluvaanga... apdi ennoda abiprayattha sonen... thappa illayanu neenga dhana sollanum...

[app_engine]

For a lyricist, no tune means he/she can let their imagination run wild
Ditto for a musician.

Like I tried to explain in my post, a musician can let the imagination a lot more wilder : 7+5 notes per octave (7 white keys sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni and 5 black keys, the sharp / flats of the keyboard, per octave) and at least 5 ocatves within vocal range - means the mettu can use for each next note "factorial 60" possibilities Ofcourse, all the combinations won't be music; but, even if we throw a lot of them away as noise, still it's a staggering asura eN! And, you don't have ANY kind of restrictions as to "how many notes should be there for the first bar" (unless you're hell-bent on creating a melody on a specific rAgA). e.g. supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Lyricist, as explained by 'vadai sutta pAtti', cannot outrun the wildness of musician, by any stretch of imagination His limitations are imposed by the language grammar and thALakkattu etc (even if there's no pre-existing melody).

[app_engine]

has been proven again and again that writing tunes for lyrics brings forth the best in songs.
of course in the hands of a reasonably capable lyricist.

writing lyrics to tune will result in maane thEne, naanE veenE kind of insipid songs

"matterukku meter & meterukku matter" (phrase used by MSV-Kavingar combo) both have brought great songs, when the lyricist & MD are capable. So, if you go by past history of TFM, one cannot prove either one is better.

What is definitely true is creativity will be max if music is not required to have words at all (e.g. symphony & other instrumental forms) and poem is not required to have music at all (countless literature)

The moment one of them has to fit to the other, there'll be limits / restrictions imposed and one way or other need not be absolutely better or absolutely mAnE thEnE It will be decided by the creativity of the artist(s), level of colloboration, particular day's frame of mind, other external factors / compulsions etc.

The ideal situation could be when both can sit together and work on a song - each making modifications / amendments to what they originally came up in the spurt of the moment and keep making continuous improvement refining the final product...

[Nerd]

But taking both in *absolute* terms, just given a situation
-A lyricist on white paper can imagine to use all the words that may fit. If he was given a tune - iLaiya nilaa pozhigiRadhE, for the first word he can only think of a 2-3 letter word which should also confine to the grammar of the tune with all that kuRil/nedil/thEmaa/puLimaa stuff.
-A musician given a white paper, like you said can come up with so many things. One advantage the musician has over the lyricst is a song is not just about the main melody. Backing instruments / ludes ellaam pugunthu viLaiyaadalaam.

And my vote is for music and then lyrics too simply because I am not a lyrical.

Softu, to answer your question, I d think composing tune to already written lyrics will be tougher than composing music on a white paper.