Maestro ilaiyaraaja news & titbits

[karlkalyan]

as he clearly said in the interview... he gives a tune at the moment as it happens... he does not even use the work 'think' to get his tunes... so he would be least interested in stocking imo... maybe they mean the unused songs which were half recorded...

The process happens like this. Once the situation is explained to him, the tape starts recording and he starts humming the tunes. Finally the director selects one. But the tape remains intact. Earlier when Sundaarrajan was around ( he is no more) he used to remember all these things. To that extent when some one comes for a song and Raaja does not have time for a composing session, when the situation is explained to Sundarrrajan, he used remember an unused tune from the session with some other director which may fit in with the new requirement; and he will pick up that particular tape and take it further. That was the kind of system he was maintaining. And that was the level of his involvement in the whole process. You may be aware, that till his death, starting from the mid eighties, he was the one who used to sit with the singers and record the song; with the guidance from the tune tape, the notations he has made of the tune once it was finalised and the orchestral score sheet from the recording session.

Now I don't know whether such a practice is still on. And knowing the kind of people around, I doubt.