4. Voice Range & Choral Singing

In Carnatic music, voice ranges are classified like 2 kattai, 2-1/2 kattai, etc which denotes the pitch of the singer.

Something similar to this, Western Classical has classified the voices into four major categories. A typical choral arrangement divides women into higher and lower voices and men into higher or lower voices. Most voices can be assigned one of these four ranges, and this gives the composer four vocal lines to work with, which is usually enough. The four main vocal ranges are:

Soprano (or Treble) – A high female (or boy’s) voice
Alto – A low female (or boy’s) voice
Tenor – A high (adult) male voice
Bass – A low (adult) male voice

There are few subcategories too.

Arrangements for these four voices are labeled SATB (for Soprano Alto Tenor Bass). The ranges of the four voices overlap, but singers may find themselves straining or getting an unpleasant sound at the top or a weak sound at the bottom of their ranges. So although the full ranges of an alto and a soprano may look quite similar, the soprano gets a strong, clear sound on the higher notes, and the alto a strong, clear sound in the lower part of the range.

Choral singing calls for lot of skills (practice, stamina and technical knowledge). There are rules involved in writing choral melodies and arranging choir to SATB format. Choral writing was at its zenith during the Baroque period of classical music (16th century), mostly for religious music in Churches. This kind of arrangement was used in Oratorios during that period. JS Bach and Handel are the foremost composers in this area. Beethoven’s last (9th) symphony is called Choral symphony, because he introduced choral voices in this symphony for the 1st time, which was a sort of revolution in his times.

Choral singing has evolved over a period and have been used a lot in Hollywood films. John Williams (who happens to be a favorite of our Raja) is a pioneer in this. You may be surprised to note the usage of Sanskrit verses in a Star Wars film by John Williams. Its from ‘The Phantom Menace’. There are several Societies which are associations of chorus singers in Europe and US for promoting the music.

A cappella is another form of music containing only voices (i.e. SATB). You may freshly remember Maestro’s a cappella section from Polla vinayen (Thiruvasagam in Oratorio, 2005).

Raja’s songs are always a healthy mix of range of voices, with SATB kind of arrangement. Hear to this song from Maya Bazar 1995 (released in that year). Naan poradhu vandadhu is for a funny situation where Urvasi is a dupe who tries to drive away the evil spirits. The whole song is done only with voices (may be a faint guitar in some places). The voices also mimic the trumpet and drum tones. Rhythm for the whole song is provided by voices only and no instruments. The chorus is just unbelievable.

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There is another obscure movie Karayellam Shenbagappoo (1981) which has good songs from our Maestro. It was based on a famous thriller novel by Sujatha (bearing same name), that I enjoyed reading during my school days. This song - Eriyile elanthamaram is again choral, fused with folk. The situation is that Prathap Pothan sings with a bunch of village children, with his guitar. The second interlude contains some beautiful rhythm usage. Listen to the song and enjoy.

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Anther notable song is Vaanam thottu pona (Thevar magan). These are just examples, but there are more songs in this category like Ooru vittu (Karagattakkaran), Megam karukkayile (Vaidehi kathirundhal), etc.

Maestro has used all sorts of choir / chorus, as instruments in his songs. Note the difference between the chorus in Tik tik tik / Moodupani songs like En iniya pon nilave (singers singing with open mouth like ‘O’), chorus in the opening of Andhi mazhai song, Madai thiranthu song in Nizhalgal, Kathum kadal song in Chinnavar, chorus in various folk songs in Ramarajan movies. Some will be Baroque, some will be Poppish and some will be pure folk (like tha na na or la la) styles.

This is a big topic to discuss and may be you can add your own examples here.