September 2021 issue ft Ritviz on the cover! by The Score Magazine

ISSN 0974 – 9128

Vol 14 Issue 08 September 2021

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Warren MENDONSA On the cover

Up close and personal with the electronica producer Ritviz Score Magazine

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Up close and personal with the electronica producer

Ritviz

Pop sensation and electronica producer Ritviz, who is all set to release his new collaborative album Baaraat with Nucleya talks to us about the album, his process of creating music, thoughts on being the most streamed artist last year, his first experience with NFTs and a lot more. Catch the interview to know more about this amazing artist!

Ritviz - Image credit - Sahil Shikalgar

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So, your new singles Sathi and Ari Ari from your collaborative album “Baaraat” with Nucleya are out. Tell us about this collaborative album and how it came to be and why now. Udyan and I have known each other for a good while now. We met each other in 2015 and obviously, at that point, I was just a 19-year-old kid who was just starting out and like every other kid in the country, Udyan/ Nucleya was the biggest thing in the country, and it was just amazing to have him watch me perform for the first time back in 2015. And then when we met, obviously like a sync pretty much started to build, we spoke a little bit and a relationship started to form. And then over a period, from there until now, we’ve cooked up a song pretty much every time we’ve met. That’s the amount of music that we’ve written together because I think that the both of us really have a very similar understanding of what our music is, which is a reaction to whatever we have been going through, so if it’s a good conversation with me and Udyan – that’s a song. That’s how it’s been with him over the last couple of years. This is the year you know with the pandemic and everything, we got so much time to just sit and organise a little bit, so we figured this is the year that we are going to put some of the music out. There are only eight songs that we‘ve handpicked but there’s so much more that didn’t make it to the track list.

Your tracks Udd Gaye and Sage also had phenomenal music videos. Do you think that videos are very essential for an album to amplify its success? For sure, I think a visual identity is important to make the listener experience the world that you are trying to create with the song. We always believe with the kind of music videos that we’ve done, specifically, my solo stuff has been a very different video world meeting the audio. They are not in the same sphere so that just became like a

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format of sorts. It’s just a very epic experience for the listeners, that was always the goal. The thought behind doing the MV was to give a new flavour to the track altogether, now it’s become like we’ve built a little universe with all the MVs and the characters and try to connect them in some way. Honestly, I am so lucky to work with such people who come up with such bizarre and exciting ideas. If you listen to Sage or Udd Gaye, it could’ve been such a traditional, boy meets girl video, but just the fact that we decided to pick an idea where one wonders do I focus on the audio, do I focus on the video, the two just merge together. I am very lucky to have found the right people, so a shout out to my visual people folks, Catnip, Jugaad. Much Love!

So, a month ago you released Khamoshi with Karan, again it received a lot of love just like your other singles. But you had to move your release dates for these tracks, so did they hamper your creative process and how did you deal with it? Okay, this is funny because I set these deadlines. I am my worst enemy. I tell myself; I know that around this date I will deliver but the creative juices sometimes stop flowing. My very hardcore fans hate me for it but I truly believe I want to deliver quality. Once the song is out, it’s out, there’s no reverse. I try my best to stick to the deadlines I set so that it pushes me to come closer to the finished product. But it’s caused enough problems a lot of times with my close people, you know like ‘Why did you announce the date?’ But anyway, now we are at a point, my team and a lot of people around me, we believe in putting out the best, 100% version of something that we truly believe in. And I hope to get back on track with the deadlines and all. Time management is a learning for me, haha.

Could you talk to us about Khamoshi?

So Khamoshi was a very interesting song for us, me and Karan. When we started writing, it took us around a year to finish it. It was centred around the fact of being at home, where the pandemic had left us and the feeling of being isolated. I had released Roshni and Khamoshi under the same umbrella about our experiences through the pandemic and how our state of mind was 2 or 3 years ago.

So, you and Nucleya are releasing a series of NFTS (NonFungible Tokens). What made you venture into a new trend and how has the response been so far. Would you recommend this to other artists? Oh, this was a very big experiment. A huge shout-out to my manager Rahul because it was his idea. He had been reading about NFTs and the whole crypto world. Once we understood more about it and felt like this could blow up, we were the first set of artists who were doing this. We sold out our first round of NFTS, around 10 NFTS in the first day or two. It was pretty EPIC. I wasn’t expecting that response but just to know that this is a new possible set of work displays, it opens up your horizon a little bit. I am still learning a lot about that world but I have people that are educating me about it. It’s very exciting. I just feel like this is awfully fun. It’s giving us new ideas to present my music or Udyan’s music. There are over like 60 NFTS that we are planning to drop over the course of the next six months. We are like totally going for it!

Last year, you were the most streamed artist in the Indie scene, how did that feel? Did you expect that to happen? What would you tell artists who are still trying to make their mark in the industry? Extremely humbled. When we found

Ritviz - Image credit - Sahil Shikalgar The

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out, it brought perspective. I got into a very retrospective mood like that, OKAY, we are in 2021 now. I was just looking back at my last 6 years to how the journey has been like. We are constantly on the move, I could speak for a lot of artists, my friends you know, it’s things like these that put you in that retrospective mood, alright 6 years ago I was over there and the love has been like so constant and amazing. I am so grateful to everybody that cares about my music. It’s extremely humbling.

And it’s also a huge responsibility, right? Now there’s more expectation from people. Although I’ll tell you that’s always been something, I’ve tried to mull away from a little bit. That is a really good point that you’ve presented. I would love to talk about it. For me, people’s expectations and people's understanding of my music is very different. Everybody perceives my music in a different/certain way. When I started writing music, I wrote it for me in the hopes that people would enjoy. Even today, I cannot let people come in the way of how I feel about my music. Today, I need to continue feeling if I am enjoying it. As narcissistic as it may sound, it needs to be this format in order to put out music that’ll cater to the crowd. The moment I start thinking about people, I try to stay away from social media and stuff, I don’t immerse myself in the feedback, I think it’s something that will affect the way I make music. I might have an audience today that loves my music but I would rather have an audience that likes me. My only thing is if I talk about the audience, I would like them to evolve with me, because I know that my sound is also changing a lot.

You were talking about your sound, so coming to your music and your sound, we’ve been trained in classical music and we can see that influence in music. How did you decide that this was your sound, this was your music? This is a very subconscious decision.

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For me, making music is like how we go through something and our first reaction is to tell our friends, music is basically expression. I purely look at it like my expression in music, my output is music. If I am feeling sad today or happy today, then my output would be around those emotions. Over time, with my learning of Indian classical music and my influence of hip-hop, what probably happened in my subconscious mind, the culmination took place. My format would’ve been western but the content was very classically inclined. That formula probably must’ve happened inside my head. I just focused on writing and not how I was writing, coming through as a flow. It's just a set of influences in your life that make you. That’s why probably I’ve now started listening and learning other styles and a lot more that would probably inspire more crazy culminations in the future. The idea is to keep a constant set of learning, haha..

We currently live in an age where collaborations have become a huge thing, especially post-pandemic we see a lot of artists collaborating with each other. You’ve also done a few collaborations with different artists, so what is your take on them and how do you pick the artist you want to collaborate with? See, collaboration for me is a new world. I don’t think I am the best person to collaborate with. I am usually the villain here; I am very nit-picky about the little things and it’s always been the case with me. But I got very lucky, so my album with Seedhe Maut and Nucleya both happened very effortlessly. Both acts I had a very good sync with and once that match sort of takes place in the first go, we are just like grabbing chai and talking about things and the next thing we know is that we’ve written down a couple of lines. That format doesn’t feel like we’re collaborating, it’s how I write music. But it’s so rare to find that,

when you find like-minded people, things are effortless, coming in sync, it almost feels like me writing music solo. That’s how it’s worked for me in the past, for the longest time, up until last year, it was all about establishing my sound, I was still figuring out what it is that Ritviz wanted to do. I felt like my solo stuff had to be established before I collaborated with others. So last year, I felt like okay cool, I have an understanding of what Ritviz is, but what Ritviz can be is where the collaboration started and my sound with Seedhe Maut or Nucleya together is a new sound, I and Nucleya are Baaraat. Together we are a new sound. Collaborations for me is exciting because it’s two sounds meeting each other and it’s the third sound.

Could talk a little bit about Baaraat, upcoming songs from the album We’ve released Saathi and Ari Ari, and 6 more songs are yet to be released. The rest of the songs will be coming out over the course of the weeks till October, so we are going to try and wrap this up as soon as we can and then we will get on with the Seedhe Maut album.

Will we get to hear your music in mainstream Bollywood? Umm...Maybe. Haha. There are a couple of projects in the pipeline. It's refreshing to know in every sector everywhere, in the course of last 3-4 years being in the music industry, having learnt whatever I’ve learned about the film industry and the fashion industry is that there are like-minded people everywhere so there is a scope of collaboration in all the fields. So, it’s epic. It’s lovely to be in this position that I can collaborate with some epic minds. But to answer your question again – Maybe, haha.

As an artist, could you break down your process of making music? What is it that comes to your mind first, what are you inspired by? If you can just take

Ritviz - Image credit - Sahil Shikalgar

us through your process. I wish it was an exciting thing to share. It’s a very boring process. It’s as simple as taking a walk, it’s all the basic human stuff that all of us do. The only difference is how I channel all those emotions, I could have a regular conversation with my dad about things, however, I feel about that. Anything can inspire me. The other day my dogs inspired me to write a song that I didn't think was possible because I didn’t have pets all my life, but now I am attached to my dogs. I just recently became a dog owner to give you context. Anything or anybody that we feel strongly for will naturally affect us in a good way or a bad way and then there will be an outflow. So it’s a regular day as a 25-year-old, I am going to the gym and coming back, something inspires me I sit on my laptop and create. I think my latest thing that inspires me, first it used to be very instantaneous, where I would feel things and I would write music. Now it’s become more like I am understanding what I am feeling when I am writing the song. Earlier it used to be more mysterious, now I take a serious amount of time to think. Sometimes we don’t even know what’s going in our subconscious mind. Writing

music is the most boring thing one can imagine because you are just in front of the screen, playing around with melodies, this note sounds nice okay this doesn’. It’s a lot of trial and error, sometimes it happens over time, sometimes it takes two years.

Tell us about Major Lazer’s Light It Up Remix? How did it happen? That was very exciting! For me, there are very few artists that I truly enjoy and look up to and Major Lazer is the band for me. I feel like my music is very synonymous with their music. They are very celebratory, so when they reached out in 2019 Diwali, it was like 'hello! I am on it’. I remember making that remix overnight, I had just gotten done with a show and I remember writing the song there and cut to now there was another remix that was in the works but didn’t work out but it’s epic to just have them as people I can send my music to. I just love them. “I love you guys” – to Major Lazer.

Can you tell us about your gear or the softwares you use?

a pair of Skullcandy when I was starting out, when I was in school, in the early days of composing. I always keep a pair of Skullcandy with me because it reminds me of who I listened to music back in the day. My gear is all very anti-musician gear, all the flat frequency headphones and all I tend to leave to my dear soundengineer, my listening has to be the same as it used to be back in the day which is a pair of Skullcandy, I have a couple of Beats lying around. If I was just following the simple rules of a music producer and listening to music on the monitor speakers and flat frequency headphones, I would not have to listen to music on four different things. But I am a rebel, I keep doing that, that’s my process of listening to audio. I am basically telling brand names that people will judge me on. I use an Akai Midi Keyboard, that’s like a tiny keyboard I carry with my laptop. I am all about the portable life, I am always on the run so I don’t have a desktop set-up, I have a laptop set-up. So, I make sure all my gear is travel friendly. All of my gears are plugins and software oriented, so in hardware that’s pretty much it.

My gear is basically the laptop, my Macbook Pro. I remember using

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10 ARTISTS TO CHECK OUT IF YOU LIKE RITVIZ Since his breakout hit Udd Gaye, Ritviz has cemented his presence in the Indian electronic scene with his unique blend of laidback vocals and classical/folk inspired electronica. With a slew of singles and Seedhe Maut and Nucleya collaborating for two new albums, Ritviz’s popularity only increases with every passing day. Here are a few other producers that you might like if you too vibe with Ritviz’s music.

Khanvict

Even though he’s based in Surrey, Canada, Khanvict has been paying tribute to his Indian roots with his works of ‘neo fusion’ and folktronica. His latest EP Escape bears testimony to this with Kingdom and Closer being some stand-out tracks. For the former, he collaborated with Carnatic vocalist Amritha Shakti while the latter was also supported by a visually-powerful video with a social message against colourism (that might excite fans of Ritviz’s aesthetic videos).

MojoJojo

Akshay Johar aka MojoJojo started out as a bassist for Paradigm but then transitioned to making some of India’s finest ‘bassheavy music’. From the Rajasthani folk-inspired Duniya to the North Indian rap anthem Galat Launda (with Fotty Seven), MojoJojo really knows how to helm crossovers.

V3K

Birthing his career at the mere age of 16, V3K has been on the forefront of music genres and creating an alternate electronica rather than the standard ‘bass-drop music’ that had once saturated the indie scene. Also serving as the producer of the alt hip-hop collective Street Academics, some must-listen tracks of V3K include Kettile and Kalapila.

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KS Abhishek

If you access any dedicated folktronica playlist in India, chances are that KS Abhishek’s name would pop up every once in a while. Just take the Kolkata-bred artist’s recent single Deejal Gaadi for instance (a vernacular term for ‘diesel car’). Inspired by a folk song, he made use of his grandmother’s vocals and fused it with his unique indo-fusion production. This is just the tip of the iceberg if you check out Abhishek’s music.

Tech Panda

Just like Ritviz’s classical roots, Tech Panda started his musical journey by playing the tabla and the keyboard. Since the late 2010s, he began to get the spotlight as one of India’s freshest faces when it comes to minimal techno and indieelectronica. Guftagu, Tudta Taara, Super Naani, Last Tear, are some of his many singles that showcase his musical versatility.

SHAURYA SINGH THAPA

Zaeden

Bandish Projekt

Bandish Projekt has been an OG to the game, formed in 1998 by Mayur Narvekar, Nucleya, and Mehirr Nath Chopra. Even though the latter two have gone their separate ways, Narvekar continues making music, blending genres like dubstep with Indian instruments like the flute. When it comes to Bandish’s recent discography, the EP Khulle Naagde is significant in which Narvekar collaborates with major hip-hop acts like 100 RBH and Swadesi.

While Zaeden’s music is extremely different from Ritviz’s brand, why he should be mentioned over here is the fact that he has also successfully branched out as a vocalist. Both Ritviz and Zaeden have proven how good producers can also add life to their own track with the voices of not just featured vocalists but even their own. The Never Let You Go hitmaker started out as a DJ playing out at global festivals but has now also lent vocals for pop numbers like Tere Bina.

Nucleya

Nucleya, of course, needs no introduction and given the fact that he and Ritviz have an album on the way (with its first single being the newly released Saathi), it’s no surprise that both DJs would have a common fanbase. From his iconic vintage Bollywood aesthetics to his typicallyIndian bass drops, Udyan Sagar has definitely carved a niche for himself.

Koothu Zenith

Remember how Ritviz’s Udd Gaye attained mainstream streaming with Bacardi House Party Sessions? Similarly, Zenith came into the spotlight with his hit Junglee becoming the anthem for the same House Party Sessions. Since then, he has weaved his own brand of electro-pop and even performed alongside global artists like Wiz Khalifa and One Republic.

Koothu’s fusion peaked with his latest release, the EP known as iNDiATMOSPHERE. It boasts of some amusing sampling, Carnatic influences, atmospheric percussion, among other instrumental styles. The EP is supposed to present sonic documentation of his travels all across the country presented in 7 instrumental tracks with only one featuring vocals from Bengaluru rappers Smokey the Ghost and MC Bijju.

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NAVYA C

Ten Greatest Indipop Songs of All Time When it comes to Indian perspective, film music is the most dominant and admired form of music since decades. Right from the time of the inception of films and inclusion of songs into it, film songs were the primary form of music most of the people were exposed to. Film music defined celebrations, festivals, and at times even the philosophy of life. When it comes to Kishore Kumar solos, many attribute it to lessons that can bring you great insights on life and leading the right way ahead. But with the advent of independent music, a new genre of music started sprouting from the 90s decade. Mainstream playback singers ventured into this form of music that we fondly call Indipop. These were heavily inspired from the international pop revolution but had their own flavor of Indianness and nativity. These artists had a clear-cut theme, idea and presented it in less than five minutes of runtime. Every music video had a story, an emotion and fantastic collaboration of musicians that gave a new meaning to the way Indians perceived music. Here are ten greatest Indipop songs of all time for a suave trip towards nostalgia:

1. Dil Dhadke- Baba Seghal:

The stylish pop-star Baba Seghal is termed as one of the biggest rappers of India and known for his trendiest hairdos those days. This song was utterly trendy for the time of its release- featuring pop beats, stylish mixing and amazing bass rhythm grooves. The song also brought model Pooja Bedi to limelight- for good reasons!

2. Made in India- Alisha Chinai:

A masterpiece in its own regard, this song is an all time favourite and sounds utterly contemporary even in the year 2021. Alisha Chinai’s stylized vocals are put into best use in this composition. The cameo entry of Milind Soman- the timeless handsome hunk in the end is of course the icing of the cake! Also have a look at Alisha’s amazing costumes throughout the song – that can be on parallel with Madonna’s pop videos!

3. Dekha Hai Aise Bhi- Lucky

Ali: A travel song- that too from a talented artist like Lucky Ali- with thoughtful lyrics: what else can one ask for? While O Sanam of Lucky Ali did get greater popularity, this song has amazing visuals, the roadie feel that is much ahead of its times. Lucky Ali’s vocals makes the listener ponder, analyze and get deeper into the philosophies of life.

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4. Tanha Dil- Shaan: A song

that takes you down the memory lane of life- from the master singer Shaan himself! Aesthetically picturized, this song is undoubtedly an anthem for every child who has grown during the 90s! The song brings you multitudes of emotions that run high and are also thoroughly entertaining.

5. Gudi Nalo Ishq Mitha- Bally

Sagoo: Punjabi music has always had a special regard for their pumping up beats and sweetness of the language. But fused with digital beats and disco riffs, this song was an utter trend those days. Thanks to the fantastic mixing of Bally Sagoo, the song is timeless even till date.

6. Woh Chali- Bombay Vikings:

90s was a time where the musicians revisited the old classics by giving their own layering to the compositions. This wonderful classic gets a remarkable digital twist with the lyrics of Bombay Vikings. Thanks to this version, many of the youngsters got exposed to the old classics- which is a wonderful initiative.

7. Krishna Ne Begane BaroColonial Cousins: Regarded as one of the greatest indipop albums of

all time, the Carnatic composition gets a global twist with this amazing collaboration featuring Hariharan and Leslie Lewis. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the original composition became popular thanks to this version!

8. Breathless- Shankar

Mahadevan: Indipop was not just about glamor and music videosbut also about exceptional talent. This composition penned by Javed Akhtar- and sung phenomenally by Shankar Mahadevan will remain in the footprints of Indipop history forever.

9. Maaeri- Euphoria- The

experimental band Euphoria strikes the right chord between acoustic guitar and Indian rhythms featuring dholak and tabla. A journey in itself, Maeri is timeless indipop number even till date. Featuring Palash Sen, and the train journey sequences- the song is a journey in itself.

10. Ab Ke Saawan- Shubha

Mudgal: In this beautiful season of monsoon with dark clouds and rains, Shubha Mudgal’s vocals are a delight to hear. The song fuses Hindustani Classical style with Progressive Rock- in unmistakable style!

ADITI SARAWAGI

SCHOOLS IN INDIA Hip Hop music or rap music is a genre developed by African-Americans in the United States in the 1970’s. The hip-hop culture includes MC’ing or rapping, DJing, break dancing and graffiti writing. This genre has become immensely popular in India and has lately become mainstream. Indian Hip Hop or Desi hip hop has become a sub-genre of the hip-hop movement. It is basically a combination of hip hop and Indian influences performed by artists of South Asian origins. The term ‘desi hip hop’ was coined by Bohemia, one of the most popular hip hop artists in the industry. Hip hop has been heard in the country since a long time and few of the earliest performers included Apache Indian and Baba Sehgal who introduced rap to the Indian audiences. Yet rap or hip hop had never been a part of mainstream club music but an underground music genre until now where hip hop has become the rage all over the country. The following schools have come up in India to teach hiphop to young aspirants across the country:

1. The Dharavi Dream Project: India’s only

official school of hip hop, takes online classes with students from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Canada. It is a free school of hip hop and teaches the theory of hip hop, how to write beats and lyrics, produce music and more. This school was started in 2014 by Samir Bangara and Dolly Rateshwar and was backed by AR Rahman and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur to promote local talent. MC Kode, Gauri Dabholkar, and D-Cypher amongst others are taking classes online due to the pandemic and is a 10-month weekly course.

2. Front Row Online Class: Top hip-hop artists -

DIVINE, MC Altaf, Shah Rule, D’Evil, MC Heam, JD and Stunnah Beatz are mentors and guides to the world of hip hop in these online classes. This course starts from

the basics of rap, and moves to creating songs-it has everything to help you kickstart your hip-hop career. The course will help in building your brand, basics of mixing, performance tips-all designed in collaboration with the ‘Gully Gang’ and is in partnership with The Dharavi Dream Project. The course is priced at Rs.799 with lifetime access to all the classes.

3. Beat Pro Rap Music Production: This

Mumbai based music school is taking online classes for Rap Music Production which will enable the students to make a complete track with vocals along with learning mixing and mastering and complete track processing method. This school has been in business from twenty years and is offering the course at Rs.40,000/- along with lifetime access and support for the students.

4. SVKM’s Usha Pravin Gandhi College of Management in Mumbai: It is the only college in

India to start a certification course on Insights to HipHop Culture. It is a value-added 60 hour certification course, conducted online and is a combination of practical as well as theoretical knowledge. This course is designed and conducted by Dr. Yatindra Ingle, a noted hip-hop artist and emcee himself. All upcoming artistes have their own style of rapping and that reflects India’s multiculturalism beautifully. Their music is more often than not about their lives, experiences, their surrounding environment and their perspective of the world. Rappers from across the country are rapping not only in English but even in their vernacular languages. Borkung ‘BK’ Hrankhawl from Tripura uses rapping as a medium to express himself as an Indian. This success has been inspiring more and more youngsters to take up the microphone and to consider hip hop as a serious genre of music. Indian Hip Hop has seen a phenomenal rise and had especially made its mark as serious business in the past two years. The

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SCORE INDIE QUICKIE ARUNAJA

A tête-à-tête with Arunaja who is at the top of her ‘GAME’. Bad News - with the onset of the pandemic, it feels like it’s everywhere, especially when you turn on the TV or go online. Shocking headlines make us feel that the world is falling apart. We never really needed to hold on to our faith as much we do now. And like an oasis in the desert, Arunaja Nalinakshan’s latest track GAME is here to pacify our hearts, to instil hope and to make a solid place in our playlists. Written and performed by Arunaja, this orchestral pop track is co-composed with Ossi Jauhiainen and mixed and mastered by Mikko Tuomi. We caught up with the singer-songwriter, who is currently at the top of her ‘GAME’ and here are some excerpts from our super fun and candid chat.

When did you discover your voice, and were you quick to use it once you realized you could carry a tune like no other? There was never a point like “aha! I can sing” for me. I have always been singing. Even before my folks decided to enroll me into music classes at the age of 5. It almost feels like I was born with it and it never felt like a special thing for me until I started winning competitions in school. That when it hit me, not everyone can sing… haha

I can do with music. More like a perspective or rather a direction towards my next step in life. Coz had just finished my Master degree in commerce and it was time for me to decide what next.

Could you share some handson advice for young aspiring musicians or independent artists? My advice to them would be to dig deep and strive for originality.

How did The Stage change your life?

How was your experience during your first Bollywood gig for Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi?

‘The Stage 2’ helped me realize what

I still remember getting a call from

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Ehsaan one day out of the blue. He asked me to show up at their studio. I honestly couldn’t believe that I was sitting next to Shankar on a Sofa. Loy, right behind the sofa fiddling with his keys and Ehsaan chilling with the guitar. I had a ton of fun. I got to learn a lot. They are such cool human beings. Down to earth and absolute chillers.

What's the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you? Patience.

Do tell us about your latest gig ‘GAME’ and what you love about it? The fact that the song is about

PALAK DOSHI having faith. The other fact that I love about the song is that I haven’t even seen my collaborators and the connection and chemistry that we have sitting miles away from each other with just vibing off of each other on WhatsApp calls and creating magic with no compromise on the quality. It’s an orchestral pop track that I’ve co-composed with Ossi Jauhiainen and Mikko Tuomi has mixed and mastered it. I honestly can’t wait for you guys to see the video that we are cooking up. It’s gonna be a treat for your eyes.

You have this incredible ability to infuse emotion into all your words and make the listener feel everything that you’re singing. Can you tell us a little about your songwriting process? My songwriting process is basically vomiting everything that I feel or am inspired by life at that point in time. Absolute honesty with myself and my pen ‘n’ paper (Yeah, I’m old school that way ) 95% of the time I come up with the melody and my words together and so far it feels right to me. I’m experimenting with other ways of songwriting lately though.

Which artist do you admire the most (male and female) and why? Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Legends. GOAT! MJ’s as an artist inspires me to this day. Excites me and makes me giggle like a child, just like years before when I heard him for the first time. Whitney is the greatest singer of all time. Period!

Has social media played an important role in your career? Social media is free. It’s the best form of advertisement and helps an artist connect to their fans and listeners from all around the world. For me, I love interacting with my audience. And my target audience is pretty scattered in their taste and geography coz I also do a lot of songs in my mother tongue Malayalam. So, it’s fun to reach out to people with different tastes in music.

What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about your music? I love it when they say ‘I got goosebumps. Hahah I love it!

Rapid Fire How would you describe your sound in 3 words? Soulful, Honest and dramatic :P 3 things you need in the studio/3 things you can’t live without Pen and Paper, Warm Water, and Darkness (except for the light on lyrics) If you could have your pick of any venue in the world, where would you want to perform? Royal Albert Hall. ( London, UK ) If you could have your pick of any artist in the world, who would you want to work with? AR Rahman and David Foster One thing people don’t know about you. That I’m not a Pasta Fan. Your favourite/go-to song? No go to songs. But currently I’m obsessed with Retrograde by James Blake What’s an IG account you’re guilty of stalking/following? Haha recently, a nail technician who can make nails out of literally anything. You name it. Onion peels, wooden chips, bubble wrap… it’s outrageous, I love it. If you could switch lives with one person for a day, who would it be? Gorden Ramsay. Hahaha for obvious reasons. So creative even while trashing. The Swag! The

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SHAURYA SINGH THAPA

Mikey McCleary's ad-jingles compilation TV Dinners is a heartwarming time-capsule: Score Indie Classics Mikey McCleary

ikey McCleary might be one of the few white men that Indians would truly love, especially the ones who grew up watching TV in the 2000s and early 2010s. Born in Chennai and originally from New Zealand, McCleary's popularity grew when he started composing, writing, and performing jingles for leading companies such as Vodafone, CocaCola, Levi's, and so on. Characterised by breezy vocals and playful instrumentation, McCleary's tracks were so soothing that he became an instant endorphinsupplier for many an average TV watcher who might not expect much musicality from a 30-second ad. After making quite a name for himself, he compiled his most popular ad songs for a delightful album and aptly titled it TV Dinners. TV Dinners is a time capsule in itself as it features the full versions of his jingles. These include the joyous The World Is Our Playground which was featured in one of the many Vodafone 'pug ads'. Similarly, the power ballad Chase Every Dream (featuring Anushka Manchanda) was a part of a Levi's campaign while the peppy Just A Little Crush (featuring Shalmali Kholgade) was popularised by a Lakme Facewash commercial. While McCleary joined forces with a number of featured vocalists, his own vocals also shine in the album. He doesn't try to charter any melodramatic scales with his style mostly being hushed-down, soulful, and laidback. I Don't Know

The

Wher I'm Going and If I Go Mad bear testimony to this. And of course, the versatile maestro also assumes charge of the instrumentation that includes the sax, xylophone, mouth organ, among others. Acoustic guitar and ukuleles are also an essential part of the ensemble and some of TV Dinners' tracks do benefit greatly from feel-good strums.

been etched in the heads of the idiotbox watchers for a long time but McCleary's tracks subverted the 'adlike' nature of these jingles and stood well as independent songs on their own. This is perhaps what makes this 2014 album truly one of its kind. It doesn't attempt to be revolutionary but its charm is enough for it to play on repeat.

The overall tonality of TV Dinners is such that it would make you feel like venturing out on your neighboring street, and walk all the way on a lazy evening. The naivety and introspection arising from the album as a whole are perfectly suited for a traveling playlist as you end up finding beauty in the mundane and appreciating the little things in life. As McCleary himself sings in the second chapter of the tracklist, 'the world is our playground'.

Since his ad career skyrocketed, McCleary also started composing for film soundtracks. With Bollywood oversaturated with cringe-inducing remixes, McCleary adopted the pseudonym 'The Bartender' and brought his jazzy charm towards yesteryear classics like Khoya Khoya Chand (from Shaitan), Dhak Dhak (from Nautanki Saala), and many more. Some of his recent work includes composing a song for Gully Boy and contributing to the soundtrack of the Amazon series Four More Shots Please. But despite his stellar discography, TV Dinners will continue living in a special place in the hearts of his niche fans.

Even the album's accompanying visuals celebrate the aesthetics of simple outdoor locations while also featuring McCleary's high-profile acquaintances like the 2010s-era versions of actors Ranveer Singh, Kalki Koechlin, and hairstylist Sapna Bhavnani. TV Dinners was and will always be a memorable time capsule.

If you're in the mood to cheerfully spend a lazy weekend, you know which album to turn up!

Even though the nature of advertising and music was changing in his time, McCleary presented a simpler vision of the present time. In an ad-space dominated by capitalistic chitter-chatter, the songs of TV Dinners contributed to these large companies while also introducing audiences to its composer's very own brand of 'TV pop'. Ad jingles have

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TV Dinners album cover

Yamaha FX280 and FSX80 Fantastic Acoustic-Electric Guitars From Yamaha Yamaha Music India brings premium material and craftsmanship together to produce two new Guitars - FX280 and FSX80C that sound fantastic and look stunning. Continuing the YAMAHA legacy, FX280 and FSX80C are perfect acoustic-electric Guitars. Both these Guitars provide great Yamaha quality and the Professional A.R.T pickup which delivers authentic plugged-in sound. These Guitars are ideal for both home and stage performances.

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ARTIST OF THE MONTH

WARREN MENDONSA Congratulations on a full blown album “Hindsight is 2020” that you have created during a pandemic. Tell us about the name, what were some of the best and challenging moments creating this?

I guess it is easier than most because when you go through things like moving countries in the middle of a pandemic and the experiences associated with it, it kind of channels something inside and it's your job to capture that as truly as possible. There were a few collaborators on this album - Jai Row Kavi and Cole Goodley did some great work on Drums, and Tarana Marwah from Komorebi added some beautiful vocal textures. Other than them, it was kind of a flashback to my first album where I did everything by myself after my brother Zorran did the drums. For the previous three albums, we were a band with Jai, Adi Mistry and Beven Fonseca, so I had written thee songs keeping live shows in mind. With this album it was more a clean slate and so I didn’t have to think about that.

Is there something about the new album that is entirely different from everything else you've done till date?

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There always is because you never try to repeat anything that you have one before. The first 2 albums were recorded in New Zealand and the third, fourth and fifth were recorded in India. The 6th one is the first one I have recorded after moving back in New Zealand.

This album has an extensive track list of 16 songs. How long did it take to record?

It took a better part of the year. I started working on bits and pieces before we left. We made the move in June 2020. To put the whole thing together and send files to artists took about six months. Once my gear arrived in New Zealand, the process was a lot quicker. In fact it was easier here for me as I have all my gear in one place unlike in Mumbai where different guitars are in different parts of the house. So effectively, the workflow got more streamlined.

What else do you like to do apart from music?

Well, with regards to what I do musically, there is always knowledge that I am looking to gain. I have started teaching as well since we moved here. For me to be an effective teacher, I need to update my knowledge as well. It’s like a cyclic process, to give out you need to take in.

SNEHA / SHREYA BOSE Music is like a good 70% of what I read and consume online. I love reading biographies and autobiographies of recording engineers of their days in studios with artists etc. I am a bit of a geek in that sense. Apart from that, I like watching cooking videos on YouTube. My wife works full time. I try to make sure I cook up something edible for my daughter.

Tell us about your practise routine

Have you kept up with things rolling in the Indian music scene? Yes of course. I listen to new artists like Tejas, Komorebi etc. Since I follow artists on Instagram, I am quite updated on the scene. So, I would say yes!

How does a musician stay as creative and relevant over decades, as you have? Especially in a world with much lower attention spans.

Generally, when my daughter goes to sleep is when I get to play. Luckily I have got a situation here where I can actually play through the amps on headphones. Otherwise, if I had used the speaker cabinets, it would be so loud I’d have the police at the door very soon!

Generally, my process is to just make music I enjoy listening to. I don’t really play the numbers game to check on how my work is doing. Even if three people like it, I am happy. The pandemic has also made me look at the world in a more pragmatic way. As long as we have a roof over our head and food on our table, the day is good.

With regards to practise, I usually like find a song that is a bit challenging, something I have always enjoyed listening to. Sometimes, I learn stuff that I learnt the wrong way when I was young , so now I try and re-learn them correctly.

Being a musician also means you are an entrepreneur yourself as you have to create and market your work. What does this mean to you?

How much has your musical taste changed over the years? Do you often evolve in your choice of music to listen to? Do you incorporate elements of new music in your work? I have become a little less picky. I used to be a bit of a music snob but now with a young daughter, ones choices are wide.

It’s interesting that I am listening to music not by choice but because it is being played here. I believe you can learn from any form of music as long as it’s done well. Like the movie Frozen and the music, the writing is so amazing. My ears are always open and inspiration comes from anywhere.

I tend to look at my posts on social media the way I would like to see content as a follower. Whatever I post, I try to make it genuine from my side. On the whole, I don’t have a set plan in that sense.

RAPID FIRE A song that you cannot stop listening to currently “Where No One Goes” from the movie “How to train your Dragon”, because my daughter will not let me stop listening to it :) When I’m driving on my own, I re-visiting the album “On an Island by David Gilmour When did you see your first electric guitar? I was a kid my Dad had a lovely Fender Jazz bass. Whenever he opened the case, it had a smell that I can still remember. It was the first electric instrument I saw as a kid. Name 3 artists you would love to collaborate with Paul McCartney Dustin Boyer Michael Landau Name 3 artists you still swear by The Beatles Led Zeppelin Queen

What would be your message to your listeners as well as young and aspiring guitarists?

I would tell them the same thing I would tell myself when I was a kid. It would be to focus on just being the best musician you can and make the best music you can. There will be trends that will come and go, but it would be better to focus primarily on the integrity and longevity of your music. If you choose to do it just for fame and money, there is a good chance you will be disappointed.

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A Quick Word with Khip-hop pioneer Tiger JK Everyone calls him the godfather of Korean hip-hop, and for good reason. Tiger JK AKA Seo Jung-kwon started rapping in a scene and time (1990s) when hip hop generally had a bad rap (pun intended) in Korea. It was considered uncouth, disruptive and rebellious in a typically con-servative Asian society. In fact his first album failed, largely because the songs were banned, red-lines, marked ‘explicit content’ and got no radio play. Today, he is hailed as the man who took “controversial”, authentic hip hop into the mainstream. But his influence goes beyond his own music and it’s commercial success. He is hailed as a major influence by almost every Korean rapper of any significance (including BTS’ RM). On the cusp of creating his next album, Tiger JK’s new single Love Peace made a scathing statement on the contagion of anti-Asian hate that has been raging since Covid became a global phenomenon. The Score Magazine caught up with the icon for a quick chat.

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You called Love Peace "angry music on the surface but spiritual". Can you explain this a bit? It’s angry music in the sense that I wanted this to be an outlet to let their anger out. But by doing so, you are letting negative energy fuel your positivity. Consequently, your Chakra is balanced, and that is the spiritual aspect of it.

The track condemns and comments on the recent spate of horrifying anti-Asian hate. When did you first decide that you would talk about this issue in your music? When Trump was calling Covid “Kung flu” and was downplaying the ramifications of what he said. The social climate then was…”it’s just some funny wordplay and don’t take it too personally”. Also, the hate on the Asian community was sort of being justified instead of being seen for the terrible thing that it is. That’s when I decided to speak out through my music.

Given your stature in the Korean and Asian hip-hop community, how do you feel the genre is changing and evolving in recent years? I’ve never really thought of this genre as an Asian hip hop artist, but I guess I am an artist doing things in Korea. And I feel like it’s becoming global, especially in recent times.

Often, when someone comes to Korean hip-hop (or any nonAmerican hip-hop), they tend to compare it to American hip-hop. Do you think that's unfair? I don’t think it’s unfair. Those people aren’t informed or at times ignorant to the culture because they are not here. Furthermore, hip-hop started in the sSates so I do understand the comparison to a point. However hip hop culture is really big in Korea, and many of these kids now grew up in the culture looking up to artists from Korea. It evolved into a genre of its own. So it could be looked upon as appropriation

SHREYA BOSE

from the outside looking in, but it’s becoming their culture as well. But I do hope there’s more of “each one teach one”, that more people study the history, but who wants to study these days…?

How should new listeners be approaching Korean hip-hop? Check out Tiger JK , Yoon Mirae , Bizzy.

Tiger JK inspires millions. Who and what inspires Tiger JK? I think you are just being too kind hahaha….but if I inspire one person, that’s a blessing. People who wake up as early as 5 am to clean the street inspire me. Flowers and trees inspired me, birds gliding through the sky inspire me, good sex inspires me. People who work 9 to 5 every day to take care of their families inspire me. Mom's unconditional love inspires me. Sometimes the pain I feel from myelitis inspire me.

You've been creating memorable, meaningful music for decades

now. How do you deal with artistic exhaustion? Do you ever feel like you've run out of things to say? I don’t. Coz I lie a lot.

How can Asian communities better mobilize and protect themselves, in your opinion? Practice self-defense. Go back to training in martial arts. Not even to learn how to fight but to get our minds strong. Practice love and solidarity. Unit.

You mentioned that Love Peace wasn't part of the plan. What changed for it to emerge? I was working on my Tiger JK full length album . After seeing violence on the elderly on and on, on social media and all the news sites I couldn’t focus on it anymore.

From Drunken Tiger to Tiger JK, what has changed? Letting go of the past. Hence, I’m in the future.

What would you consider your greatest struggles and difficulties as an artist? Ego and insecurity.

What, according to you, does the world need now to survive its ongoing trauma? Love your cells, Love yourself.

Other than music, are there any other forms of art you practice or pursue? I doodle a lot.

What can fans look forward to from Tiger JK this year? Hopefully, music that could be the soundtrack to their lives.

On a lighter note, if you had to recommend any three albums to an alien civilization, what would they be? Bob Marley - No Women, No Cry Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing Prince - Purple Rain

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IN CONVERSATION WITH PURBAYAN CHATTERJEE Purbayan Chatterjee is a gifted musician who had the privilege of learning sitar at an early age and has been collaborating with global Jazz players across the globe. His newest album ‘Unbounded (Abaad)’ features legendary musicians from across the globe. PURBAYAN CHATTERJEE - IMAGE CREDITS - AMARBIR SINGH

Here is a candid conversation with the sitar maestro exclusively for the Score:

How did you start as an artist in the music industry? Talk to us about your formative learning years.

My musical journey started off like any other classical musician, to be honest. With a background of my grandmother who was a classical vocalist, and my father being a sitar guru in Sangeet Research Academy. I started learning sitar when I was five years old, and before that I was trained in vocal music as well. I grew up in a strict classical environment and had even resisted western music initially. I was not very aware of music beyond Hindustani class ical, that was confined to traditional style. It was a very rigorous training schedule for 5/7-year-old boy who was more excited about cricket at that age! After crossing 12-13 years of age, I started falling in love with the greatness of classical music and other forms of music.

Fusion music has become really popular amongst all age groups of people across the globe. How do you look at this form of music?

Using the term fusion music to represent two different forms of music together, is not as experimental as it sounds. Every form of music, traditional music included, is an amalgamation of two or more facets of music. The instrument,sitar itself has faced fusion influences with the Mughal invasions and Persian elements as well. The whole of Hindustani music that we call today, and the way we play khayal is indeed fusion. This is an ever-continuing process and it will go on. I am totally for

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fusion, but the only way culture survives is by imbibing other cultures. There is absolutely no negative impact but the need of the hour is awareness, to make the students make aware of the elements of music, enough to know about fusing them.

You are known for your remarkable collaborations with fantastic artists across genres. Could you talk to us about your process of selecting people you want to work with? Do you decide on the sound first or do artists come first?

I am glad to had the opportunity to work with legends for this new album ‘Unbounded (Abaad)’ and would like to thank Sufiscore for making us do it. I had the wildest wish list and when I shared it with these artists, it was almost like someone sprinkled magical dust over it to make it happen. The initial list was smaller, but as we went on, the list expanded and the album evolved. I always loved jazz music and it was an obvious choice for an improvisational music form. Jazz and classical Music have this greatly in common. The improvisation is governed by intricate set of rules and the framework is designed meticulously. This album was like a magical wishlist for sure, and I am thankful to all the masters who contributed to the album. I must mention Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pt Ravi Shankar Saab who took our music to a global arena. I am also thankful to Béla Fleck who would usually not come around for a fusion album of this sort.

NAVYA C / SNEHA RAMESH Do you think an artist will have a limitation to express the lyrical beauty of a composition on an instrument? What is your approach for it?

Showing the lyrical component through an instrument is a constant quest for me. Picking up every ornament sung by the vocalist through sitar rendition is one way to express the lyrics. Whether it is a complex composition or a filmy number, this rule holds good. When we were working on this album Unbounded (Abaad), we were focused on the lyrics and that the music should reflect the mood of the each word rendered.

According to you, what's the biggest challenge for a sitar player?

I think there is less of an awareness throughout the world about instrumental music. Though it is much better in the West with conservatories, how the music is perceived, and the individual understanding about each instrument such as timpani, drums, strings and so on. The students are educated about all these aspects. This is somehow missing in our own educational system in India. I believe this should be a part of basic education, as it is part of history, culture and music. Whether you are a musician or not, these aspects have to be learnt by every person.

You have been performing actively for nearly three decades now. How do you keep yourself motivated and grow on a consistent basis, as a musician? This question is very relevant in current times of pandemic where no live performances are happening at all and it is very difficult to keep the spirits going. However, this is only the smaller picture. The larger picture is about keeping oneself motivated, and feeling the burnout and demotivated after hectic schedules and the music gets jaded. Every performance feels like a same old drill and becomes monotonous. It is important to reinvent yourself on a daily basis, to be motivated and energised. For example, I am practising the raag Chhayanut which is rarely performed on the sitar. Creating a new raag, a rhythmic cycle or challenging yourself will definitely keep the motivation up. The heart of an artist is expansive and it should continue to fly without bounds. Being jaded will lead you to become lazy and without realizing, it will take the fun off your music. I always suggest listening to different styles of music by bombarding your mind with different kinds of music and it will surely bring new ideas flowing. In this process, I have also created a new raag called Sahasra Deep which is a combination of raags Patdeep and Shahana.

UNBOUNDED - ABAAD - ARTWORK

How did you use the changing times of tech to your advantage, by collaborating with interesting artists?

The pandemic has been a great wake up call for many and I was no exception. I was thinking of putting out more music in the digital space, just before the pandemic began. If you see in the West, the streaming platforms have been generating revenues for a while. I thank my good friend and composer Shantanu Moitra who informed me about classical music present on digital platforms and how professionally it is made for this space. That got me thinking and when the pandemic arrived, digital platforms was the only way to put music forth. I was always focused on quality and the way it is mixed to give the perfect listening experience. I was learning the hacks of mixing and I could work with Aditya Srinivasan, who did amazing mixing and the main mixing was done by Christian Wright from Abbey Road studios who mixed the popular number “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran. I could also work with Mahesh Raghavan who plays on the iPad and Darshan Doshi who plays the drums. We all got together as a band named Live & In sync. We created an environment where we could play together in time in the digital space.

What motivated you to design an innovative instrument Doppelganger where old school sound meets digital tech?

I called it the doppelganger of sitar and it does look fancy. The actual name I gave it is See-Tar. It is visual more than anything else, and the reason for creating it is to give a theatrical element for my shows. The theatrical The

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entry with lights, colours that embodies the music is the main motivation behind it. I also made a solid body electric sitar that has technical sounds but I again confined to acoustic version of sitar alone. The organic sound is what I kept intact throughout the album, so that the traditional flavour is deeply rooted. I’d like to bring my original sound when it comes to sitar.

Out of all the world genres, what was the toughest genre for you to blend in? And how did you overcome it?

Jazz is toughest for sure because of its intellectual possibilities and scope of improvisation. If you observe syncopated or chromatic jazz, one has to use all the 12 chromatic notes at the best possible manner. There is so much of intelligence involved in the songwriting, and after working with masters in the genre – it is amazing to see how Ustad Zakir Hussain blends with these jazz

legends. The unlikely combination of Indian classical and progressive rock is something we did in our album Unbounded (Abaad). Being awarded as the best instrumentalist of the country at a young age of 15, how did you build on it? What do awards mean to you?

For five days after getting the award, you are thrilled for sure and for a few it can last longer as well. The lesser the time of the thrill, the better it is to move on from it and start all over again. It is always a new day and one needs to do music all over again and awards may not matter then. You need to continuously touch people’s hearts by reinventing yourself with music and understanding about it. However, life may change after getting recognised by an honorary award but the reinvention continues!

Can you please tell us more about the gear you use in your recordings, and with home studio performances?

Rapid Fire 3 main aspects a budding sitar player must keep in mind? I might sound cliché, but it is practice, practice and practice!

I am totally an Apple guy and most of my gadgets are from the Apple ecosystem. I use an Apple computer, and I have an Apple G Sound card that is fantastic. I also have a Sapphire Pro Focus Riot Soundcard but I recently discovered a mic called AppleG USB mic called Hype G which has punchy compression of sound. It is easy to plug in and I could do recordings for TV with it!

A dream venue to perform

Along with the sound setup, I also use a ring light and have a dual light arrangement for a better video quality for my performance. I am a bit of a geek and I have a

Another instrument you can play apart from the Sitar

thing for playing around with these tech stuff.

PURBAYAN CHATTERJEE - WHITE - IMAGE AMARBIR SINGH

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It is totally crazy but, it is Colosseum in Rome ! An artist collaboration of your dream Jacob Collier

I play the harmonium (while accompanying my wife for her ghazal renditions) and a bit of tabla as well.

NAVYA C

The Role of Rhythm in Every form of Music Rhythm is omnipresent. It begins with birth- by the heart beat and the count of it determines the life span itself. Rhythm is present in every action and work that we do, right from walking, to talking, to sleeping and even the pace of eating food. Every person is blessed with their own unique imprint of rhythm and without it- Music is meaningless. Rhythm defines the pace of a composition, the feeling it shows, and gives a wonderful pictorial representation to the listener. In fact, rhythm defines the journey of a song- and guides the listener through a kinesthetic experience.

percussions. The variation in rhythm adds a new layer altogether in every Carnatic composition leading to amazing renditions.

Carnatic Music in particular is quite rigid and disciplined when it comes to the aspect of rhythm. Right from the simplest Eka taalam (of four beats in each cycle) to the longest talam ever discovered named Simhanandana (128 beats), the system of Carnatic Music is heavily reliant on the rhythmic base. With various instruments to choose from mridangam, konakkal, kanjira, and even morsing- the music form is not dearth of

Rhythm brings up discipline to a composition and lays the bricks of a foundation for a composition. Irrespective of the genre, rhythm brings in life to a composition that is greater than anything else. Without rhythm, any form of music doesn’t bring in the dynamism needed for a composition. No matter how big the symphony orchestra might comprise of, and how rich the Carnatic ensemble is- rhythmic instrument is a must.

When it comes to western classical music or even Jazz- it is all about rhythm. Jazz in particular has complex rhythms that bring in new arenas of music for the listener. With poly-rhythms, where rhythms exist within itself, Jazz is an amazingly based rhythm genre. A drum solo of Jazz itself shows the fantastic presence of rhythm in the genre. Without time signature, a western composition cannot escape the feel of the rhythm.

Though it is the lead instrument or vocals that bring the focus on to themselves when it comes to a performance, rhythm is the hidden beauty that runs the show forward. Whether a string instrument, or a wind instrument- or even a random horn in a traffic signal- every object (not just musical instrument) has a unique rhythm associated with it. In fact, there is a deeper philosophy of rhythm than we think. The pace in which we lead life- with the hurry of technology, mobile phone notifications, and hurry of completing tasks- in faster way than they should be – have rhythm as the main element associated with it. By understanding that every action needs to be done based on a rhythm linked with it, one can lead a peaceful and magical life ahead! Take some time out to understand how rhythm runs a compositionwhenever you listen to a song nextit will surely take you to a new level of magical world altogether!

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A CUP OF MUSIC, A GALLON OF LIFE

MUSIC AND CHILDREN

Written by: Nithya Rajendran, a dual Indian Classical vocalist in Hindustani and Carnatic music with over 3 decades training. She is founder and curator of Music Vruksh, an initiative to spread awareness and appreciation of Inidan Classical music for its aesthetic, spiritual, wellness and transformative potential. Indian Classical music, in both the Hindustani and Carnatic forms, has always been associated with austerity and complexity. The image that comes to mind is usually that of a middle-aged artist with decades of experience and research sitting on a stage with equally experienced accompanists, exploring the complex layers of a Raaga. Even the audiences who appreciate classical music are learned, or at least initiated, adults. When we see children in these audiences, we see mini-adults, children who are musically gifted or those who have, through the aegis of their guru and parents, accepted the austere life of sadhana and riyaaz. When we see these children precisely finding the 'sum' in a Hindustani concert, or mouthing famous Kriti lyrics in a Carnatic concert, the typical sight is that of the child being accompanied by a very enthusiastic parent who wishes one day to see their child on stage. While this is a wonderful phenomenon and so unique to our classical music culture, it does behoove us to look into the relevance of classical music for the lay child. The child who does not belong to a

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musical family or who does not have any special aptitude for classical music, a child who may not be naturally inclined to learn this form. Should such a child be excluded from reaping the huge benefits of learning classical music? Certainly not. Classical music training has very deep benefits to offer every human being on this planet. Especially children. Learning classical music can make children more emotionally aware, calm and more musically inclined in general. It strengthens concentration, improves breathing and fosters an appreciation of beauty and art. So how do we then make classical music accessible to any child? By making it fun. By making it relatable. Classical music needs to become demystified enough for the average parent to look at it as accessible, and for every child to think of it as fun. It has to be packaged in a way that makes it an easy choice for any child. One of the ways to do this is to use stories to teach. Make Swaras into characters and musical melodies into a story. Bring music visually alive through

pictures so that the child is drawn into music with ease. Weave musical quizzes and games to keep children engaged. Jokes and laughter need not be so removed from music education either. Music instructors need to be taught the skill of relating to children without judgement or prejudice. Classical music has to become a natural and easy choice for playtime. While this approach may be antithetical to earlier practices of the strict gurukul approach, it might be an importantl way forward to carry forward our musical heritage. We are at a cultural precipice now. The number of people from the younger generations interested in learning, preserving and taking forward Indian classical music is dwindling. Even audiences are now scarce. As a music community we need to wake up and see the need to create interest in our art among children, and engender in them an appreciation for our rich musical heritage. The way is through entering their magical world of laughter fun and frolic. This is the only way music will remain alive and breathing in the younger generation.

KANUPRIYA MODI

10 things that make music go viral Music going viral is not a new phenomenon. There are numerous instances we have seen some tune go viral right from ad jingles like Washing powder Nirma to Jaan meri jaaneman bachpan ka pyaar. Let’s deep dive into what makes music go viral.

Uniqueness: Unique is the new cool. Monotony is

something that stops intriguing most people. That’s why music that’s unique almost instantly attracts attention and goes viral. For instance, the recent song…Manhaari became an instant trend on Instagram reels.

Tune: Some tunes are timeless. They are etched in the

Connection: Most songs leave a deep impact on the

mind. They are based on a story that connects with the people. For instance, Channa mereya from Ae dil hai mushkil is a soulful melody that touches the soul. 7. Offbeat approach: Badshah and Honey Singh’s songs have an offbeat approach. Right from Blue hai paani paani to Haaye garmi they make people go crazy with their beats and peppiness.

Novelty: Anything new just hooks people to the song.

Something like the ‘Breakup song’ was an instant rage. It memory and stay there forever. The tune gets stuck in the was a totally new happy take on the otherwise sad notion head and we keep humming it. Something like Hookah of a breakup. bar or Mann mast magan have tunes that make you tick. Rhyme: People have a sweet fixation with rhymes. Relatability: Music that relates is music that Songs with a rhyme tend to make it to the list of viral resonates. People instantly get glued to the relatable songs. For instance, most old songs had a wonderful music compositions and make it a sensation. Amit rhyme scheme like ‘Mera naam Chinchinchoo, raat Trivedi’s song London Thumakda from Queen was so chandni main aur tu’ was a rage. relatable that it topped the charts and people still groove on it. Lyrics: Words lend the soul to a song. Lyrics play a very important role in making a song go viral. For instance, Current trends: Music also has the ability to follow strong lyrics like Teri mitti mein mil jaawaan from trends-jacking. Something like Dhinchak Pooja’s Selfie Kesari is soul-stirring. maine leli aaj was based on the increasingly popular trend of taking selfies. Virality depends on a lot of things. What makes one song viral may or may not work for another song. The best tip is to understand the pulse of your audience. Then create Visual portrayal: Some songs are set under such something that just flows freely and helping people get a beautiful backdrop that their visual portrayals make immersed in the musical experience. That’s the secret of them attractive. Ghoomar from Padmavat is one such creating a sensation. larger-than-life visual portrayal.

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Music Distribution Services: Who Wins the Spotify vs YouTube Music vs Apple Music War In the last few decades, we have seen quite a few waves of the music streaming revolution. From CDs to Napster to iPods, music distribution services have had to get with the times and come to a stage where unlimited music is streamed for free from every corner of the world. Music Distribution Services: Which is the Best? The three big giants in the music distribution industry in 2021 are Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music. We are seeing the ripples of a new social media and technology revolution, but will they be enough to push one of these titans out of business? Before answering that question, let’s take a good look at how these companies differ and what their similarities are. Is Spotify facing a threat in the business? A report of Spotify’s second-quarter numbers from 2021 showed that they bagged 7 million premium subscribers, totalling their monthly active users to a whopping 365 million in this quarter. These figures were below what the company had expected especially in countries like India and Brazil. CEO and founder, Daniel Ek announced that Spotify will continue to cement its standing as the preferred audio platform around the world. Are the other two giants giving Spotify these jolts with the competition? Even with more than double the premium subscriptions of Apple Music, Spotify has incurred a loss of $698 million in 2020. They have been aggressively pushing advertisements during music streaming to streamline losses and urge people to shift to premium but that comes with a side of annoyed consumers.

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Artists also have been complaining about the low pay rate per stream, which is $0.00437 currently, and have threatened to leave Spotify. Taylor Swift and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke boycotted Spotify over this artist revenue model in 2014. For three years Taylor pulled off all her music from the streaming service, claiming that Spotify’s royalties per play were too low. Both the artists came back on the streaming service eventually, but this episode will remain big enough to tarnish Spotify’s image among artists. Now that YouTube Music is gaining traction with every new update, Spotify needs to buckle up if it doesn’t want to be left behind in the game. The platform has been praised for its web of connectivity and AI that suggests music, but listeners have claimed that they would like to see a more intuitive approach to making playlists and extra content on the application. Users like having access to lyrics when they are listening to a song for the first time. Spotify needs to listen to what the people need and act on it right away. A huge advantage that Spotify has in the streaming business is that it is the most culturally relevant platform for artists. If you are a hit on Spotify, you are branded as a successful artist. The streaming service should use this as a unique proposition before the other two giants take over the market with their frequent updates. Apple Music’s update might change how music is listened to In June 2021, Apple Music came up with a new update that might change the music industry forever. It is ready to give its users an immersive listening experience through multidimensional sound and clarity. This has become possible through Spatial

Audio with Dolby Atmos in Lossless Audio. This means the listener will be able to experience music exactly how it was made in the studio. This update will be available on AirPods and Beats headphones with an H1 or W1 chip. This technological advancement might pave the way for a new music revolution in the industry. Apple Music still has a long way to go in terms of music suggestion and playlist curation AI but updates like these might just put them at par with the competitors. What’s new and exciting about YouTube Music Everyone’s been testing out YouTube Music, a streaming platform launched globally in 2015, entering the Indian market in 2019. It has gained quite the following despite being the youngest contender in this war. Tech experts are calling it the lovechild of Spotify and Apple Music, and it rightly brings everything Spotify and Apple Music couldn’t do, to the table. YouTube Music is known to have every song that you could ever think of. Now, we know that Spotify India doesn’t give their audience access to a lot of top artists so YouTube Music takes the win here. It brings both lyrics and videos while music streaming and since YouTube is a video content creation platform, live and cover music also thrive on this platform. It also takes the song suggestion feature to the next level by suggesting entire playlists related to the songs you personally add to your playlist. YouTube Music also has announced a very unique program that sets it apart from its adversaries. Foundry is a global

MANYA MASIWAL Basis Design

Dark interface, 2D layout, easy to understand

Dark/Light inter-face, looks like a mix of Spotify and Apple Music

Dark and Light in-terface, separate browse tab

Features

Compatible with every thirdparty device

Only compatible with Google Home and Google Nest

Compatible with a few devices.

Music Suggestion

Discover Weekly every Monday. Daily Mixes ac-cording to your music plays. New music sug-gestions through Release Radar. No Live Music

Discover Playlists every Wednesday Live Music and covers

Radio Beats 1 Suggests music according to your current listens.

Playlists

Recommends songs for your playlists

Suggests playlists according to the songs you are listening to

Does not suggest music for the playlists you have made

Lyrics/Video

Lyrics generated by Genius (only for some tracks) No music videos.

Lyrics from lyric videos. Music videos are available.

Integrated lyrics. Music Video playlists

Sound Quality

320 Kbps OGG Vorbis

128/256 Kbps AAC Bitrate

256 Kbps AAC Bi-trate

Podcasts

Integrated within the application

No integration within the app. Google Podcasts

No integration within the app. Apple Podcasts

Plans

Four different plans to choose from Individual plan for Rs. 719/ 6 months (3 months free)

Individual plan for Rs. 109/ month (1 month free)

Individual plan for Rs. 99/ month (3 months free)

Paid Subscriptions

155 million

30 million

72 million

artist development program that funds and supports artists from all around the world so that they can create content that reaches a bigger audience and creates a greater impact. The Class of 2021 includes Seedhe Maut, a Hip-Hop artist from New Delhi, India. The spirit of celebration of artists and building of communities can be highlighted through this program and YouTube Music has made a huge name for itself through this. YouTube Music allows Chromecast connectivity but unfortunately isn’t

compatible with many devices. It seems to have the potential to grow bigger than its competitors. It will be exciting to see what Google does with this new platform. Is there a winner in this war? These clashes of technology and business in the music space have been going on for a long time but these three rivals always end up rising to the top. That is because each of them has something fresh to offer and it seems like they balance the boat of music streaming

with their perks and lurks. It feels like this war will only result in all three platforms putting their best foot forward, bringing new innovations occasionally to get ahead in this neverending race. Who needs a winner when you have three tech giants fighting for your attention right?

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VISHNUPRIYA

Music Videos: The evolution of a listener to a viewer Songs have come a long way jumping through different forms of media from cassettes to mp3 players to personalised playlists on your phone. Apart from the variations in the ways in which songs can be listened to, they have become something for your ears as well your eyes. More than being a place of solace, songs have become a whole experience with the exquisitely put together music videos. More to the song than the music The increasing importance of music videos and the high-quality production of these has further emphasised the concept of songs being a beautiful form of expression. Music videos have been adding another perspective to a song and making it a more enjoyable few minutes. The previously lone voice of the artist is now backed up with the creative visuals of the video, allowing the listener turned viewer to build a story on the song. Often these stories are built in the videos giving the listener a capsulised version of an experience for easy edification and also allowing the artists story to be memorialised in the eyes of the listeners. Why only listen to a song when you can go through a beautiful version of it made by the artist through the video?

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Music videos—a publicity move? While being a copious insight into the artistry, music videos also attract viewers who then turn into listeners. The aesthetic visuals, locations, trendy dance moves and so many other factors influence the mood of the song, sometimes even stealing its thunder. With music videos being easily available and accessible, it is only logical that publicity teams and companies make the best of the opportunity. Songs like Cardi B’s WAP featuring Megan Thee Stallion was a major hit with its alluring music video playing a huge part in its success. Recently Halsey’s “I’m not a women, I’m a god” has been receiving a lot of attention for its beautiful videography and concept. It tells a beautiful story that is accompanied by the song which only seems to be an extra element supporting the story. The song although beautiful doesn’t capture as much attention as the strong visuals in the video. Evolution of music videos Music videos have, like other industries, have gone through a creative revolution. They are no longer just artists lip syncing to the song but a well thought out product that means to add value to the discography of the artist. The ability of the artist, if appearing in the video, to catch the eyes the

viewer also matters in bringing the song some benefit. To ensure this happens, different teams of professionals also become a part of the process. All in all, a music video is a whole package delivering to and catering various interests of different artists. Making of music videos From attracting viewers to turning listeners into viewers, music videos have become almost a necessity for charting and gaining popularity. From the variety of videos that can be seen it is no doubt that the concept and planning of these videos are done very meticulously. Even the side tracks of the different album have audio visualisers that play a role that is similar to that of a music video. The creative efforts that go into these from the styling, direction, location, animation etc. is a very intricate process that definitely reaps results. Every form of entertainment convulsing and bringing out unique ideas is something that all industries are exploring. Artists exploring new avenues to try and express themselves better and in turn providing their audience immaculate ways of entertainment, together are stepping stones towards a more developed society.

EASWARAN ANANTRAM

Indian Scientific Music

TIME THEORY OF MUSIC – Part 1

Ragas as we have seen previously to be these wonderful scales using the 7 musical notes have the capability of bringing in a specific mood or emotion which we know as Rasa & Bhava Apart from this, it was seen that singing a certain type of Ragas with a certain set of notes during a specific time, enhances the effect of the Rasa-Bhava. Let us first understand the time measurement of Ancient India.

Prahar – The Unit of Measurement of Time

Mechanical clocks were not invented until the start of the 14th Century. Hence, prior to this people used the measurement of Time by following the path of the Sun, in the form of Sun-dials, Water clocks, Sand Timers and Hourglasses While the different equipment was to be used by the bureaucrats and the nobles of the society, the layman had a fairly simpler way of measuring time. He used to method of following the Sun, the path of the sun and the colour of the sunlight to measure time. The day of 24 hours was divided into 8 parts of around 3 hours each. Each such part of 3 hours is called as a “Prahar” The day starts as follows:

evening red sky. This is the final Prahar of the Day. At the end of this is when the night starts. We can say the timing to be from around 1500 hrs to 1800 hrs 5. Prahar 5: The sun has finally set and the Red skies have slowly started to turn dark. The moon now is starting to show up to be brighter. This is the 5th Prahar. Timing of around 1800 hrs to 2100 hrs 6. Prahar 6: There is no sign of the Sun anymore. The moon now shines brightly and the night watchman rings the Gong (Ghadiyal) to emphasise on the advent of complete darkness. This is around 2100 hrs to the hour of the moon – Midnight 0000 hrs

1. Prahar 1: starting with sunrise going all the way up to the morning time. In modern time, around 0600 hrs to 0900 hrs. The Sun rays change from a dark red colour to a bright yellow colour

7. Prahar 7: Only the watchmen are the ones awake at this hour guarding the locals. Predators are now out to hunt and the moon is the only source of light. Timing 0000 hrs to 0300 hrs

2. Prahar 2: Starts with the yellow sun and ends with the white bright sun in its true form. This can be timed from around 0900 hrs to 1200 hrs. The slang in Hindi of “Dopahar” basically means that “Do Prahar” has passed (2 Prahars have passed in the day and hence it is noon time now)

8. Prahar 8: The moon now slowly is starting to lose its prominence as the Sun is ready to rise again to give the world its rays with hope. The redness of the sky slowly returns as the Sun starts to show up at the horizon. The night-watchman rings his final gong to signify the rise of the Sun and the end of his shift

3. Prahar 3: Starts with the bright white Sun in the sky now travelling to its west destination, the white slowly ends up being similar to the yellow light of the morning skies. This starts around 1200 hrs and ends at 1500 hrs

It is to be noted that the twilights also Called as the Sandhiprakash is one of the most important concepts in the Time theory.

4. Prahar 4: The semi bright yellow Sun slowly starts to set in the west giving a feeling of the

The next article will discuss the notes and the ragas that fit in the specific Prahars. Happy Reading Folks!!

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The Magical and Musical (Sort Of) Forty Years of MTV

MTV or Music Television celebrated its 40th birthday last month. Regardless of how old you are or what generation you belong to, when you listen to the term “MTV” you will surely know what it is about.

featured an astronaut with the MTV flag on the Moon, a metaphor about the groundbreaking impact of MTV.

At present, it has been criticized by many older generations, who feel discontent because the channel has gone from being totally oriented to music, to becoming more of a reality TV channel. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny the fact that MTV has had at least some impact in our lives at one point of time.

During its early days, everyone wanted to appear on MTV and MTV wanted the most relevant music of the moment to be there. It's hard to number how many artists were able to jumpstart their careers by appearing on MTV: Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, U2, Duran Duran, Motley Crue, Poison, just to name a few.

The Beginnings

It all started in 1977 when Warner-Amex Cable created Qube, one of the first interactive television platforms that offered different channels with “categories”, among which was the children's channel Pinwheel (future Nickelodeon) and Sight On Sound, a music channel that allowed viewers to vote for the artist or song to broadcast. This system was a resounding success, so on August 31st, 1981, Music Television (MTV) went on air from New Jersey. It was the same channel as before but with a new name and with the innovation that this time it was going to contain music videos (this concept was devised by Michael Nesmith of The Monkees). Its programming was organized by Bob Pittman, a famous music producer of the time who would later become the CEO of MTV Networks. At the time there was no other channel that played music 24/7 and it was a great alternative for people who had to call radio stations to ask them to put a song, they just had to tune in to the channel and enjoy watching basically any hit song.

The Rise of the Music Video

MTV aired with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock n 'roll!", and the first video in history that MTV aired was the aptly titled “Video Killed The Radio Star”, by The Buggles. These videos were presented by VJs or Video Jockeys, people who had the same function of a DJ but with videos. They created playlists and these were broadcast on the channel. MTV’s promotional video

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MTV Becomes Less “Musical”

For the first two decades of its existence, MTV stuck with music but as the new millennium dawned, MTV started featuring other kinds of content as well. Reality shows like The Real World, artist talk segments, comedy shows like Punk'd and Jackass started dominating the airtime. Over the years, the shift away from music was so drastic, that MTV changed its logo in 2011, signifying that it wasn’t just a music channel anymore. MTV reincorporated the old logo in an effort to go back to its roots, though, in the world of streaming, it’s highly unlikely that the channel would’ve held any relevance anyway. MTV is far removed from its nascent days of August 1981, but regardless of its current state, nobody can deny that it has been a cradle of pop culture, counter culture and musical entertainment. It made the careers of many superstars who have become a part of pop culture folklore. To put it simply, we wouldn’t be where we are now if it weren’t for MTV. Whether you see that as positive or negative, is up to you.

AKARSH SHEKHAR

How to Record Voice overs properly? Voice overs are a very important part of videos. A good voice over can take a well made video to the next level. We need to make sure we use it in the highest quality possible. There are some tools, equipment, techniques, and care that ensure that the voice enhances the listener's experience. The use of voice needs to make sense within the strategy outlined in relation to content. For example, people react different to a male voice when compared to a female voice. The demeanour of the voice over also plays a role in how people perceive the content.

3 Key Factors About Voice Over for Videos 1. Build a narrative Communication must take into account the user experience in all its moments and stages, and videos must also fulfill their role in the listener's journey. Creating a narrative is a way of involving people, bringing them closer to the experiences that we want to convey to them and generating empathy. In this context, the locution will serve to tell the story to the listeners, drawing them towards what is presented in the video. 2. Develop a rhythm of speech A very hasty speech can make it difficult to understand. On the

other hand, one that is too slow can distance the viewer. Therefore, when recording the audio, it is necessary to use an adequate rhythm so that each word is understandable. Punctuation requires special care, so as not to affect the meaning of the sentences. Thus, ideally, a standard rhythm is adopted for the speech. You can test it with your audience to ensure their understanding is adequate. It is worth remembering that the rhythm, as well as the language, will have to adapt to the characteristics of your buyer persona. For example, there will be cases where it is appropriate to use jargon and abbreviations and others where it is not. 3. Record audio as clean and clear as possible Audios are very sensitive to noise when recording. Therefore, it will be important to find an acoustic environment that reduces the possibility of unwanted noise. Some editing programs can treat the audio and lessen the impact of noise, but it is always difficult to remove it completely. Therefore, it is worth doing everything possible to guarantee maximum quality when capturing the voiceover, thus avoiding any type of negative impact in the end. Here you should make sure that you have good quality equipment:

a microphone and an audio mixing console or a recorder. It’s great if all the components are properly seated and if there is no bad contact between the cables, which can also cause noise during the acquisition.

3 tips to make a good voice over in videos 1. Drink lots of water The voice can be impaired when we are not well hydrated. And since water reduces hoarseness, coughing, and throat clearing at the time of recording, don't forget to have a glass of water nearby. 2. Use a sympathetic tone and stay calm A sympathetic voiceover is more attractive to listeners. To achieve this tone in your communication, smile while recording the audio. It is the smile that will help you convey enthusiasm. Be patient, avoid recording the voice over hastily. Set aside time to make several attempts. And since there are few cases in which the audio comes out right the first time, don't get carried away by nervousness and run it again. 3. Simulate a conversation You can use your imagination to improve the voice over. For example, think that you are in a conversation with a friend or colleague. This way, what you say will sound more natural and at a calmer pace. The

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PALAK DOSHI

BTS Videos that have changed the K-POP visual game BBC has called them The Beatles of the 21st century and the band in question, Bangtan Boys, or BTS has four major keys to success - emotional resonance, sincerity, an ARMY of fans and kickass music videos. Since the group’s inception, they’ve worked to offer their fans something new while also maintaining the quintessential style that fans have come to love. Their signature bravura includes inventive choreography, stylish costumes, special effects, and intricate narratives throughout their visual odyssey. It’s safe to say BTS always lives up to the expectations of their fans. They represent a new age of composition, dance, and most importantly visualisation of music with each album as they whip up ground-breaking concepts. One thing that every fan can vouch for is that they don't mess around when it comes to their music videos. From one of their very first music videos, “No More Dreams,” to their latest visual piece, “Permission to Dance”, each of the group's illustrations are stunning, and they inevitably leave the viewer wanting more. Let’s have a quick run-through across some of their most iconic music videos. Their first single, “No More Dream,” in 2013 was an ode to teen apathy, a rebellious rejection of Korean traditionalism. In the pre-BTS era, K-pop was dominated by songs about love and relationships. BTS is generally acclaimed for breaking this mould, exploring topics such as bullying, elitism, societal expectations on youth, mental health and social justice via their music. This dark, edgy debut put BTS on the map with a completely different look and style, with remarkable choreography and considerably great production that made it a super hit. With “Run” in November 2015, the band plunged into the Bangtan Universe. An interwoven ecosystem of content, the Bangtan Universe is a fantasyinfused narrative of seven friends navigating young adulthood. It's a comingof-age story in which the seven members of BTS become teenaged characters struggling to make their way in the world. As new fans start to piece together BTS' music videos, they begin to realize that many of them connect. The overarching storyline is known as the Bangtan Universe, and it exists not just in BTS' visuals, but in their webtoons and short stories as well. In short, the BU involves a fictional storyline that has all the BTS members playing their characters. These characters each have their backstory. “Save Me” from May 2016 was brimming with emotion and sharp choreography. The music video, which was remarkably filmed in a one-shot take, showed BTS members singing and performing intense choreography against the wind, in the backdrop of low-lying clouds. The dance was choreographed by The Quick Style Crew. The video actually ranked second on Billboard’s Most Viewed K-Pop Videos in America as per the May 2016 list revealed by Billboard. For “Blood Sweat & Tears” the boys went all out on the green screen. Complex choreography that displayed BTS's exquisite dancing skills combined with

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the supporting cinematography and SFX made it unrivalled. The storyline of "Blood Sweat & Tears" interpreted the song's mood by bringing together various biblical, artistic, and literary references. The artistic elements used to present the implied meaning of "Blood Sweat & Tears" became much more than simply a graceful, well-produced music video--it is an intricate compilation that describes falling from grace and good against evil with complex imagery, open to several interpretations, making it the epitome of art. The release of Dynamite was one of the most defining moments of summer 2020. It shattered many records and got BTS their welldeserved Grammy nomination. The band made it to give their fans hope and happiness during a time of sorrow and grief, and the music video follows through with that message. The video is an homage to the 60’s/80’s from their retro disco outfits, to the Michael Jackson tribute and BTS dancing in a record shop and old school diners - all with a colourful modern twist! Pastel colours adorn the video as BTS tries to convince their audience to remember the good amidst the bad. When it comes to K-pop’s evolution locally and globally, BTS is in the driver’s seat! They keep setting the bar higher with material that’s both friendly to pop and enthrallingly artistic. Their MVs, just like their music, transcend the K-pop genre and demonstrate BTS's broad international impact. One can rightfully call them a hit-generator and the band of boys in question have opened the flood-gates to music videos that are a visual tapestry of whimsical grandeur combined with complex, energetic choreography.

AKARSH SHEKHAR

Why Should You Have a Cardioid Subwoofer?

Cardioid is a term that is associated with microphones. However, here we are going to talk about cardioid subwoofers. Both speakers and microphones are transducers (devices that convert between electricity and air pressure) that are found at the ends of the audio chain. They are actually doing the same in opposite directions. So while we're talking cardioid when we're talking about mic pickup patterns and showing that nice heart-shaped diagram, we can apply the same idea to speakers and talk about dispersion patterns.

Are subwoofers omnidirectional?

Generally, all speakers tend to be directional. So the term cardioid can’t be used for them. All subwoofers are generally omnidirectional due to the laws of physics. To make an audio frequency directional, we need to have a box that is close to the length of the frequency we are trying to hit. Given that 100Hz is roughly 11 feet long, your sub box is unlikely to be that large. This means that a subwoofer is emitting approximately the same level in all directions.

The cons of omni directionality

This omni directionality can cause us some headaches. When setting up a stage, we generally take care to keep the top boxes in front of the mics so we don't have to fight feedback, and we usually place the subwoofers just below the top boxes. This keeps them aligned in time and in phase with our top boxes. Unfortunately, while our tops

are good at focusing their energy forward, subs are firing as much energy directly into those open mics as they are into the crowd.

If you have more than one sub on stage because you want more bass, they will also tend to interfere with each other. This can happen as a result of time differences between the direct low frequencies or reflections that are more common because the low frequency is coming out in all directions. Also, that energy builds up and rolls across the stage. It can make a hollow stage ring, rattle drum hardware, and make life generally miserable.

What’s the solution?

Wouldn't it be great if we could get the power from a subwoofer to run primarily like our full-range speakers do? It would solve feedback and hoarding problems and make the sub more efficient as you are driving more of your energy towards the audience. This is what led to the birth of cardioid subwoofers.'

idea. If you stacked them on top of each other with one facing the wrong side, you'd be halfway there. The basic idea is that you have two sources creating the same low frequency material, with the polarity reversed in one of the sources. Then change the sync so that at the front of this subarray the frequencies are in phase and combine to boost the output by 6dB. The signal coming out of the rear of the subwoofer is calculated to be out of phase and tends to cancel out. Cardioid subwoofers in a single, reasonably sized package also allow you to get the benefits of keeping all that bass off stage without having to move multiple heavy boxes each time.

The concept is not new. It was actually proposed in a paper in the late 1950s, and enterprising sound engineers have been assembling subwoofer arrays for a couple of decades to make low-frequency material more directional. They combine several different subwoofers and adjust the timing by changing the position forwards and backwards or using an electronic delay. By carefully calculating the position, they can make the bass more directional through a combination of sub-location and phase. You can grab a couple of subwoofers and move them around the stage yourself to play with the

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SHAURYA SINGH THAPA

5 facts you need to know about Ghazals as a genre Be it Jagjit Singh's casettes or Ali Seth's new age singles, ghazals have acquired a popular flavor amongst listeners in India, Pakistan, and the South-Asian diaspora since the past few decades. But a few centuries ago, the ghazal evolved as a niche form of poetry to express divine notions of romance. Here are a few facts that would help you understand the history of this unique poetry and music genre.

The Origin

The ghazal as a form of poetry that originated from Arabic traditions in 7th century. It's only when Sufi saints began migrating to India under Islamic Sultanates that ghazals began spreading in the country. The mystics actually used ghazals to express their unconditional and divine love to the Almighty (an undefined force of creation). It's much later that ghazals acquired the modern form as a romantic genre.

The Structure

A ghazal commonly consists of five to fifteen couplets, which

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are independent, but are also linked. This link can be abstract in their theme. Most of the themes of ghazals dwell on love and seperation. In the 18th century, ghazals were increasingly written in Urdu (as is the modern form) with Mirza Ghalib being a major proponent.

Filmi-Ghazal

The tradition of adding Urdu ghazals in Indian films began with the first ever Indian talkie Alam Ara (1931). Since then, ghazals have been popular from the 1930s to the 1960s. Meanwhile, non-film ghazals were popularised by Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hassan. Popular playback singers like Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi kept on singing ghazals but the popularity in films started waning out. It's only with the 1990 Hindi film Aashiqui that ghazals started making a comeback.

Jagjit Singh's Changes to Ghazals

While Mehdi Hassan is regarded as the king of ghazals, it was Jagjit Singh who brought ghazal music to the

masses making it more mainstream. Jagjit Singh defied the genre by introducing Western instrumentation apart from the usual Hindustani classical routine. The 12-string guitar and bass guitar were essential in many of his songs. Further, despite his pathbreaking changes, he ‘never diluted the essence of ghazals’, notes sitar player Tushar Bhatia. Jagjit Singh was simply a modernist trying to create something new.

BEGUM AKHTAR

JAGJIT SINGH

Ghazal Fusion

Today, the ghazal is being significantly reinterpreted by mixing it with other genres. For instance, Rashmi Agarwal mixes jazz melodies in her ghazal vocals with her band The Z Factor. Similarly, Tauseef Akhtar has created his own genre of music which he likes to call ghazalaw. The ghazalaw blends ghazals with Celtic music. Akhtar explains the connection, ‘Since both styles are based on romantic poetry, they have a lot of similarities,’. He has had successful ghazalaw shows in India and the UK.

MIRZA GHALIB

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Taming your studio!

Every sound you hear when recording and mixing is influenced by the quality of your studio monitors. Without good monitors that are correctly positioned and calibrated for your room, it’s very hard to get your finished mixes to sound right when played back on other systems. Back in the April issue we talked about the importance of choosing and positioning your monitors, and now we’ll cover the process of calibrating your monitors to the room.

Problems with the bass? When you’re recording and mixing, what you’re hearing is always a combination of your monitors and your room’s acoustics – and it’s not uncommon for rooms to create a frequency response that is far from the neutral and flat response that you need to deliver reliable mixes. These problems can be particularly troublesome in the low frequencies – where peaks and dips in your room’s frequency response can cause you to misjudge the levels of bass in your mix. Therefore, just unboxing and connecting your new monitors and diving straight into recording and mixing – without taking the time to analyse what your room’s doing to the sound – could cause endless disappointment with your finished mixes.

position. In combination with correct monitor choice and placement, this gives you a good basis on which to start to calibrate and fine tune the room.

quickly, and ensures that you always hear consistently smooth, neutral, balanced sound.

Calibration starts with analysing the response of each monitor at your listening position. An accurate way of doing this is via a reference microphone and simple measurement software like Room EQ Wizard, so that the response of each loudspeaker can be measured at the listening position and displayed for you. This allows you to ‘see’ what your room is doing to your monitoring system’s response and where the issues might lie.

This tight integration of hardware and software also ensures the best possible system performance and dynamic range, and allows you to switch between monitor setups without having to use extra DAW outputs – or invest in costly external hardware. Also, since management and optimisation of the system takes place at the end of the signal chain ¬– in the monitors themselves – GLM users can benefit from fixed and low latency performance without having to bypass any monitoring software sitting on the master audio buss.

Calibration software

The benefits

Room calibration software is now widely available, but our own approach at Genelec has been to develop a wide range of Smart Active Monitors that work closely with our own GLM calibration software.

Calibration tools like GLM mean that whether you want to fine tune an already good sounding room, or you’re working in more challenging acoustic environments (a situation which has become more common in the pandemic, where people are working in more ad-hoc spaces), then you’ll be able to completely trust what you’re hearing from your monitors - and always make accurate, reliable mix decisions.

GLM’s reference microphone kit allows your room acoustics to be accurately analysed, after which GLM adjusts the frequency response, level, and distance delay via the DSP hardware within each Smart Active Monitor. GLM does all this automatically, intelligently and

For more information, please visit www.genelec.com/glm

Fixing the issues We’d always recommend starting with at least some basic acoustic treatment if possible – which in a typical rectangular room would include cutting the front corners at a 30 degree angle and using a combination of absorption and diffusion panels on the side and rear walls, and above the listening

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Signed vs Unsigned Artists: Is a Record Deal Essential in 2021? You can write, produce and distribute music while sitting in your bedroom. You can hire an experienced individual to create your personal brand or learn to do it from the internet. Do you really need a record label when it’s so easy to work as a one-person army these days? Let’s find out.

Do Artists Need a Record Deal for Succeeding? Access to distribution and marketing platforms Global star Lauv is very vocal about how one can make it big without any record label backing. He has become a huge sensation among Gen-Z and has done it all on his own, releasing his music through a distribution service called AWAL. Artists now, unlike decades ago, keep track of the technological and business aspects of the music industry. Easy access to distribution services, branding opportunities and increasing management skills in artists are some of the developments which make us believe that musicians can become successful without a record deal. Piyush Bhisekar, an independent artist with over 3 million streams on his debut EP Hai Bharosa believes that in this age of excessive availability of distribution and marketing platforms on the internet a lot can be achieved if the artist’s music connects with the audience.

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Artists need their creative freedom A MIDIA study from 2019 found out that 83% of independent artists believe that it is important for them to retain full creative control over their music. This need for creative freedom has made successful artists out of bedroom musicians. In 2020, indie artists were expected to generate $2 billion in streaming revenue. There have been infamous instances of musicians leaving record labels due to creative differences. Lucy Rose, an English folk-pop musician, left Columbia Records after two albums because the label had become controlling and was forcing her to write the music she did not resonate with, just to sell records. She launched her independent label Real Kind Records, in partnership with Communion, a British record company. Piyush thinks making good music with utmost creative freedom and reaching out to as many people as possible is important. He is also willing to work with record labels if his artistic vision is kept in mind while making the deal. Another independent artist from an indie rock band called Naalayak believes record labels in India are not serious about the indie music scene. Sahil from the Chandigarhbased band says, “Labels are more focused on promoting commercial acts and are only interested in

getting commission cuts from shows.” Artist discovery by record labels Artist discovery is a major role that record labels used to play, back in the day. Current trends in the industry suggest that most independent artists are discovered through social media, especially Instagram Reels and Tiktok. If an artist is too busy to build an audience for themselves on social media platforms, they hire professionals who do it for them. However, record labels play a very crucial role in discovering artists as they have several A&R managers scouting for new talents all the time. Prabh Deep, a Delhi- based rapper is signed under Azadi Records and has been successful in dominating the hip-hop music scene in India. Since then, he has bagged deals with Puma and Bira91 and wishes to go commercial like Badshah someday. An alternative rock band from Mumbai, The Yellow Diary, was signed by Sony Music after the music video for their single Marz got the attention of Vishal Dadlani and Raghu Dixit. The band has over 10 million streams on their Spotify and continues to take the music industry by storm with their latest collaboration with Shilpa Rao on their song Roz Roz. How record labels work and what they think about signing artists

MANYA MASIWAL Record label contracts and their structures might sound very overwhelming to some artists, but they are essentially based on a mutually beneficial deal wherein the more successful the artists become, the more the record label earns. An artist’s success also gives them greater authority to renegotiate their contracts and ask for favourable changes. A report from IFPI claims that it takes around £1 million of investment for a new artist to break into the mainstream. Record labels are the catalysts that can take care of the manufacturing, promotion and distribution of an artist’s music in exchange for the rights to their music. Big Indie Bang, a subsidiary of Big Bang Music believes that labels help artists look at things with a 360-degree view and accelerate their journey with marketing support, better distribution and overall support. An official from the label said, “I look at it like this - you can go

publish your own book at a printing press and can be successful at it too. A book publisher will make sure that the book is available everywhere and on the first shelf when you walk into a store. I think successful labels do that for new music releases and artists - they leverage their networks to get maximum visibility for the artists.” In this digital age, some of the big record labels also offer 360 deals to their artists that give them a commission from all the artist's work which includes album sales, media appearances, and product endorsements. Another label that houses a lot of famous acts under their belt is Azadi Records, and its Co-Founder Uday Kapur thinks that every label that has been essential in defining the sound of an era has elevated itself beyond handling the 'business side of things and stood for something - a sound, a community or an idea. He says, “The role that labels have to play from a creative standpoint is geared more towards elevating the artist's vision” However, he also believes that labels aren't the only

axis through which an artist can be successful, and it totally depends on whether they are the right fit for each other. Should a new artist run after a record deal? A few decades ago, new artists could not even fathom getting recognised without a big name backing them. Now that social media and the internet have revolutionised music, releasing music on your own has never been simpler. Nevertheless, record labels still hold their stand of accelerating an artist’s career in 2021 with companies discovering new talent on YouTube or in a live show every day. An artist should always keep in mind what their goals as a musician are and look for labels that are ready to work at the same wavelength. It is the artist’s choice to associate their music and hard work with a company or independently try to break it into the industry. In the end, it all comes down to what feels true to them and their music.

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RISHAB SENGUPTA

5 FORGOTTEN BANDS WHO BROUGHT ROCK’N’ROLL TO INDIA It may come as a surprise to some that Indian rock bands were performing as early as the 1960s. These groups brought the gift of rock and roll to India, and though they may not have enjoyed the popularity of newer bands, their contributions cannot go unacknowledged.

GREAT BEAR/HIGH

THE COMBUSTIBLES

The Combustibles - 1965-1972 (Bombay) Originating in Bombay, The Combustibles were among the first artists in India to use distorted guitar tones and fast-paced drum grooves to produce a sound that by today’s standards may be tame, but was positively rebellious back in the day. The Combustibles gained notoriety in the Bombay rock scene through the famous Simla Beat battle of bands competition and even went on a national tour from 1968-1969. The group would go on to record their original tracks with Polydor Records. Their 1971 seven inch record featuring the songs Watch Her and Some Peace of Mind was remastered and re-released in 2013 by UK-based Harkit Records.

The Mustangs – 1965-1968 (Madras)

The Mustangs were a sort of supergroup of student musicians from various colleges in the city of Madras (now Chennai). Their unique sound blended surf rock, ska, blues, and the Indian film music of the time. Their music captures the essence of the rock and roll scene of the 1960s, while also including a certain Indian flair. Despite being active for only four years, The Mustangs gained quite a

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THE FENTONES

THE MUSTANGS

following in Madras, even going on to record an LP with HMV, featuring the songs Escape and Gonks Go Beat. In 2010, the core members reunited for a jam session, later going on to perform shows in both Bangalore and Chennai.

The Savages – 1965-1976 (Bombay)

The Savages was the passion project of drummer and bandleader Bashir Sheikh, who remained its only consistent member throughout the years. The Savages were the first Indian band playing Western rock music to record a full-length album. Their signature psychedelic sound with influences from blues and jazz landed them recording projects with both HMV as well as Polydor Records. The band’s 1973 album Black Scorpio became somewhat of an obscure cult classic. Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt, in an interview with Score Magazine, stated that he loved Black Scorpio and had been trying to get his hands on the record for his collection.

Great Bear/High 1969-1990 (Calcutta)

In 1969, Guitarist Dilip Balakrishnan and drummer Nondon Bagchi, who had been members of the pop group The Cavaliers formed a progressive rock quintet called Great Bear. In a

THE SAVAGES

2016 interview with Redbull, Bagchi claimed that Great Bear was the first Indian rock group to write original songs. In 1974, after Great Bear was disbanded, Balakrishnan and Bagchi went on to form High. High is perhaps best known for their dark and groovy original tracks. Their Magnum opus Winter Planet was a rock opera about the threat of a nuclear holocaust.

The Fentones – 1967-1997 (Shillong)

The Fentones were a pop-rock quintet hailing from Shillong. They won the Simla Beat competition in 1971, and are known to be the only group from Northeast India to do so. Their most notable originals Simla Beat Theme and Until the Dawn have been immortalised in the Simla Beat 71 LP. The group was originally fronted by Lou Majaw, who is now a well-known figure in the Indian rock scene. The band went through several personnel changes in the years that followed until they disbanded in 1997. Their original tracks combine upbeat melodies with thoughtful lyrics, offering a very Beatles-esque sound.

KANISHK JOSHIPURA

Home Studio Essentials: Everything You Need For a Pro Level Setup At Home Since the start of the pandemic, and the lockdown and isolation that accompanied it, people have been getting into music production more than ever. If you’re someone who wants to get into making music right away but is under a budget, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Without further ado, let’s get started with the essentials for a killer home studio:

Headphones

Headphones are a great alternative to reference monitors for mixing. Moreover, you need them for tracking your vocals as well. Here are our recommendations for quality headphones under a budget.

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro (6699 rupees on Amazon)

ATH M40X (8459 rupees on Amazon)

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (14,000 rupees on amazon)

Industry Standard - tried and tested by professionals

The younger, lesser known brother of the fan favourite ATH M50X

Can give a strong competition to headphones way beyond their price range.

Flat sound signature ensures an honest mix Extremely sturdy build - will last you a long time Known to be generally very comfortable for most users.

Audio Interface

Perfect pair for casual listening apart from mixing Bass heavy, but can capture details extremely well Sturdy build Known to be generally very comfortable

Your laptop doesn’t have a good enough sound card to record and process high-quality recording. So, an audio interface is basically a sound card that can record highquality audio files. You’ll also need an audio interface to power up your condenser microphone.

Detachable cable for added convenience; perfect for you if you’re bad with wires and constantly break your headphones.

M-Audio M-Track Solo (4699 Rupees on Amazon) Perfect for a starter and if you do not want to get into intense and heavy production right away Sample Rate - 24-bit/48Khz, more than enough for a beginner. It has one combo XLR(Mic)/Line input and one Instrument input, combined with two line outputs for connecting reference monitors/speakers. Easy to set-up

With a neutral sound signature, their accuracy remains unparalleled. Great upgrade over the M40Xs, if you’re willing to spend a little bit more. Dome-like ear cup shape gives them a much wider soundstage than the rest. Perform very well in the build category with their hard plastic form factor. Extremely comfortable; most people will be able to use this in their home studio for hours on end.

Steinberg UR-12 (8610 Rupees on Amazon) If you feel like you need more than the standard 24-bit/48Khz that the M-Track offers, the Steinberg UR-12 is something you should definitely consider. Sample Rate - 24bit/192Khz, the highest quality out there. Just like the M-Track Solo, it has one Dual XLR/Line input and an instrument input, combined with two line outputs for speakers.

Very portable

Bundled with it comes Cubase LE, which is the starter version of Steinberg’s very own DAW.

Also comes with bundled software like ProTools First, which is a DAW, and other interesting programs like MPC Beats and guitar amp plugins.

If your aim is serious production, this is the one to start from. The

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Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (16149 Rupees on Amazon) It has two XLR/instrument inputs, this means that now you can power two mics using the same audio interface. Useful if you are recording/performing live, and might need one mic input for your vocals and another for your instruments (e.g. acoustic guitar). Comes with many softwares, including Ableton Lite, one of the most popular DAWs out there, and Avid ProTools First Focusrite Creative Pack, which consists of hundreds of sounds for your music production. Sample Rate - 24 bit/192 KHz

Condenser Microphone

This one’s a necessity if you’re going to be using vocals while producing music. Condenser microphones are better than other forms of microphones (e.g. Ribbon, Dynamic, etc.) at capturing detail. They need extra power to operate, and have to be paired with an audio interface.

Audio Technica AT2020 (9256 Rupees on Amazon)

AKG P120 (6233 Rupees on Amazon)

Audio Technica AT2035 (13,999 on Amazon)

Entry-level condenser microphone of Audio-Technica, a reputed Japanese audio company.

All-purpose mic - great for both vocals and spoken word

There is absolutely no shame in admitting that Audio Technica dominates the budget mic category.

Can always trust AKG and its reputation for building the best audio equipment at affordable prices.

If you’re willing to spend a little bit more than the P120, then this is the choice for you.

Has a solid metal build, which will make sure that it lasts long.

Great clarity and honest sound reproduction

The AT 2035 offers great warmth and clarity for its price. Some of the best build quality in the price segment Noticeable bump in quality over the AT2020, if you’re willing to spend a bit more.

Extremely sturdy

MIDI Keyboard

MIDI Keyboards are basically devices that send signals to your DAW to play certain notes. It is much more convenient to operate instruments through a MIDI Keyboard instead of using your computer’s keypad, which makes investing in MIDI keyboards a great choice.

M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 MK3 (5599 Rupees on Amazon) For you if you aren’t satisfied with the standard 25-key MIDI layout Do not contain drum pads - focus on sheer playability. The Mini 32 comes bundled with Pro Tools First, a DAW and AIR Music Tech Xpand!2 multitimbral all-in-one workstation.

Akai MPK Mini MK3 (9386 Rupees on Amazon) 25 keys Amazon Bestseller Offers unparalleled features for its price Offers keys with a great feel and response. Eight big drum pads that are satisfying to the touch and offer a great velocity response Compact size - can easily carry it around with you Comes bundled with various synths and instrument packs to get you started

Other Accessories for your home studio XLR Cable - Necessary for connecting your microphone to your audio interface USB A to B Cables - For connecting your midi controller and audio interface to your PC Boom microphone Stand - A boom stand makes it easier to place a mic around an object such as a guitar or bass, a piano, a drum kit, or another instrument.

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Arturia Minilab MKII (10990 Rupees on Amazon) Arturia is known for manufacturing the best keys. Great feeling keys with accurate pressure response If you care the most about the playing experience, then the Minilab MKII is your choice. The keyboard comes with Ableton Live Lite and Analog Lab Lite, which consists of some of the best vintage synth packs from the award-winning Arturia V collection. Minilab MKII consists of 8 drum pads. However, they’re smaller than the Mini MK3. Slightly larger than the Akai MPK Mini MK3 and less travel friendly

Mackie CR3-X (3 inch speakers) (8999 Rupees on Amazon) Great for a very low budget Overall, these sound pretty decent, with a very neutral sound, however, slightly muddy across all frequencies.

MIDI Keyboards are basically devices that send signals to your DAW to play certain notes. It Reference Monitors are stereo speakers that are used to mix and review your music. They are regarded as a better option for mixing than headphones because they’re a better judge of how your mix is going to sound in cars, clubs, home theater systems, etc.

PreSonus Eris 3.5 (3.5 inch speakers) (11990 Rupees on Amazon)

Alesis Elevate 5 MKII (5 inch speakers) (12543 Rupees on Amazon)

PreSonus Eris 3.5s deliver accuracy and clarity like none other in the price range.

The Elevate 5 MKIIs are the largest speakers in this list

The bass, mids and highs are equally emphasized, and sound extremely clear.

The bass can be boomy instead of crisp and punchy sometimes.

Definitely separate themselves from the CR3-Xs with their sound.

Crisp enough with their output and will provide you with a seamless mixing experience.

It is recommended that you spend a bit more to get your hands on this amazing pair of speakers.

Very small form factor

Sheer quality packed into a compact and sturdy form factor, so space and durability issues should not be a concern for you.

Decent plastic build that will last you a long time, if handled properly.

Reference Monitors

Will occupy a decent amount of space in your home studio Sound full, with noticeable, punchy bass that never overpowers the mids and the highs. The middle and higher frequencies are given the attention they deserve, which makes them great for reference and mixing purposes. Great for casual listening as well. Solid hard plastic form factor that will definitely last you a long time.

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

A Digital Audio Workstation is basically a software where you can record, edit, and produce audio files. You’ll need a DAW, and learn how to operate it if you’re producing music. Here are some well-known DAWs with relatively simple interfaces for beginners.

Reaper (4400 Rupees)

FL Studio Fruity Edition (7350 Rupees)

Ableton Live Intro (7350 Rupees)

Unlike the other DAWs in the list, this one offers full functionality right out of the gate for just $60, which is a fraction of the price you pay to unlock all features in other DAWs.

This is the base price for Image-Line’s industry leading Digital Audio Workstation.

This is the starter price of the renowned DAW Ableton Live.

FL Studio is known for its simple and convenient User Interface.

One of the most intuitive and smooth DAWs out there in the market.

This entry-level edition, however, has limited functionality.

Unlike FL Studio - Fruity Edition, Ableton Live Intro allows you to record and edit audio clips.

Not as popular as FL Studio and Ableton, but has carved a niche for itself.

This edition does not allow you to record or use audio clips in your production process. Limited to electronic music and beat production.

Limits your MIDI and audio tracks to 16 per project, which is enough for beginners. Access to just 4 instruments and 21 audio effects. The

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LIVE VOCAL PROCESSORS FOR A KILLER LIVE SET If you are a singer, one of the most exciting technological advancements for you has to be in the field of live vocal processing. It all started out as just a small number of harmony vocal processors but, it has blossomed into a wide array of effects and processors that can almost recreate studio magic on stage. Yes, it’s possible to have a precise and killer live sound without needing to alter it in production before the release of a live album. You can wow your live audience with these awesome tools. Here is a basic overview of the types of speech processing options available today.

Pitch & Harmony

Live pitch and harmony were among the most sought after vocal processors early on, and while early attempts were more than a bit robotic, the current generation of live pitch effects are almost indistinguishable from their plugin equivalents. Of course, if you want something with a more classic electronic sound, options like the Electro-Harmonix V256 Vocoder and the Roland VT-3 Voice Transformer will be fantastic. Today, you can add simple chromatic tone correction to your microphone with something as small and convenient as the TCHelicon Mic Mechanic 2. Similarly, independent harmony processors, such as DigiTech Vocalist Live Harmony, make it easy to add choruses to your sound. As useful as

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the simple tone and harmony effects are, they are limited entirely by your voice or by presets. So if you are too far from the key, you will end up with some fun effects. Fortunately, these are just the initial days of these tools and they are bound to evolve very quickly. Modern tone and harmony effects are almost always combined together. The most popular vocal multi-effects processors belong to the TC-Helicon's VoiceLive series. Many of these vocal multi-effects, allow you to trigger harmonies and restrict tuning parameters by following incoming guitar or keyboard chords. This allows you to use a wide range of great tone-based effects on stage.

Processors and Vocal Effects While most processors and vocal effects still live within more sophisticated units, individual pedals have become increasingly common. For example, the TCHelicon VoiceTone D1 offers doubling and detuning effects with the simplicity of a guitar pedal. Similarly, the BOSS VE-1 Vocal Echo features adjustable delay effects, though it also includes basic doubling and pitch correction. Other dedicated vocal effects pedals cover reverb, distortion, and more, while you can get everything from compression and unwanted to the added harmonic warmth of the TCHelicon VoiceTone T1.

Loopers

One fun way that many vocalists have explored new performance options has been with loopers. Originally only found on guitar pedals, loopers are now a standard part of practical vocal multieffects like the popular TC-Helicon VoiceLive Touch 2. Live vocal loopers such as the BOSS RC-505 Loop Station, allow you to create DJstyle performances by looping your voice and other input sources and adding samples. There is no limit to what a creative vocalist can do when equipped with a powerful looping workstation like this one.

Live Speech Plug-ins

Now that we've seen the emergence of a new generation of live speech processing hardware, what's next? Looking at the latest trends, it's safe to assume that live vocal processing plugins are becoming more and more viable. Antares led the charge with its special low-latency version Auto-Tune Live, a standard native plug-in that runs on most plug-in hosts. The DiGiGrid hardware also brings many specialized Waves SoundGrid plugins to the live stage, allowing engineers to add things like auto gain and various vocal enhancements to large-scale music production. We will likely see future generations of live vocal processing follow this same pattern, giving vocalists incredible new possibilities.

AKARSH SHEKHAR

10 Monitor Mixing Tips for a Great Live Sound 1. Take special care in the orientation of your monitors. Wedge type monitors are not normally designed to be at the feet of the musician. Note where the treble motor is located and where it is pointing, as well as its coverage angle. Ideally, aim for the head of the person who has to listen to that monitor. Also, check that there are no obstacles between the monitor and the musician. 2. Listen to the monitors before you start. It is convenient to check the monitors with music that we know and have a reference of how they sound in the space where we are. We can also analyze your frequency response

with pink noise to detect possible problem frequency zones and correct the monitor's response with equalization. 3. Check the bass. Powerful PA systems are often accompanied by a substantial subwoofer boost. If we haven't made any subwoofer arrangements to clear the stage of these frequencies, our artists probably won't need the monitors to reproduce too much information in the lower end of the spectrum, as they will have enough with what the PA pulls onto the stage. Maybe we can put high pass filters (HPF) up to approximately 100Hz, and with less amount of low frequencies the mix will be heard better. 4. Filter and port everything you need. Apply high pass filters to all channels that need it to eliminate unnecessary frequencies. Apply noise gates in the channels that you consider necessary to clean (percussion, especially). All the unnecessary information that you stop sending to your monitor mix will add cleanliness and clarity. 5. Always check that the shipments are correctly assigned. There can always be blunders and crossed cables. It is essential to check that everything is in order and in perfect working order before starting. 6. To avoid feedback, the ideal is that our monitors point to the area of least pickup of the microphones that are close. 7. If you work with in-ears, insert a limiter in the shipment. We do not want to make any

artist deaf. It is advisable to be extremely careful with in-ear systems, because if we send too much signal to someone we can cause problems. It is highly recommended to place a limiter in the master of our shipment to have a security filter in case something unforeseen happens. 8. Beware of compressors. It may seem like a good idea to apply compressions to our monitor shipments, but many times this can give us more problems than benefits. Remember that by applying a compressor we are reducing the dynamic range and raising the background noise, and therefore we are reducing the level of gain we have before reaching the feedback. 9. If you can choose, work in stereo. Whether you work with wedge type monitors or if you are using in ears, if you have the choice, it’s best to work in stereo. You spend twice as many auxiliaries but it will be much easier to get a clear and defined mix, playing with the panorama. In the event that you choose to work with stereo sends, configure them that way on your console. 10. Take a walk around the stage and listen. Although when we work as monitor technicians it is usual to have one or two wedges to monitor what we are doing, it is convenient to listen to what the musicians hear through their monitors in their positions. That is, how the monitors sound with all the noise around them. What we hear on one side of the stage is not going to be the same as what a guitarist hears, for example, who has his amplifier behind him and has the drums a metre away. The

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AKARSH SHEKHAR

Spruce Up Your Beats With These Cool Drum Tuning Tricks

What tricks are there to properly tune your drums? Currently thanks to the exact tuning systems such as drum dial or tune bot everything has been simplified so you can make sure that everything is mathematically exact.

What is tuning? Tuning is the process by which a musical instrument is tuned by matching the sounds it produces with a previously established sound frequency. Tuning systems seek to build a series of vibratory frequency relationships that give rise to the notes of a scale. In the specific case of drums, we will focus on the type of sound we want each part to have. This, depending on the type of style, we will mold it in one way or another.

How to tune a kick drum The kick drum is the largest and lowest tuned instrument. In order to perform a correct tuning we must do the following: Step 1: Loosen the patches through the towers. Step 2: Tighten each tower with the force of your hand (do not use the wrench) until you can’t tighten any more. In this way we make sure that we equalize the tensions of all the towers enough.

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Step 3: Now, with the tuning key, we will give each tower a half turn, always following the order of the previous graph. Step 4: From this point we can test quarter of a turn in each tower and assess the sound that is produced.

How to tune the toms on a drum set To perform the tuning of the toms we will have to follow exactly the same steps that we have used for the kick drum, always maintaining and respecting the comfort zone of the tones of each of them.

How to tune the snare drum or snare drum The method of tuning a snare drum is a bit more complex than the kick and tom.

Step 4 : Top patch. Tighten each tower with the force of your hand (do not use the wrench) until you can’t tighten any more. In this way we make sure that we equalize the tensions of all the towers enough. Step 5: At this point we will have to tighten half turns with the tuning key for drums in each of the towers, always following the same order as it is for bass drum and tom. Check that the resonant is quite tight. Step 6: In order to guarantee that the drums are in tune, we will have to hit about 2.5-3.5 cm from each tower with the stick and listen if each and every one of them sounds the same. We have low tuning at this point. In this case, the feeling will be of a lower note •

If we want medium tuning: We make half a turn more in each tower of the upper head. In this case the note will be higher than the low pitch

•

If we want high tuning: We make half a turn more in each tower of the upper head. In this case the note will be higher than the average pitch.

Step 1: Loosen the upper and lower patch and lower the bordona Step 2: Lower or resonant patch. Tighten each tower with the force of your hand (do not use the wrench) until you can’t tighten any more. In this way we make sure that we equalize the tensions of all the towers enough. Step 3: At this point we will have to tighten 2.5 turns with the tuning key for drums in each of the towers, always following the same order as for the kick drum and tom.

Step 7 : We raise the bordona and finish.

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