The Score Magazine April 2014 issue

ISSN 0974 – 9128

Vol 07 Issue 04 - April 2014

thescoremag

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` 50/-

India's National Pan-Genre Music MagazinE

cover story

Yamaha Powers BAND OF THE MONTH

The return of the genial heartthrob

Oxygen the band 6 musicians, a dozen different genres

Star OF THE MONTH

Sohail Sen

Making sly Entriyaan into our hearts

Also Inside: An Introduction to Auro 3D by Mr. Wilfried Van Baelen

the edit PAD Strategy and Planning Ajay Prabhakar Director, Business Development Pragash VM Editorial Advisor Nikila Srinivasan Associate Editor Kanika Mishra Honorary Editor Sidharth Vipin Head - Marketing & Operations Sneha Ramesh Head - Sales & Events Sai Adithya Creative Director George Vedamanickam Lead Designer Nipun Garodia Social Media Coordinator Vishakh Iyer WebMaster Daanish Millwalla

In the ever-changing entertainment industry, there are no incumbents, no giants, and no permanent stars. But as we dig deeper, we find that every generation adds its deep traditional discourse to the fabric of our culture. Be it the Baanis of the South or the Gharanas of the North, every institution has added texture to the enormous spectrum that is Indian music.

In the colonial times, the invading forces influenced Indians to create contemporary institutions that served patronage to our arts. These institutions were built brick by brick, scrupulously, over time. Institutions built on those times like the Music Academy in Chennai, the NCPA in Mumbai and SBKK in Delhi stand as a paragon of culture and performing arts today.

Zoom into the modern era; we at Score take cognizance of the enormous effort taken to build an organization that isn’t simply a passé. We were concerned about organically improving ourselves, layer by layer, and embedding ourselves into the DNA of our national culture. Influenced by new-age

Dear Reader, April is upon us, and along with the moody summer punctuated with the romance of the occasional drizzle, the Hindu New Year has brought with it the promise of more great music for us to bond over. The industry seems much less afraid now – the past few months have heralded in some surprisingly fresh, experimental sounds, more so than in the past.

In keeping with the spirit of April Fool’s Day, the 1st of April, we have endeavored to prank you through our pages. I wouldn’t

media concepts, we have set ourselves the long-term goal to influence a large audience base that desperately seeks a multi-varied discourse on music. Many companies have successfully and effectively reached the niche market, but we believe that unless greener pastures are tapped, the industry may implode via fatigue.

On that note, we have an important announcement to make about a vital step we have taken in that direction: The Score Magazine has just tied up with an All India retailer, and we believe that we are the first boot-strapped magazine to have ever done so. You will see us in far greater numbers at stores near you across Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi. Don’t forget to pick us up!

ajay prabhakar Strategy and Planning

worry much if I were you, however; the prank is characteristically good-natured.

Props to anyone who notices! (Hint- Think Rick Astley!)

In addition, we hope to hear your opinions/criticisms/feedback about what we’ve been doing so far. Write to us at contactus@highonscore.com. We love our words, so you’re welcome to write as many as you will! Send us your music, your ideas, your compliments and your concerns.

Go on and have a read, then! And may you love what’s coming as much as we do.

The Editorial Team subscribe to us at http://scorem.ag/buy-subscribe

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DISCLAIMER: Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photography or illustrations without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and illustrations. Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publication and accordingly no liability is assumed by the publisher thereof. Advertising copy and artworks are the sole responsibility of the advertisers. http://www.motherteresafoundation.org.in The Score Magazine is proud to support the Mother Teresa Foundation and urge our readers to join us in giving back a fraction of what we have been given.

i nside Band of the Month POWERED BY YAMAHA

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This month’s Band of the Month is an amalgamation of talent, genres and instruments like no other.

Meet Oxygen – the World Fusion Music band.

In Studio

cover story SHaan

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With a smile almost as enchanting as his music, Shaan can well be called the first heartthrob for many a Tanha Dil. What’s best, the Indian industry’s reigning king of romantic melodies is just as much of a sweetheart sans microphone!

STAR OF THE MONTH Sohail Sen

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In a delightful sequel to last month’s introduction to music production, our honorary editor Siddharth Vipin tells us all about Soundcards.

Burning Issue: EDM Industry Dynamics

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India has, over the past couple years, been hit hard by the EDM wave. Here’s finding out what it’s like behind the curtains, when the party’s over.

Classical Segment

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The best of Hindustani and Carnatic music in one place: our Classical Segment this month illustrates the use of Classical music in Indian Cinema.

Technovation

Sohail Sen has made a strong foothold in the world of Bollywood music, already. Read on to know all about the man who’s belted one hit after another.

Indinate with Fuzzy Logic 50

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This month’s Tech Segment talks about a truly revolutionary technological innovation in sound: Auro 3D.

Musical Child Prodigies

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Meet the future of the music industry – our musical child prodigies.

A class apart, if we may say so ourselves.

Fuzzy Logic has much promise to offer. Stay with us, as we get candid with the man himself.

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SHAAN He came from the humble state of Madhya Pradesh and conquered all of India with his versatile voice and uninhibited smile. Today, when he’s one of the most accomplished singers in the industry, he is still as humble as when he made Tanha Dil resound in all our homes and hearts.

Here’s to one of the most fun interviews we’ve ever done.

Here’s to Shaan.

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You recently wrote a song for your fans and posted in on your social media. How’s the reception been?

I just wanted to create something a bit different. What better way to tell my fans I appreciate them than through a song? So I put something together especially for people on Facebook, complete with a video and some visuals of the recording process; it got a great response. I learned this is a great way to talk to your fans, gauge a reaction and then maybe change your approach. Say if I want to sing a ghazal, I can figure out first-hand how the response will be instead of going to, say, a record company. And I’ve hit 2 million fans now, out of nowhere. So the response has been warm, and I hope to continue to be in touch with people who are passionate about the music I create.

You’ve been in the industry for a long time, since the times when cassettes were released and now through the digital divide. Do you think, in this day and age, does an artist need a social presence on networks?

Times are very different now. People are investing heavily in online media. There used to be a time when we’d have artists and musicians looking for a way to get into the print medium through column inches and magazines. Back then giving the press two minutes of your day was a big thing among playback singers and music directors, and record labels would spend lots of time and money in getting, say, a music video done. For e.g., Tanha Dil’s music video cost about 20 lakhs and took 4 days to shoot.

Right now, it’s a totally different ballgame. Your revenue isn’t guaranteed through traditional means in terms of sales, whether you’re an artist or a record label. People don’t buy cassettes and CDs anymore; they listen to music online. It isn’t their fault, since the Internet has made it very convenient. I think social media provides a reasonable way to get your views and music across in such a situation.

What do you think of the industry today? Is it easier to break in as a singer now, considering there are a plethora of vocalists, each doing their thing?

It’s a pretty complicated question; since I cant give you a direct answer. Many vocalists come to me, wanting a break or wanting to sing on a project. Till even five years ago, I could’ve given them some sort of advice on what to work towards. But today, a lot of established singers are just about average. It’s pretty scary to hear them sing live. There are certain things that you’d be expected to inculcate as a singer, be it tonality, diction, or a sense of expression. You should be able to emote what is required of you, especially when it comes to playback singing for films, because you’re singing someone else’s situation, which means you have to get into the skin of the character in the film and transport yourself into that zone and perform. All these aspects are not necessarily required anymore.

So what advice would you give to a budding musician?

Keep at it; if you’re good at what you do and don’t give up, you’ll definitely achieve it. Most importantly, don’t pretend to be something you’re not, and stay true to yourself. Honestly, today there is a dearth of talent and there’s a lot of mediocrity around.

So I’m sure if there is someone who is amazingly talented out there, they can never be substituted…they will be latched on to.

But if you’re half-baked, you wont stand a chance.

Let’s talk about your solo albums. It’s been a while since you did one…

True. Tanha Dil, Loveology, Aksar, Tishnagi. So yeah, I’ve had just 4 albums. And it’s been a long time since I did another one.

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I’ve gone through quite a few copies of the magazine; it is very fresh. It is ‘as is’, since I don’t see any bias towards any genre or any artist, which is good to know. Your readers get a nice overview of the scene and music in India. And there’s the fact that it survived for so long without being a trade magazine… many magazines end up starting with intent and then shutting shop. It has been lovely; do keep up the good work!

On The Score Magazine Any reason why you’re not making albums anymore? Is it a conscious decision?

Not really…I’m pretty proud of them and they’ve been well received. But times have changed. Like you said, we’ve gone from an age where music would be consumed purely as something you’d hear to a phase now where its audio-visual. So for me, after those albums, it has not interested me enough to make another one, or you could say, I haven’t felt inspired enough to get into a studio and cut one more album. So I could release another record, but I really don’t see the point of it now, since I do playback singing for movies anyway. It wasn’t a pre-meditated decision, but after my last release, I ended up concentrating on other work and my family a whole lot more, which is why you don’t see or hear of a new solo album. Having said that, who knows what the future holds? I may get back into it now, though I haven’t really given it much thought.

You’ve sung in over 20 languages. Give us a bit of an insight into that. Has anything changed in the past few years?

Today it’s very easy, since the whole recording process is digital.

The challenge is to get the essence of the song. Is it romantic?

If so, is it a lively version, or a sad, melancholic one? To ensure that doesn’t get lost in translation, I’d take a while to actually understand what the lyrics mean, so that I can portray exactly what is expected. Then you’d have to focus pretty hard on your pronunciation AND make sure that you manage to sing it with expression, or else the song would be dull to listen to. So it’s a lot of fun, challenging, and I’d definitely do it again.

Also today, there isn’t really a divide in genres. Most of the music falls in the modern contemporary bracket. Say, a Rajasthani folk song need not necessarily be in Marwaari anymore, it could be to the meter of a pop number that’s in, say, Hindi or Marathi. So the melodies have become pretty common all across the country.

The main issue here is the pronunciation and the ‘throw’, you could say. So a Tamil or a Malayalam song would be a bit more difficult to get around to than say, Bengali or Hindi. Marathi and Gujarati are slightly easier since I live in Mumbai, and you hear a lot of both languages here. Punjabi is pretty challenging, since it needs a certain attitude and style while singing. I’ve sung in Tulu as well, which was interesting because it doesn’t have a script of its own. I penned down all that I needed to sing in Hindi, but I had to merge the styles of Kannada and Telugu in order to get the pronunciation and action right. The same applies to Kumaoni. It all boils down to how you say it, and what you want to portray in the song. Nail that, and generally the rest of the song can be done with pretty smoothly.

Kaustubh Kumar You have worked with a number of international acts such as Blue and Michael Learns to Rock to name a few. How was that experience?

These were collaborations that were signed on, licensed and created by record labels from abroad. So I just had to fit into that.

I had contacted Blue with my idea. They immediately liked it and gave me the go-ahead to interpret their song. The same thing happened with Michael Learns to Rock. And with Shuruat, which got made into a music video for the Chronicles of Narnia.

Recording these was a very smooth process, but I didn’t exactly jam with the artists. We didn’t meet in a room and decide to belt out a tune or a bunch of lyrics. It all happened in the studio here with consent. The producers were in touch with me the whole time, though, to ensure it wasn’t out of place as such. So the whole sound gelled very nicely and I loved working with them.

Any memorable incident you’d want to share with us?

I remember once meeting Jagjit Singhji at an event and telling him he has a God-gifted voice and he’s truly lucky to have such control over it, and he took it as an immediate offence. I wondered why, to which he said that despite what’s God-given and natural, his voice was something he came up with, worked on, and created himself. Then he explained that despite what’s given to you, you have to train yourself to a particular timbre and pitch, which requires an effort from your side regardless of the talent you possess. That interaction made me realize that Singhji had a point, and everyone who sings has something unique to offer that they must find and work on.

It could be based on your upbringing or your training regimen. You need to create a personality for your voice, a texture and frequency that helps you stand out. So that incident really helped me see his view more clearly.

How does an artist judge the response of the crowd during a show?

You can easily judge that, when the crowd isn’t reacting the way you’d expect them to, or you get a very strong negative vibe compared to the way you’re performing.

On what’s needed for budding musicians to make it: I was listening to a mellow track from Chennai Express once, which wasn’t too bad. But when watching the film, you see Shah Rukh Khan’s energy level is on a totally different plane compared to that of the vocalist. So for me to tell any vocalist who is wanting advice to concentrate on a few things that would help him improve as a singer doesn’t make sense anymore because, quite frankly, anything goes today. You need to be really lucky, or have the influence, or be exceptionally good at what you do and bring something freakishly different to the table.

If he’d joined the industry now: If I came in now with the same level of talent as when I started out I’d have stood no chance at all. It’s not really got to do with competition, but I know I’m just about above average in my strengths as a vocalist. So right now, such a trait won’t help me, if I want to break into the industry now. You wont be able to stand out, since you are either pretty terrible with no aesthetics of singing (which works sometimes, as I said earlier) or you’re really fantastic.

On his playlist: I listen to a lot of music. I try and listen to whatever is new in the industry. However, I always end up going back to what I grew up hearing as a kid, in the 80s.

Not necessarily Bollywood, but English pop from the time. From a more modern perspective, I do listen to a lot of Norah Jones.

On the Electronica/EDM boom: I did try listening to electronica and EDM (electronic dance music) many times since it’s quite the rage now, but I really can’t understand why it is so. There’s so much great music out there, so much knowledge, so many things that youth can be stimulated by. It’s slightly saddening to see that anything that requires a slight effort to either understand or perform is quickly shut away. The whole sea of music is now merely reduced to finding a “drop in the bass” as they put it, which is pretty weird.

On his dream collaborations: I’m honestly pretty lucky to have gotten into the industry when I did, so I’ve gotten to work with everyone I wanted to be in collaboration with. One vocalist that is on everyone’s bucket list is Lata Mangeshkarji, and I’m glad I managed to work with her very recently on a beautiful love song, about which you’ll get to hear pretty soon. So God’s been great in that respect and that’s finally off my list. Otherwise I’ve sung with almost all the legendary composers of Bollywood, be it Bappi Lahiri, Rajesh Roshan, Anand Bakshiji or even Majnu Sultanpuriji. So I don’t think there’s anyone left that I’d absolutely dream of working with. In fact, the newer age composers should want to work with me now (laughs).

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world’s leading educator in

creative media industries

Do you love music? Do you want to create games for people to spend endless hours on? Or do you want to animate and design websites on your way to fame? If you want to be on top of the pyramid in creative media, then SAE institute, founded by Tom Misner in Sydney, Australia is your place to be. Offering the first practical audio education in 1976, it now spans over 50 locations around the world, offering a wide range of courses & qualifications. This month we take a closer look at three of those institutes from across the world: SAE Oxford, SAE Dubai and SAE Los Angeles.

SAE Oxford

SAE Sydney Based out of a creative hub like Oxford, SAE Oxford lives up to that reputation and has been producing serious alumni who have made the creative media industry a better place. They offer degree programs as well as short-term courses based on your requirement.

Some of the Degree programs they offer are: Audio Production, Music Business, Digital filmmaking, Interactive animation, Web development, Games Programming They also offer Diploma in audio engineering and filmmaking, which are 16-month courses and short-term courses like Home recording, Electronic music production, Sound for Film and TV. They offer some fantastic features like Neve Genesys, Neve Genesys studio, Icon studio and offer you equipment like the Red one camera. If you’d like to pursue your creative media courses from Oxford, email them at oxford@sae.edu.

SAE Los Angeles The institute in LA is located at Sunset Boulevard near Hollywood, which, as we all know, is the hot bed for creativity. SAE LA offers some really intricately designed courses like Audio technology program, Electronic music program and a certificate course in Beat Lab. If you’d like to chase your Hollywood dream, email SAE LA: losangeles@sae.edu for more information.

Centrally located, SAE Sydney is part of the city’s thriving and vibrant arts and cultural community.

The campus boasts a large and diverse student community and a staff of dedicated, knowledgeable professionals committed to bestpractice teaching and learning.

SAE Sydney offers you: One-on-one attention and collaborative learning opportunities Industry standard equipment and facilities) Specialist master classes Links with Studios 301 (Australia’s premier recording facility For more details email them at : sydney@sae.edu

The GAME JAM The GAME JAM is an SAE institute specialty if you are a game designer. This is the world’s largest game creation event. If you are into game designing, this will be the world cup of game creation for you. Every year, SAE takes great efforts to unite the gaming community and give them a wonderful platform to showcase their creativity. For more on game jam, visit: http://globalgamejam. org/about.

SAE has given people some very good alumni to look up to. Mark Patterson is one such example. Mark won the Oscars, BAFTA and the MPSE awards for his sound mixing for Les Miserables.

So these are just a few of the endless possibilities that SAE institute offers you. What are you waiting for?

Rush to SAE and chase your creative media dream!

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My name is John. I’m an SAE alumnus and I currently work at Triangle sound studios in Atlanta Georgia.

What is your background?

Ever since I was a small child I’ve been obsessed with audio, music, instruments and anything that makes noise. Finally pursued that on a professional level about 4 years ago by attending SAE and getting my education, and everything else has just been a whirlwind of activity ever since I graduated.

I would suggest going to SAE because I think you get the most studio time out of any of the other schools. It’s more hands on. It’s not just doing homework and theoretically learning about it. You’re going into the studios and actually getting your hands in it and learning.

Why did you decide to join SAE? Just to put the cherry on the top of all my efforts all my life. I have been pretty successful without education, but I was never able to break through on a very professional level: major labels and things like that. I just wanted to go and get that proper education and just take my skill set to the next level.

My name is Michelle. Currently working as faculty at SAE, San Francisco campus, of which I’m also an alumnus.

How has SAE helped your career?

SAE opened up a door to the kind of projects I wanted to work on.

They got me contacts that I normally wouldn’t have been able to have and contacts that take me seriously quicker than me having to earn their respect. They could look at my history and get an idea of my skill set and work ethic.

My name is Johnny. I’m an alumnus from SAE LA and I’m currently working at Universal Mastering Studios.

What’s your background?

I first got started by actually producing my own music and then I decided I wanted to learn more about audio, so I did some research and chanced on SAE.

What would you tell to someone considering SAE? I would suggest going to SAE because I think you get the most studio time out of any of the other schools. It’s more hands on.

It’s not just doing homework and theoretically learning about it.

You’re going into the studios and actually getting your hands in it and learning. I feel like the best way of learning is actually doing it and not just reading a book about how to do it.

What’s your background?

I started playing the piano and singing in the choir when I was really young and then I started taking some private coaching in voice. Then I decided to study audio. The age of 15 was a turning point for me. I studied techniques in DJ mix club, which is in South Africa, and learnt how to DJ uplifting trance and progressive trance, and at that point I realized that this is what I wanted to do and that this was my passion. This is what I was meant to be doing, and I could feel it.

So I moved to the USA and continued with my music studies and decided that I would like to get an education in Audio Engineering & Music Production, and then I moved out to San Francisco and started studying in SAE.

How did you transition from SAE student to SAE staff?

It had always been one of my goals, ever since I became a student here. I’ve always wanted to be a part of the alumni and then move forward and be a part of the SAE staff. I’ve always wanted to empower students and mentor them and help them engage in that process. And for me, I’ve always wanted to learn how to create music and sound. Studying here and learning was a great way for me to empower myself and give myself the tools needed for me to flourish.

Even after I was done studying here, I always kept in touch with the SAE family and that’s how the transition happened.

What was your favorite thing about attending SAE?

What would you tell someone considering SAE?

All the teachers are in the industry right now and are full of knowledge. If you ask them questions, they would be more than happy to help you. I became best friends with all the kids in my class and it’s the start of your network. People call up and say that “I’ve got a job doing this, do you want to help me out with it?” So that’s probably the biggest thing, the networks that you make at school.

SAE provides great hands-on experience. You get to work one on one and the class size is small, and thus you become a part of a great community. This is not only in the USA, but also in the other SAE campuses. You get to be a part of the huge SAE family and can reach out to other campuses, and this is a great part of networking.

You get to make great connections.

Vivek Ponnusamy, Marketing Manager – South Asia Email: vivek@sae.edu | PH: +91 9025 450 450 The

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String Temple Records is well known for its enduring support towards classical music and for bringing to light the innovative works of bridging western classical music and Indian Classical music. String Temple Records envisages to create a strong audience base for classical music and hence brings you a series of articles and interviews with world-class musicians.

In this segment The Score Magazine interviews the enchanting vocalist and Academy Award nominee M/s. Bombay Jayashri where she talks about the western classical music’s scenario in India and much more.

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What do you think about the cultural difference between Western Classical and Indian Classical Music?

The basic difference between Western classical and Indian Classical comes from the culture and also the language that is used in their music. Western music is mostly written several centuries ago and it is followed precisely by whoever is playing it today. Everything is by rule, and written down with precision and discipline. The performer has to adhere to it and play it with perfection. In Carnatic music we do have many compositions written many centuries ago by great saints but there is also quite some scope for each artist to contribute to the richness of the composition.

What about the western audience’s discipline in attending the concerts?

The western audience is very punctual and they stay till the end.

In India its a totally different story. Attending concerts is more of a social gathering to them. In India people are not so punctual, sometime they leave in the middle of the concert. Here you may also notice someone singing the song along. Indian audience also likes to identify the ragam (scale) of the song. I can sometimes see many people talking to each other and trying to identify the ragam.

I don’t know whether to perceive it as indiscipline or culture. After all they are trying to identify the raga of the song and they are still in the space of the concert, enjoying it.

Western classical concerts are shorter in duration unlike Indian classical concerts where it is 3 hours or more. All this difference again comes from the culture. Our tradition of attending concerts which is being followed till date has a major influence.

Indian music is closely tied to the Indian culture. So there is reasonable exposure and understanding of it within the country. How do we learn to understand these things about western classical music?

It would be wonderful to have more knowledge of any form of music. It helps you to intensify the musical form you are practicing primarily. For many years, I was a student of Carnatic music also going by the fact that I belong to the generation of Carnatic musicians. Once when I heard a Khayal, I was completely taken over by the music and felt that it was better than Carnatic music.

So I started learning Hindustani music. But the more I learnt Hindustani music, the more I started understanding Carnatic music and started loving it more. Also I felt as a South Indian, I can do more justice to Carnatic music than to Hindustani music. You can speak Tamil and Malayalam but you cannot get that accent of Hindi. I was able to understand these values because I learnt both forms of music. I respect both the systems equally.

I also have a deep interest in Western Classical music. In fact there have been a few instances where I got to share the stage with some western musicians. Working with Finnish and European composers like Eero Hameeniemmi, who is from Finland, Jonte Stotgards, Minna Pelsola and many such other artists, I was able to understand and appreciate that music from the eyes of an Indian classical musician. Definitely exposure to western classical music helps us better understand Indian Classical music.

What do you feel about the western classical music scenario in India?

I think there has always been an interest in western music in India. This is mostly because of the people who learn music formally. There are also many colleges who teach western music.

But I feel there need to be more concerts and more people should come forward to learn the music and generate more awareness.

Do Indian musicians get better recognition abroad?

Do you feel that most of the Indian musicians are migrating abroad these days?

Indian musicians do travel a lot, but mostly for concerts and exchanging ideas, techniques. That is what makes music so vast and so magnanimous. There is room for everything.

How do you think we can improve the exposure of western classical music to the newer generation?

By bringing the newer generation to concerts, by encouraging the atmosphere of classical music, by exposing them to it in schools.

Bringing the music to them instead of waiting for them to seek out for it. At a young age when children listen to things, they are likely to develop better understanding of it and that in turn leads to better appreciation for it.

What are some of the elements that you like to incorporate in Carnatic music from western classical music?

The exchange of techniques within all the different kinds of music is something that makes music so harmonious. What exactly to incorporate depends on the vision of the musician. A specific answer to this is kind of tough since I am not a student of western classical but it’s always nice to see things coming from all around the world into a song.

What do you think about Mr VS Narasimhan’s Madras String quartet?

I am a huge admirer of VS Narasimhan’s music, his violin and what he has contributed to films. He is very unique. The way he brings together things clearly shows the depth of his knowledge and understanding of music. I feel blessed to have worked with him on Raga Fantasy. I have truly learnt how methodical one can be about music; how meticulously one can pick every word to be sung on that perfect pitch.

How do you differentiate your film music career and your regular classical concerts?

I grew up in Bombay, and have always been open to all kinds of music. My mother shared anything that pleased her ears with me and I grew up without ever having to learn to segregate different kinds of music. Music to me is an artful arrangement of sounds and thats it.

www.stringtemple.com

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This Month’s Chartbuster

Meet Bros Anjjan’s

Baby Doll “

We thought Baby Doll would just come, stay for a week or so and go. We knew the song was good, but to us all our songs are good, no? We knew that it had an edge, but we didn’t imagine that it would be like this. It’s become an international phenomenon!

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard Baby Doll. Or heard of it. Or, like most of the country, had it stuck on loop in your head and your playlist for days on end. Meet the Meet Bros-Anjjan trio, the brains behind this assault of Kanika Kapoor’s voice on our respective brains, and find out just how they made it happen!

Manisha Bhat/Kanika Mishra Meet Brothers have already been a unit forever, how did Anjjan fit into the picture? How did two’s company change to a party of three?

We were all singers. We met in Kanpur, ten years ago. Eight years later, we (Meet Bros) were running a radio station in Gwalior and looking for someone to help make music for it. We called Anjjan, and the jingle composed by the three of us became a hit. All our friends began telling us to make music for movies together...and that’s how we moved Mumbai to do just that.

How do you divide the work amidst the three of you? Are there ever any differences in opinion or arguments between you all? And would you say there’s a particular genre or type of music that you’re partial towards?

All of us compose together…it is like three different designers designing one costume. That means that our styles will be completely different song after song…say, today we’ll come up with something like Pita and tomorrow we can come up with a completely whacko and wild song. We work exactly how big companies run. It’s very streamlined.

There are some differences in opinion, of course, but having three people on the team means that the majority makes the final call. And if that doesn’t work, we bring in a fourth opinion…our lyricist’s.

To answer your second question…no. We’ve never been partial towards or bound by a genre. And that’s why our music is so versatile.

You sure know how to entertain the audience in a live show. Do you discuss certain things before going on or is that impromptu?

First things first… in the coming future, if there is any history written about us, it will be that we are the finest performers on stage. Our souls are made for the stage. That is the source of our strength and our confidence.

It comes naturally to us, so it’s mostly impromptu, but now that we’re getting too many shows, we’re working towards putting an act together.

And people are paying us more to perform now, so we’d better give them our best.

The video for the remix is extremely quirky, and from what we hear, the adorable little baby doll dancing in it is Manmeet’s own daughter. Tell us a little bit about how the making went?

We always wanted to make our own video, so when Baby Doll started getting attention we decided to make a remix video. It was planned it two days, actually…our costumes were prepared almost overnight!

We conceptualized the video ourselves. The song is called Baby Doll, so we knew that kids were going to love it. It made sense to

have little girls in the video, then. Wasn’t possible in the original video, since it had too much oomph, so we decided to do it in the remix. The original idea was very different from how it turned out – we had a whole story planned for the kids, but it was so late that the kids slept on set, so we couldn’t shoot it the way we wanted to.

Luckily, it didn’t end up looking too abrupt!

Baby Doll has, as stated before, become quite a phenomenon. It’s everywhere these days. Do you believe that when a song starts being played all the time, its shelf life reduces, because people have had enough of it?

Well, no. We believe that for a melody-based song, like Baby Doll, the shelf life is endless. If you’re sitting in a chair, or travelling, you’re not going to scream ‘Gangnam Style!’ or ‘Why this Kolaveri Di?’ Those songs are track oriented; it’s the beats that make you go crazy. Baby Doll is a song you feel like singing along with. We’ve given it a beat that makes you dance, but it isn’t track oriented.

It’s a melody at the end of it… and you never get bored of melodies.

Like Kajara re, you know?

What do you think of the current music scene? A lot of party songs are coming up lately, their only purpose being to play in clubs. Do you think that’s the right approach?

No, It’s not the right approach. But at the same time, it’s what’s asked of us. It’s always the listeners who command musical trends.

You don’t have a choice if that’s the kind of music they want to listen to. E.g., a song like Mere Nishaan was never the talk of the town, in spite of being so deep and meaningful. But Baby Doll, a meaningless song, is a chartbuster. As a music maker, what do you do? We’re not happy with it, but we have to move with the times… it’s business, after all.

Lastly, what can your fans look forward to, next?

There’s a beautiful, romantic song coming up in Kick. We’re also going to make people dance to a lot of Bollywood this year.

Pappu Ki Jawani is the album that everybody needs to wait for.

That’s going to be our best work so far.

On the Internet’s role in music promotion: Every other person is making a song and uploading it on YouTube, these days. In this flood of songs, if our song pops out, that is a very positive sign for us. There are both positive and negative sides to the Internet craze…on one hand, your music can easily go viral, on the other, it could just go unnoticed…like Teri Shirt Ka Button, which we believe is one of our finest songs.

On the Baby Doll video controversy: The video could be inspired by Jennifer Lopez’s videos...we didn’t shoot it, so we don’t know. But we have heard the same thing…been too busy to check for ourselves. We don’t think that there’s anything wrong with it, because everything is really inspired by something. And then, we’re sure it’s not a pin-to-pin copy because then that’d be a copyright issue…we think it’s okay for it to be inspired, but it shouldn’t be an exact copy.

On whether the song owes Sunny Leone its success: The straightforward answer would be…no. Sunny has other songs to her credit, but they didn’t become this huge. It’s a simple logic: if she has other songs that didn’t become super hit because of her, then neither did this one!

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in

studio with

Siddharth

Vipin

Last month we learned about DAWs, and if you thought, “Oh! That’s it? A software and a few microphones and you can record top notch audio?” well…think again. Granted, through your DAW you can do almost anything to your sound, but what about how the sound gets into the computer and how it comes out? That is where a Soundcard comes in. A good soundcard is every engineer’s main tool. A soundcard is an integral link in the chain of equipment that eventually leads to beautiful sound production.

Every studio (and engineer) that has a digital setup (most do nowadays) focuses a large chunk of its finances or budget towards getting a good high quality sound card. Fear not, though…they don’t all cost obscene amounts of money. Depending on what you want to do with your sound, there is definitely a soundcard out there for your need that fits your budget.

This month, we explain what a soundcard is, how it works and most importantly what to look out for when buying one, with help from Siddharth Vipin…the very man who’s been using them to make music worth accolades!

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Sai Adithya/ RadhaMohan Rajani

What is a sound card?

In simple terms, a sound card is an internal expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals under the control of a computer program. Most computers come with an inbuilt soundcard which is fine for average day-to-day usage, but music production is a different ballgame altogether. An average inbuilt soundcard will lead to muffled and low quality sound when recorded. There might also be problems such as latency (a delay between playing a note and hearing it); simply put, when you buy a soundcard, its only job is to make good sound, while a computer has many tasks and its soundcard is not meant for pro audio. Professional soundcards provide more accurate audio then the average inbuilt ones.

A sound card is often measured by sample rate and resolution.

For an average CD recording the bit depth and sample rate are 16Bit/44.1 KHZ respectively. This can go up to 24 bit/192 KHZ, which is good for almost all types of recording since the sampling rate is very high. Also, note that if you need very high quality music, you might need a lot of disk space, as the file sizes are higher.

So the following are the things that you should consider while buying an external soundcard:

Always check the Pre amp of the sound card as it determines how good the vocal recording will be.

So what does a sound card do?

Two microphone (XLR) and two line-level (quarter-inch jack) inputs.

Again, in simple terms, it takes the sound from outside the system and puts it into your system.

Gain control for these inputs so you can control the recording level of the incoming signal.

To elaborate, your sound card takes a recorded electrical signal, which can be a microphone recording or an instrument that is analogous, and converts it into a digital format (1s and 0s), which the computer can understand and then record using audio recording software. This is called A to D conversion (Analog to Digital). The better the soundcard, the better the A to D conversion and the better your sound quality. The reverse of this can also be done i.e. converting digital signals into analogous signal for speaker monitors and headphones; this is called D to A conversion (Digital to Analog).

Stereo outputs for your monitors, along with volume level control.

You can connect your sound card to your PC or MAC using a PCI slot, USB 1.1, 2.0, 3.0 or a FireWire. A PCI slot exposes your motherboard, and then you have ports where you can plug in the speakers. This is used only in desktops. A FireWire, meanwhile, can be used for PCs and laptops. It is a high-speed wire that transmits data faster than a USB. It is better to avoid USB 1.1 and 2.0 as they might cause issues during production.

Professional sound cards follow the ASIO input, which are a set of high fidelity, low latency sound cards which are specifically made for musicians and sound engineers.

Headphone output with volume level control.

USB 2.0, 3.0 or FireWire connector. In a Mac a thunderbolt can be used. It transfers around 1GB of data.

Sample rate/Resolution support between 16bit/44.1 KHZ to 24/96.

For a basic audio recording, a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB Audio should be good enough. For slightly more elaborate recordings with more musicians you’d need a card with more inputs, like the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 FireWire Audio Interface.

Some of the major sound card manufacturers are: • M-Audio.

Common definitions to know before choosing a soundcard:

• Presonus

Sampling - Process in an A/D converter that measures and captures the amplitude of an analogue sound wave many times per second.

• Focus Rite

Bit Depth - Each audio sample consists of energy and is measured in Binary digits (1’s and 0’s). This is called the bit depth. The higher the bit depth, the better is the sound quality.

Sample Rate - It is the number of times an audio wave is sampled by an analog to digital converter. The higher the sample rate, the better the audio.

In other words, the above three are all different characteristics of recording sound quality and the better they are in your soundcard, the better your sound is.

• Apogee • RNE With this, we wrap up our little session on soundcards with Siddharth Vipin as your tutor.

Next month’s segment shall give you all the information on MIDI (Music Instruments digital interface) VSTs and Plugins that you might need. Watch this space!

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Star of the month

Sohail Sen You know him from his works in films such as Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ek Tha Tiger and his latest, Gunday. We got candid with music director Sohail Sen as we quizzed him on his influences, creative process, and a whole lot more. Cheggit!

Artists he’d like to collaborate with: Honestly, I’d like to collaborate with anyone (laughs). Everybody in the industry is doing a pretty phenomenal job. Anybody from the popmusic industry, actually…considering that I’ve never done anything like that given my background in classical music or my work right now in films.

I haven’t done a pop album yet, so that is something I’d love to do.

Musical Influences: My grandfather exposed me to films of the time that had a lot of light semi-classical music in their score, while my dad brought me up listening to a lot of commercial music from Bollywood. So for all my commercial influences, I think my dad has had an impact. I also assisted my uncle Lalit Sen for 9 years, who had composed the scores for most of Balaji Telefilms’ productions such as Kum Kum, Balika Vadhu etc.

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Kaustubh Kumar You come from a family of illustrious musicians.

Was there any pressure on you to make a career out of music, or did it come naturally to you?

Being a music composer was an obvious choice for me because, as you said, I’m the fourth generation that’s into music, preceded by my great-grandfather, my grandfather, and my dad. Since I was 6-7 years old, I started learning how to play the piano, followed by percussions. So I grew up in a very musical household. The environment was pretty supportive as well; so I thought this career path would be the right way to carry my family’s legacy forward. No pressure from my parents either to become a composer. It came very naturally to me right when I first picked up an instrument as a child.

Give us a bit of an insight into the way you write songs for films. What are the variables involved?

The key is the director. He has a very clear vision of what he wants from the movie and the music that goes behind it. So when I get a script from the director and have a talk with him, I try and figure out what exactly he is looking for: which kind of songs would fit where in the film. After that, my actual process of making music starts, where I make scratches and demos based on the situation in the script. The melodies are made, after which I hand them over to the lyricist. Then it goes into production and the album is made. The director is someone you have to keep in mind throughout this process.

…But you do get a lot of creative liberties within the confines of what the director tells you, yes?

Absolutely. The director just tells us – the creative team – what is expected. And my process of making music takes off from there, as I have complete freedom given to me by the director of the film.

All in all, it’s a very smooth process.

You’re a multi instrumentalist. Tell us about your creative process; do you have a strict practice regimen that you stick to daily? And do you manage to make time to listen to other composers as well?

For a music composer, it is very important to listen to different kinds and genres of music from various fields so as to expand their horizons. So I do listen to a lot of scores and albums. Quincy Jones, for example, is easily one of my favorite composers of the modern era. When I get free time, I try and make scratch tracks and demos, because right now with our generation, it is very easy to sit and record something on-the-fly for use in a song later.

I’ve had a practice regimen since I was around 15 years old, so yes I do keep in touch with my instruments.

Putting the two together, I have about 600 odd scratch tracks lying around at any given point of time. So I have a lot of material on me even if I decide to stop composing for a while (laughs).

Speaking of composing, do you feel spiritually connected to your music, considering your classical background?

There are times when I sit to compose, say, a romantic number, and it ends up being something totally different. I don’t really have control over it, for I believe making music requires a strong spiritual connection. It is a remarkable process, if you ask me, to create something pretty special out of just 7 notes, something that cannot be done without having some spiritual outlook towards it. I’ve had moments while making music where I felt like I was connected to the Almighty. Take, for instance, Saiyaara from Ek Tha Tiger, or Jiya from Gunday. I can’t explain how I came up with the melodies for these songs, but everything just happened to fall in the right order. So yes, I do feel that you need to connect spiritually in order to make music.

That’s delightful to hear! Finally, where do you see yourself in a few years?

For now, I’m making a conscious effort to work with films that I can do full justice to and which excite me. Hopefully, I’ll get better and be able to make even more fulfilling music in a few years!

If not a musician, who he would be: An athlete, without a doubt. I was great at the track events during school, till 10th grade.

So I’m pretty sure I would’ve been an athlete if I wasn’t a musician.

Favorite recent compositions:

Thoughts on foreign projects: This is easily the best time to collaborate with and meet other artists, given the technological boost we have had. I think Rahman Sir has opened a door for many composers like me to go out and explore different audiences. If anything interesting does come up, I’d love to score for a foreign film.

Off the top of my head, the music from Phata Poster Nikla Hero really caught my attention. Another composer duo, Sachin-Jigar, have come up with really great music in the past few months. It’s something I pay attention to because it can help me grow as a musician, maybe even help me learn a few tricks from other people – which will make me a better composer.

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Burning Issue:

EDM industry dynamics with Akshay Bhansali

The EDM industry has found a grateful, crazed, devout audience in India, of late. What with the sudden boom of the genre in the country, we decided to dive deep into its dynamics with someone who’s been closely associated with it in many ways over the years. Meet Akshay Bhansali, ex-MTV journalist and Producer, and Producer/ Director at We Are Not Pilgrims (yes, of Afrojack’s March Of The Afrojack fame). Hop on as he takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of this ever-expanding industry!

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Christina Stephenson/Kanika Mishra

You’ve been closely associated with the EDM industry, having worked with Afrojack for his documentary, and you also know the who’s-who of Indian EDM. Why do you, then, think that Indian EDM is yet to make its mark internationally?

We have yet to give the world our first EDM phenomenon, so to say…

Well, India has a very healthy group of artists and producers, and the right technology exists. I think that the people in the West have each other to bounce their tracks off, and in India, we’re a bit removed from that. I’d like to think that it’s very consolidated in Europe and America right now…everyone there is friends with each other. There’s a good support system there. They grow together. Also, people here aren’t really trying to make commercial EDM work. I don’t think India is missing out on anything skill set wise or technology wise. I don’t think there’s a missing audience, either; I just think there may not be a real desire to delve into that genre, for artists here. They make what they like, and they’re perfectly content with a niche audience. I do think there is a lot of potential for Indians to make it big internationally. But for that to happen, you need to put together a product that everyone can relate to, and not just something that everyone can appreciate.

One of the greatest things about EDM is that you don’t need to speak a language for it to resound with its listeners, so I think it’s really just a matter of time!

You know what the investment-return ratio is like for international acts. How does that compare to the Indian ones? Internationally, there’s big money in EDM right now; does the same apply to the country?

There’s a whole host of things that count, here: How big the artist is, how big of an audience he commands, whether he’s won Grammys, how many people he got to give him a fair chance…all these are aspects of commanding a fee. If you don’t continuously work hard and put out good work and DJ sets, then you’ll lose your audience base. Like Hardwell? His DJ set has like 300 edits, which in that world is pretty active. For the longest time, he’s been working very hard; hence he commands a bigger fee. And because he commands a bigger fee, he is able to stage more shows and travel farther and do bigger shows.

People are very critical of Swedish House Mafia sets but you won’t find a more theatrical production ever…and it’s meant to inspire you and push you into euphoria in every sensory way possible. Fees tend to be larger when the theatricality is higher.

Expenses are extremely high.

Let’s just say that for 3-5 years, you are spending a LOT of money, and THEN the returns start flowing in. So Indians have a long way to go. It takes years to break even. They’ll be inching on up there. The audience is getting bigger and bigger,

so it will happen soon…where India is now was probably where America was fifteen years ago! So I don’t really think it’s a fair comparison.

Speaking of festivals…all Indian festivals rely on at least one international act to drive the audience in. Do you think that an artist’s success here can directly be attributed to an international origin?

In all honesty, I do think that to be a star here you need some international success for the Indian community to give you some credit. Take Slumdog Millionaire, for instance. Here, many were a bit scared to support it, but with all the attention from the States, suddenly it was the darling of India. To be fair, only when you make art for an international audience are you judged by an international standard. I think to achieve that kind of fame, there needs to be an intent…you need to want to work with commercial stuff to be that commercial kind of star.

Music, we well know, works in waves, EDM being the latest. What do you think is next?

It’s very tough for me to guess…I think every wave that’s hit hasn’t really left. Rock was a huge deal, and it still hasn’t left.

It’s still an important segment of the music industry. Electronic music is a big deal. Pop music is a big deal. The Indian audience may be a bit shy with the more aggressive hip-hop and rap…I always thought that the non-threatening kind of music has had a comfortable place here. So I would like to see more R&B come to the scene. You know, the Ushers of the world and the Timberlakes of the world…I would love that.

What you did with We Are Not Pilgrims is a spin off on the music industry…you’re not directly making music, but your business is centered on the music – and EDM – industry. Can we hope for that in India anytime soon?

We started as a production house, developing entire campaigns for clients, and not just content. What we do is very intense and dramatic, whether it’s a music video or the Afrojack documentary…so we’re taking that to bands at all levels.

You do have lots of production houses and agencies in India.

They’re in existence, but they’re not focused on music just yet.

Like in all your questions, I don’t think it’s a matter of interest; it’s more just a matter of time until the trend catches on in the country.

Lastly, we’ve heard that only the top dogs make good money in EDM…the others not so much. Is that true?

No, that’s rubbish. There’s a tier right below the bigger artists, and they get paid almost as much if not the same. There’s money in it for everyone!

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Band of the Month

OXYGEN

The year is 2003. A bunch of friends who share a very deep love for music come together. They don’t like to be bound by genres, they make music for the love of it…music that the likes of AR Rahman endorse…

Back when we were all in high and they lead parallel individual lives besides school, we took part in school culturals. Four of us were from the music. They are Oxygen the band, our Band the same school and we met of the Month. Find out all about them right here! and hit it off with other band members at one such event: PSBB School’s Reverberations.

That’s where we connected and that’s when it all started.

On Girinandh’s studio: Girinandh was very inclined towards sound engineering and decided to come up with a studio with state of the art technology. The studio works as a studio for the band as well as a commercial one for others to record. We’ve had Raghu Dixit, Shankar Tucker, local bands and a lot of film projects also record here.

How their albums are produced: The process of recording involves a lot of live instruments. Even if we can’t record all the instruments together, we have a scratch track arranged and we feed all the tracks one by one based on this. After the recording, we edit, mix and master. We outsource the mastering sometimes, like we did for our last album, which we sent to the USA. We get the advantage of top notch hardware being used for the process as well as some head room for us.

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Vishakh Iyer You make use of 6-7 very diverse instruments in your music. Do you ever struggle to put them together?

Well…it’s all about experimentation. Take the case of the Mridangam, it need not sound the way it’s played in a carnatic concert, so we try experimenting. It’s the same with the guitar, the keyboard, the violin etc. You can play anything with them.

We do a lot of permutations and combinations while coming up with the arrangement. At the end it’s about the music and it’s only the expression which reveals the particular genre and makes you connect with the music. If we can achieve that, none of it is a struggle!

There has been a burst in the fusion music scene and there are hundreds of bands that make this sort of music. What is your take on fusion music, both in terms of your band and as a genre?

We consider ourselves a world music band.

Since fusion music is well-known, we choose to call it world fusion music instead. We believe in coming up with our own stuff and experimenting instead of falling into the preset mould.

Fusion music has evolved tremendously. It’s very important for the musicians coming together to have a clear idea about how the different forms of music. Two forms of music coming together to give a sum of both…that is the essence of the music we make. A few years ago people would go ‘wow’ at an eastern musician playing with a western musician, but now that’s not enough.

They’ve been seeing it for ages. There’s now the onus on the musician to go to the next step.

With you being together for over 10 years, how do you think things have changed for the industry in this time?

When we came in, there was a concept of fusion with carnatic melodies and western beats, but as we’ve progressed in our own way, we’ve learned to incorporate various aspects of music from around the world. Even music in movies involves lots of Irish tunes, Latin influences etc. The whole industry is taking in influences from all over the world.

This has given a new flavour to the music.

Then there is the bustling indie scene and live instruments are making a comeback. There was an electronic music phase but live music is back. Shows like Kappa TV promote live music and you get to showcase yourself. There’s the social media which has helped musicians connect with and build On working with their fan base. Marketing is a lot more accessible. You can AR Rahman: reach out and get feedback.

We took part in a band hunt called This has kept us updated Ooh La La La hosted by AR Rahman. with the current scene.

We were one of the 6 finalists. All the finalists were to have a chance to make What are some of the an album with AR Rahman. We got contemporaries you the opportunity to record an album look up to from the that was produced by him. He had current music scene? been encouraging and following our music even before the Right from when we started competition, though. the band, we’ve always looked

Behind the music, they are: Karthik has his own band. He’s a travelling musician.

Harish has just finished scoring for a Tamil movie.

He’s composing music for his second film.

Giri runs the studio and is also into film composing.

Ramana, the percussionist, is an auditor.

Bharath is a software professional.

up to AR Rahman. He is probably the reason why most of us took up music. He’s an inspiration as a musician and a person. Many of us have a strong carnatic base and we idolise people who play the same instrument as band members as well as prominent carnatic musicians. We get inspired by anything under the sun. What drives us more than people is the life and energy in things.

You released an album in January, Vol. 1. Tell us about it…?

This is our 4th album, and has variety in the form of Irish tunes, songs that are very anthem-ish in nature, an Assamese song, etc. We usually have only instrumental numbers, but with this we also incorporated two vocal tracks. The interesting part was collaborating with students of KM Conservatory, Mr Rahman’s music school, on the orchestral tracks as well as for the flashmoblike album launch concert. Our first album with the full force of Aura studios behind it. That made a lot of difference to the sound of the album, especially with Bob (our guitarist, who is also a sound engineer) mixing the album. A musician/band member mixing makes a lot more sense than an outsider doing it. We also collaborated internationally to get the album mastered.

You are not exactly mainstream…how do you go about promoting and marketing your events and music?

We have Pritish working with us who handles the marketing. A musician doing it is a bit of a struggle because it’s not something that comes naturally, but if the music is good, everything becomes a lot easier. Also, social media has made the job easier, for both musicians and listeners.

Future Plans:

With seven members in your band, is there someone who is the driving force to the sound of your band?

I think Girinandh has set a very clear idea about the framework of each of our tracks. The band was his brainchild. Since keyboard and piano forms the backbone of our songs, it helps!

We just released Oxygen Vol. 1 in January. We plan on releasing Vol. 2 in the month of June. By early next year, we’re planning on coming up with a folk album covering all the folk elements from across the country.

India has a very rich folk culture and we want to bring that forward. We want to explore folk music and match it with contemporary style.

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In short years since GBA guitars first arrived on these shores they have developed a fantastic reputation for quality and workmanship, building on a groundswell of interest and support across the board. Our team caught up with GBA’s premier endorsee’s Kush Upadhyay and Jared Dias for a good chat.

Tell us a little about yourself and your musical influences?

Which one of the GBA models do you play and what do you like the most about your guitar?

I started playing at the age of 11, listening to a lot of Cream and Jimi Hendrix who heavily influenced me back then and still do. Currently, I play guitar with the bands Overdrive Trio and Groove Gully. My current influences are Michael Landau, Derek Trucks, Matt Schofield and Josh Smith. They always inspire me to pick up my guitar and play.

I play the beautiful 10th Anniversary Series. They are amazing sounding guitars that sound very natural and unique which is what I love about them the most.

At age 16, kids are normally busy playing video games and other things. How did you develop such passion for the guitar then?

It feels great and I am very happy to endorse a brand that I love and know very well. Being a part of the wonderful GBA family gives me great joy and pride.

It’s not that I didn’t play video games or didn’t like it. I just love to play my instrument and spend as much time as I can with it. It’s what I have always loved the most.

Any updates on your musical plans? Where can one find out more about your music?

How did you get introduced to GBA guitars?

I was introduced to GBA guitars long ago when I was buying my first guitar. My first acoustic guitar was a GBA that I had bought from Bhargava’s Musik and since then I have always been using GBA acoustic guitars.

How does it feel to represent GBA Guitars so early in your playing career ?

I am very excited about loads of new projects that are in the pipeline; most importantly, about my very own band. Meanwhile, please log on to www.youtube.com/ thekushcollective for information. I will be uploading a lot of content there.

3 musical moments that have influenced you: Playing at the blues festival, An Ode To The Blues along with Overdrive Trio in Bangalore.

Watching Mr. Derek Trucks play live at the Mahindra Blues Festival Getting the very fortunate chance of jamming with the great Buddy Guy.

Kush Upadhyay

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gbaguitar

Jared Dias

Tell us a little about yourself and your musical influences?

I’m Jared Dias, a Bombay boy since birth. Coming from a Christian family, music happened to me at a very tender age...at the age of twelve I took up the guitar; my father had bought me a guitar from one of his many voyages. He was also very fond of music. Hence, I grew up listening to the likes of Jim Reeves, Cliff Richards, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Demis Roussos, The Shadows, The Ventures, American country music and so on...yes, all these sound like regular fare in a Christian household, but they formed my base in music. A lot of music poured in through the years, apart from timeless classics (60’s & 70’s), I also count among my influences the transitional and path-breaking music from the 90’s. My likes extend right from artistes like Harry Belafonte to Lionel Richie, from Carlos Santana to Queen and Pink Floyd.. the list just never ends.

One of your most noticeable talents is your ability to “Mouth Trumpet”. How did you discover and develop it?

As a child, I recollect, all we had were just two channels on television. One night whilst watching live acts recorded in Germany on DD2, I happened to see a saxophone player keep aside his instrument and do an entire solo just using his voice and mouth, buzzing away as if he had a built-in saxophone inside of him...the idea stuck on. Although, I never tried it for many years post watching the artiste do it on television...it took shape more recently, soon after I resolved to quitting the corporate space to follow my heart and be a musician. The art develops with constant practice, most of which I got when I did my gigs. In the beginning, it was tough to mouth trumpet in more than two songs, these days I do it more rampantly and with ease.

Which one of the GBA models do you play and what do you like the most about your guitar?

I am currently using the GBA 10th cedar top, bocote sides and back, vintage-styled machine heads and end-pins, and a superspecial floral anniversary edition No.2 ...a wonderful dreadnought guitar with a inlay on the entire finger-board. It doesn’t just end there...the tonal quality of the guitar is phenomenal, which on amplification rises a hundredfold, thanks to the awesome Shadow pickup and controls. I recommend this guitar to all intermediate/ professional guitar players; and mind you, this is just one of the many goodies from the GBA stable.

3 musical moments that have influenced you: Appeared for an audition for the first edition of MTV’s Rock On, on a whim. The experience turned out to be very fruitful and I ended up getting selected for the show. Enjoyed being part of the show and meeting so many like-minded musicians, some of whom are now friends for life.

Another fun musical moment in my life was when I sang my first song at a marriage. I was part of a band, just 15, the crowd wanted a few more slow numbers to waltz on; the band-leader asked me and I obliged. You see, I started off as only a guitar player, the accolades I received there on, I’ve never looked back ever since.

Getting the very fortunate chance of jamming with the great Buddy Guy. When I heard Mark Knopfler play, “Sultans of Swing”. It was a video cassette; “Dire Straits” live in concert...huge influence. Mr. Knopfler has and will always be high on my list of greatest guitar players.

How did you get introduced to GBA guitars?

I’ve known GBA guitars for the longest time since the inception of the brand. I bought my 1st electric guitar from Bhargava’s musik, Bandra when I was just 15. This was much before GBA came into being.

A few years ago, I had a chance meeting with Sunny D’souza of Bhargava’s Musik. He was also doing a gig the same evening as I was. Thus started my tryst with GBA guitars, before which I was already a fan of their now discontinued Red Oak acoustic guitar series...back then, I had never seen or heard a better guitar.

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imagines the lilting music of S.D. Burman would “One be derived from Bengali folk and Hindustani classical

music. What is surprising is that his son, R. D. Burman who debuted with the sensational pop music track of Teesri Manzil, also used Ragas extensively in his music.

Influences of

Classical Music in Indian Cinema

The sheer wealth of Music in Indian Cinema is outstanding because of the genres it embraces, moulds and presents: folk music from various regions of the world; mystic and devotional music; ethnic and ethnic-fusion; popular music genres like Jazz, Blues, Rock and finally verticals in Classical Music.

Read on to know the role Classical Music has played in Indian Cinema over the years.

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Nina Sharma Mahaley The first name that comes to mind when thinking of the classical touch in Hindi Cinema is that of the legendary Naushad. Classical artistes like Ustad Amir Khan & Pt. Palsikar and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan accepted his invitation to sing for his films Baiju Bawra and Mughal-e-Azam respectively. Naushad’s name will remain a force in classical music in cinema because of his complete grasp over the genre and his ability to take it to the masses.

Rahman, who experiments with all genres in his compositions and effectively uses percussion, string and reed instruments from across the world, based much of his music in his debut movie Roja on Carnatic and Hindustani raga system. He continues to draw from Hindustani and Carnatic classical genres. Some examples of his raga based songs are:

Popularized by Shanker Jaikishan, the 100 piece orchestra that would become the norm of film music in the 60s and70s was actually first used by Naushad in the film Aan. On the other hand, in the film Udan Khatola, he used no instruments and only had singers humming the background music of one of the songs.

Jiya Jale Jaan Jale - Raga Bhairavi (Film Dil Se)

The most enduring songs from Music Directors Shanker Jaikishan are raga based. A little known fact about them today, is their path-breaking venture - a 1968 album Raga Jazz Style. It remains one of the earliest expressions of fusion.

An interesting fact of songs from Hindi Cinema is that all songs are composed on the pattern of a mukhada (chorus) and 2 or more antaras (verses). There are very few exceptions to this standard composition. The mukhada is generally what defines the life of the song and it remains long on popularity charts based on the ease with which the melody can be recalled and rendered. The simplicity of the mukhada therefore has to be specially kept in mind when composing with a raga base.

Recognizing a particular raga from a film song based on it is not easy. Good examples of this are 3 songs from Silsila: Sarse Sarke Chunariya, Neela Aasman So Gaya, Dekha Ek Khwab All three are based on Raga Pahadi that lends shades of gusty folk music, pathos, and romanticism, each. It is difficult to tell that all three moods are from the same raga. Similarly, a lighthearted song Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si from the film Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi is surprisingly based on Raga Kirwani (music by S.D. Burman).

One imagines the lilting music of S.D. Burman would be derived from Bengali folk and Hindustani classical music. What is surprising is that his son, R. D. Burman who debuted with the sensational pop music track of Teesri Manzil, also used Ragas extensively in his music.

Some examples are: Raina Beeti Jaye - Raga Todi and Khamaj (Film Amar Prem) Humme Tumse Pyar Kitna - Raga Bhairavi (Film Kudrat) Kyon Naye Lag Rahe Raga Khamaj - (Film 1942 A Love Story) Contrary to our belief, Hindi cinema music is not totally devoid of ragas today and the engagement in the discipline has not ended.

AR

Yeh Jo Desh Hai Tera - Raga Hamasadhwani (Film Swadesh) Chale Chalo - Raga Jog (Film Lagan) Among the others from the Golden Age of Hindi Cinema, Khayyam, Madan Mohan, C. Ramchandra, Hemant Kumar, Anil Biswas, Laxmikanth Pyarelal, Kalyamji Anandji, Jaidev, Salil Chowdhury and Roshan are some names that come to mind, when dwelling on the classical genre of music.

There is a flip side to Music Composers in Hindi Cinema. Classical musicians have acquiesced to compose for films. Among the earliest was Ghulam Hyder who combined ragas with the verve of Punjabi folk music and composed for films in the 1940s. He is credited with giving Lata Mangeshkar her break in playback singing.

Ravi Shankar, known for setting Sare Jahan Se Achcha to tune, and giving the music for Ray’s Apu Trilogy, composed the music for the Hindi films Godaan and Anuradha.

Jagjit Singh, the popular classical ghazal singer composed the music for the Mahesh Bhatt film Arth.

Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Pt. ShivKumar Sharma rendered the scores of these films, under the joint name Shiv-Hari: Silsila, Faasle, Vijay, Chandni, Lamhe, Parampara, Sahibaan, Darr.

Ghulam Mohammed, a classical table player from Bikaner, Rajasthan composed for a host of movies, the most memorable being Mirza Ghalib and Pakeezah.

Ustad Vilayat Khan, the well-known sitar player, composed the music for the Merchant Ivory production The Guru (made in English and Hindi) as well as for the film Kadambari.

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod, composed the music for the Merchant Ivory film The Householder (produced in English and Hindi) and also for Chetan Anand’s Aandhiyan.

A R Rahman and Ilaiyaraja can both be credited for bringing Carnatic classical music to Hindi Cinema. Like Rahman, Ilaiyaraja also incorporates global influences such as western classical, folk, funk, flamenco in his music. Most of his contribution to Hindi cinema has been where the films have been made or dubbed in both Hindi and South Indian languages, such as Sadma, Hey Ram. Both the musicians are trained in Western Classical music and Ilaiyaraja has the distinction of being the first Indian to have composed Symphony No. 1 that was performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.

The difference in Carnatic and Hindustani classical is primarily that Carnatic employs Shrutis or semitones to create ragas and thus has many more ragas than Hindustani classical. Both schools of music use definite scales to define a raga. Some Carnatic ragas differ from Hindi ragas and the names are also different. However there are some ragas with the same scale but different names such as Shankarabharanam and Bilawal. There is a third category of ragas that are common to both schools. They share the same name and scale but are rendered differently in the Carnatic and Hindustani styles.

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Score Reviews Top 5

Kollywood songs Manasula soora kaathu (Cuckoo) Santhosh Narayanan, K-Town’s hottest new composer burst into the scene with a dazzling soundtrack for Pizza. And with Cuckoo, he has scaled new heights. This song, in particular, is a gorgeous melody that reminds us of Ilayaraja in his heyday. As flutes create their magic in the background, RR and Divya Ramani’s alluring vocals elevate the song to a different level altogether. One word: exquisite.

Karma veerane (Kochadaiiyaan) A superstar movie is THE most anticipated event in Kollywood.

And its album is no different.

But A R Rahman knocks it out of the park with a fabulous soundtrack. Pretty much every track in the album is worth raving about. However my pick would be Karma Veerane , a soaring number crooned by A R Rahman himself with all the inspirational elements in the correct proportion.

Kadhal ara onnu (Vaayai Moodi Pesavum) Sean Roldan’s debut album is a melange of interesting songs.

The composer offers so much variety, with the songs ranging from soft melodies, jazz to dubstep! This particular track with its electric guitar led sound and Shaktishree’s vocals is a must-listen!

Jigar (Jigarthanda) Santhosh Narayan is on a roll!

He teams up with Karthik Subbaraj after Pizza to come up with a soundtrack that has Santhosh at his experimental best. The orchestration is top notch and interestingly, this song has no lyrics but just random words sung by Pradeep Kumar. Easily the most inventive song to have come out so far!

Vinmeen (Thegidi) A simple, sweet tune with beautiful violin interludes, debutante Nivas Prasanna brings us the love song of the season! Abhay Jodhpurkar and Saindhavi ace this track with their breezy vocals. Certainly a dream debut for the composer.

The 5 that almost made it Kodaiyila (Cuckoo) Yet another gem from Cuckoo. The mellifluous tune and Vaikom Vijaylakshmi’s stunning vocals are the song’s biggest strengths.

Medhuvagathan (Kochadaiiyaan) SPB’s voice is perhaps the fountain of youth. He and Sadhana Sargam completely own this serene melody that is ably helped by A R Rahman’s arrangements.

What a Karuvaad (Velai Illa Pattadhari) When Anirudh and Dhanush come together, it means one thing – pure unabashed fun. This song is no different, with manic ‘kuthu’

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beats, hyper energetic singing and hilarious lyrics. The Kolaveri boys are back!

Yelelo (Naan Sigappu Manithan) G V Prakash Kumar composes and sings this melody, oft reminiscent of ‘yaathe yaathe’ but this song holds its own charm with lovely folk-ish arrangements and backgrounds.

Open the Tasmac (Maan Karate) After a long hiatus, the ‘gaana’ king is back. Composer Anirudh comes up with yet another soup song but does a masterstroke by making Deva sing it. Sidesplitting fun indeed!

Krish prasanth

This month onward, we at Score shall bring to you not only our nowfamous Indie Reviews, but also the best of Bollywood and Tamil Cinema.

Truly the best of both worlds, don’t you think? Dig right in!

Top 5

Bollywood songs Locha e Ulfat (2 States) SEL’s good streak continues with 2 states. Offo is probably the most popular song in this album but my pick would be this track. Benny Dayal’s enthusiastic singing and a foot tapping rhythm add to this song’s appeal. And the hook, oh so catchy!

Baby Doll (Ragini MMS 2) If you’re not humming this song, you’ve probably been living under a rock. A simplistic tune, set to addictive techno beats and Kanika Kapoor’s lively singing has made this the song of this season. Meet Bros Anjjan’s midas touch with party numbers continues with this track and it looks like they’ve struck gold!

Palat (Main Tera Hero) This track is a throwback to the good old fashioned 90s music -punchy rhythms, corny lyrics and some enthusiastic singing.

And with the versatile Arijit Singh crooning it, this one’s a winner.

London Thumakda (Queen) Vintage Amit Trivedi. Once again, Amit has proved his versatility with the different genres he has dabbled with, in Queen. London Thumakda is the pick of the lot. With a folksy tune and some energetic singing by Labh Januja, it’s certainly foot tapping fun!

Khaamakhan (Bewakoofiyaan) Raghu Dixit, fresh from him his pathbreaking Indipop album Jag Changa, comes up with a nifty soundtrack in Bewakoofiyan.

Gulcharrey and the title song make for good listening but this song stands out for its sprightly guitar led sound and lovely vocals from Neeti Mohan and Ayushmann Khurana.

The 5 that almost made it Chaar Bottle Vodka (Ragini MMS 2)

track. Makes you wish he composes and sings more often.

The other chartbuster of this season! Honey Singh continues to do what he does best – churn out hit numbers. This one’s no different with his trademark vocals and funky rhythms.

Suno Na Sangemarmar (Youngistaan)

O Gujariya (Queen)

Jeet Ganguli, after the Aashiqui 2 high returns with this tuneful melody. And with Arijit Singh acing the vocal department, there’s nothing not to like about this song.

The glitzy techno pop soundscape Amit creates in this track makes for great listening not to mention immensely addictive!

Harry is not Brahmachari (Shaadi Ke Side Effects)

Palat Meri Jaan (Total Siyaapa)

It starts off like a typical dance floor number but Pritam creates an interesting concoction of sounds mixing Dubstep with a Punjabi tune.

The very talented Ali Zafar composes and sings this beautiful

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Top 5 Indie Albums Stark Denial: War GENRE: Black Metal There are not many bands or musicians who actually want to play, or would be interested in playing, Black Metal. At one time I could never imagine that an Indian BM Band would put corpse paint in their faces and sing about things like Satanism, war, occultism and pagan beliefs. There are handfuls of bands who are trying to play BM in India.

Mumbai based Stark Denial is one of them and ‘War’ is their first album. Musically, they sound like the second wave of BM Bands, in the vein of Mayhem, Dark Funeral, Marduk etc. The album starts with an intro of a bludgeoning war and as the title of their album says, they sing mostly about war and victory. As par the musical roots of BM, their guitarists have been quite successful in creating some dark ambientbased riffing. Their drummer is doing a decent job too, but somehow I feel that their drumming in the album sounds too polished for a raw BM band. Vocal work is raunchy enough, but if you give it a second listen, you might find a missing vibe. Probably, it needs more evil production work! All in all, it sounded okay to me; the song ‘Wrath’ sounded dark enough to bring the evil out of me and bang my head like a possessed maniac. They did a cover of ‘Marduk – Panzer vision’ and according to me they could have had punchier vocals in it. Anyway, I would like to see them live someday to give my final judgment. And one reminder, less production work makes a BM record rawer.

Black Letters: Shapes On The Wall GENRE: Alternative Rock/ Post Rock There are not many bands or musicians who actually want to play, or would be interested in playing, Black Metal. At one time I could never imagine that an Indian BM Band would put corpse paint in their faces and sing about things like Satanism, war, occultism and pagan beliefs. There are handfuls of bands who are trying to play BM in India.

Mumbai based Stark Denial is one of them and ‘War’ is their first album. Musically, they sound like the second wave of BM Bands, in the vein of Mayhem, Dark Funeral, Marduk etc. The album starts with an intro of a bludgeoning war and as the title of their album says, they sing mostly about war and victory. As par the musical roots of BM, their guitarists have been quite successful in creating some dark ambientbased riffing. Their drummer is doing a decent job too, but somehow I feel that their drumming in the album sounds too polished for a raw BM band. Vocal work is raunchy enough, but if you give it a second listen, you might find a missing vibe. Probably, it needs more evil production work! All in all, it sounded okay to me; the song ‘Wrath’ sounded dark enough to bring the evil out of me and bang my head like a possessed maniac. They did a cover of ‘Marduk – Panzer vision’ and according to me they could have had punchier vocals in it. Anyway, I would like to see them live someday to give my final judgment. And one reminder, less production work makes a BM record rawer.

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Sibarshis Dutta

The Koniac Net: Abiogenesis GENRE: Alternative Rock Mumbai based Alternative Rock act The Koniac Net has come up with their second release, titled ‘Abiogenesis’. Not many times I get to hear good Indie Rock these days. TKN comes with a fresh breed of sounds.

While their guitar work mostly resembles the sounds of the post-grunge era, their overall playing pattern reminds me of a washed-out version of 70’s Garage Rock. Whatever it is, they are tight and good! I also can’t deny a bit of sludge in their sound, the song ‘The Ardent Companion You Are’ reminded me of which. While trying to know about them, I ran a little research on them and found out that their live shows are tight too. Their vocal work somehow reminded me of ‘Queens of the Stone Age’ and luckily, it did not sound sloppy like some new age Rock bands.

The band has already started gaining momentum in the East too; I wish them all the best for a major record label. From a bedroom project to a full-grown band, they’ve been moving fast and I hope they do not break the momentum! I wish to see them live soon.

Tankbund: Inside GENRE: Indie/ Electronic/ Dream Pop Tankbund is a comparatively new act from Delhi that is trying to infuse sounds from lesser-known genres of music like dream pop. If you have ever come across the genre I am talking about, you will get the vibe from their Prelude itself. It reminded me of ‘Slowdive’ and ‘Aria’. This is their second offering and I don’t understand why they are giving both the albums for free download. Coming back to the music, I find them heavily influenced by Dream Pop and as the title says you will find very dreamy music on the album; mostly slow tempo oriented. Highly prescribed when you are getting bugged by numerous emails in your office and are looking for a medium to relax via! I would not deny a few jazzy drumbeats, especially in the song ‘Fade’. Their music has a mixed vibe of dreams, happiness and hope. Go download and spread the word!

Laxmi Bomb: H(om) GENRE: Electro Pop Touted the love child of Levin Mendes (drummer, Bombay Bassment), Laxmi Bomb’s debutant four-song EP is as whacky and interesting as their name goes. The opening track, Hey G, starts with a very 70’s Bollywood tune which reminds you of bellbottoms and RD Burman; groovy samples mixed with minimalistic electronica. Musically, I find loads of new wave retro influences along with a dash of dream pop infused with groovy Bollywood based tunes. Whatever it is, the evolution of Indie electronic music in India has taken a noteworthy direction of late! Their music is so fascinating that they made me feel like I want more and more; if Laxmi is a love child to titillate our ears then I would definitely like to wait for the full length! I believe this 20-minute EP is just a mild arousal and the real passion is on its way.

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Making Headlines:

Vishal Shah

Score News Central

This month’s segment brings to you the down low on everything that made the headlines last month.

From Peter Cat Recording Co.’s gig-gone-wrong to the Jack Daniels fiasco, this segment keeps you in the loop.

And for the month of Easter (and April Fool’s Day…yes, that’s a hint!), we’ve buried an Easter egg somewhere in this article. Brownie points to whoever picks up on it!

Never underestimate the power of the men in brown. Peter Cat Recording Co., while they were going on with one of their usual DIY gigs, as is the trend in Delhi nowadays, played host to about 200 people at their ‘penthouse’ in Hauz Khas Village earlier this month. To give them due credit, and judging by reports, the gathering didn’t seem like the kind of gig that you attend and then wish you’d chosen to be somewhere less noisy. The attendees mostly turned up with their own booze and the landlords, neighbours, and the people running shops below never seemed to mind it, courtesy the excellent acoustics of the place. But if it’s Delhi, you are going to have to get used to the possibility of run-ins with the Police even if all you are trying to do is have a quiet gathering. This time, the cops were ticked off because the organizers let a lot of loose alcohol flowing on the terrace. Apparently, the Delhi Police only lets you host a party with license-free alcohol if you ensure that the number of attendees is down to 30 or less. Aside from a rude shock to the people, two out of the six bands in line never got to play, with only Begum and Nice Weather for Ducks managing a short set each.

Going home gig-less were Hoirong, Lifafa, Caesars of the Green and Superfuzz, who planned to make it quite the great reunion gig after a gap of six years. The police interference against the run of play forced the frustrated attendees to exit not only from the venue but also from places around the premises. The PCRC guys did a commendable job in trying every means and measure to maintain fair levels of volume and cleanliness so that the cops would desert the place. However, the cops won this contest pretty fair and square, and all that you could do as an attendee was curse and return home. A party you’d pretty much never want to miss, as opposed to the unforgettably unforgiving annual JD Rock Awards.

Going by the biased previous results and the controversial, dubious contribution of these awards to the scene, you won’t often find winners of this award with a celebratory hue and cry to make. If you bothered to attend, you’d have had a variety of Bollywood personalities served to you who couldn’t have had a more minimal connection with indie music. It’s not like you would cry like anything at receiving awards from Bollywood has-beens and socialites who have Never been associated with the scene at all. Celebrities like Gul Panag and Sunitha Rao were going nowhere with their speeches and nor was the host, Luke Kenny. That was not the worst to happen at the event, though. Midway through the awards, the precious Jack Daniels ran out.

Say what?! With the free whiskey for the night now gone, the attendees could all but say Goodbye to the awards to which they weren’t paying much attention, anyway!

Now that you’re enlightened about the things that have been keeping our...colorful...industry busy, how about reading just the first word of each line?

That’s right! You just got Rickrolled. Happy April Fool’s month!

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Making the right choice matters in music. Play all the right notes right from the beginning by choosing Washburn guitars! Here are all the reasons why.

One of the oldest brands in the music instrument industry, Washburn Guitars’ legacy of world-renowned excellence in acoustic instruments changed the course of contemporary guitar building with the introduction of the Lakeside Jumbo by Lyon and Healy in 1912. Essentially the first dreadnought shaped guitar, it was the only instrument of its kind until competitors followed Washburn’s lead 4 years later. Featuring steel strings, the Lakeside Jumbo measured 16 1/4” wide by 5 1/4” deep by 20 1/2” in length. Public demand for experimental steel stringed instruments was not very high in 1912, but after the Lakeside Jumbo caught on, it cemented Washburn’s place as the forerunner in acoustic innovation that we are known as today.

One the most affordable yet powerful series of acoustics of Washburn, “The Heritage Series”, features one of the most popular, desirable and toneful back and side woods, mahogany. This series also features solid Alaskan Sitka Spruce or solid Cedar tops, Quarter sawn scalloped bracing and Rosewood capped headstock. A pro guitar for novice to pro players. The CE version or semi acoustic version is perfectly suited to stage performance.

Some of the models in this series are:- WD10S, WD10SB, WD10SCE12 etc.

Unfortunately, in India most people start their Guitar lessons on substandard guitars. These guitars don’t sound well and have intonation problems. These setbacks clubbed with the genuine mistakes of a beginner make the student feel bad about himself/herself and as a result the student quits. It is therefore very important for beginners to pick a decent quality guitar for themselves.

Washburn offers the right mix of quality and affordability with WA 90. /officialbrightindia

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Wilfried Van Baelen

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Auro-3D®, owned by Auro Technologies and built upon Galaxy Studios, is a truly revolutionary brainchild of Wilfried Van Baelen. The idea sounds fairly simple – creating a breakthrough next-generation audio standard: sound in 3D. The execution, however, is larger-than-life. It’s a complex labyrinth of innovative technology, revolutionary features and forward thinking best known to the man who created it. So we decided to bring this technology to our readers, straight from the man himself: Mr. Wilfried Van Baelen.

How would you explain a technology as complex as Auro-3D® to your audience?

Even audio professionals have to experience the addition of ‘Height’, the third and final dimension in sound reproduction, before they realize the impact. As a multiplatinum awarded and very experienced producer/engineer in music and film, I never envisioned that simply adding a second layer about 30° above the existing 5.1 layer all around the listener would make such a difference and create much more natural sound and emotional immersive impact. I always thought that overhead channels directly above the listener would be key to getting that immersive effect, but that is not the case at all. It is the vertical stereo field between the existing ear-level Surround layer and a second layer of about 30° around the listener (Height Layer) which gets the most immersive experience. The Height Layer is unique to all Auro-3D® listening formats. In fact, it is easy to explain it as “the closer to lifelike sound, the more immersive the impact”, because it will trick our subconscious brain into actually believing in being in the middle of the action. Even with a million speakers around us, we will not achieve the perfect reproduction of natural sound. So the art is to create that illusion with the minimum amount of speakers and a full compatibility with all existing standards and formats… and that’s what Auro-3D® is all about.

Immersive Sound, which is the term we coined in 2010 to describe ‘Sound in 3D’, has nothing to do with using new object-based technologies, although some competitors try to convince the audience of that. Achieving the most immersive experience has much more to do with creating a natural spread of sound energy as a hemisphere around the listener, for which 3 vertical layers are needed because the angles to create a vertical stereo field (30°) are not the same as a horizontal stereo field (60°). Since most life-like source sounds are located on ear-level, the basic layer should be located as close as possible to ear-level to hear the whole picture.

But the reflections around those source sounds are what are most important for our brains, and therefore we need that vertical stereo field of about 30° in order to better localize the sounds and create more harmonics as well. Of course, the creative possibilities that we have with the addition of the Height Layer are enormous. When having enough amplified speakers, object-based technology can give much more precise localization in the horizontal field, but the precise location in the vertical axes is as important to get a natural experience. For that reason, the 3-layered Auro-3D® listening format, like Auro 11.1, is perceived as the most immersive sound system.

You have painstakingly built every inch of Galaxy Studios. How about a virtual tour for our readers?

After more than 300.000 man-hours of work and several unique materials invented, the complex was finished in 1999 with 7 unique recording areas and 4 unique control rooms. Each room is a concrete bunker, weighing between 200 and 1.500 ton and supported by metal springs to achieve a resonance frequency below 3 Hertz. The result

is a worldwide record with an isolation value of more than 100 dB between each room, this way we will never hear any sound or low rumble coming from another neighboring room although there is perfect visual connection. This required extreme thick glass panels of 11 cm thickness having a weight between 800 and 1100 kg each, still allowing daylight. The most silent air conditioning system ever was developed, since it has a noise floor below human hearing threshold and can be put on during recordings without hearing it on the recordings. Galaxy Studios is known for its excellent acoustics designed by Eric Desart and Professor Vermeir from the University of Leuven. It has the quietest recording areas on the planet with a background noise of just 14dB. Due to my experience of working in different studios before, I saw how key the acoustics of the recording areas and mixing rooms are to achieve the result I had in mind as a producer/engineer. Good acoustics are much more important than the equipment. Having said that, in Galaxy Studios, we have a large selection of the best equipment for audio and video. Some things are even custom built because we didn’t find products with the quality we were looking for. In 2006 we added a full Digital Intermediate 4K workflow for picture, so we are not limited to sound, we have a full movie department as well.

We recently expanded the complex with the AuroTorium™, a new top reference for mixing movies in Immersive Sound formats. This year, we will open 6 Auro-3D® sound design rooms as well as an Auro-3D® Foley Stage and an Auro-3D® reference mastering room, all built on the same concept as described above.

How often do you modify it?

The advantage is that the laws of physics don’t change anymore. So we don’t have to update something on the building or the acoustics, as I cannot imagine a more perfect environment to work in. The only thing we have to update is the equipment, of course. What we also modified is our cafeteria and kitchen to fulfill the culinary wishes of our clients, for whom we serve delicious food created by our in-house top chef.

What are the future projects for Auro-3D® like?

Our first Auro-3D® AURIGA™, an AV receiver with 12 amplifiers and our Auro-3D® Engine including the Auro-Codec® Decoder and the Auro-Matic® which will automatically create an up-mixed Auro-3D® experience from all existing Stereo or 5.1 content that consumers have at home. Datasat will launch 2 more products soon and many other manufacturers will follow shortly. We will launch more than 100 music albums and many new international films this year alone. Next year, the first cars with Auro-3D® will be launched and beginning 2015 we expect the first triple-A games in Auro3D®… all very exciting. Playing a game or watching a movie in Auro-3D® feels like you are really part the action on screen, it feels like actually being there. After 140 years of sound reproduction, the addition of this final and missing dimension brought first to the market by Auro-3D®, will bring a complete new experience to the entertainment industry.

Note: As a successor to this tour of the technology graciously given by Mr. Wilfried, we will bring to you his perspective on the Indian music industry, Galaxy Studios and much more, in our next issue! Wouldn’t miss it if we were you.

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Bring out the Entertainer in you

An aggregation of cutting edge technology, this is the digital piano to refurbish your music life.

Perfect Debut as a Pianist

You’ll find many masterpieces.

You can identify where in the score you play.

Red ball jumps along with your play.

You don’t need to care about score.

Guide lamp tells you the next key.

CVP-601

You can practice till you are satisfied by playing back right hand part and left hand part separately.

CVP-605

The Yamaha Digital Piano – New Clavinova 600 Series has a rich, subtle sound and exceptional dynamics from the gentle pianissimo to the powerful fortissimo. Models range from 10 voices (including harpsichord and organ) to hundreds of MIDI instruments, Many include effects, large full-color display screen, and even built-in karaoke. Internet Direct Connection (IDC) functions expands music enjoyment.

The built-in Styles give you access to hundreds of bands and musical ensembles.

Rich accompaniment brings out your solo performance.

Have a rhythm in your head? Let get the Style Recommender to suggest the closest match! If it is too difficult for you to find one for the song you want to perform from a large amount of styles, Style Recommender function helps you.

This makes style selection easy for everyone, no matter what song you are playing.

CVP-609

GH3

Touch Panel : New UI

Linear Graded Hammers

RGE Sound Engine

TFT Color Wide VGA LCD (7inch)

SA2 Voice & Style

128Poly

256Poly

VH2

SA/Mega Voice & Style

MP3 Recording & Playback

GP Response Damper Pedal

Cabinet w/front leg

Audio Time Stretch/Pitch Shift/Vocal Cancel

USB Audio Recorder (.wav)

Video Out

TFT Color Wide VGA LCD (8.5inch)

iPhone/iPad connectivity (*i-MX1 is required)

USB Wi-Fi Adapter for connecting w/iPhone iPad (*be only included EU/NA/JP)

Sub Woofer(20cm×1), Tweeter x 2

RGB Out

Speaker Box and Monitor/45W x 2

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For more information log on to : in.yamaha.com

Musical

Child Prodigies

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Sabrina Adeni

In an industry as vast as ours, it’s just as easy to overlook certain exemplary artists as it is to find wonderful ones. There is one such breed of musicians that has been cropping up undetected under the surface: our child prodigies. Musical reality shows cater only to a certain brand of vocalists, and our pianists, tabla maestros, and western vocalists find no place on such stages. We undertook to showcase the talent of a few such young musical geniuses. Read on, and be awe-struck!

Aditi Iyer Close your eyes and listen to one YouTube video of Aditi Iyer singing and you can’t tell that it’s a 10 year old girl who’s persuading you to Let It Go, one of her many covers on her YouTube channel. Born in London and currently residing in Delhi, India, Aditi is a steadily rising singing sensation whose cover videos on her YouTube channel have amassed over 1200 subscribers and 2,00,000 views in just over 10 months.

“Do not listen to someone who says you can’t, just do what you have to”, words of wisdom from a ten-year old who is a self-taught singer and has learnt and arranged her own variations of her contemporary covers. She has begun her formal musical training in the daunting Opera style under the tutelage of Ms Situ Singh Buehler.

Already breaking into the competitive music scene as one of the solo finalists in the POGO TV 2013 Pan-India contest held in November 2013, she’s made waves in international waters too – what with her cover of Adele’s Skyfall being featured on an Italian radio program and her being chosen as the Dray kid in January 2014.

On what she loves about music, Aditi opines “Music has a great melody, it’s beautiful, relaxing, a sensation, when I have bad thoughts, music relaxes me completely” Inspired by musical powerhouses like Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey, Aditi Iyer has surprised and charmed us with her mature voice and honest love for music.

Her mantra for success, she says, is, “My vision is that I am on this world stage, a huge stage where superstars are, and I am going to win this and be the best. I feel very motivated as music is not just my love but my life.”

show, I used to get nervous backstage. But when I walked onto the stage, I used to imagine that there’s nobody other than me and my piano, and all my nervousness would vanish”.

Saei has become an inspiring example of the brave new breed of musicians in this country by choosing to pursue his vocation in music while he is homeschooled by his mother. He spends 4-5 hours each day practicing and honing his skills; “Everything is tough, but if you practice, everything is easy!” he says. His love for the piano began when he heard someone play a waltz for the first time and he occasionally devises original musical compositions on the grand piano which he claims is his favorite because “[it has] the right feeling and dynamic”.

This child prodigy also won a scholarship to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland when his dedication and talent was witnessed during an instructor’s visit to his school. “I want to play and sing and have my own orchestra”, Saei Jamshid states, and if his trajectory is any indication, this pianist is a rising star!

Keshav Hailing from the peaceful coastal town of Auroville, Keshav is the 10-year-old tabla prodigy who has charmed the world with his percussive performance at the opening of the Commonwealth Games 2010 hosted in the nation’s capital. Apparently discovered by the filmmaker Bharat Bala during a performance in Pondicherry, he was picked to perform during the commencement ceremony when he was just 7 years old.

Adding to the list of master-prodigy look-alikes, Keshav bears a striking resemblance to the tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, with his mischievous hair and shy, innocent smile.

Saei Jamshid

Keshav’s parents, Gopika and Nadaka, accomplished artistes and musician themselves, have passed on their artistic genes to him, which manifested themselves at the tender age of 2. Since, he has showcased his skills in up to 50 performances…not including the impromptu jam sessions he has with the rest of his talented family!

Saei Jamshid has become a household name after being featured in the popular Indian reality TV show, India’s Got Talent, and finishing as a finalist in the Top 4 of the season.

Truptraj Pandya

His spellbinding musical strains woven with the monochrome keys have found fans everywhere and with a surprising self-assured maturity at only 13, Saei has emerged as one of India’s favorite pianists after his stint in the show.

Bearing an uncanny resemblance to his school’s principal, Saei is currently learning music in A.R Rahman’s music school in Chennai, the KM Music Conservatory. It all began when he was 6 years old and his teachers recognized his special proficiency in music, expressing that he should pursue it. Encouraged, he moved from Dubai to Chennai to enroll in the Conservatory to learn singing at first, but has since discovered his prodigious talent with the piano.

His love for the piano spills over to his dreams as his mother claims his fingers play out patterns even as he sleeps. This joy in his craft translates into confidence as he plays for the country, “Before every

All of 8 years and already a Guinness World Record holder, Truptraj Pandya has earned the titled of the world’s youngest tabla player, drummer and percussionist, an achievement awarded to him at the age of 6.

Truptraj first struck drumskin at 1.5 years old, when his parents discovered his affinity for rhythm and soon began his training.

Thereafter, he has given over 40 public performances, including playing on a national platform for an All India Radio broadcast and for Doordarshan Sahyadri, earning a Bal Kala Ratna Award and securing a place in the Indian and World records.

Aside from his dreams of being a tabla virtuoso, Truptraj is like any other kid playing cricket and video games. We’ll have to keep our eyes and ears peeled to see where this wonder child goes with his nimble-handed talents!

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Music is About‌

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Nilankur Dutta

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“

Music for me is Power, power to effect people’s moods and mind sets.

Live Shows vs.

Production?

Fuzz AKA Arfaaz has, in the past, lent his talent to bands such as Galeej Gurus, Tempo Tantrik, Zebediah Plush et al. He now produces his own music under the pseudonym ‘Fuzzy Logic’, and if his debut EP (released mere months ago) is any sign, he’s one artist we all need to keep our eyes out for. Wondering why the tall claims?

Well, read on!

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It’s very difficult for me to choose. I am split somewhere in the middle. I really like the comfort of my production place, but both have their advantages and disadvantages. Till now, I have enjoyed production more, hence comparatively I have given less live performances. But I am planning to change that in the near future and concentrate on both, now.

Swati Sahoo

As the stories go, your musical adventures began at the tender age of three. Elaborate for us?

I did not really start singing at the age of three, but there have been really funny moments in my life at that age, which probably led to where I am today. I have always been quite inquisitive and decided to find out the source of the music I was hearing, one day. My dad had a cabinet that had a music system on top of it; my hands tried reaching for it and I fell head over heels, but I guess my bushy hair prevented my head from getting damaged too badly. That incidence paved the way for my never-ending love for music.

Tell us about your on-screen persona: Fuzzy Logic. Is there a story behind the name?

My initiation into electronic music started with Tempo Tantric and when I moved to Mumbai, I wanted to do something different from what I’d done with Tempo Tantric, so I started Fuzzy Logic. Also because I was into writing lyrics once in a while, and I wanted to incorporate that in my music. Yeah…that’s how Fuzzy Logic came into the scene.

How open are you to experimentation in your music? Or is there a preset mould you prefer to fill, instead?

I am pretty open to experimentation. That is something I love doing, otherwise I get bored. Experimenting is something that keeps me going, and it’s kind of a double edged sword for me. There is a certain plan involved when it comes to me experimenting with music. For example, instead of a high hat I would like to use something which I have recorded earlier for something different.

You have been a part of bands like Galeej Gurus, Zebediah Plush, Maximum Pudding and Tempo What’s next for Tantrick…how has it been Fuzzy Logic? working with them?

I am never really satisfied. Right

now, I am trying to make my work more analog, using more of the analog synthesiser… I am working towards shifting to the organic form of music. Like, for instance, I would prefer to use the sound created by a bartender with the help of a shaker over creating a shaker sound digitally!

It’s been fantastic. As I have never studied music, being part of these various bands was a great learning process in itself. The music and sounds of all these bands are very different from each other, so that gave me a very nice and big palette

to pull from. So every experience I gained from them has been of huge value to me, and to what I am doing now. The only issues were the ideological and creative differences… but they always got sorted out.

Your new release, Money Talks, is all over.

People have been grooving to it. Tell us what the song is all about?

I am planning to put out a bunch of music. ‘Money Talks’ embodies a lot of stuff from our routine life. It’s a bit on the cynical side. Say, there is a reason why Mukesh Ambani’s son is not behind the bars today.

It stems a bit from a dark place. It has lyrics like, “It doesn’t matter what they say about you, they are still friends”. Sound wise, I have gone very UK-mixedGerman music and vocals.

Although, I am my biggest problem. I listen to my own music and get upset. I am my biggest critic. I am never satisfied. That is the biggest problem I face. Money Talks was in the pipeline for a year because of the same issue. I always get back, though.

Do you find a difference in audience reception when you play in Bangalore, compared to when you play in other parts of the country? Is the crowd any different?

I wouldn’t divide it based on the city. There are human beings and sound waves… each one of the former react to the latter the same way. Bangalore has just been a comfortable place since I have been here for a majority of my life and began my music career here, so I have had a very strong connection to it.

The only difference I see is that Bangalore is a very discerning crowd. They are more aware of music and there is less impact of Bollywood here. I feel I can be a bit more experimental here in comparison to, say, Mumbai.

What are you most comfortable doing: television commercials, short films, radio or promotions?

I actually moved to Mumbai about 4 years ago to do music full time. I see commercials, short films and other promotions as purely cash count because if you are making your own music and on top of that trying to be experimental, you can’t really make that many records. I figure that part out by making my music reach the audience by supporting myself financially through all these projects. All the above are purely for sorting out the funding, really.

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