February 2021 issue featuring Steven Wilson on the cover! by The Score Magazine

INDIA'S NATIONAL PAN-GENRE MUSIC MAGAZINE

Artist of the month

Kevin Fernando Quirks & Queries

Shefali Alvares

STEVEN WILSON

A glimpse into The Future Bites

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ISSN 0974 - 9128 Vol 14 Issue 01 Feb 2021

On the cover

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INDEX

ON THE COVER

Steven Wilson

18.

Artist of the month

19.

Studio tour

20.

Know about

Kevin Fernando

Compass Box Studio

Music for Plants

21.

Quirks & Queries

25.

Also inside

26.

Find out

43.

Shefali Alvares

Remembering the art of Tappa Singing Most underrated songs of BTS

Music Tech Pro tips for recording a Grand Piano

45.

Pro Audio

How to Get the Perfect Computer for Music Production

THE TEAM

INDIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NATIONAL PAN-GENRE MUSIC MAGAZINE

Director, Business Development Pragash VM Director, Marketing & Operations Sneha Ramesh Director Ajay Prabhakar Editorial Advisor Nikila Srinivasan Creative Director George Vedamanickam Creative Designer Surya Kala Naveen Content Contributors Shreya Bose Akarsh Shekhar Shaurya Singh Thapa Souvik Chakraborty Aditi Sarawagi Jonaki Navya C Cover picture credit Lasse Hoile

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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.

SNEHA RAMESH & SHREYA BOSE

S T E VE N WILSON The prog pioneer talks about his new album, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s place in an electronic world

Picture credit- Hajo Mueller

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Prog-rock demigod Steven Wilson is bafflingly predictable in his unpredictability. While he has been recognized for his relentless experimentation throughout his 25 year long career, his more recent solo ventures have seen this master of melancholia branch between various musical guises faster and with more layered absorption. In his newest album The Future Bites, Wilson grounds his sound in the present. He chisels narratives out of electronic avantgardism, and tells both ominous and amusing stories with a dark playfulness that remains his signature. Catching up with The Score Magazine, he muses on artistic insight, his bewilderment with this arriving-somewhere-but-nothere world, and his fascination with a £140 brick.

What have been the greatest challenges in your first decade as a solo artist? For me, the main idea to be a solo artist was to be able to change direction much more easily. When you are in a band, you can’t reinvent yourself in the same way because everyone has to agree. To get everyone to agree to the styles is very difficult. I started my career as a solo artist. Porcupine Tree was a solo project before it became a band. So going back to being a solo artist, the main challenge was to confront the expectations of fans. What really excites me is to do different things like working with different people. With social media, everything I do is subjected to immediate feedback. Some of this feedback can be negative as much as it is positive. The biggest challenge for me is to ignore that and only do what I need to do to be myself. You mentioned in an earlier interview that the album was finished right before the pandemic descended. Has your artistic perception of the already completed album changed because of 2020, then? Is there something you wish you had done differently in hindsight? In many ways, there is an irony here. The Future Bites, in a way, feels more relevant now. It was written and recorded before the pandemic. It seems that the future is biting even harder than when I wrote the album. When I wrote the album, we had the whole Brexit situation going on here, and there were a lot of changes happening, and I feel the situation has only become worse now. In many ways, The Future Bites seems even more topical now.

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I am one of those people that can’t stop playing around. There is always an element of me that wants to do things differently. How do you ensure that despite changes in sound from one album to another, the music essentially still sounds like you? The answer to that is that I don’t know. I have kind of come to understand that myself because for many years I have not been confident in myself especially as a singer. When you look in the mirror, you very rarely see what others would probably see which is essentially your personality and charisma. For many years, I wasn’t aware of myself having a strong musical personality. It didn’t matter what type of music I was doing. There was always something that would sound like me. Basically, I would be making new material and thinking to myself that it sounds so different and when I start playing to people around me, they would shrug and say “Well, it sounds like you”. I used to find that annoying but now I have understood that it’s a good thing that, whatever I do there is something quintessentially Steven Wilson about it. I have started to embrace it now. You mentioned that The Future Bites is an album that could only exist now, in the current time. Could you elaborate on that? I think some of my previous albums have been guilty of sounding too nostalgic, for example my last album “To The Bone”, there was a sense of the 80’s experimental pop. With the album “The Future Bites”, I wanted to make a record that sounds like it could only

Picture credits - Andrew Hobbs

Picture credits - Hajo Mueller

Picture credits - Lasse Hoile

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be made now. I think I achieved that and that’s why I feel it is quite a breakthrough record. When transitioning to the primarily electronic sound of The Future Bites (2020), how have things changed in terms of your mindset, how you see the world, where you get ideas from, etc.? I think I had to acknowledge to myself that I live in an electronic world. I think something that we all need to acknowledge to ourselves. When I grew up in the 80s and 90s, a lot of music was rock. I liked electronic music too but I gravitated towards playing the guitar and became a rock musician. I believe that the one major thing is that we don’t live in that world anymore. We live in a world that is surrounded by electronic sound whether it is coming from our laptop or phone or even our door bell. We are constantly bombarded by electronic sound and this is the musical vocabulary that young people understand. The guitar is an alien sound to them. My kids who are 9 and 10 don’t know what a guitar sounds like. Working with that musical palette was a challenge for me but I embraced it because I always liked electronic music. I have not always been brave enough before now to completely immerse myself in that world. But this time around I was absolutely adamant that it had to be a record that reflected the times that we live in. In order to reflect that, it had to be an album with an electronic sensibility. There are still guitars on this record but overall the record leans towards the electronic aesthetic. I know you’re a longtime David Bowie admirer. Did he come to mind when you were dabbling in this album’s electronica? In the same vein, are there any modern pop artists that interest you? Also, did you draw any influence from your music with No-Man? The reason Bowie, for me, is an icon is because of the way he conducts the expectations of the audience or not be afraid to disappoint your audience

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by doing something that they are not expecting. He was the king of that! One minute he is a glam rocker, then he is a folk singer, then he is a solo singer and then he made the Berlin Trilogy which is dark, experimental European music which I think is a reference for so many people working in Pop music. He then reinvented himself in the 80s with the big stadium pop music. For someone to be able to do that consistently and in such a short period of time, I think he is almost unprecedented. To me, he is a constant inspiration in that sense to be brave and change direction. I think it is important for artists to please themselves and not to please listeners. So, for the first time we’re getting a Dolby Atmos mix of a Steven Wilson album. You also mentioned that you are remixing all your music at home in Atmos. How did you come to this new mode of mixing from the 5.1 mix? And could you take us through the production journey for The Future Bites? For the second time in a row, I worked with a co-producer, a guy called David. He is someone who I have followed for many years and admired. What I love about his production is that he has a great understanding of the history of music; it is very contemporary and fresh. Working with someone like David was very important. It was the most solo album I have made in the sense that I have played most of the guitars, bass and keyboards so there wasn’t so much of a band involved in this album. That was also a conscious decision because the album was going to be electronic. I wanted this album to be streamlined and fresh. The Dolby Atmos was an extension of something that I have been doing for many years which is my interest in surround sound. I have been making music in 5.1 sound and I understand that a lot of people don’t get what that is. 5.1 is basically when you have two speakers in front of you, two speakers behind you, one speaker in the middle and the .1 is a low frequency. Dolby

Atmos is the next step up from that and the standard is 7.1.0 which means that instead of five speakers, you now have seven. For the first time, someone like me can not only spread the music in a horizontal way but also a vertical way. For an album like this, with a lot of details, this was a very immersive experience. You said that you think the most powerful people in the world right now are those who write algorithms and persuade us to do things online. Does that idea scare you, amuse you? How did it become a conceptual pivot for The Future Bites? There were a couple of themes I was interested in exploring. The idea of self and identity has changed in the era of social media. We all have a mirror of social media which means that we get immediate feedback to any music, opinion, belief etc. I think that has created a world of music for more narcissistic people which includes myself as well. We are all more self absorbed. I think before the internet, we used to look at the world with curiosity and now we look at the little screen to see how many comments our Facebook or Instagram post has received. It’s fascinating to see how much the Internet has changed the world in an incredibly short period of time and a lot of those ideas went into the album. Another thing that the album pivots on is the idea of consumerism and the fact that our internet footprint is constantly being analysed and the data is being used against us to buy things, to watch things, to believe things, to listen to things. It is framed in a positive way that our life is made easier by being recommended things that you like to purchase but there is another insidious side to it. I see an increase in belligerence and the way people take extreme views. I think the internet and social media and algorithms feed into that. They present to us a world that we already know and that is not the purpose of life. The internet tends to analyse and give us things that we already know and believe in.

In our current world, it is common for people to have large parts of their life on the cloud, and not own any of it - like music, movies, etc. What are your thoughts on that?

to me are first world items which we don’t need but we buy. I’m fascinated by it and I love the Virgil Abloh brick and to me it was like going back to the artists 100 years ago.

I miss the world where I could go around to a friends house. I would be able to look at their record collection, look at their DVD collection, the photographs on their wall and I can understand a lot of things about the person without even talking to them just by looking at the things they surround themselves with.

It’s fun to change the context of the way you present something, changes the way people perceive and engage with it. You can certainly do that with music and the artwork too. In terms of this record, I wanted to present it in a way that it reminds the person that buys it that they are engaging in an act of consumerism. Although...I’m an artist, I have to sell my albums to continue to be an artist. It is an act of consumerism too!

Those days are going and now we live in the world where arguably you can have your whole life in a cloud and there is no sense of defining your personality through the things you choose to surround yourself with. I understand that the human race is evolving and things change all the time, but I can’t help feeling that it is sad. The part of being a human being is to surround yourself with things that almost identify you - whether you are a collector, or you like to buy movies, or teapots. It’s a shame that now people have their whole world in a cloud. I still like to collect records and I can’t listen to music unless I can hold it in my hand. I am not even a Spotify user. I understand that it is a wonderful resource for the discovery of music but personally if I want to listen to music, I want to be able to hold it in my hands and have a tangible relationship with the music. You mentioned that your approach to the album’s design is based on people’s consumerist tendency to buy/keep things that are essentially useless - like a Virgil Abloh brick. Could you elaborate on that?

How has the response to this album been so far? There have been a lot of people who assume that they would not like it because of the shift in sound. What would you say to them? Like I mentioned earlier, everything I do, essentially sounds like me and this album is no exception. It involves using more musical palettes - it is more electronic and less of the classic rock vibe but there is something about it that sounds absolutely me. It is no less ambitious, no less conceptual, no less epic. Lyrically, it is dark as ever but it is not classic rock. I have to acknowledge that when I change directions and do different things, I will lose some of my existing listeners and also attract new ones and that’s been the story of my entire career. I have changed directions so much over the years.

Something which is very prevalent in this world is that we like to buy. As a species, we all love to go shopping and purchase things. I have a bit of a lovehate relationship with consumerism. I love to surround myself with things that identify myself. We live in a world where an aspect of consumerism is about ownership rather than utility what I mean by that is that a lot of the things we buy these days are to do with the status rather than the actual use.

It is not for me to persuade someone to like my music. Everyone has a particular type of music that resonates with them. There is no question of good or bad but it’s about what they like or don’t like. I take offence and am insulted when people tell me that I was doing good music but now doing bad music. I am just doing different music and I am putting no less heart and soul into it than I ever did. The music is just as sophisticated as ever before. If you only like listening to heavy rock and metal guitars, then this isn’t the album for you. But I think people like that are very unusual, and most people ultimately are quite open minded.

In the song “Personal Shopper” from the album, there is a list of things that

I think this is one of my best albums although I say this every time (laughs).

I genuinely believe this is one of the most relevant, deepest and most accessible records I have made. If Personal Shopper is a “love letter to consumerism”, why is the accompanying music video so dark? What is the balance of narrative you are striking here? For me, this video is a black comedy. What’s great about black comedy is that people think it is fun, but at the same time they also feel slightly uncomfortable about what they are watching. I think that is exactly what we tried to achieve with Personal Shopper. The UK TV show Black Mirror for instance, has a similar kind of aesthetic, and supposed to be very thought-provoking, fun and entertaining but at the same time there are some extremely dark ideas about modern life and what it means to be a human being in the 21st century. There are a lot of things right now that are making us uncomfortable and everything comes back to the internet and social media to me. It is so dominant and has changed the way we think about ourselves and the world. No one can really understand what, but there is something not quite right with the way things are going right now. If there was something about the music industry that you would like to see change, what would it be and why? I love how the music industry continues to evolve and change. But I think the main thing that bothers me about the industry is that the idea of the album is being gradually eroded by playlist and streaming culture. People no longer sit down and listen to an album like how they would watch a movie or read a book. I have talked a lot about this over the years but it is getting worse now. We have moved from a world where it was about artist based listening to more song based listening. A lot of times, people don’t even know names of artists whose songs they are listening to.

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When I was 9 or 10 years old, I was discovering pop music and was completely obsessed about the artist and wanted to listen to everything from beginning to end. I am sad in a way that the art of listening is disappearing and it is all about listening to a 30 second clip on Tik-Tok. Music can and used to be just as powerful a medium as literature and cinema could be. This is the most succinct album of yours. Was that by design, or are you responding to the shortening attention span of the modern listener? That would be a very shallow reason to have done it. To be honest, I think it is something I have believed for a long time that most of the classic albums are about 35-40 minutes long. I believe that is the right length. What I am looking for, is for someone to listen to the album, get to the end and to not be exhausted but to actually be able to say “I really enjoyed it and want to listen to it again” straight away. I feel that it has been a problem for decades since CD came along. Lot of albums went from 40 minutes to 80 minutes and I find them quite exhausting. I was determined to make a succinct, intense, direct and sophisticated record - something that didn’t feel exhausting to listen to. How do you overcome creative blocks? I go to the studio everyday and bash my head against the metaphorical wall and sometimes a month will go past, I look at the metaphorical wall and realise that I haven’t even made a dent. And then, after a couple of months I realise there is a little crack and suddenly it becomes a hole and something starts to happen. I find writing so hard. I have found it the most painful part of the process but ultimately most rewarding. The fact that it might come after days of nothing, almost makes it even more amazing when it finally happens. I try to write a lot more than I need. I wrote about 30 songs for this album but chose only 9. A lot of the music sounded too much like stuff I had done in the past. I look for music that sounds fresh to me.

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Tell us about your work with Jess Cope on the music videos. The creative dynamic between you two is certainly unique. Jess also doesn’t like to repeat herself and it’s exciting to work with her. It’s nice to work on something different with her because she is also so excited about visuals. It has been very inspiring to work with someone that also feels like they want to reinvent themselves. Does your artistic personality shift from one album to another, given the different sounds you create for each? I don’t think it does, I think I am the one that is always the same. It is almost like I’m changing everything else around me. Like if you take the case of David Bowie or even Madonna, they are always the same but they were good in changing the people and the context they worked in. That is one of the ways in which an artist can continue to reinvent themselves despite putting yourself in different situations. The musical forces and people around you are changing. Tell us about your upcoming book My book has a little bit of autobiography in it. It has my ideas about music and what it means to be a professional musician in 2021 as someone that started 25 years ago in a different music business. It was unrecognisable then. It is almost like I prevailed through the change. It has been frustrating and fascinating. I have written about how the way to be a professional musician has changed. I have never been a mainstream artist but have created a direct dialogue with my fans. I thought it was an interesting subject to write about. I have also written about my relationship with my fans, experiences I have had with them and some lighter aspects too. I tried to make every chapter feel like it was a different aspect of the experience. A journey through my ideas, career and my imagination.

What albums / artists are you listening to currently? I’m still discovering things from the past that I didn’t know. I discovered this artist named Shawn Phillips who was a folk singer-songwriter from the early 70s. I have been listening to music for 40 years of my life but never knew him. Last year, I heard the Max Victor’s Album. I absolutely loved it, it was so beautiful.

Your biggest pet peeve Litter! It drives me absolutely nuts! If I ever get famous like David Bowie, I will definitely have a campaign for this.

5 pieces of equipment that you cannot live or work without? I don’t think there is one. The one thing I have noticed about myself being a musician is that I don’t have any particular love for the tools that I make my music with. My love has always been making records and the tools for me are just tools.

If/when the pandemic releases us, what’s next? To tour! I have a tour planned for September/ October and let’s hope that goes well. I hope to come back to my beloved India to play for you guys too!

AKARSH SHEKHAR

STEVEN WILSON The Future Bites Score Reviews

Former Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson has explored new sonic landscapes throughout his career, especially since he embarked on his solo project. His latest solo album “The Future Bites” is out now via Caroline International and that’s what we are reviewing here. Though he has previously called the 80s a “bad decade for music”, he probably loves the decade in general. Just listen to “12 Things I Forgot” as he croons ‘I just sit in the corner complaining…. Making out things were best in the 80s.” Well if you want to make a solid pop album, the 80s were a great time to get inspired by. “The Future Bites” is a pop record after all. Well, there are definitely more elements to it than just pop but that’s the essence of this stop of Steven Wilson’s musical journey. Fans of the prog rock/metal days of Porcupine Tree might be a little surprised by the poppy elements of the music. Gone are the crunchy riffs and soaring leads. In their stead, you will find.. well a lot of electronica. If you were looking for Steven Wilson to just do another Porcupine Tree album in the guise of his solo effort, you would be disappointed. However, it wouldn’t make sense for Steven Wilson to embark on a solo musical journey while still clinging on to the musical styles of the band he dissolved more than a decade ago. Sometimes, the only way to explore new avenues is to walk away from the beaten old path. On “The Future Bites”, Steven Wilson has worked with famed electronica and dance music producer David Kosten. He had made this announcement prior to work on the album began. That was a very useful hint at the direction that the album was going to take. If there is one thing that Steven Wilson hasn’t done very much in his career, is repeat himself. His music catalogue spans genres such as

psychedelia, space rock, trip-hop, jazz fusion, progressive rock, progressive metal, pop, ambient, art rock, alternative rock, pop rock, drone music and trance. Steven Wilson is very similar to his cultural hero Stanley Kubrick as he preferred each piece of his work to be different from anything else he has produced as well. Coming to the album, the standout tracks are definitely “Personal Shopper” and “King Ghost”. The former features legend Elton John, whose rich voice and singing style makes for an interesting contrast to Steven Wilson’s more restrained performance. However, every song on the album is a journey by itself. It’s all over the place but in the best possible way. Another great play in contrast, is the depressing lyrical theme of “12 Things I Forgot” juxtaposed over a very happy tune. This strange combination somehow manages to work very well in the end. With “The Future Bites”, Steven Wilson has regaled all listeners with a brand new musical language. The recording and production are top notch as usual. What is starkly different, is the simplistic and direct musical structure and delivery. The usual musical virtuosity associated with the “prog” universe is absent. However, what is progressive music anyway? If you play similarly complicated music with odd time signatures, weird tempo changes, complex chord progressions and virtuosic displays in every single album, where exactly are you “progressing” to? You can’t really be “progressive” if you follow a hard set of rules that paint your music in a complicated corner. Yes, “The Future Bites” is not a progressive rock album, it definitely is a progressive album. Quite simply because it marks a progression in Steven Wilson’s musical journey, the next step, to infinity and beyond. Verdict: A solid pop record.

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Band of the month

ANTARIKSH

Answered by VARUN RAJPUT(VR) COMPOSER, VOCALIST, GUITAR PLAYER & FOUNDER Q 1. Congratulations on your big win at the start of the year. Tell us how your collaboration with the legendary Marty Friedman happened. VR: Thank you so much! Well, now when I can reflect on it I think the collaboration with Marty happened in a really unique, interesting and almost a bizarre way if you will. I was playing with Antariksh on Day 1 of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender Festival in Shillong in November 2019. I stayed back on Day 2 of the festival to watch Marty, who was the headliner on the second day. I’d been a huge fan of his playing all these years, but when I saw him play live, I was completely blown away and literally in trance hearing his incredibly fierce, intentful and almost magical guitar playing and compositions. Who would have thought, when we’d be returning to Delhi the next day, we’d find Marty sitting two rows ahead of us in the aircraft. I went up to him and introduced myself when we landed at the Delhi airport and spoke to him about some of his recent music, his collaborations with Skyharbor and how I used to swear by his guitar instructional DVD, ‘Melodic Control’ back in the days. After watching him play the previous night, all I could think was about asking him if we could have him play on our song Quest, which we were in the process of recording at that point in time.

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Once he got back to Japan, I wrote to Marty and sent him some of our existing music which he found really interesting and unique coming from an Indian act. It was when I sent him a demo of Quest, he agreed to hop in on the project. Coming to think of it, it really is one of those dream-come-true stories for sure. I mean, just watching your heroes play live and meeting them is a big enough thing, let alone have them play on your track - I am just ecstatic

and absolutely in awe of his humility and the fact that he found our music worthy of playing on. Also, interacting with him during the course of this project has been a really pleasant and enriching experience.

Q2. What is the story behind the track Quest? VR: Well, fortunately or unfortunately, I really enjoy writing on topics that are a bit more on the serious, reflective and contemplative side of things. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but that’s who I am and these are some topics that come naturally to me. As far as Quest is concerned, it questions our existence as a species, the ego, lust and greed attached to our person-alities which almost make us believe as if we’re in control of all situations we face in our lives, while in reality we barely command our actions and are mostly responding/reacting to stimuli around us. Musically, Quest is set in the arena Prog Rock space fused with various elements from different styles of music I enjoy listening to. If you dig down deep enough you can find nuances and ele-ments inspired from prog, carnatic, funk, hindustani classical and alternative rock music.

Q3. Take us through the process of production of the track? VR: Quest was quite an elaborate project. Not just because there was Marty on it, but also be-cause it’s a 6 minute long song and there were a lot of things we were experimenting with for the first time including featuring a Sitar section. I remember, ever since I first brought the idea to the jam room and shared it with Shrikant, Dan and Joshua - they were super excited to work on it. It took shape through the standard process of working on it in the jam room before we actually got down to tracking it. Dan tracked the drums for it in March 2019 at Quarter Note Studios with our recording and mixing engineer, Gaurav Chintamani before I and Shrikant recorded the Guitars at my studio (Antariksh Studios) and Josh

tracked his parts and sent them over. I got Sonic to play the bass and Dhruv Bedi to play the sitar before I tracked my vocals at Quarter Note Studio. Our mixing sessions with Gaurav are a lot of fun - I’m usually very specific and clear about the kind of sound I’m going for and I push myself really hard to get to it. And then, during the course of the project there are so many cool and different ideas that pop up everytime, which is where a lot of magic happens. If you were to ask me, production and mixing are probably my favourite parts from the process of creat-ing a song.

Q4. How did you manage to create this masterpiece amid the pandemic situation? VR: Thankfully, most of the studio recording work had actually been done prior to the pandemic. However, the final few mixing sessions happened during the pandemic remotely over the internet. Sometimes, technology really amazes you. I remember being a bit worried as to how I would be able to finish the mixes once the lockdown happened. But then, our mixing engineer, Gaurav fig-ured out a way to stream the high fidelity audio from his DAW across to me while we were on a video call over zoom. To my surprise, working on the mixes remotely was much smoother than I’d expected and of course, there was not time being wasted in traveling to the studio, which in a way was quite nice.

Q5. What was your process of writing the lyrics for this song considering it is introspective and deep? VR: There’s actually an interesting story behind how the lyrics for Quest came to be. The idea for the lyrical theme for Quest actually came to me while I was driving. We had laid down the struc-ture of the track and I was playing the instrumental demo in my car while driving to a rehearsal and remember seeing something on the road that triggered a thought which turned into lyrics for Quest. My car along with a bunch of cars were stopped to let a politician’s car pass

through and I got real-ly irked as I was getting late for the rehearsal. That to me felt like misuse of power, inflated ego and control and the fact that some people have the audacity to think that their time is more im-portant than anyone else’s is just so ridiculous. I have always believed that politicians should actu-ally not be given any VIP treatment so that they actually witness and understand the problems a common man has to go through. Only then can they truly understand the pain points of citizens and hopefully be inspired to do their job well. That thought triggered another one where I had this realization that no matter how much power and control one may have, we still do not have any power or control over our lives in the real sense or number of breaths we have left. So all in all, the feeling of being in control is only a thought - a mere illusion. Only that we are just too scared to look at it that way. I distinctly remember coming up with most of the lines of the verse as well as the chorus sitting in my car and humming along to the song with this thought going through my head. That was the foundation and then of course, the lyrics evolved over a bunch of iterations. The

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SHAURYA SINGH THAPA

Lucky Aliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Third Album Aks Carried On His Soulful Legacy:

Score Indie Classics 16

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Ever since the 90s, Lucky Ali has been a dominant force in Hindi-language indiepop, with his songs still being adored by post-millennial listeners. A video from his Instagram, featuring a growing Ali singing a reprise of his classic hit O Sanam has brought him back to the popular imagination. Hence, it makes sense to revisit some of the albums that cemented his music legacy. The aforementioned O Sanam belonged to his debut album Sunoh, which was followed by another popular record Sifar (most notable for the track Dekha Hai Aise Bhi). And then, in 2001, came Aks… The word ‘aks’ literally translates to a ‘reflection’ and the album indeed allowed Lucky Ali to reflect on a lot on his quintessential thoughts on love and life. It’s a Herculean task to argue which of his early albums was his magnum opus but Aks delivered some great hits like Tere Mere Saath, Tu Kaun Hai, and Kitni Haseen Zindagi. Most of the tracks are simplistic and escapist in their song, riddled with poetic lyrics that find the singersongwriter at his inquisitive best. Every song bears wordings that find him musing or wondering about all the nice things that he seems to explore in the journey of his life. So, in Tere Mere Saath, Ali asks his lover why they can’t sleep when the whole world closes its curtains at night. It seemed like he feels a certain connection and wants to act upon it, even though he still questions the true

nature of his love. Tu Kaun Hai is a question in its title itself. The song is filled with nature-driven metaphors as he mysteriously ponders on an enchanting figure of his dreams. Such open-ended songs are aplenty all through the album, driven by Ali’s husky voice that bears a perceptual hint of melancholia (even if his songs might be positive). Guitars are heavily featured in most of the tracks. Having seen him perform many stripped-down acoustic versions of his own song, it’s no wonder that many of his fans record acoustic covers of his classics till date.

Tragedy. Tere Mere Saath continues to be a crowd favorite and was last used in an ad for a Mahindra SUV. So, in the end, Aks lived up to its title. It was truly a ‘reflection’ of Lucky Ali’s finest years as a musician.

One of the fresh elements that Lucky Ali brought to the nascent indie scene in his time were his music videos, which mostly documented his visually vibrant and wholesome journeys, be it in America or the Great Pyramids of Giza. Similarly, Aks’ Tere Mere Saath stars the artist as a fugitive who finds a fellow lover who’s on the run. He chances upon her in some sort of local fiesta as director Mahesh Mathai’s cameras explore the lively nature of neighbourhoods in Havana. Kitni Haseen Zindagi similarly had an iconic video that features Ali in his drifter avatar, calmly humming his tune while riding a bike under a lazy evening sky. His videos have been aestheticallypleasing and even if they incorporated foreign locations, the exotic nature was never flaunted to a flashy extent. Aks only bears testimony to this. Tu Kaun Hai was featured as a promotional single for the Naseeruddin Shah and Zeenat Amanstarrer Bhopal Express, a drama that revolved around the Bhopal Gas The

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SNEHA RAMESH

Artist of the month

Kevin Fernando Singer-Songwriter / Performer / Playback singer Who or what inspired you to become a musician? This is actually quite interesting. I was always shy and I’d never sing in front of a crowd. In 12th grade, there was a competition and I was forced to participate in the auditions. There was a senior who had passed out of school, who had come down to school to judge the different voices and choose the best voices to add to the competition. The song that was given to us was “Free Falling” and I reluctantly went in last and sang to him. He heard me sing and went, “Where have you been all this while? You’ve got such a wonderful voice”. At that time, when I had no idea about Independent Music, I only used to look up to this senior who also happened to be the front-man of the band “Blacklisted”. I used to love the band and the fact that I got him to like my voice piqued my interest in music.

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Did you go through any formal music training? How did you learn music? I’ve never had any formal training. It’s funny how much you can learn when you keep listening to something on loop. My singing skills developed completely from trying to figure out how other artists sing. Playing the guitar on the other hand, has a funny story attached to it. I started going for competitions to sing and I noticed that I had to rely on someone to accompany me. I ended up getting an expensive guitar which I never got to learning. A few months later though, I had a feeling that people might start making fun of me for buying an expensive guitar and not using it. So I sat down, opened YouTube and started learning.

You have a wide repertoire of music with you. How do you manage to create music that is diverse thus catering to wider audiences? This comes from the fact that I listen to a lot of music. Even if it’s something that I don’t listen to, I’d try to give it a listen to see what I can learn from it. Over a period of time of constant learning from different sources across genres and my curiosity to dwell into all of it, made me make different types of songs. I’ve always been someone who’s looked for validation from all types of people. So my music tends to do the same.

How do you leverage digital platforms to connect and interact with your audiences? Being an independent musician means, you don’t just make music but you also market your music to a potential audience in addition to the existing one. Social media platforms make it easier to connect with audiences. There have been so many days when I’ve randomly received messages from people telling me that they’ve heard my music somewhere and they just wanted to let me know. I’d like to stay rooted to the ground and try to be in touch with my audience for the effort they’ve put into engaging with my music. Although it might be taxing to be constant, it gives me the space to explore a potential crowd and introduce my music to them. The more you engage the audience, the more they engage with your music.

What’s your take on collaboration to create music? I love collaborating. I’ve always collaborated with different musicians. Starting with my music producer Ashwin Vinayagamoorthy from Shimmr Studios, who I’ve been collaborating over the past couple of years. I take the songs to him and we sit together in the studio to see how to take the song forward. I believe in working with multiple people to bring out the best in my song. So there’s a whole team working with me to finish each product that I put out. I feel that working alone, in my case, restricts the ability of the song to be the best version that it can be. Obviously, if I want to make it personal, I take control of what goes into the song. Collaborating also helps you learn about your product from a third person’s point of view. You go in to record a song with some ideas because you’re hearing the song in a certain way in your head. But when you play it to someone who has no idea about your song, you hear it how they hear it in their head. This gives me great insight into how different musicians view the same raw product that you have before it is fine tuned.

Take us through your upcoming releases “i’ll find my way to you tomorrow” is my first song of the year. Following this would be, “Falling”, “King Has Arrived” over the next couple of months.

Rapid fire •

Biggest artist inspiration Dhruv Viswanath

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A music technique you would love to learn Yodeling. I think that’s something I’d want to incorporate in some song of mine.

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Dream venue to perform at Royal Albert Hall and Roger Centre

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If you could collaborate with a legendary artist, who would it be? A.R. Rahman

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Tell us 5 newbies/ young artists you would love to see become popular in future. 1. Nida Siddiqui 2. Abdon Mech 3. Alvin Presley 4. Krishna.K 5. Frizzell D’Souza

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SHAURYA SINGH THAPA

All You Need To Know About

‘Music For Plants’

Barcelona opera house by the name of Gran Teatre del Liceu opened its doors in June, 2020, after a three-month long lockdown. The venue’s first concert post-lockdown turned out to be an exclusive performance for an audience of plants! The UceLi Quartret played for over 2,292 plants that occupied each seat of the theatre.

The concert was symbolic as the plants were later distributed to healthcare workers. But the question remains, can plants actually hear music? When new-age thinking was reaching its peak in the 1970s, a book called The Secret Life of Plants supported the claim that playing music to plants can help in plant growth. Even before the book’s publication, an experiment by an Indian scientist in 1962 seemed to revolve around similar assumptions. Playing Western classical music, Dr. T. C. Singh from Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, discovered that the balsam plants grew an extra 20% in height and 72% in biomass. Similar observations were made when Indian classical ragas were played. He later experimented with other crops, and found that they grew 25% to 60% larger under the influence of the latter. But how can plants respond to music (or any sound) when they possess no hearing organs? And yet a few experiments seem to conclude that plants do bear some response to sounds. For instance, in 1973, a music student from Colorado Women’s College, Dorothy Retallack, placed three groups of plants in separate environments. A single musical note of F was played for eight hours for the first group, three hours

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for the second group, while the third group was kept in a silent environment. While the first group died out in two weeks, the second group seemed to be healthier than the third one. This implies while plants respond to sound, the period of exposure affects their health/survival. Violinist Rajamanikam Pillai claimed that when he played his instrument in his gardens, he found that the otherwise-useless coconut trees in the vicinity were revived to good health. According to him, music sung in early hours of the day with ragas such as Bilahari, and Kalyani, would also have a positive influence on plants. There are many such experiments that were subsequently carried out but it’s yet to be universally established that plant growth can increase with music. Even if the science around plants and music isn’t firmly established, there still exists a subgenre of ‘music for plants’. Just like the Barcelona concert, there have been actual albums like Mother Art’s Plantasia by Mort Garson and Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through “The Secret Life of Plants” comprised of instrumentals solely meant to be heard by plants!

Nursery is run by Shaan Lalvani who makes use of a device called MIDI sprout. Using the same principles as an ECG machine producing a graph, the device measures the electrical charges flowing through the plants, converting them into musical notes. The sounds from the plants are obviously proven to be different under different stimuli like water, light, touch, and so on. The MIDI Sprout can also convert the soundwaves to sound more like musical notes from a synthesizer and other experiments. Visitors bring their own plants at Vriksha Nursery so that they too can hear their musical sounds under the device.

Science and speculation aside, a Mumbai nursery uses a device to allow visitors to hear the actual ‘music’ that plants make. Vriksha

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JONAKI & SHREYA BOSE

Solo songs by BTS members that showcase their musical eloquence In light of the stellar, record-shattering music they make as a group, one can overlook that each BTS member is an accomplished and talented artist in their own right. The songs here explore their individual visions, and reveal the extent of their creative calibre. Listen, revisit, be smitten.

RM - Change ft. Wale

BTS have always distinguished themselves by delving into musical themes that most idols wouldn’t touch. Nowhere is this more apparent than in group leader and rapper RM’s collaboration with NigerianAmerican rapper Wale. In Change, RM and Wale swap verses condemning the social ills of their respective countries. Wale rages against “alt-rights”, “racist police”, and declares “no faith in the government”. RM laments a world plagued by “mad teachers”, divided spaces” and those who “kill people with fingers on Twitter”. Swimming in old-school piano bars that punctuate a majestic, stomping beat, Change is emblematic of RM’s visionary musical prowess. He pens powerful words, raps admirably in English and makes crystal-clear the depth of his social, political, and cultural awareness. Obviously, Change alludes to cross-cultural

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commonality : the world drives you down, no matter where you are. But at its heart, it portrays musical camaraderie between two people who have been knocked down, and keep getting back up.

Jin-Abyss

Two hours before his 28th birthday, Jin released Abyss on BTS’s Soundcloud as well as the Bangtan TV Youtube channel. If his anthemic track, Epiphany from BTS’s Love Yourself album highlights his exemplary vocal control with its poprock glory, Abyss harnesses his vocal strengths as a natural tenor, with stable breath control and an impressive falsetto. In his note to ARMY via Bangtan Blog, Jin explained how he had experienced “major burnout”, and battled feelings of inadequacy, questioning whether he deserved all the accolades that came with BTS topping Billboard Hot 100. His conversation with producer Bang Shi-

Hyuk led him to collaborate with singer-songwriter Bumzu, and they co-wrote Abyss, with BTS leader RM contributing to the chorus. The acoustic soundscape and the piano instrumental, teamed with Jin’s emotional and airy vocals when he sings, “With my breath held, I walk into my sea, I walk into it/ I face myself, [who is] crying beautifully and sorrowfully,” reveals the inner turmoil he is grappling with. Like Awake, Tonight and Moon(his other solo tracks), Abyss uses its rawness and vulnerability to attempt to comfort and heal.

Burn It - Suga /Agust D

Spitting majestic rhyme as Agust D, Suga embraces nihilism in his collaboration with MAX for his second mixtape. In brooding, beatific verse, he dives into his own demons and looks at the sides of himself he battles with as both artist and human: “The me, who got to taste success, ey/What’s the difference from me back then? ey/Well, I don’t know, I’m not that much different, ey/ Let’s burn it, the me in the past” But despite the turbulence of soul and mind, he erects

a moment of positive assurance: “I hope that you won’t forget that giving up is also courage.” In true Suga fashion, he is deeply empathetic to the agony of internal conflict, and what it takes to resolve a dark night of the soul. To himself, and his listeners, he asserts that one has the choice to either decimate themselves or become a beacon, a “blazing sun” risen from the purge of one’s creative, spiritual, psychological dross. The track is testament to Agust D’s self-awareness, the dexterity of his selfanalysis, and the disarming vulnerability he brings to his art. With a chorus in MAX’s billowy voice, the song creates a sense of haunting. The sound denotes the sentiment, and the artist breaks himself to discover his own evolution.

J-Hope - 1 VERSE

We’ve all seen it: rapper J-Hope is love and light made manifest. Even RM said, during BTS’s 2018 Japanese Hulu special, We Love BTS, that, “J-Hope always lights up the atmosphere.” When a man like that drops a diss track, it’s natural to think that’s an out-ofcharacter move. Yet, when J-Hope dropped 1 VERSE in 2015, it made something

rather clear - you don’t question Jung Ho-seok’s hiphop cred. Opening with a blustering brass war-cry, the track balances itself on trap beats while J-Hope lashes out at haters and drives home how irrelevant they really are: “I cut out the rotten parts, the lice that will fall eventually.” In the fiery breath of a man who has conquered the world, he buries his detractors by detailing exactly how successful he and his brothers from BTS are : “I make them unable to forget, crowd around me.” He goes hard, shifting his vocal texture to underline the various modes of defiance in this song. A bit of onomatopoeia (spitting) emphasizes how he “spit it on the ground”. J-Hope takes no prisoners when he raps “To the haters I make them throw up/ Retributive justice, you reap what you sow.” As early as 2015, 1 VERSE depicts that J-Hope’s hip-hop artistry is authentic and stands entirely on its own merit.

Jimin - Lie

Dedicated BTS fans know that there are two sides to vocalist and dancer Jimin. On one hand, he holds the world in thrall of his voice and his flawless en pointe. On the flipside, he is known for merciless perfectionism which had led to reports of him putting in gruelling practice and dealing with immense self-doubt. In RM’s Vlive on the Wings behind story, he revealed how Jimin often blamed himself for failures and inadequacies, frequently lapsing into the mindset of ‘I’m not good enough’. Lie was written in this exact context. It is a glimmering,

Image Credit: @bts_bighit (Twitter account) dark saga of a man torn between two sides of his soul. Jimin mourns the loss of “the me that was pure”, and claims that he is “caught in a lie”. Possibly struggling with the image of himself showcased to the world, he voices discomfort and anguish with who he has become, and who he yearns to be. Lie is an exquisite display of Jimin’s heartrending tenor. Sharp violins, rumbling bass and stringent keys provide instrumental tapestry for his voice to shine. He ricochets between a rough almost-baritone and a soaring pitch emblematic of his repressed-and-finallyreleased agony. When he pleads “Pull me from this hell/ I can’t be free from this pain”, the heart all but breaks.

V- Sweet Night

Sweet Night by V was sung as the OST for Korean Drama, Itaewon class, a story about class struggle, love, loyalty, friendship and the dogged belief in oneself. Written, composed and produced by V, Sweet Night debuted at #1 on the US itunes, becoming the first Korean OST to do so. Most recently, it won best OST at the APAN Star awards 2020. In December 2019, V told ARMYs on Vlive to watch

the drama Itaewon Class and subsequently surprised them with this song. The track directly refers to the Danbam pub (“Danbam’’ means “Sweet Night” in Korean) run by the protagonist Park Saeroyi (played by Park Seo-joon) and reveals the protagonist’s complicated feelings and the predicament he finds himself in. Sweet Night has V showcasing remarkable vocal prowess.The use of particular metaphors and imagery are also distinctive of his songwriting ethos, and in line with his melancholicyet-healing inclinations. On Sweet Night, V sings : “On my pillow / Can’t get me tired / Sharing my fragile truth / That I still hope the door is open / Cuz the window / Opened one time with you and me / Now my forever’s falling down,”. His signature baritone, layered lyricism and empathetic storytelling stands tall in Sweet Night, just like V’s other solo tracks Stigma, Scenery, Singularity and Snow Flower.

Jungkook-Euphoria

Sung by BTS’s main vocal and golden maknae (youngest), Euphoria ensured that Jungkook became the longest-charting

solo K-Pop artist on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, staying there for 26 weeks straight, and was even featured on the HBO series Euphoria. Co-Written by RM, “Hitman Bang”, (Producer Bang Shi-Hyuk, Chairman of Big Hit Entertainment, BTS’s label) and Adora, along with other collaborators, as mentioned in album credits, Euphoria is testament to Jungkook’s stable vocal control and stylistic finesse. Since Euphoria, he has sung numerous jazz-leaning, R&B-styles tracks. However, this song remains an ARMY favourite with Jungkook performing it in stadiums to the thunderous applause of enraptured crowds. He is often seen harmonizing with the other BTS members, the sophistry of which is evident in Euphoria. Euphoria carries a dreamlike quality, juxtaposing luminous imagery with Jungkook’s velvety vocals when he sings: “You are the sun that rose again in my life/ The return of my childhood dreams/ I don’t know what this feeling is/ Perhaps this is also in a dream.” The meaningful lyrics and the upbeat melody makes the composition joyous and is reflective of Jungkook’s unique vocal colour.

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Quirks & Queries with

SHEFALI ALVARES How important are artist collaborations to you? How have you leveraged the same over the years? Collaborations are some of the funnest parts of working in music. It’s very important for musicians to constantly hone their art. I’ve personally spent most of 2020 leveraging the opportunity and collaborating with so many different producers and singers like ‘Beishqi Galliyan’ with Benny Dayal and ‘Aadat’ with Raajeev V Bhalla. For me to have found success in Bollywood the way I have also stems from experimenting away from my jazz music background. So yeah, I’m clearly all for it.

Your biggest music learning experience since the time you started Never stop exploring. Never stop learning. Never stop experimenting.

What is your music practise routine like? Coming from a musical family, I of course spend a lot of time training my kids. So I spend a good three hours in the morning with them and training has never been more fun.

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Importance of maintaining vocal health according to you and how do you do it? Oh my god - so necessary. People often think singing is an inherent skill, but it’s very much like any bodily exercise that needs routine practice, especially to be able to perform live.

If there were artists you would like to collaborate with, who would they be? Definitely would love to collaborate in Hip-Hop. Of all the experimenting I’ve been up to, that’s one I’ve not dabbled with and that could be really fun. So yeah, Badshah, Divine or Raftaar.

Dream venues to perform in I’d love to do a stadium show. It would be a dream to perform at Wembley alongside my father.

Upcoming projects I’ve got a whole new project in the works which is sounding so good. That’s something the world will be seeing soon. I also have been working with more producers and keeping the engine hot, so yeah you can expect a lot for this year.

SOUVIK CHAKRABORT Y

Remembering The Art of Tappa

Singing

Our Indian classical music is a treasure trove of very diverse techniques of singing and presentations, be it in form or content. ‘Tappa’ is one such highly unique form of semi-classical singing and a musical form that deserves its due limelight at a time of auto-tunes or AI-generated beats and samples. Tappa singers make it a rule to control their breathing and notes in such a way that there are continuous streaks of singing without having to halt abruptly anywhere in the song. This is mostly done to uphold the poetic integrity of the lyrics set in the fastpaced Laya. Unlike a traditional khayal or thumri, tappa is usually held with shorter lyrics coupled with vigorous taans and special improvisations with respect to the Gharana it belongs to. Ragas like Jhinjhoti, Kafee, Bhairavee, or Khamaaj are used with the tappa style of singing. Tappa speaks of love and romanticizes various aspects of it. Much like the literal interpretation of the word, this kind of singing pulses with its bouncy or vibrant musical notes in it. Ektala and Tintala are the kind of tempo The

loops and the bi-directional phrases are significant in the appreciation of this style of singing. Tappa is believed to have originated from the words of the folk songs sung by the camel drivers in the Punjab and Sindh area. Hence, it has a very strong influence on the northwest linguistic style in its lyrics. The words of these songs are known for the brevity of expression through their short lines and stanzas. The songs occasionally have a separate section between the sthayi and antara of the piece. It is believed that Tappa was derived from the folk music of the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. Originating from the folk song of camel-drivers in that region, these songs got later developed by a court singer Mian Gulam Nabi Shori or Shori Mian for the Awadhi Nawab. In the later centuries, tappa had been popularized by highly skilled singers and stalwarts like Girija Devi, Bade Ramdasji Krishanrao Pandit, Pandit Kumar Gandharva, and many more. It is notable how musicians like Malini Rajurkar have made the tappa singing so memorable through their breathtaking concerts.

Tappa is further ornamented with its multiple iterations across various regions in the country be that through the Gwalior Gharana or the Maharashtrian musical theatricals. Interestingly, a new form of the ‘Tapkhayal’ had also emerged from the amalgamation of various artists from varied niches in classical singing. The challenges and the very essence of tappa singing meant that it was a very challenging space and needed to be well protected, tappa had seen a lot of transformations and the attempts to uphold its integrity in itself is a deep study in musical histories. Right from the twentieth century’s end, there was a steady decline in the Gwalior Gharana which had held the tappa style too close to let it grow and nurture. It is said that later the other Gharanas through bhajans or other forms of singing had overshadowed tappa completely. It is only fair that the newer generations of musicians or appreciative art forms should give such classic forms their long dues and probably preserve them to glory forever. The

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ARCHANA LAKRA

Underrated BTS songs that you might have missed As often said by the BTS ARMY - “This is BTS’ world and we are just living in it.” This 7 seven-member K-pop group has smashed all possible records and is creating new ones every day. They are no longer just a Korean boy band, but rather the biggest musical act in the world. With their first (of many, we hope) Grammy nomination for their breakout hit DYNAMITE, it is worth revisiting their discography to find some musical gems that remain underrated despite their fame, musical and lyrical ingenuity.

SEA - hidden track from Love yourself: Her

they say these kids can’t make it ‘cause their agency is too small.”

A song that talks about hope and hardships via the symbols of the Sea and Desert. It also talks about the hardships they had to endure when they were starting out as a rookie group.

Anyone who has been following them for a long time knows exactly what these lyrics mean, because they are privy to the obstacles BTS had to overcome to soar to the sky, as they are now. At the heart of this song lies their belief that they should not stop their musical journey, even if with happiness they feel moments of sadness. RM repeats how the sea (i.e hope), desert (i.e despair), and the world are the same with different names. They are all part of this wildand-mundane ride we call life.

Suga says-”I thought this was the ocean but it’s a desert. a medium-sized, ordinary idol was my second name. countless people get cut from broadcast but someone’s empty spot is our dream.

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Picture credit- Big Hit Entertainment

Rain - Dark&Wild Paradise - Love yourself: Tear This song questions if it is really okay to run just because everyone is running. Staying right with the theme of Love Yourself, this one talks about how it is fine to not have dreams if we can just have moments of happiness. It also emphasizes that it’s okay to have unique dreams, different from what is expected of us; we deserve to be who we want to be. The outro repeats: “Stop running for nothing my friend” and it ends by saying that everything we do, the air we breathe, the words we speak, are all a version of Paradise. Fun fact: Produced by English singersongwriter MNEK, this song was originally meant to be a breakup song but lyrics changed after BTS received it for this album.

Awake - Wings A solo song by Jin, this is an especially intimate track. Talking about how he feels that he isn’t talented enough as the others, Jin adds that even if it’s not his fate he’ll still fight and run. Even if he can’t touch the sky, he’ll still stretch his hands a bit further. Laced by his honeyed vocals and incredible high notes, this song is feels both grand and relatable at the same time. For the best effect, watch the live performance of this song with a live band; it’s spectacular.

The 6th song from their first studio album tells the story of a person looking back on his life on a rainy day. As the vocal line (Jin, Jungkook, Jimin) keeps us hooked with an amazing chorus about a rainy day in Seoul and the reflection we see in the puddle of rain, the rap line (RM, SUGA, J-Hope) relates how that rainy day goes for the three of them.

RM talks about how he is stuck, not able to complete his songs, and how the whole world has turned gray for him. He finally decides to go out in the rain, which he considers the perfect background music, embracing his gray life and finally trying to enjoy whatever the present offers. Suga reveals how the sound of rain has a strong effect on him; he realizes how deprived of emotions he was once he receives a text from a friend. He tries to see himself in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. and just like RM, he too decides to go out in the rain. Looking at the rain he wonders if he had made an impact on the world - or if he is just like another rainy shower that eventually fades away without a trace. J-Hope adds on to the same sentiment and compares rain with tears. He says like the melody that rain makes, his life has also become andante (i.e slow). And with these thoughts, he also walks out into the rain. This whole song is about how life becomes monotonous, repeating everything again and again. And if we don’t keep on doing things that we are supposed to do we become ugly in our own reflections.

Trivia: seesaw – Love yourself: Answer While this is a well-known song among ARMYs it still deserves a bit of new attention. Co-produced and Co-written by the lead rapper of the group, Suga, this song compares a relationship that’s almost over with a seesaw game where both the players are not getting up due to various reasons and stretching the relationship. In one of the verses he says-” People can be so crafty We know someone gets hurt if the other is gone But because we don’t want to be the villains In the midst of a series of vague responsibilities We became so sick of each other that we finally became parallel Although this wasn’t the kind of parallel that I wanted” It’s a perfect blend of rap and vocals which comes as a surprise from Suga. The song is perfectly embellished by beautiful background vocals, courtesy of Bighit Entertainment’s only female producer Adora.

Fun fact: This song and various others

with her vocals have created a special place and many new fans for Adora among the ARMY.

Intro: Persona - Map of the Soul: Persona Intro to the 2019 EP by the group, in this track RM talks about a question that he(and everyone else) had struggled with for his entire life - “ Who am I?”. He wonders who he really is, talks about his shortcomings, his different egos and shadows, and much more. In the entire song, he questions the nature of himself ,and comes to a conclusion about who he really wants to be - someone who flies, someone who gives others voice, someone who offers a shoulder when others cry. This track is an outline of what the Map Of The Soul series is all about. The above-mentioned songs are just a few gems from the plethora of unforgettable tracks created by this spectacular septet. As much as we all love dancing to Dynamite, it’s always good to sit back and enjoy some great tunes with exceptional lyricism. Now that we have a whole list of songs to discover and fall in love with, let’s just hit PLAY.

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PRIYAANKAA MATHUR

Utsaah

Portrays the Joy to bring Indian Classical Music to the Fore The hugely popular 'Utsaah' #spreading happiness series bestows a unique dual format bringing in engaging interactions between the artists with the host, followed by the live performances. Durga Jasraj Founder Art & Artist, who's the daughter of legendary Indian classical vocalist, Sangeet Marthand Pandit Jasrajji has taken the baton to enhance the reach and penetration of Indian classical music to a whole new level with this show.

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in every aspect of the performance, be it the stage, decor, lights, and it's overall aesthetics. It's about that perfection all around you,so doing anything less is not just an option."

Bringing together both young and established performers from the world of Indian classical music,dance and folk traditions, the series features vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers.In it's 230+ episodes 'Utsaah' has created 5 Billion Impressions on Facebook alone.It is the first digital talk show, which started during the lock down period and goes on till date,involving interesting conversations about the life and journey of an artist bringing in many stories, trivia and life experiences, which the artists rarely get to share. We spoke to some eminent and young artists, to explore the 'Utsaah' experience from a performers perspective, some excerpts...

She adds," Our family shares a great bond with Durgaji and Pandit Jasrajji and it was great fun interacting with her as if it was with an older friend.I and Durgaji reached those days when Panditji used to visit our home. I have seen Panditji very closely, when I was too young even to understand the gravity of whom I was interacting with. Once my grandmother asked me to sing a song to Panditji, so I sang a song 'Chaa gaye badar' from the film Chitralekha to him. Durgaji remembered that incident and asked me to sing on the show, and I sang 'Baiyan na dharo'.I feel it's a platform, where an artist can kind of unwind and let you know a bit more of what they do apart from their regular performance repertoire. Regarding my performance on Utsaah, I did one of Madhaviji's choreography called ' Vasant' and a piece called 'Kamala' which has one Shloka composed by Pandit Jasrajji."

Young and elegant Odissi danseuse Arushi Mudgal, belong to an illustrious musical family being the Grand Daughter of Pandit Vinay Chandra Mudgalyaji and the Daughter of the leading Hindustani Classical Vocalist Pandit Madhup Mudgalji.In her conversation with Durgaji, Arushi brought insight on her taleem under her illustrious guru the legendary Odissi exponent Madhvi Mudgalji, who shares a great bond with her as she also happens to be her Aunt(bua). Arushi talks about her journey into the world of dance and why she chose dance and not music as a career, says," Choosing dance was perhaps my natural inclination to groove to any music.Although, I learnt both music and dance but I felt so much joy when I danced. Of course, I grew up watching Madhviji practice and who eventually became my inspiration to take up dance. She is a perfectionist and perfection for her is not just in the technique of dance, but, also

Tabla Maestro Pandit Shubha Maharaj, who's the grandson and disciple of Pandit Krishan Maharajji brings light on his 'Utsaah' experience says, "I was invited by Durgaji in the very initial phase of Utsaah, when Pandit Jasrajji was alive and was listening to us. It was a very informal kind of a conversation with her as we share close family ties, since there was a very close relationship between Pandit Kishan Maharajji and Pandit Jasrajji. We had a lot of discussion on their bond, as they performed a lot together. In those times when Maharaji used to go and meet Panditji at his residence in Mumbai.Once Pandit Jasrajji came and performed with Kishan Maharajji in front of the Lord Ganesha Idol,which has been sculpted by Pandit Kishan Maharajji himself at his residence in Benaras in Ganesh Kaksh,which is a home baithak (concert hall), where many eminent performers have performed. I remember I was around 7-8 years old then."

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He adds," Performing digitally during lockdown, was quite an experience and a challenge since there were no possibilities of having a harmonium accompaniment, so we had to play the Lehra on the phone and adjust the laya manually. Durgaji told me to play the speciality of Benaras Gharana the 'Dhamar Taal ', which I played initially.I tried to demonstrate the 'Khula Baaj' of Pakhawaj Ang in 'Dhamar Taal' followed by Teen Taal, which I played for the next half of the concert." Talking about how 'Utsaah' is different from any other digital platform, Shubh Maharaj said," Utsaah has been a trendsetter in its very own right as it started in the initial phases of lockdown, so many channels picked up a trend of having conversations with the artists following it. But, one thing that bothers me is, that after just two days of my performance in Utsaah, the content was all over the internet and on Youtube, and people started monetising on views and subscriptions. With all these apps you can download videos from Facebook, so there is no exclusivity. So, I feel some exclusivity needs to be there, and content should be on their Art & Artist website, since I played certain things for them, which I never play in my usual concerts." Sarangi Maestro Ustad Kamal Sabri, son of the late Sarangi Maestro Ustad

Sabri Khan tells about his interaction with Durgaji tells, "We had a wonderful time talking, because she also comes from a musical background and understands musicianship very well. Durgaji knows how to get the best out of any musician and it was one of my best interaction on Music so far." He adds," I performed Raga 'Gaud Malhar' which was her choice, since it was the rainy season and many musicians had already performed Raga 'Miyan ki Malhar', following which I performed a couple of compositions and a Kajri of Purab Ang 'Bhiji jaun main piya bachaye liyo'. It was a pleasure performing at 'Utsaah' which has a very different kind of an audience,who are serious listeners of Indian classical music, and understand the raga and compositions deeply." Vidushi Shalmalee Joshi is one of most foremost exponents of Jaipur Atrauli Gharana and disciple of legendary musician and composer Pandit Ratnakar Paiji, who gave her the advance training on the intricacies of the Jaipur Gayaki along with a vast repertoire of Anwat (Rare Ragas) and Traditional compositions. Talking about her performance in Utsaah Shalmaleeji tells," In my initial conversation with Durgaji she told me that looking at my repertoire, she would look forward to listen an Anwat Raga along with Raga Bihagda. Likewise I performed both starting

my presentation with Raga 'Godhani' which is a very rare unheard raga and is very close to Ragas Bhinna Shadaj and Hemant.I performed the bandish 'Goya Gad Re Ke', which is composed in Jhaptaal. The speciality of this bandish is that it's sam is 'Ateet', i.e the Sam of the bandish comes just after the sam. This is a very uncommon raga and we do not find any recordings of this raga sung by any musician on any media." Talking about the digital concert scenario she says,"During the time of corona when live concerts were not happening, digital concerts came as a new avenue to showcase both the art and the artists. But, I strongly feel that with these concerts, if a sponsor is also incorporated it can also help the artist community monetarily in the testing times, since our music is not just pure entertainment, it's a sadhana of a lifetime, and it should not be presented for free." "I feel you can achieve many materialist things in life, but classical music is a divine art form, which you need to follow with a purity of mind and the soul, and with absolute dedication and commitment towards your guru and your art, which is very im-portant.'Utsaah' is the way ahead to propagate our music, traditions and culture to a global audience, inspiring many to follow this alternative path to spirituality,"she concluded.

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KANUPRIYA MODI

EMBRACING the RHYTHM of ALGORITHMS In a world where technology romances with us at every stage, let’s look at how algorithms add rhythm to our musical experiences on a day-to-day basis

Music is therapy, more so if you’re listening to your favourite songs without having to look for them. A continuous experience of enjoying the kind of music you love is a treat in itself. It’s convenient when you don’t have to select the songs one after another as your app’s algorithm ‘predicts’ your interest and shows music recommendations that appeal to you. Algorithms are basically a set of rules that are followed to perform an activity by the computer/device. These rules tell the app what your preferences are and you get those kind of song recommendations. Research states the online music streaming subscriptions will cross 450 million subscriptions by the end of 2020, which is now a reality!

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High on AI

Intelligent algorithms make it easy for listeners to have a seamless experience. Just select a few songs and the apps recommend you the songs as per a pattern of your tastes and preferences. It’s a great way to discover your type of songs among the millions that you might take ages to explore. These are the perks of living in a world that thrives on technology. The possibility of AI composing music is not far from reality looking

We are living this imagination of automated musical experiences ever since Artificial Intelligence (AI) took over the music experience. A variety of songs are available with one click, thanks to the algorithmic tools. Some of the types of tools are: •

Collaborative filtering tool: People who prefer this song also like the other one The

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• •

Themed recommendations: Different songs from the same artist you like Preference-based playlists: A series of songs based on your choice Atmosphere-based playlists: Songs based on your moods

Artificial Intelligence has brought about a revolution in the music industry. Music streaming has grown by leaps and bounds becoming the most preferred user experience at the moment. While we engage with music streaming apps and the search engines to look for our preferred songs, data is collected and we get music recommendations based on our listening history.

at the speed at which technology is transforming the music industry.

The Exponential Music Industry

The music industry is experiencing an exponential growth by embracing technological advancements. According to Goldman Sachs, the music revenue will grow to about $131 billion by 2030. With such whopping revenue numbers, we are sure to experience even better streaming services. The Indian music industry is estimated to reach 20 billion rupees by the end of 2022 which in itself is a huge opportunity. An opportunity that unlocks the potential of music-related businesses. Investment in technology will be at its peak owing to the endless possibilities. Algorithm-based music is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s immense potential in this space which will definitely surprise us in the years to come. We will soon enjoy the music of the future wherein our apps understand our minds and play songs to suit the occasion. Till then let’s enjoy the next track that our intelligent algorithms have lined up.

ADITI SARAWAGI

Original Music IN WEB SHOWS Web shows are a relatively new phenomenon and there is a lot of growth potential. They offer a lot of space to experiment. With the shift of focus of the entertainment industry to OTT platforms and shows, a lot of music is being created specifically for these shows instead of using Bollywood tracks. Title tracks of television shows have always been in demand but there were no dedicated cassettes or CD’s to tracks from TV shows. The digital medium has solved the problem of supply completely and has given rise to a whole new platform. With original programming, users have complete control as to what, when and how much they want to watch of a particular show. Music has always been an integral part of movies and television in India and with the transition to the web ,that has not changed. OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Zee5, MX Player, Sony Liv and Alt Balaji are creating original content with excellent storylines and are creating exclusive original soundtracks to go with the shows whose budgets are no less than any Bollywood movie. At the same time, buying the rights to Bollywood music would cost around 20-30 crores, whereas with original music, the costs are 1% of the same, so not only is an original OST a means to garner a larger audience, but is also more financially viable.

further attract new audiences, so it is a win-win for the music as well as for the shows. Another immensely popular young singer-Darshan Rawal, has taken all the charts by storm with ‘Yaara Teri Yaari’ from Four More Shots Please on Amazon Prime Video. Prateek Kuhad, another online star, has created the theme song for Netflix’s Little Things, and is part of innumerable top charts. Harshdeep Kaur and Akhil Sachdeva have scored the music for a track ‘Dua Ban Ja’ in It Happened in Calcutta, and it has gone on to become a very popular song. Kaam 25 , a song from Sacred Games, written and sung by Divine has close to 19 million hits on YouTube. New and upcoming musical talent has also been given a boost with web shows providing a wider berth for audiences as well as producers willing to experiment more. Fittrat on Zee5, had some amazing songs by Altamash Faridi, Jonita Gandhi, Sharvi Yadav and Sandman. Anurag Saikia, Raghav Chaitanya and Nikita Gandhi have also sung a beautiful track ‘Aise Kyun’ for Mismatched on Netflix.

Along with newbies, the Indian music industry stalwarts are also seen working for web shows. Shankar Ehsaan Loy composed twelve tracks for the OST of Amazon Prime Video’s Bandish Bandits- a mix of Hindustani classical with pop-and which has taken the nation by storm-both the show and the soundtrack. Netflix’s Ludo has a fun track ‘Aabaad Barbaad’ composed by Pritam and sung by Arijit Singh. Shreya Ghoshal has also lent her voice to a number in Alt Balaji’s Broken but Beautiful. The music for another show on the same platform, Cold Lassi aur Chicken Masala has been composed by Anu Malik, and the singers include Bollywood favourites Papon and Anmol Malik. Music is an integral part of a storyline and it conveys emotions like simply words never could. OTT platforms have recognised this, especially in terms of the Indian market, and along with producing stellar shows, they are giving equal focus to original music content too.

Web shows have in a way also reinstated the lost Indi-pop culture and audiences are loving the return of music videos and singles by their favourite singers. ALTBalaji’s original Broken But Beautiful garnered immense praise for its music by Amaal and Armaan Malik along with Anusha Mani-already popular amongst the country’s youth-these young artists The

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SNEHA RAMESH

In conversation with

Nithya Rajendran Nithya Rajendran is a dual Indian Classical vocalist in Hindustani and Carnatic music with over 3 decades training. She is founder and curator of Music Vruksh, an initiative to spread awareness and appreciation of Indian Classical music for its aes-thetic, spiritual, wellness and transformative potential.

What drew you towards wellness through music? Having been a vocalist for over 3 decades, classical music and singing were more than familiar. But how the wellness dimension got added was through intense person-al experience. As lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s travails took me through some pretty serious bumps, I dis-covered meditation, yoga and actively got on a path towards spiritual wellness. While on this path, which I continue to be on, I stumbled upon an amazing synergy between spiritual and holistic wellness and Indian Classical Music. I realised how symbiotic both were. About 6 years ago, I started noticing the inadvertent yet powerfully trans-formative impact music was having on many people I was performing for or those that I taught. I started formally structuring wellness for music and now I impart this structured set of techniques as wellness lessons.

Who did you learn from and what were your biggest learnings? Sometimes life and your responses to it are some of the best teachers. Much as is true with most spiritual realizations, my learnings about wellness, spirituality and music came like a secret book revealing itself to me while going through those tough life patches. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s amazing how much we think answers lie in books or intellectual learning while all answers actually are already available hidden within yourself. A powerful push from circumstances followed by submission with humility and patience to the sometimes painful process of self discovery, rewards one with precious gifts. One of the many gifts I have received in this spiritual pursuit is the discovery of how music and wellness are so symbiotic. I hope to continue discovering new

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truths and contin-ue to impart as much as I can for people out there who need to make spirituality and wellness a much more pleasant process .

the context of spiritual practices like meditation and mindfulness, and emotional wellness making the latter pursuits easier.

What methods do you use for the process of wellness through music?

Could you take us through some of the common problems you see amongst people you work with?

I am particular that one distinguishes music therapy from wellness through music. In countries like the UK and the United states, extensive research has backed the use of Western Classical music for various ailments and is a certified and structured field of therapy. In India we still do not have specific research backing for music as a means to physiological healing even though the potential is still enormous and re-search is underway. Where I believe I can contribute is musicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to serve as an aid to spiritual practice, emotional wellness and holistic mental and physical health, much like yoga or meditation. We can agree that if we are spiritually and emotionally well, physical wellness is only a natural by product. I teach people music and help them set it in

The most common issues I come across are anxiety, depression and sense of emo-tional chaos and turbulence. Most of these people also exhibit physiology that mirrors these mental states like hypertension, diabetes, eating disorders, addictions and pho-bias. What music has helped them in is to enable meditation more easily, become more disarmed and vulnerable with themselves and with their emotions and build a sense of connectedness with something outside of themselves. I have also seen people becoming more forgiving, less territorial and calmer, as music penetrated deeper into their lives.

Your message to youngsters of this generation. This message goes out to parents and children. Allow Indian Classical music to enter your lives. It could be in small ways initially. You could just have some raagas play-ing in the background while working or while doing homework. Allow music to penetrate your lives and slowly observe that your mental and emotional states become a lot more stable. You will see yourselves and your children happier and more at peace. You will see that practices of mindfulness and meditation become easier pursuits. You will see yourselves and your children bond with other human beings with more compassion and with a greater sense of unity when music is around, since music is a great leveller. Allow classical music to enter your lives and the magic of happiness and wellness will unfold by itself.

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NAVYA C

Hidden Brilliance of Minor Scales in Western Classical Music Western Classical Music is wellequipped with so many scales and versatility of the notes. However, the broader classification of the scales boils down to major and minor scales. With the presence of natural notes, and ease of hearing, major scale compositions are widely appreciated by the musical connoisseurs along with normal listeners. Major scale is also signified towards a cheerful and a happy emotion and termed as brighter scales for the listening and even performing. On the contrary, minor scales are attributed to dark feelings, deep emotions and some extent of inquisitiveness. The minor scales are often used for compositions that show up estrangement, anger or any of that sort of deeper aspects. As a result, the minor scale compositions including the ones from older era are somehow looked less often with admiration compared to the major scale compositions. But the beauty of minor scales is that- the notes evoke a deeper and multi layered emotion compared to the major scale compositions. Take the famous composition Ave

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Verum Corpus by Mozart. Though the composition starts in major scale with a kickoff, the real beauty comes in when the minor scale portion comes in. Many composers use this beautiful trick to take the listeners through a multitude of emotions by bringing in the best of the both worlds. However, the pure minor scale classics such as the famous Unfinished Symphony no.7 by Franz Schubert is an ultimate masterpiece and a text book composition for all those who would want to understand the brilliance of minor scales. Interestingly, much of film soundtrack composing and mainstream pop music is also realizing the hidden aspects of minor scales and the tremendous scope of it to be explored in western classical music. When complete minor scales are one aspect to be addressed, there are ample combinations of them that are too good to be true. The pentatonic minor blues scale has become the backbone for genres such as Jazz and Blues. This one golden scale has given us some mesmerizing compositions to cherish- without

realizing they are based on pure minor notes. Yesteryear legends such as Frank Sinatra, to the King of Pop Michael Jackson and even the recent sensation Ed Sheeran have discovered the beauty of minor scale songs. One such immediate Jazz number which we can never forget is ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ based on the pentatonic minor scale. The song is a great example of how a minor scale can be greatly used in a romantic perspective – and has a tinge of bubbliness to it. It disputes the popular belief that minor scales are more suitable for melancholic compositions. The recent magical number of Disney’s Alladdin – Speechless is also a classy minor scale composition. Though it has an element of pain in it, the song speaks of aggression, resilience and lot of hope and positivity for a brighter days ahead. So, take some time out for these lovely compositions in minor scales and go on a never before taken pathoff the beaten track!

Score Stars Junior: In conversation with Sshivin Shirodkar, a 13 year old guitarist Tell us about how you started to play the guitar I started at the age of 3. I was inspired by my uncle who is a musician. He had this amazing guitar and i just wanted to play it. My grandma got me my first guitar and there’s been no looking back.

Who are some of your idols in the music industry and why? I started by loving Slash from Guns n Roses. He has been extremely influential in my playing. Now I’ve graduated on to other guitarists. I am inspired by everyone from Joe Sat to Steve Vai - From EVH to Bumblefoot. There is Kingfish Ingram and the three kings of blues - BB king, Albert King and Freddie King. I love bands like Maiden, Megadeth and Metallica and Legendary artists like Guthrie Govan who’s my current highest of the high. I love our Indian musicians too across all principles. There’s Sanjoy Das, Gino Banks, Louiz Banks, Rhythm Shaw, Shanon Pereira, Amaal Malik to name a few

Tell us about your formal music education I have completed my Grade 8 in Trinity Rock and Pop Guitar. That’s a performance certificate where the repertoire consists of Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Frank Zappa, Joe Satriani and many more. Grade 8 is the advance level beyond which you have to do your undergrad in music which I’m planning to do from either Berklee college or MI (God willing).

What are some of the techniques you have recently learnt? Well a good guitarist is sometimes as good as the sound they can they produce. So apart from continuously improving my fine motor skills and playing technique on the guitar, I’m

understanding sound and the dynamics of performance. I have my own audio and video recording setup. Moreover i also have invested in some good performance equipment to be able to provide the same quality in Live as well as recorded playing. It’s all part of the learning.

Tell us about your teacher Well I’ve been taught by many teachers from the age of 3 to 10. While I’m thankful to all of them, i feel that i met my mentor at the age of 10. His name is Abhishek Shah. He’s dedicated his life to teaching and aims to raise the value of the profession of music education to an all time high. He plans to do this by consistently delivering quality music education and creating students and teachers of music through his career. He has been teaching for over 20 years.

What is your practise routine? Well practise is like breathing. It needs to be if i want to be successful in this industry. So i try to clock an average of 4 hours of practice everyday amidst school and other routines. I’m learning singing too.

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Studio Tour:

Compass Box Studio Ahmedabad 1. Tell us about the space Compass Box Studio is about 5 minutes away from Ahmedabad airport and is tucked away in the tranquil scenery of the outskirts of the city. The space itself is almost hexagonal, which made the construction much easier since we didn’t have any natural right angles. This does wonders for drums, electric guitars and loud instruments, and is tight enough for vocal tracking without the need for an additional isolation booth, so it is just one live room. The studio can accommodate up to 7 people playing live – as seen on our YouTube Live Sessions, but again, feels cozy for single and duo tracking. We have been very fortunate in that all the artists that have come to record here love the vibe and the space, and since we are all musicians, we have created a space that we would like to spend time in, with the colours, lighting and mood all contributing to that comfort.

2. Take us through the process of setting it up The studio took me about 4 months to set up. The space was already there, so the acoustics, sound treatment, room calibration was all done by myself – thanks mainly to YouTube – meaning this was primarily a DIY project. The design, sourcing and contracting was all done right here in Ahmedabad while it had the intentions of being

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a glorified home studio, I wanted to make sure it was on par with established recording requirements and conditions.

3. What are some of the studio essentials you would recommend? It really depends what your studio is going to be used for. If you have a limited space, and you are sure you want to be able to record bands live, sacrificing your control room and allocating as much space to the live room is a good idea – which is what we have done. That will automatically determine the kind of gear and hardware you will get. I think investing in good quality stands and cables can definitely go a long way. Lighting is an often disregarded studio essential - I believe that since you and your clients will be spending time there, might as well make it look pretty.

4. What equipment do you use? We are one of the few studios in Gujarat that is fully decked out to record a full band live with 16 channels of multitrack available. At the heart of our studio is a UAD Apollo x8p, with 8 unison preamps which can emulate anything from classic Neves to APIs and Manleys. We are also in

the process of upgrading our Focusrite ADAT extension to 500 series mic pres, which will be populated by Neve 511s, SSL and Focusrite to name a few. We have a drum kit, tube guitar amps, bass amps, guitars and basses – so basically everything you need to come down and record your single, EP or album. Our mic locker consists of Audix, Blue, Sennhiser, Shure, Audio-Technica, sE Electronics, Rode, Avantone, Warm Audio to name a few, ranging from active ribbon mics, matched SDCs, LDCs, dynamics and even tube mics.

5. Pieces of gear you cannot live without Probably our mics. The 2 workhorses end up being the WA-47 and the Rode NTR which have found their way on almost every recording we have ever produced here at Compass Box.

6. Describe your work day It depends on how many projects we are working on at the same time, Ahmedabad is not known as a hub for indie music work. Since we have the space and the instruments, we typically don’t end up using MIDI and VSTs on our recordings, so a single, EP or album can take some time because we track everything acoustically. Our Live Sessions – a platform on YouTube where we release a live recording of original indie artists from all over India – are full day recordings, where we start at around 8 in the morning and get done at around 8 in the evening, which ends up being super tiring, but also very rewarding as we have worked with over 40 artists all over India at this point. It’s also so much fun, since the whole Compass Box crew is assembled for all the Live Sessions.

7. How did you get past 2020 and the releases? Tell us more

9. Tips to aspiring owners of studios

Our Live Sessions had to stop due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown, so we did a couple of collaboration projects, and ended up releasing some music, including our compilation album featuring some of the artist from the Live Sessions, on all streaming platforms. Ultimately, none of this would be possible without the team we have here.

Know what you want to make your space for. If your space is mainly going to be used for mixing and programming, then you need a very different approach to how you are going to be using your space versus creating the same space for live instruments. Do you want to record full bands? Or just single session overdubs? Knowing this will help with your budget as well as the size. Also know that while gear it important, it is the last contributing chain to your sound. As Bobby Owsinski puts it, 50% of the sound is the instrument plus the musician, 20% is the room, 20% is where you place the mic and only the last 10% is the mic, pre and other outboard gear.

8. What’s your next buy for the studio? The Cranborne 500ADAT will allow us to interface our outboard preamps like the Neve and SSL into the Apollo, that will ultimately give us 8 apollo channels and 8 outboard pres as well.

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INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

for the Millennials?

Why Not! Article written by Nirali Kartik, Classical artist and one half of the band Maati Baani’ Contrary to what many old timers might think, a lot of millennials find immense joy in the beauty and grandeur of Indian classical music. Many millennial classical musicians talk about ragas, daily riyaz, the aesthetics et al. They delve into the design, clarity and precision aspects of a performance. This is the world that the new breed of millennial classical musician lives in and that’s why it’s amusing when a recent market research conducted by a popular tea brand on the subject came out. That research revealed that teenagers who have been exposed to Indian Classical Music kept that as a secret with their peers as they felt they would be made fun of. Some classical mu-sic videos have comments from teenagers complaining about the fact that they are mocked because of their love for classical music. On one hand, there are millennials for whom classical music is a universe in itself and on the other, there is a much larger group that considers classical music to be uncool. If this makes you wonder why? Here are some answers. Indians take much pride in their traditions and classical music is a part of India’s traditional music. When things are traditional by default, they become sacred. And when it becomes sacred, it needs to be revered. At times, this reverence turns into fear as there are “guards’ to protect this tradition and are ready to shoot people who don’t adhere to its rules. When one of the most prominent vocalists of the country, Smt.Kaushiki Chakraborty sang for Coke studio, she performed a song based on Raga Hansadhwani. She got messages from the ‘purists’, saying how can a serious classical musician stand and sing? And in a video she retaliated that how can she be a lesser classical vocalist if she stands and sings.

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How can this chasm, which is putting the existence of Indian classical music in danger, be filled? How can classical music be made more relevant? How can ragas be a part of a millennial’s playlist? How to reach a point when millennials start talking about ragas just as they talk about new song releases? A succinctly expressed post by a very promising vocalist Anuja Kamat had some good answers. She had questioned the usage of the word ‘sadhana’ only for musicians, more so for classical musicians. She has emphasized that why ‘sadhana’ is not used for other professionals like scientists or sportspersons? If you ask any Indian Classical musician, they will gladly admit that practising that classical mu-sic has enhanced how they experience life in general and not something that they should fear, thanks to their Gurus! It’s important for everyone to be a little less stoic when it comes to classi-cal music and make room for experimentation, innovation and collaborations. People also need to be less judgemental when an artist is trying to do something different and instead try to see the thought behind it. Can there be a physical space in India where classical music is taught as an art form along with other musical genres? This can greatly help a classical music student to see how she/ he can adapt to other musical genres. There can be more shows and series that portray classical music as a rich musical legacy like how it was done amazingly well in Bandish Bandits. There are endless crime and gangster dra-mas on air today. Something as fantastic as classical music, definitely deserves some more bandwidth. On TV, there aren’t that many classical programs in a contemporary format. The airwaves are filled with the age old format with a boring looking stage when it comes to classical music presentation. Can Indian classical musicians and organisers come up with an improved way of presentation? Venues with a scope to make the ambience look beautiful and not

just a stage with sponsor hoardings right behind the artist are something that organisers should look at. Facilitation of Indian classical music on popular mediums like playlists and radio will also go a long way in making it popular. From relaxation to healing, ragas can serve a purpose too. They can put listeners in a romantic mood as easily as they can bring out their devotional side. Anyone who loves and breathes classical music will be overjoyed at the possibility of letting more people experience the richness and wholesomeness of this musical genre. The

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AKARSH SHEKHAR

A Lo ve cr af ti an Lo ve Af fa ir :

WHY DOES METAL LOVE HP LOVECRAFT? Heavy Metal is one of the last genres of music that most outsiders would consider to be literary. In fact, for most of them, it couldn’t be far from it. For the uninitiated, Heavy Metal’s lyrical themes just deal with violence, bloodshed and copious amounts of drug usage. While those subjects do form a minor chunk of metal music, a lot of people would be surprised by how much of metal is influenced by works of literature. From Iron Maiden’s interpretation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Rime Of The Ancient Mariner to the entire Lord of The Rings based catalogue of Summoning, metal is filled with songs based on popular literary works. Given the aggressive and abrasive nature of the music in general, horror literature goes even better with it. And no horror author has inspired metal bands more than the American sci-fi/horror pioneer H.P. Lovecraft. In the Lovecraftian universe, humanity resides on the ruins of a horrific prehistoric age. One dominated by monstrous amphibious creatures and giant gods. These creatures possess magical powers and a level of intellect which go far beyond human comprehension. This strange pantheon of gods features the squid headed Ctulhu, the crawling chaos Nyarlathotep, the pustule god Yog Sothoth, the aquatic god Dagon and a number of other tentacled creatures. These creatures combined science with magic and their only goal was to cleanse earth of its carbon based life and become its unopposed rulers. These horrific gods were the ultimate misanthropes, they didn’t just hate people, they wanted to kill ‘em all. Total brutal metal. Here are some of the most legendary metal songs written about Lovecraftian nightmares:

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Morbid Angel - Angel Of Disease Morbid Angel’s driving force is the arcane guitar wizardry of e is Trey Azagthoth. That surnam an of h muc how enough to tell you on e hav will ft ecra influence Lov the band’s music. Off Covenant, m the best selling death metal albu line the has g of all time, this son Chanting to the Ancient Ones... a Shub Niggurath, the goat with . said thousand young, enough

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Black Sabbath Behind The Wall of Sleep

This iconic de ath metal song is named after a popular Love craft story about st range beings that attack human s once they us e their pineal gland to transcend the normal bounda ries of existenc e. Can you even get more metal ?

Rigor Mortis Re-Animator This gory Lovecraftian story of bringing the dead back to life was also made into a cult classic movie featuring Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton in the 80s. The song pays homage to both the story and the movie.

Based on Lovecraft’s famous Beyond The Wall of Sleep, this Sabbath classic is on the band’s debut album, which is considered by many to be the first metal album. How perfect is that!

Christian Muenzner Shadow Over Innsmouth The second instrumental track on the list. Christian Muenzner, the German guitar genius (ex Necrophagist and Obscura) leaves no stone unturned in bringing the horror and dread of Innsmouth back to life through a little over five minutes of guitar wizardry.

Mekong Delta - Age Of Agony Zann The opening track of the incredible album, The Music of Erich fully wonder a is (based on a famous Lovecraft story), Age of Agony suitably composed track with astral riffs, spectacular playing and some this odd, on except album any on terrible sound would weird vocals which . classic l origina and ng charmi

AKARSH SHEKHAR JBL Commercial Comes to India With Two Lavalier Microphones - CSLM20 and CSLM20B Harman Professional Solutions has recently launched its JBL Commercial series in India, This is a new audio brand of the company that is aimed at fulfilling the requirements of content creators and professionals seeking high quality sound at low prices. The brand is being launched with two lavalier microphones that are meant to make content creation and professional presentation easier, efficient and elegant. Both the lavalier microphones CSLM20 and CSLM20B are now available for Indian buyers through Amazon. Aditya Todi, Senior Director – Sales & Marketing Harman Professional Solutions, India and SAARC spoke about the

debut of the JBL Commercial brand in India. He said, “JBL Professional is an iconic audio brand that has been catering to the needs of professional communities for more than 75 years. There is now a growing section of consumers that are starting out as content creators and working professionals. For these promising and ambitious consumers, we are excited to introduce the JBL Commercial line in India. The two lavalier microphones- CSLM20 and CSLM20B are a starter kit for content creators and working pros looking to add a professional touch to their content and presentation. We are looking forward to launching a wide range of products this year that will truly elevate the experience of working and creating content.”

JBL Commercial CSLM20 omnidirectional Lavalier microphone

JBL Commercial CSLM20B Lavalier microphone

The JBL Commercial CSLM20 omnidirectional Lavalier microphone comes with a windshield and an earphone that is ideal for on-the-spot audio monitoring. The comfortable earphones can also be utilized by work-from-home professionals during video and conference calls. The device is compatible with most smartphones, laptops, PC/Mac, and tablets. The CSLM20 is a clip-on omnidirectional lavalier. Easy to clip at multiple angles, it provides great flexibility to content creators and presenters. Whether you’re recording your next hit YouTube cover or making an Instagram video, you can monitor your sound with ease. The earphone also makes it an ideal mic for work-from-home professionals for conference calls.

The JBL Commercial CSLM20B Lavalier microphone is battery operated and it comes with a 3.5mm TRRS jack. The mic is great for recording, podcasts, interviews, vlogging, presentations, speeches, and more. The 360 degrees omnidirectional pickup makes it fantastic for recording audio. The mic is compatible with smartphones, most DSLR cameras, audio mixers and amplifiers. The JBL Commercial CSLM20B omnidirectional Lavalier microphone has been priced very competitively at Rs 999. The device can be purchased all over India through Amazon.

The JBL Commercial CSLM20 omnidirectional Lavalier microphone has been priced very competitively at Rs 999. The device can be purchased all over India through Amazon. What’s in the box? • JBL Commercial CSLM20 Lapel Microphone with Earphone • Extra tie-clip • Extra windshield • Carry pouch • TRS Adapter Key Features • Omnidirectional pickup pattern • 3.5mm TRRS jack compatible with laptops & most smartphones • Single earphone for calls, video conferences and monitoring • Cable Length: 2 Metres • Tie-clip, windshield, carrying pouch included • Extremely lightweight Best For • Content Creation • Vlogging • Voiceover / Dubbing • Recording • Conference Calls

What’s in the box? • JBL Commercial CSLM20B Battery-Powered Lapel Microphone • Extra tie-clip • Extra windshield • Carry pouch • LR44 Battery Key features • Omnidirectional pickup pattern • 3.5mm TRRS jack compatible with smartphones & most DSLR cameras • Can be used with mixer amplifiers with 1/4” (6.3mm) adapter • Powered by LR44 type battery to connect to DSLR cameras • Cable Length: 6 Meters • Application: Content Creation, Voice over/Dubbing, Recording, Conference Calls • Tie-clip, windshield, 1/4” (6.3mm) adapter, LR44 battery, carry pouch included Best For • Content Creation • Vlogging • Voiceover / Dubbing • Recording • Conference Calls

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AKARSH SHEKHAR

How to Use Multi-Effect Processors with

Keyboards & Synths A Let’s look at some ways in which you can add multiple effects, all of which can be stored with your handcrafted settings (per synth preset), to your favorite synthesizer - guitar multi-effects pedals. By connecting the MIDI Out of your effectschallenged synth to the MIDI In of a multieffects pedal, you’ll be able to assign a specified effects preset number to one or more of your synth’s preset numbers. When you change to a preset on your synth, the multi-effects pedal will go to the effects preset of your choosing. Additionally, most of these multi-effects pedals include a high-resolution tuner, which can be invaluable for those with analog synthesizers, whose pitches drift as the temperature changes.

Two important questions you’ll need to answer are:

2 Is it necessary for the multi-effects unit to have the ability to change effects presets via MIDI Program Change messages sent from your synth? The answer to this question depends on how important it is that every synth preset has a specified multi-effect that gets called up when you change to that preset. If your synth is without presets, then a 5-pin DIN MIDI In jack is not as important. In case you just want a universal multieffects setting that works on all your synth sounds, you may ignore the MIDI Program Changes. Here are some of the many multi-effects pedals that are ideal for keyboards and synths:

‣ Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler Pedal

1 Is a single mono input sufficient, or does the multi effects unit need stereo inputs? The answer to this question comes from the type of keyboard you’re connecting to your multi-effects pedal. If your synth’s output is mono (monaural — one output jack), then you can choose from any multi-effects pedal, whether it has mono or stereo inputs. If your synth is stereo because it has the ability to pan voices or layers, you will probably want to choose a multi-effects pedal that has stereo input jacks.

s the 21st century dawned upon us, a lot of keyboard workstations and synthesizers started featuring built in effects that kept improving every year, at an almost exponential pace. But, suddenly, fascination with true-analog synths and synth modules led to an era in which some synths and modules featured extremely simple effects/no effects at all. Add a guitar pedal (or more) to these synths and you could get even more out of your synths. But you lost the convenience of storing specific effects settings for each preset.

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The Line 6 M13 has stereo in and out jacks, 5-pin DIN MIDI In and Out jacks, two assignable expression pedal input jacks, and stereo FX send and return jacks. You can have up to four effects at once, and each can be choosen from any of 100 effect types.

‣ TC Electronic PLETHORA X5 TonePrint Multi-FX Pedalboard

The PLETHORA X5 features stereo ins and outs, FX send and return jacks, 5-pin DIN MIDI In and Thru jacks, an assignable expression pedal jack, and a USB port for firmware updates and TonePrint Editor/Librarian connection. All five of the effect-bypass footswitches are what TC calls MASH footswitches, meaning that they are pressure sensitive and can be assigned to three different parameters at once.

‣ Zoom G1X FOUR Multi-effects Processor

The Zoom G1X FOUR is an example of a multi-effects pedal for those who only need to send a mono (monaural) signal and won’t be using MIDI Program Change messages to change effects presets. You get five simultaneous effects (with a choice of 70+ effect types), a master EQ, a tuner, a drum-pattern player, a 30-second looper, and a built-in assignable expression pedal.

AKARSH SHEKHAR

PRO TIPS FOR RECORDING A GRAND PIANO Comprised of over 12,000 moving parts, a nine-foot-long grand piano is one of the most complex and largest instruments that any musician will ever play. No matter the genre - classical, rock, jazz, metal, country or pop, a grand piano always has a place. Recording such a grand instrument is also a grand task and it should be performed meticulously. The grand piano can be recorded in multiple ways. Usually, most people have access to just a single grand piano and it’s generally the style of music that dictates the type of microphones and mic placement. Sometimes a given type of music will require you to move the piano into a different physical space to take advantage of its distinct acoustic properties. The best way to learn which of the mic placements works best for you is to experiment, but here are a few of the many approaches that people regularly use. There is no best approach — a well-rounded engineer will adjust to meet the specific circumstances of every session.

Cutting Through a Mix

For your piano to cut through the mix, whether on a rock track or a contemporary jazz track — you should try out a spaced pair of small-diaphragm microphones with a cardioid pattern about six inches above the hammers. This placement emphasizes the percussive aspects of a piano and it does a great job of capturing the sound of the hammers hitting the strings. It can also deemphasize the low end of the instrument a bit and brighten up the sound overall. Start with the mics about 15 inches apart and listen to the balance between the low and high strings. You’ll want to be sure that the two mics are spaced far enough apart that both the highest and lowest notes are pretty similar in level, but close enough together to prevent the notes from the middle of the piano from disappearing. There may be hot spots if the microphones are too close to the hammers, and the notes right under the mics will sound louder than those farther away.

Sitting in the Track

When the piano’s primary role on a session is support rather than being the featured instrument, especially when recording more old-school styles of music, a spaced pair of large-diaphragm mics inside the piano can be great. For this sort of application, you generally don’t need to emphasize either the transients or the high frequencies, but simply

want to capture a warm, full-range piano sound. Put a pair of large-diaphragm microphones with a cardioid pattern facing toward the strings, about 18 inches apart, four to six inches above the strings, and six to eight inches behind the hammers. The resulting sound is mellower and much better than when the mics are placed above the hammers. If you need to darken the recorded sound of the piano even more, move the mics farther from the hammers, closer to the end of the piano. Besides picking up a bit less of the transient high frequencies, this placement also brings the mics closer to where the instrument’s bass strings cross under the midrange strings, which will enhance the bottom end of the piano. Angle the mics slightly away from each other instead of pointing them straight down. to get a bit more left to right separation.

Capturing a More Classical Sound

The mic setups discussed so far involve placing microphones inside the piano, but — when you’re working in the world of classical music — things change. Most of the concertgoers who listen to classical music are more familiar with the sound of an un-miked grand piano in an acoustic space like a recital hall. The

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AKARSH SHEKHAR

How to Stack Your Distortion Pedals Like a Boss? If you’ve used more than one distortion pedal at a time, you’ve “stacked” them. Based on your pedals and their respective settings, you might have got mixed results. The basic idea however, is solid. Use the first gain pedal to boost or colour the sound of another. While the concept is simple, the details make all the difference.

Tips for Stacking Pedals 1. The last pedal in the stack has the biggest influence on the tone. 2. A clean boost can be used as gain boost in front of an overdrive pedal or a volume boost if placed after.

Stacking overdrive/gain/boost/distortion/fuzz pedals can help you accomplish a variety of sonic goals. You can set them up to be multiple gain stages. A common setup for that is a light gain pedal followed by a heavier gain pedal. When dialed in correctly, this can create four awesome and distinct sounds: clean, dirty, heavy, or saturated.

3. Some pedals are great at specific jobs. Transparent drives are great for adding gain or boost to a sound you don’t want to alter, like a second channel or gain stage. TS-style drives boost mids, taper highs and lows, and add some compression and a bit of clean, undistorted signal to the mix. These are great for making a lead stand out or tightening up a chunky rhythm sound.

Fuzz pedals add a unique color palette to your overall sound but function in pretty much the same way as any other drive pedal. In case you feel that your fuzz pedal is at its best with the gain set high, use it as a heavier-gain pedal. In case you like the sound with a lower-gain setting, treat it as a lower gain pedal itself.

4. All drive pedals have an inherent sound and EQ curve. Knowing what that curve is will help you know how and where to stack a pedal. To figure out what your pedal sounds like, try these steps:

You can also utilize drive pedal stacks if you want to alter the overall character of your existing rig. In order to provide yourselves with an alternate set of sounds, begin with a pedal that has the tonal characteristics of a specific amp, ideally one that is different from your amp. After that, stack it up with a pedal featuring a different flavour of gain. This will create two distinct amp tones that can easily be overdriven.

• Set the Gain control at 9:00 or 10:00, lower if the pedal still responds properly.

For maximum flexibility, start with a clean amp sound while stacking gain pedals. The concept can work with a dirty amp too, but the less distorted your amp setting, the more you can influence the sound with pedals.

• Bring up the gain incrementally and toggle between on and off. Does the character of the pedal change? Is it a good thing?

• Start with the EQ controls set to flat (typically 12:00).

• Match the volume control so the level is the same when the pedal is engaged/disengaged. • Play a chord with the pedal off. Turn the pedal on and play the same chord. Listen to the EQ differences in the two sounds. Are there more or less mids? Does the low end shift noticeably? Are the highs the same?

• Do the same with the Volume control while adjusting the Gain to different settings. Some pedals sound better turned up or driving your amp harder.

Finding the optimum gain staging between pedals is important. Too much gain or level can cause excessive hiss or hum, handling noise, weird EQ, and compression, and it can actually make your sounds seem smaller.

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How to Get the Perfect

Computer for Music

Production? In order to set a benchmark for your computer’s specs, you should primarily focus on the requirements of your DAW. While the manufacturers may list their “minimum” requirements for the software, you’re unlikely to be able to use your software to its full potential with the minimum system specs. Let’s take a look at the most accessible computer specs and shed some light on what to look for.

Processor

Your processor is the brain of your computer and it determines your system’s capabilities. Capabilities such as: how many virtual instruments you can run, how many tracks you’ll be able to have in your sessions, how quickly offline bouncing occurs, and so on. Considering this, most audio engineers would recommend getting the most powerful processor available for your chosen computer.

Can I upgrade my computer’s processor later?

If you’re going with a Windows PC, you may be able to upgrade the processor in the future if you decide you need more processing power. If you go for a Mac device, upgrading your processor won’t be possible. If you are planning to buy a Mac device, try to get one with the fastest possible processor at the time of purchase. Then you won’t need to consider a more powerful CPU for years, regardless of which platform you’re on.

RAM

No matter what you’re doing with your computer, the mantra has always been “the more RAM, the better.” RAM, or random-access memory, allows your computer to hold data for immediate access. More RAM means more audio tracks, more sample-based instruments, more simultaneous tasks, and faster overall system performance. RAM is definitely a lot easier to upgrade than a CPU, but you will be better off if you add as much as possible from the beginning.

Can I upgrade my computer’s RAM later? It depends — you’ll want to confirm this for the specific computer you’re looking at before you commit to it. Most likely, you’ll be able to upgrade the RAM on any Windows PC that is suitable for music production. On the Mac side, some models support RAM upgrades by the user, some can be upgraded but only by Apple, and some models have soldered-in RAM and cannot be upgraded at all.

Onboard storage — hard disk drive or solid-state?

Onboard storage is extremely important. You must choose between an old-school hard disk drive or a solidstate drive. Solid-state drives are much faster when it comes to accessing files — your system will boot up quicker, applications will be faster, and tasks will take less time. Since solid-state drives have no moving parts, they’re more tolerant of bumps and drops than hard disk drives are. While hard disk drives are less expensive and support larger capacities, most media professionals will agree that the performance benefits of solid-state drives leave hard disk drives way behind.

Should I Get a Desktop or a Laptop?

Unless you are setting up a mobile recording rig or want to be able to produce music anywhere at any time, you’ll definitely want to consider whether you really need the portability a laptop provides. As a general rule, a laptop is going to cost more than a desktop computer of comparable power and often will not offer as many ports or upgrade options. Many laptops will make fine music-production machines, but if your laptop ends up parked on the desk in your studio, then you’re not making the most out of it. If you’re not sure whether your music-production computer really needs the portability of a laptop, consider your budget and take a look at what a desktop computer would offer you in terms of power for the same price.

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LOOKS GOOD, SOUNDS GOOD - BEST MUSIC ART OF JANUARY 2021

Curated by Score

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unveils new features and unrivalled user experience with GLM 4 Genelec - the global leader in professional loudspeakers - has announced a major free upgrade to its hugely popular GLM software for audio monitor system setup, calibration and control. The next-generation GLM 4 now gives users of Genelec Smart Active Monitors the benefits of Mac Catalina compatibility, an elegant new user interface, and a host of valuable new features. By minimising the room’s distractive acoustic influence on the sound quality, GLM 4 provides an unrivalled and truthful sonic reference - wherever the user chooses to work. GLM 4 therefore powers creativity, producing mixes that translate consistently to other rooms and playback systems. Based on decades of research data from thousands of studios worldwide, GLM 4 integrates seamlessly with the intelligent DSP hardware within each Smart Active Monitor, allowing each monitor and subwoofer to be networked, configured and individually calibrated for the user’s specific acoustic environment. GLM’s reference microphone kit allows the user’s room acoustics to be accurately analysed, after which GLM’s AutoCal feature automatically optimises each monitor and subwoofer for level, distance delay, subwoofer crossover phase and room response equalisation. At that point the user has many options for further manual adjustment, thereby achieving complete personalisation if required. This level of flexibility makes GLM 4 the perfect tool both for users looking to fine tune an already excellent room, and those working in more challenging spaces not originally designed for creative use.

Compatible with Windows and Mac OS, including 10.15 Catalina, GLM 4 comes with a brand new user interface for faster, more intuitive and easier navigation. Created in conjunction with leading industrial designer Harri Koskinen, the new user interface fuses clean, attractive aesthetics with a unique character that users will find logical and hugely satisfying. Koskinen’s inspired hexagonal design also supports the idea of natural growth, in the sense that GLM helps develop the user’s own listening skills and allows a monitoring system to be easily expanded from mono to complex immersive as the user’s needs evolve.

Smart Active Monitors, GLM 4 offers the user unique benefits that no other room calibration system can offer.

GLM 4 offers all the functions of its GLM 3 predecessor, with the addition of new features including dedicated setup and control functions for immersive monitoring, and excellent compatibility with the increasing number of audio monitoring standards in international mastering, broadcast, OTT and film. GLM 4 supports Cloudbased and local storage of settings, giving the user options for complete mobility, with the Cloud helpdesk always on hand to provide remote consultancy via a team of Genelec audio experts.

Additionally, since management and optimisation of the system takes place at the end of the signal chain - in the monitors and subwoofers themselves - GLM 4 users can benefit from fixed and low latency performance without having to bypass any monitoring software sitting on the master audio buss. This eases the creative process by avoiding the need to switch between ‘record’ and ‘mix’ modes, and once calibrated, GLM 4 settings can also be stored within the monitor or subwoofer itself, avoiding the possibility of accidental changes - and thus making GLM 4 perfect for multiuser rooms and demanding production environments.

In conjunction with the cutting-edge DSP hardware integral to all Genelec

GLM 4 supports fully scalable systems from mono and stereo to more than 80 channels of immersive reproduction, making it the most advanced, flexible and cost-effective room calibration system on the market. The tight integration of hardware and software also ensures the best possible system performance and dynamic range, and allows the user to switch between monitor setups without having to use extra DAW outputs - or invest in costly external hardware.

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MD 445 and MM 445

Closer. More direct. More intense. The most powerful version of our dynamic high-end microphone series enhances vocals with an unprecedented intimacy and range of detail. At the same time, the high-rejection, super-cardioid pattern offers an extremely high level of feedback resistance. Learn more about the MD 445 top-of-the-range microphone and the MM 445 capsule. www.sennheiser.com