The Score Magazine January 2020 issue

ISSN 0974 – 9128

Vol 13 Issue 01 January 2020

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INDIA'S NATIONAL PAN-GENRE MUSIC MAGAZINE

Band of the month

CRYOSIS Quirks & Queries

SHARANYA SRINIVAS Exclusive Interview:

DR. L SUBRAMANIAM & family A trip down each of their musical endeavors, what keeps them together, and more.

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DR. L SUBRAMANIAM & FAMILY QUIRKS & QUERIES

SHARANYA SRINIVAS

ARTIST OF THE MONTH

SUMESH NARAYANAN

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DR. L SUBRAMANIAM, KAVITA SUBRAMANIAM, AMBI & BINDU SUBRAMANIAM In this issue, we had the privilege of chatting with the musically rich family about their endeavors, what keeps them together, the importance of Classical music, and more.

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Read on to take a closer look at their journey!

Kavita Krishnamurthy How did you develop a flair for languages and how do you manage to separate the diction of each language?

I would credit a large part of this to my background. I am a Tamilian girl, who was brought up by a Bengali, in Delhi. When I came to Bombay in the 70s, to do jingles, I developed some flexibility with language and pronunciation.

When I was given an Assamese or Oriya jingle, I was able to relate it to Bengali. Singing in South Indian languages was easy because I can speak Tamil. For jingles like “washing powder Nirma,” I took notes on how the words had to be pronounced. But with time, I realized that more than pronouncing the words, it is important to understand the singing intonations and style of every language.

Could you talk about some of the vocal techniques that you have used in your career?

Growing up, I learnt Hindustani music. The radio was a major part of my childhood, and I listened to a lot of film music – especially Lata ji and Manna da.

When I came to Bollywood, it was a bit of a transition. I had to translate what I had learnt to suit the industry.

Since every song was script-based, I had to modulate or change the embellishments depending on how the actress was going to emote.

That was how I sang Hawa Hawai.

During your times did you face prejudice?

According to you, do you think common prejudices still exist in the industry?

Dr. L Subramaniam What were the challenges you faced as you took the Carnatic violin to global spaces?

The basic challenge was technique.

Earlier, the violin was primarily an accompanying musical instrument that was used to back up a vocal or other instruments. It was my father’s vision to make it a solo instrument around the world. He achieved this by

I was extremely fortunate to have been warmly welcomed into the industry. Since I was raised by a Bengali, the Bengali music directors accepted me readily. Nobody ever scrutinized my songs to check if I had a South Indian accent. At the time, there were very singers who came into Bollywood and there was some scrutiny overall, but it never affected me.

I can only share my personal experiences. I’m very grateful to have had a great musical journey in Bollywood, free of any kind of prejudice.

How important do you think is being relevant in the industry? What are the avenues that a legendary voice like yours can go to for artistic growth and fulfillment?

As far as Bollywood singing is concerned, my generation of singers had to sing live with the orchestra. If any mistake made, the whole song would have to rerecorded. Then, around the early nineties, dubbing techniques came in which made singing a bit easier. By early this century, singers started recording phrases.

In the 80s, technology wasn’t so advanced. So to adjust to this path in the nineties was easy.

Today, I feel like the traditional way of pronouncing some words has changed. Singers’ pronunciation has become a lot more personalised.

For me, things changed drastically when I got married and started exploring more fusion-style singing – for the orchestra. In the last few years, I’ve seen that I have opened up to more musical avenues than ever before.

creating many solo violin techniques.

He also focused on the tonal qualities and complex musicality of Carnatic music by playing compositions in multiple speeds, using all the four playing fingers on the violin for sliding and plucking the strings in addition to cross bowing techniques on the right hand. By doing this he was able to create a tonality which sounded as multiple players playing even though it was a soloist.

My father didn’t have the opportunity to listen to western music, but he The

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ensured that I had enough exposure to all styles of music. He incorporated various global musical elements into the violin while exploring its place as a solo instrument.

Another challenge in taking the Carnatic violin abroad was that it was treated as ethnic or folk music being played sitting on the floor.

People tended to put every foreign style of music (like African music, Indonesian music, etc.) under the same umbrella of world music. It took a lot of work to help them understand that this was the most unique, oldest and complex form of classical music.

What adaptations did you make to learn western classical music and how did you find the balance between the two playing styles?

Growing up, my older brother Vaidyanathan was interested in western music and had a piano. My father took me to a western music video show, and when I heard one of the violinists playing, I was fascinated by the structure of the music and the violin playing with such perfection. Later on I realized it was the beautiful music of J. S. Bach performed by none other than Jascha Heifetz. That gave me a deep desire to learn western composition and also take our violin and create our own identity for our classical violin by perfecting some of the technique created by my father to create unique and original identity for Indian violin.

When I was in my second year of medical college, I decided to became a musician since one of the German violinist who visited India and heard me play suggested to my father I have great potential to become internationally known violinist. I wanted to drop out of medicine at that time, but my mother did not let me. So I waited to finish my medical studies before I went abroad to do masters in western music. I learnt western music composition and had to learn some of the most difficult western music compositions like Paganini Caprice in addition to Bach, Beethoven, Mozart etc. But because I was so passionate, I didn’t find it too tough.

Could you tell us some important lessons that your father imparted to you?

My father’s first and foremost lesson was to work hard and passionately.

There is no substitute for hard work.

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Second, he always taught me that no matter how much I think I know, it is never enough. There is always scope to learn something new throughout life. When I was in medical college, he would make me read the notes which he would have prepared for music major students in colleges.

This gave me a foundation on the theoretical aspect of Indian music.

He believed in learning global music to help us ground ourselves more in Indian classical music.

He also used to organize music festivals in Sri Lanka in the 1930s. This also gave me lot of inspiration later on when I started organizing Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival.

My father always taught me that passion and focus are the driving factors; success and failures are just passing clouds. Today, everything I do is because of the seeds he planted.

While your violin sings effortlessly, have you learnt to sing as well?

Thank you for the compliment!

Initially, I did learn singing since my father wanted me to sing. My two sisters used to sing and my elder brother L. Vaidyanathan played the violin solo so beautifully.

My father used to play with my sisters and my brother took solo violin playing to a different level.

My father also wanted me to learn the Mridangam, but ultimately I learnt the violin because of him.

He was my hero and idol.

What is your approach towards composition and what shapes your creative process?

In western music, there were different periods of music like Baroque music, classical music, and romantic music. During these periods there were great composers like Vivaldi, J. S. Bach, Handle, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and so on.

Roughly every century, there has been a drastic change in western compositional styles. My contribution was to bring the global element in western composition. The first challenge was to erase the assumption that only western classical music comes under classical music, and everything else is ethnic. In fact, I feel we have the most complex melodic and rhythmic structure

among most of the musical styles.

We have 72 parent scales and millions of scales derived from it.

I started incorporating south Indian ragas and rhythmic concepts into western music. My compositions incorporated raga harmony concept which I developed and did my PhD. I also wrote different symphonic compositions like Mahatma Symphony and Bharat Symphony for 70th year of India’s Independence bringing in the history of India (in four stages: Vedic Period, Mughal Period, British Period and Post Independence) as a musical journey. Then the Mahatma Symphony which was composed to celebrate his 150th birth anniversary, is basically deals with later part of his life after leaving South Africa and coming back to India to get freedom for India through non violence and civil disobedience.

Depending on the composition, I use different themes and emotions.

When I wrote Bharat Symphony to celebrate 70 years of India, we started with the Vedic period using chants, then moved to the Mughal period with the introduction of Tabla. The third movement had a strong British orchestral element.

The fourth movement, postindependence had global elements.

I have been working and creating a contemporary classical global compositional concept based on Raga harmony and the other classical systems of music.

Ambi Subramaniam Tell us how you decided to pick up the Violin as an instrument Growing up, we were very fortunate to listen to a lot of music at home. I used to have a tiny violin that I played with my dad. As I grew older, my father started training me to become a violinist. That’s how I started out.

strict as a guru. He doesn’t allow even a little bit of slacking off; that’s how he learnt and that’s what made him the artist that he is. The first thing I learnt from him is that there are no excuses. As artists, doing one thing right doesn’t give us the right to do another thing badly.

I remember when I was in school, I had to play at a concert and was out of practice; at the performance, I sounded just about okay. At the end of the concert, my father asked me why I messed up. When I said it was because of exams, his immediate reaction was “are you going to say this to the audience?”

As I grew up, these dynamics evolved.

Now, when we work together, it’s nice for me to pitch ideas to him.

Sometimes, the fact that we have differing ideas is great, because it means I am able to contribute more.

How do you plan to build on your father’s vision?

My dad’s vision is something that is continuously evolving. When he started off, the focus was on composition and to take the Indian violin to where it is now. Over the last ten to fifteen years, the idea has been to create something that would last – which is why my sister Bindu and I took over the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa) and my father started the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival (LGMF). We want to make sure that India has a hub for global music. When an artist reaches a certain level, it is important that the art is not lost and is passed on to the next generation.

To us, music education is as important as performance. It makes an impact on every student and takes the music to a new level. This is something my father has always taught me, and I am passionate about teaching as well.

What’s on your plate at the moment?

What dynamics do you share with your father as Guru-Shishya?

Quite a lot, actually! Musically speaking, for me, the Carnatic violin is the number one priority – that is where my primary skill lies as an artist. I’m always exploring ways to grow and build on what I have, and that translates to the different projects I’m working on.

I think it has changed a lot over time.

Growing up, my father has always been relaxed as a parent but very

I play in a band called SubraMania with my sister – Bindu Subramaniam – and we have a few releases in the

In addition to the violin, I can also sing and play a little bit of the piano.

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pipeline. Our other collective, The Thayir Sadam Project (which we formed with Carnatic fusion artist Mahesh Raghvan and percussionist Akshay Anantapadmanabhan), also has some exciting stuff coming up.

We recently recorded a piece with the winner of Spotlight, a contest we conduct with SaPa and The Times of India. We wrote a piece for him specifically. A few months ago, we had the opportunity to record and perform live with the legendary Aruna Sairam ji, and it was amazing.

We learnt so much from her.

it liked us or not. (I’m not talking about whether we liked it or not.)

I also perform with my mother, and it’s in a different musical space.

What I love about it is that there are so many amazing musicians and the shows are all so diverse and multifaceted. It unlocks so many different avenues depending on the genre we’re working on.

What’s your take on the importance of vocal health and what do you do to take care of it?

How have you as a musician leveraged the digital space to reach out to your target audience?

Creating content for digital media is very different from what we perform at concerts. An audience member will look for something different at a concert, as compared to when they are scrolling through YouTube. As musicians, it’s important to recognize and acknowledge that difference.

Working with the digital space has been very interesting for me, because it has given me the opportunity to explore and try things that I wouldn’t normally be able to do at a concert.

In the Indian classical space, I have started playing short compositions for digital media. The Thayir Sadam Project also brings out a short weekly piece called Thayir Sadam Thursdays; it helps us engage with our audience more playfully, and also keeps us on our toes and create more content.

One of the best things about the digital age is the kind of collaboration that is possible – we can do so much online. Our audiences are not limited to one geography, which makes everything so much more fun.

Bindu Subramaniam Tell us about how you started learning music

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As Ambi said, music was a part of everything we did growing up.

Our father made sure we learnt violin, voice, and piano – whether

I read a lot of novels and decided that I didn’t want to be a musician.

I wanted to be a corporate lawyer with eighty-hour work weeks. But after three years of studying law in college, I told my father I didn’t want to be a lawyer anymore. He asked me to finish my degree anymore.

Music was a part of everything I did until I was 18 or 19 years old. After that, I felt that this was what I was meant to do.

I think it is very important to take care of your own instrument. A lot of us struggle with it. All of us have different voices in different situations. For me personally, I need to stay hydrated before my concert.

I always tell our students to keep themselves warm and stay hydrated.

I find that if I keep up a consistent level of physical activity, that helps my vocal health too. It’s also important not to have too many acidic foods in your diet.

Tell us about your songwriting process I find that songwriting is my most honest form of expression. It offers me an avenue to say things I wouldn’t normally be able to say.

My songwriting is very Berkleeoriented because I learnt the Berklee style of songwriting.

My development as a songwriter became very interested once I started teaching. I now work with students between seven and 15 years old, and when I see them exploring their own songwriting abilities, it helps me hone my skills as well.

I’ve had many kids ask me the secret to writing a good song. I always tell them that, to write a good song, you need to write a thousand bad songs.

How important is collaboration according to you and how have you explored that?

For me, collaboration is really important because it’s a great way to grow and get out of your comfort zone. It is a good way to see yourself in a different light. A lot of the music I’ve been making in the last few years has been collaborative, and that has been a conscious decision.

Even if I am performing solo, it is not entirely a solo effort.

Every music in some sense is

collaborative. Even when I sing songs with my daughter sometimes, I see that as a collaboration. It is always interesting to see what each musician has to bring to the table. For me, social media is in interesting monster.

As an individual, I am not very comfortable sharing personal details on social media. For example, I kept Mahati (my daughter) off social media for many years.

As an artist, I find it to be a beautiful way to interact with people who like your music or art. Like Ambi said, it is an interesting landscape to present or engage with other people. You can get real-time feedback. It is nice because it is a reality check in many ways.

In 2018, we released a song called Stargazer – in light of the #MeToo movement. It was darker than the songs we usually write, and we were overwhelmed by the honest and powerful messages we received in response.

We released a fun song called Superheroes Without Capes – exploring the small ways in which we can make a difference – with The Thayir Sadam Project. We shared a version of the track with children and asked them to explore the ways that they would change the world. We got responses from hundreds of kids around the world, writing their own lyrics and explaining how they would be a superhero.

Social media has been a wonderful way to see different people come together through the power of one idea. For us, it has been a great way to engage with our different audiences.

About SaPa Dr. L Subramaniam I wanted to impart music education to everyone – I wanted to share whatever my father taught me with the world. At this time, we had already established the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival in my father’s memory. My son Narayana came up with the name SaPa; we rented out a small place and taught students there.

After Bindu and Ambi took over, the institute was no longer looking at music education as an option. It is very important for every child to have the benefits of learning music. It helps them grow creatively, build the capacity to focus, and impacts them in all areas of life.

In 2014, Bindu and Ambi took SaPa to thousands of children through the SaPa in Schools initiative. SaPa in Schools aims to integrate music into the mainstream academic curriculum and use music as a gateway to building 21st century skills like teamwork, empathy and communication.

Bindu Subramaniam We are third-generation music educators – something which was central to our grandfather’s vision. It was extremely important to him to keep music education alive and impart knowledge in a meaningful way.

SaPa now has six centres in Bangalore and Chennai, and it’s our vision to nurture the next generation of musicians. What I really like is that our students are taking an interdisciplinary approach to learning music – we have children who learn songwriting from me, violin from Ambi, and singing from someone else. It’s great to see them learning to draw parallels between different elements of music early on in their lives.

I like to think of our SaPa centres as homes for the next generation of musicians. This is a space for them to learn,

perform, and interact with great musicians from all parts of the world.

General Questions How do each of you retain your individuality as musicians, while being a family?

Bindu: I think that is a very tricky question because for the longest time and even now to an extent, we are perceived as L.Subramaniam’s children. It is a great honour, but also a huge responsibility. We are extremely grateful for the legacy we come from, and are always exploring which parts of it we can build on.

Ambi: There has always been a focus on each of us finding our own voice. Growing up, it was important to develop and build on our skills but over a period of time, we found our own phrases. That process takes time.

Kavita ji: I had to leave my city and the world of Bollywood, which was my entire life; suddenly, I was the mother of three children after being a confirmed bachelor. I was now looking at how I could merge into his line of music and performances.

All of a sudden, I moved from recording spaces to the world of concert stages. There was a lot to adjust to but the best thing was that my husband always supported whatever I was doing unconditionally. He gave me total musical freedom.

The children also were independent in their thinking.

My husband had been a father and a mother. I was able to continue as a singer for a long time even after moving out.

I also think the children got their forward-thinking outlook from both their dad and mother Viji.

Is it necessary for classical music forms to evolve with time? What is your opinion about this pending debate?

Dr. L Subramaniam : It is extremely important. If you watch recordings from the greatest performers of the previous generations, you will see that they changed the direction and set a new tradition; this generation probably wouldn’t even know their names. In my father’s time, there were many artists who were responsible for bringing their art forms to the limelight.

In my generation, it was all about making music accessible to global audiences. It started with the cassette, EP, LP, CDs and more. Today, everything is available on digital media. It is important to adapt to what society needs at that time.

In any system, it is important to have a solid foundation and strong roots, which you can go on building and improving over time.

Ambi: Like my dad said, it’s a myth to say that classical music has stayed the same for several years, just because the classical music that we follow now is what the amazing musicians did back then. It is always evolving. The best thing is that it has both structure as well as freedom to grow and improvise. What classical music will be in twenty years is what the amazing musicians of today decide, and hopefully that will inspire people learning classical music now.

Kavita ji: Also when it comes to instrumental music, techniques have been changing continuously. What people played on the violin two hundred years ago has changed a lot now. .

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Sharanya Quirks & Queries:

Srinivas

Hailing from a family that has music inclination, tell us about your growing years and how you learnt from your dad I have always been inclined towards music from a very early age and my father sensed that. He put me on to his aunt (Padma Narayanan) who is a music college professor from Trivandrum and I learnt Carnatic music from her. She laid the foundation for it. As I grew older, I also learnt western music vocals from Augustine Paul and finished eighth grades. My dad has been instrumental in influencing me, all though in all the years I grew up, he was really busy with recordings as it was the peak of his career. He only used to advise me every now and then.

What were some important things you learnt in your earlier days of learning music?

I had always been someone who took things easy. I never understood the value of practice and learning. One of my biggest learnings has been to put in a lot of effort to practice and keep listening to good music. And to constantly evolve as an artist and to get more creative. As I get older, I feel it is important to always do your best no matter what.

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Who was your guru and what were your biggest learnings?

My first guru is Smt Padma Narayanan who taught me Carnatic music. She has been instrumental in instilling the foundation in me. My skills were enhanced because she has constantly pushed me to explore more, not just with respect to singing varnams and krithis correctly, but to aim for perfection and get into a creative space. Mr Augustine Paul was also a very important person in my journey as he helped me develop my voice texture and taught me all the right techniques while singing.

What’s your most favorite raaga and why?

I have too many! But my all-time favourites would be Keeravani and Charukesi. Actually Kaapi too. I get extremely emotional listening to them.

Some ragas have the ability to transcend everything and for me personally, these ragas do.

How long do you practice for on a regular day and how do you maintain vocal health?

When I am not traveling, I make it a point to practice on my mic every day for two hours. More than that makes me strain my voice too much. While traveling and doing shows, I warm up using some vocal drills that I found on YouTube. Maintaining vocal health is so important, especially while you’re on the move. I am not someone who follows something strictly, but a day prior to a show or recording, I make sure I get enough voice rest and don’t raise my voice too loud.

I always carry a flask with warm water and honey to make sure the vocal cords are fully hydrated.

Who are your favorite artists and who would you like to collaborate with?

I have plenty of them. These days there are so many phenomenal artists and it’s too difficult to pick so I’d be fortunate to work with anyone of that calibre. But if I were to pick, I would love to collaborate with Harish Sivaramakrishnan of Agam, and Sid Sriram.

Tell us about your upcoming collaborations and projects There are some film songs in the pipeline, and apart from that, a couple of other collaborations with the super talented Mahesh Raghavan.

Music connoisseurs are aware of our earlier collaborations and that has encouraged us to work more often. Stay tuned!

ARTIST OF THE MONTH:

SUMESH NARAYANAN

You play a variety of percussion instruments. What’s your most favourite and why?

How important is collaboration according to you? Tell us your best collaborations

Anything and everything that I create are essentially sounds that I make with my mouth.

It is quite funny actually but I have to hear the quickest and closest representation of that musical idea as and when it comes. Its gotta be my mouth!

As a creative artist, it is very important and integral for me to constantly look to newer fields to play in and to acquire knowledge in any form.

When 2 or more artists come together it also brings about a cross-pollination between the respective audiences and that’s is a very healthy way forward in creative streams.

Because experiencing music or watching an art form is innately creative by itself.

My best collaborations have to be with the band Indosoul and the acclaimed dancer Mythili Prakash who’s production I had scored the music for along with Aditya Prakash and performed for the premiers in London.

To a person who has never seen you play, how would you describe your music/sound?

I’m a "hand-drummer” who’s trained in what’s called Carnatic Music from South India for over 20 years. The training has equipped me with the capacity to assimilate and try to understand other forms of musical presentation in a constant attempt to widen my vocabulary and to strengthen what I already know.

Tell us about the different instruments you use During the traditional concerts or kutcheris that I play in, I only use the Mridangam. But when I play a percussionist role, I have a more hybrid setup that includes the Bongos, Darbuka, Congas, and the Cajon apart from the Mridangam.

What genres of music do you play and which is your most favorite?

I play Carnatic and Contemporary Carnatic, so that’s my identity.

Maybe Funk? Rock? I don’t know honestly.

Artists you’d love to play/ collaborate with I am LITERALLY open to collaborating with as many as I can, just here to do my thing and learn a lot on the way

Tell us about your set up I have my mridangams custom hand-made here in Chennai by some of the finest artisans in the world.

I use the LP Generation II bongos, Meinl Darbuka, a few Wuhan cymbals and splashes and my Cajon that's made

by Sela. I get my hardware fabricated according to my needs here in Chennai as well

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SHREYA BOSE

INDIE

reviews

Girls Amass (Purple Patch): It is difficult to go wrong with classic rock influences. On the other hand, it is also difficult to really stand out with classic rock influences. At this point, even the most casual listener has heard enough of The Who and Deep Purple to identify the primary riffs. It takes a whole other kind of singularity (cue The Grateful Dead) to distinguish a sound as unique in this particular musical context.

Purple Patch, a Pune-based rock band falls of achieving that uniqueness. They are a perfectly solid, technically by-the-book unit that remain faithful to the time-tested feel good sounds.

Dominated by the guitar, the band swerves

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through a slew of not-unpleasant arpeggios in every song. Unfortunately, the vocalist’s drawl does not fit into the mix. It is often misaligned with the instrumentals and displays a heavy, inauthentic-sounding accent. Instead of locating his own musical sweet spot, he sounds like he is trying to emulate his favourite vocalist. While that might be a touching tribute, he is also trying entirely too hard.

Girls Amass is not bad, but it is too obviously amateurish. There is not much that makes it memorable, be it the convoluted plea to a lover in Go Easy or the half-nasal enunciation in Hands All Over.

Can that be forgiven since this is just their debut and the band is probably trying to come into its own musically?

That, listener, is for you to answer.

Reggae Over India (Bombay Bassment): Few bands make

good music as consistently as Bombay Bassment. Every track they ever put out is a veritable explosion; one would think they consider it a personal challenge to make sure that no one can stay off their feet while they play.

Two Goans, one Mumbaiker, and one Kenyan continue to play around with hip hop, drum ‘n’ bass, funk and reggae in their new single. It's a tribute to India’s burgeoning

reggae culture, with Bob Omulo/MC Bobkat dropping Jamaicantinged rhyme in a voice resembling heady shots of tropical rum. Levin Mendes ( drums), Ruel Barretto ( bass), Chandrashekhar Kunder/ Dj Major C (production/ sampling) frame those vocals with perfectly-timed, adrenalineinspiring beats that fit right into everyone’s weekend festival plans. Perfectly placed are the time-honoured themes reggae favours - love, peace and human unity. It is an instant earworm, and deserves to be a permanent fixture on all of your should New Year party playlists.

Mausam (Sadu): Remember Aryans, the 90s indipop band that gave us Ankhon mein tera hi chehra and it's music video starring a youthful Shahid Kapoor?

One of their vocalists, Sadasivan KM Nambisan aka Sadu has released a new single which can be classified as a rock ballad - of sorts.

Here’s the thing. Sadu has an admirably trained voiced which he is able to apply with significant skill. In Mausam, he sings of bittersweet longing and anticipation that is often a synonym for love. But his melodious crooning is out of place with the rock instrumental, which against, are very

well done. The song has become a classic case of two expertly created, more than legitimate worlds coming together and not quite fitting in.

Nonetheless, it does carry nostalgic value. Even though Sadu’s voice would fit better in a star-studded Bollywood romance, it tugs at the heartstrings of anyone who was a part of the indipop craze (Colonial Cousins? Bombay Vikings, anyone?) It is a warm, charming song that is thoroughly uncomplicated.

It doesn’t require analysis. You either like it or you don’t.

Apparently, Sadu intends to revive “good music with simple melodies and nice lyrics.” While the indie soundscape has plenty of that to offer, Sadu is a welcome addition.

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SHAURYA SINGH THAPA

Airlines, musicians, and damaged instruments

For many musicians, the instruments they play are like parts of their body. For others, their music instruments might be their lover, pet, or child. So much so, that during flights, some artists book a separate seat for their instrument!

However, there are some who can't do that.

In cases like these, there are high chances that the instrument breaks in the course of air travel. Now, what can be more heartbreaking for an instrumentalist?

In recent years, music instrument mishaps in flights came in the forefront with the case of Myrna Herzog being the most talked about in the international level. Herzog, a classical musician from Israel, took a flight from Rio De Janiero in 2018, and while she did want to book an extra seat for her precious viola de gamba (dated 17th century) but there were no spare seats in the airplane.

Alitalia airlines were still ready to treat the viola with special care like other fragile items on board. But then what happened can be summed up best in Herzog’s rant on her Facebook, ‘This is how Alitalia# delivered to me my original 17th century Lewis viola da gamba, after ensuring to me that it would be TAKEN

BY HAND into the plane and out of it! It was savagely vandalized; it and it seems that a car ran over it. So, far no luck in contacting any human being at Alitalia, and the only answer got so far is that the company takes no responsibility!’.

After her post began to be shared by several enraged musicians who faced similar troubles, the airlines said that it would engage in further investigations.

These eventually turned out to be futile as Alitalia released a statement that Herzog did sign a limited release form before boarding her flight. Such forms are basically used for transporting bulky or fragile objects, and imply that these are being carried at the owner’s risk. This makes it harder to obtain a concession or a reimbursement from the airlines.

But as a later Facebook post by her showed, the airlines did reimburse her and looked into its policy regarding music instruments. Herzog was finally happy but not every artist shares the same fate.

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It’s easy to justify all damage through limited release forms. The viola wouldn’t have broken if the Israeli did get a separate seat for the instrument but the question arises, can all musician afford this every time? Hence, naturally, musicians do feel that airlines should use more stringent methods to protect the goods that they carry. And often, the musicians are also asked by airlines to pay extra for their instruments. Take the case of UK-based viol group Fretwork who had to pay 240 dollars extra for their instruments by American Airlines. And what did they get in return? A broken viol.

In India, awareness around this has mainly been built after a petition drafted

by Shubendra Rao. In 2019, the sitarist similarly found his sitar to have cracked as his Air India flight landed in New York. He did manage to perform, but now Rao performed with rage surging inside of him. Also, this wasn’t the first time his heart broke with a broken sitar. Early on, a flight to Sydney was a similar experience with a broken sitar.

Soon, he created a petition called “Change ‘Limited Release’ rule of Airline industry towards musical instruments”, which has been signed by nearly 8,000 classical musicians so far (Grammywinning mohan veena player Vishwa Mohan Bhatt being one of them). How far would this petition go in a creating an actual change in the Indian music world, that seems uncertain for now. But definitely, Rao’s petition has brought several artists in solidarity, helping them realise they are not alone and their instruments deserve to be treated with more dignity. Here’s hoping that Indian airlines become more cautious in handling the lifelines of these artists.

In the end, an instrumentalist’s anxiety of traveling by air can be perfectly summed up by Shubendra Rao himself. ‘How can any artist survive if airlines keep breaking their instruments whenever they travel? These days, no one asks me how I am after a journey. They always ask me how my instrument is!’.

AKARSH SHEKHAR

JBL Nano K3 & K4 Studio Monitors review The NANO K Series of monitors are active power monitors for use in professional studio, music class and home recording monitoring. These fantastic monitors have been designed by JBL Professional and are available in six model variants- K3 (3inch) and K4 (4-inch) monitor pairs, K5 (5-inch), K6 (6-inch) and K8 (8-inch) standalone monitors, and KX Bluetooth receiver & controller. The K3 and K4 are sold in pairs, and the left channel speaker feeds signals to the right. Both monitors have an embedded Bluetooth modular for seamless wireless connectivity.

Also integrated is an M8 thread nut for easy microphone stand mounting. JBL surprised us with the K3 and the K4 and we can't wait to tell you more about them.

vlogger editing your own videos, these spectacular monitors will help you solve common video editing problems such as crossfade editing.

We spent a few hours with these incredible monitors and they completely won us over. Let's take you through the features.

The front of the speakers features a power button with the JBL logo on it. It looks good and has a nice tactile feel. Also featured on the front, is an Image Control Waveguide, which helps with directional sound. The volume control option of these speakers is also placed on the front.

• Both transducers (Low Frequency and High Frequency) are carefully aligned to generate an aligned acoustic centre.

Moving to the rear, there is a cool musician silhouette along with an auxiliary input port. The speakers also have Bluetooth connectivity which makes it very convenient for playing music through your smart devices. If someone walks in and wants to play some music through these speakers, all they need to do is take their smartphone out, activate Bluetooth, connect to these speakers and rock out (or analyse, depending on their mood).

• Power switch (with the JBL logo) and volume control options are on the front panel.

These monitors are priced very well and are almost a bargain at the entry level. The K4 costs less than Rs 20,000 while the K3 costs a little under Rs 15,000. Whether you are a bedroom producer or an up and coming artist who is interested in finding out how their sound translates at a professional level, these monitors are a great investment.

• Embedded Bluetooth modular for seamless wireless connection with modern day music players.

We were also extremely impressed by the crispness, neatness and the balance of the sound. The pop, boom and distortion were very apparent. Another great use of these monitors is for video editing. Whether you edit videos for someone or you are a

Nano K3

The verdict: These monitors are spectacular and once you bring the price in the picture, JBL has truly knocked this one out of the park. Do try them out, definitely worth your money and time.

JBL Nano K3 and K4: Features Summary • The legendary JBL sound is reproduced through a contemporary design cabinet.

• Analyse high frequency ranges with greater depth and subtle details using the Image Control Waveguide.

• Diminished distortion and higher levels of accuracy have been achieved with the help of a class AB power amplifier.

• 3.5 mm headphone jack is also present on the front panel for plug & play monitors headphones.

• The rear panel features an auxiliary input port and a cool musician silhouette.

• Can be attached to a microphone stand via the M8 screwed pinhole, especially useful for keyboard monitoring.

• Multiple listening position support (upright standing or backward tilting) because of the 12° angle placement bottom.

Nano K4

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SUMIT SHARMA

Revolution of Music in 10s Its 2020, not just a new year but the inception of new decade, and every decade defines the changes in different streams of human culture like fashion, technology, politics, etc. Music industry also witnessed a huge change in past decade and here are some major events occurred in last 10 years – Digital Music Revolution – 2010s started with launch of many Android Smartphones and fast internet services like 4G. This new digital revolution helped people to search, stream and download music online easily through their phones and computers, but it increased the piracy and free music download sites like 4Shared.com, Songs.pk, YouTube-mp3.org and many more.

This problem also helped music streaming platforms like Spotify, iTunes, Gaana to get support from music labels and artists. These platforms became essential part of music releases and changed the way we listen to music.

According to Spotify’s 2019 statistics, it has 217 million monthly active users including 100 million Premium subscribers with 40 million tracks in library.

EDM – Electronic Dance Music started becoming popular in 2000s and in last ten years it evolved a lot. Good internet services not only helped listeners but it also helped music producers and composers to share the project files, tutorials, VST Plugins and techniques. DAWs like FL Studio, Ableton Live and Logic became popular amongst producers and artists like Avicci, Marshmello, Alan Walker, DJ Snake, The Chainsmokers and KSHMR created the best EDM tracks of decade. Indian music producers used the samples and style inspired by these artists and merged with commercial Indian music to create “Hook” and “Drop”.

Cover Versions – In 2008, talent manger Scooter Braun watched a 13 year old boy singing cover songs on YouTube and after that RBMG records singed that boy and seven songs from his debut

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album were on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, that boy is known us Justin Bieber. In 2011 Jonita Gandhi started her professional music career with YouTube cover songs and discovered by A.R. Rahman through it. Cover songs became the most popular and effective marketing strategy used by artists in last ten years which helped thousands of artists to get gigs, work and fame around the globe.

Rap & Hip Hop - It’s one of the biggest revolution Indian music industry has witnessed in past decade. In 2011, Punjabi artist Yo Yo Honey Singh launched his album International Villager which not only became the highest grossing Punjabi album but it made Hip Hop/Rap music popular in India. From High Heels to Lungi Dance, Chull to DJ Waley Babu and Swag Mera Desi to Sheikh Chilli, Hip Hop/Rap music became one of the most popular genres in India and changed lives of rappers like Yo Yo Honey Singh, Badshah and Raftaar. In 2019, Director Zoya Akhtar released Gully Boy a movie inspired by the lives of street rappers Divine and Naezy. There was a time when Rap used to be an additional element of Bollywood songs and in last ten years it has changed its role and identity.

Indie Music ¬– The most satisfying change in last few years was growth of Independent Music and Artists in India, the number of events and indie songs increased massively. Indie bands and artists like The Local Train, Darshan Raval, Emiway Bantai, Nucleya, Papon, Piyush Mehroliyaa, Anushka Manchanda, Gajendra Verma became popular and gave numerous remarkable songs. After winning millions of hearts, Prateek Kuhad reached the playlist of Former American president Barack Obama through his song ‘cold/mess’.

Apart from digital marketing and influence of social media, apps and memes, these were some major positive events from past decade which changed the music industry in India and around the globe.

ZILDJIAN RELAUNCHES FX LINE WITH THE UNVEILING OF FX STACKS AND A NEW 22” CRASH OF DOOM The latest in innovative sound & design, fx Stacks provide a whole new arsenal of quick staccato sounds that can go from bright, fast and cutting, to trashy and raw. An exclusive Zildjian Cymbolt mount allows you too easily transition from a traditional HI Hat set up to a Stack.

The Avedis Zildjian Company is pleased to announce the relaunch of the Zildjian fx line with the unveiling of fx Stacks and the 22” fx Oriental Crash of Doom. The new fx cymbals have been crafted to meet the demands of today’s popular music, and the desire of drummers to create unique, and alternative accents to their sound.

The new Zildjian fx Stacks are the latest in innovative design, providing drummers with the ability to easily transition from a stack to traditional Hi Hats with the use of an exclusive Zildjian Cymbolt mount. Drummers now have the freedom to explore a variety of pitches and sounds in one versatile cymbal pair – transitioning from bright, fast, and cutting, to trashy and raw, simply by changing the set-up or adjusting the wing nut. The fx Stacks feature a rounded top with a distinctive hole pattern, and a flattened lip to fit seamlessly as a stack or Hi Hat with the cold-rolled steel bottom, to create a very quick, brilliant staccato sound. The fx Stack cymbal pair are available in 8”, 10”, 12”, 14” and 16” sizes.

“Our fx cymbal line allows drummers to express their creativity and with the addition of our new fx Stacks and Crash of Doom, drummers will now have another voice of expression to choose from. The fx Stacks are a great combination of two alloys giving drummers the sound they want and the ability to change the cymbal pitch with simple turn of the wing nut.” says Victor Filonovich, Cymbals Category Manager for Zildjian.

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Band of the Month:

C r y o s i s Tell us your process of making music When it comes to creating a record, inspiration is key. A unique vocal melody could inspire production or vice versa.

Our approach, from a song writing perspective, is story-line oriented, so there is almost always a beginning, a middle and an end. From a production perspective, our goal is to create a cohesive space for this story to be expressed and enhanced, and to create a listening experience that is immersive and experiential.

How and what inspires you to write music?

Music as a medium is so powerful! We have all leaned towards music at times of happiness, joy or disappointment. To be able to touch people’s lives as musicians is a privilege and that thought inspires us daily. Generally, its things that we hear, read or see on a regular basis that sparks a thread of creativity.

Describe your gear and tech set up We have our own recording studio in Mumbai where we record most of our music.

Most of our production is software oriented with Ableton Live at the heart of it, and we use high quality analog modelled plugins such as those by Slate digital and Universal Audio.

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We use a Slate Digital VMS ML-1 mic that can emulate a great range of high quality and vintage microphones like U-47, Telefunken 251 etc Our main software instruments are Serum, Omnisphere, MassiveX and a huge collection of Kontakt Libraries and our go-to guitars are a Fender Telecaster and a Sterling by Musicman Axis.

Our live setup consists of two almost identical rigs fitted with Alesis V-drums, Native Instruments keyboards and samplers, and a Presonus Studiolive rack mixer which is the brains of the setup.

Sangeet and Siddhant in addition to playing keys and percussion, also have guitars on stage as well with Aakanksha on main vocals.

Which has been your best gig till date and why?

We spent the last two years writing and releasing music. Only recently, we have presented a showcase of our music as part of our debut in Mumbai. We are working on doing an India tour in the coming months that would include an immersive audio visual experience.

How did you guys come together to form a band?

Siddhant and Sangeet knew each other from the band scene in Odisha. They crossed paths while studying music in Mumbai. Aakanksha and Sangeet

collaborated on a few projects, after which she was introduced to Siddhant. Then, one Starbucks coffee later, Cryosis was born.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

When we create, we don’t limit ourselves to a particular style. The effort is to write memorable melodies and relatable stories which in our opinion is a fundamental aspect of Pop song writing.

Our sound is a delicate balance of cinematic soundscapes, heavy synths & basses and mellifluous vocal hooks.

Upcoming projects Our next single is coming out next month, called Breathe. The song is a letter to yourself. It’s about how we always hold ourselves to a societal standard for success, often overly critical of the errors we make trying to achieve this said success. We are collaborating with Tim from TFC to create an awesome new video and you’ll be able to see it on Vh1 and YouTube. Shortly thereafter, remixes of our first two singles Poison and Stay will be getting released. After that we have our next couple of singles lined up which will blow the doors off! We have a very full release schedule and there will be a lot for everyone to look forward to from Cryosis in 2020!

KADAMBARI SRIVASTAVA

NOSTALGIC NOTES

Luka Chuppi - Rang De Basanti (2005) A Mother’s Lament

When Rang De Basanti hit the screens more than a decade ago, none knew that it would create such an impact on the psyche.

Considering the current events of the country, it has become all the more relevant, with its references quoted every now and then. However, apart from the performances and story which gripped us all and jerked us awake to the notion of the nation, its music too was something which left a deep impression.

AR Rahman’s tunes brought magic to Prasoon Joshi’s lyrics and breathed life into this new-age take on Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and other freedom fighters’ struggle for a free India.

One such song which especially makes every listener tear up, is ‘Luka Chuppi’. Sung by Lata Mangeshkar and AR Rahman, this song takes place when Ajay’s belongings are given to his mom, by fellow army officers, as per the code of conduct.

Amidst the synced steps and uniform, his mother, half in shock, half in a state of collapsing, accepts what are her son’s memories — the son who is gone but she is still wishing to find him as if they are playing a game of hide and seek.

There is an interesting tale behind the song, an equally woeful one. In one of the interviews, Prasoon Joshi, the lyricist, revealed how he and Rahman discussed the song and came up

with the composition. ‘Luka Chuppi’ was a simple concept of a mother and son playing hide and seek. However, in this case, the son was hidden forever as the mother frantically looked for him. As one listens to the words, understanding dawns.

The song is soothing, much like a lullaby, and that is what makes it even more endearing, coupled with an unforgettable act by Waheeda Rahman as Ajay’s mother. While we see all Ajay’s friends surrounding his mother, it is only her that we look out for, as her feelings come forth via the song.

Rang De Basanti is one album which will echo through generations. Fifteen years onwards, it still is a part of us, much like the movie itself. Each song echoes a unique sentiment, and when it comes to the purity of love between a mother and a son, and the feeling’s of an army officer as he leaves his past and present behind to secure the future of the nation, ‘Luka Chuppi’ tops the list. No other composition has even come close to capturing the emotions in their utmost finery, like this one.

This will be a trivia to cherish.

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SHAURYA SINGH THAPA

VISUAL POETS The Best Indian Music Video Directors of our times

This decade has seen the rise of indie vocalists, bands, and rappers in India on a scale, bigger than ever.

A significant reason why their singles are etched in our heads are music videos. Most of these music videos are shot with limited budget and in local settlements but the directors turn these into their unique selling point. Independent filmmakers and production companies like Jugaad Motion Pictures, are constantly creating a raw and realistic aesthetic for these artists and their Indian roots.

1. Bombay Arthouse A Mumbai and New York based production company, Bombay Arthouse is a duo comprising of Emily Rose Weinstein and Harshbir Singh Phull (they call themselves ‘that Sikh and that gori’). They have a knack for bringing out the aesthetic in the ‘not so aesthetic’.

Just take Prabh Deep’s Sauce or Tienas’s 18th December for instance, both videos include shots of Tilak Nagar, Delhi and the shores of Mumbai, giving life to bleak remnants of concrete jungles.

2. Dar Gai A Ukrainian director, Gai has already directed two major motion pictures but her fame in the music video world is rising, after creating the music video for Prateek Kuhad’s love ballad Cold Mess.

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Starring Jim Sarbh and Zoya Hussain, the video traces the highs and lows of every relationship.

With a predominantly ‘blue’ colour scheme, the video is warm, sad, and above all, artistic. Ritiviz’s Sage is another story crafted by her behind the lens, which details an exceptionally tall man’s journey of finding love.

Also known as Lifafa, Sawhney is the lead singer of jazz/ rock outfit Peter Cat Recording Co, and often with his wife or bandmates conceptualize the band’s videos. As can be seen in Floated By or Where the Money Flows, their visuals are riddled with typically Indian elements like a marriage scene or the PM proclaiming demonetization on a retro-TV.

3. Dipraj Jhadav Dipraj Jhadav is more of a video editor than a director, taking footage from films and shows and adding music to it. But one can’t deny the effect he has on popular DJ Nucleya’s ‘desi’ brand by making videos that pair Nucleya’s heavy bass drops with humorous, random footage from b-grade horror movies to Baba Ramdev doing yoga. Nucleya still uses these ‘trippy’ visuals in his concerts.

4. Suryakant Sawhney

5. Navzar Eranee Also know for ad-films with Reebok, Eranee adds a lot of surreal imagery to his videos.

This is highly evident in Don’t Be Afraid by NUKA (a side project by Anushka Manchanda), which shows her dying, and her ashes being scattered in a beach, against a dusky sky. But then she gets reborn as a forest spirit of sorts, which is accelerated by some brilliantly done makeup. Eranee’s follow-up was rapper Kaam Bhaari’s Zeher which shows how exploitative record

label execs are no less than ‘snakes’ and ‘bind’ artist, both literally and metaphorically.

6. Karan Shelar (Canfuse) Shelar has a wide roster of hip-hop artists on his CV from Enkore to Shaikhspeare. And his versatility can be seen from the fact that how each of his video is different from the other. His work with Delhi rap duo Seedhe Maut bears testimony to this. In Shaktimaan, Canfuse shoots a black-andwhite story of an office heist, and then creates PNP with a diverse colour pallet of the two rappers falling in to greed and drowning in a ‘quicksand’ of money.

7. Danny Murray Raised in Mizoram, working in Delhi, Danny Murray’s direction for the song Sunday helped in making Mizo pop group

Avora Records more popular. Away from darker Indian imagery, Murray’s video is uplifting with a lot of bright backgrounds, added with a random assortment of aesthetics from the Star Wars action figures to a falling Jenga tower or a dog standing on two legs.

8. Misha Ghose Misha Ghose is easily the ‘Wes Anderson’ of the Indian music video world. She has helmed animation and stop motion videos for Your Chin, but probably her biggest magnum opuses would be dreampop duo Parekh and Singh’s I Love You Baby, I Love You Doll, and Ghost. Lightcoloured suits, visually pleasing interior décor, lush greenery, these two videos would perpetually be sights to soothe sore eyes. The former is more of a visual treat while Ghost also has a heartwarming story, exploring the bond between a girl and a dog.

NAVYA C

Greatest Western Vocal Performers of All time Western music , irrespective of genre is quite a challenging style to perform- especially for a vocal performer. While we often talk about greatest instrument players, composers and symphonies which move our heart and soul, the focus on greatest vocal performers from the west is often overlooked. The tremendous work which needs to be put in for a vocal performer is quite inspirational for sure. On the eve of new year, we bring you the list of greatest vocal performers of all time who never go out of trend even after years pass by!

Aretha Franklin: The power, the zeal and the passion- all these are clearly evident in this amazing singer’s voice. Her vocal projection of voice is something every young artist needs to learn and most of her songs of yesteryear are smashing hits.

Frank Sinatra: Speak of Jazz, speak of Frank Sinatra. This wonderful singer has brought life to songs like Fly Me To the Moon, Call me Irresponsible and The Way You Look Tonight which are admired and adored even till date. The master of romantic melodies, Frank Sinatra can never go out of time.

Louis Armstrong: How can we forget the all time classic “What a Wonderful World” which speaks so effortlessly about life? The perfect example of baritone voice and elegance- Louis Armstrong is a gift to the world of music.

Ella Fitzgerald: The funkiness, and chirpiness is the other side of feminine singing. The breezy singer Ella Fitzgerald has won many of our hearts with her magical renditions. Her duets with

contemporaries such as Elvis Presley are worth mentioning as well.

Nina Simone: While a female singer is expected to be soft, slender and sweet sounding always, Nina Simone brought another dimension altogether.

Her voice is brisk, raspy and conversationalwhich is amazingly evident in the classic “Just in Time”. Nina Simone has brought a glamorous elegance to a Jazz singer!

Whitney Houston: The passion of a female singer is greatly presented by Whitney. Her Christmas carols, romantic solos emanate tremendous passion and zeal. Her tremendous control over vocal range and presentational skills are additional asset.

Jim Coerce: Country music is all about simple way of living, the deep philosophies of life are greatly evident in the lyrics as well. Jim Coerce is one fantastic vocalists who brought a new life to the genre. His sultry vocals are an absolute delight to hear. Don’t miss his greatest solo “I Got a Name” which also makes to the perfect road trip song list.

Tina Turner: This might be a surprise for the greatest performers list but her tremendous stage presence is worth mentioning. Her range of vocals get better as she ages by and brings out more and more best for sure. One of the greatest examples of her magical performance are “Proud Mary” and “We Don’t Need Another Hero”.

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KARISHMA D'MELLO

THE MUSIC BEYOND

THE MASK Sometime during the late 60’s, a group of musicians in Louisiana found their identities in eyeball masks, tuxedos and top hats – a moment that most people recognize as the pioneering of masks as a visual component in rock and heavy metal. The reasons behind the masks was allegedly anonymity.

The band called themselves “The Residents”, and paired their surreal image with equally surrealist lyrics.

But, is that really what inspired future bands to opt for, what was at the time, a relatively unusual creative direction to take one’s aesthetic? Perhaps.

But, simultaneously you can also recognize that with oncoming reign of glam and shock rock, where mascara, lingerie and corpse paint began to take centre stage anyway, it was only inevitable that this would eventually build up to something bigger.

No unknown is the same, and it seems that each artist’s masked origins can be traced back to seemingly unconnected inspirations. In fact, given the variations and extremes that followed, where each look being more drastically different than the other, the “origin” is almost dismissible.

On the one hand we’ve got Motley Crue and Poison’s cover-girl worthy glam.

On the other, we have Alice Cooper and Arthur Brown’s sinister relationship with corpse paint and gore. And then along the same end of the spectrum, is Kiss’s love for theatrical visuals.

In an interview with UCR, Paul Stanley said, “We wanted to take that a step further and the makeup seemed like the perfect way for each one of us to come up with a character that symbolized and embodied us as individuals.”

One might wonder, if that sentiment is shared between other bands like, death metal’s Portal whose on-stage act involves black cloaked troops, long hanging nooses and a lead vocalist (the Curator), whose mask of choice alternates

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between a confessional chamber and a papal hat to go with his tentacles.

Arguably, one of the most well-known of music’s masked crusaders – Slipknot, trace their own image origins to band member Clown’s insistence on attending rehearsals wearing a clown mask. This singular idea eventually evolved into a collective identity. And since then their masks continue to evolve with every album.

Other notable mentions on the scene include (but aren’t limited to) instrumentalist Buckethead – who wears a KFC bucket on his head with the word “Funeral” written across, Scandinavia’s Ghost, courtesy Papa Emeritus and the Nameless Ghouls, The Berzeker’s representations of animal mutations and Mushroomhead’s gory masked aesthetic.

Mayhem’s Dead, among others on the black metal front, would go as far as carrying dead animal corpses on stage (to remind him what death smelled like), or wearing clothes that were once buried – an experience of death for every sense.

While the entire experience brought on by the aesthetic can be sensed through the album art, or the live shows, when you’re listening to music on your headphones, it is only the music that you hear. And so how much does it really matter?

Bands have taken different stands about the reasons behind the masks. Some use it as a way to stay anonymous, to push the focus towards the music more than the makers, for some it’s shock value – every reason you can think of probably exists.

Some like, Mudvayne, who eventually started off with makeup, as a part of their on-stage persona, felt that it was easier to focus on the music if they dropped the added visual effects behind.

But whether it’s a statement, a pursuit of anonymity, a form of artistic expression, a quick way to sell brand merchandise or all of these elements combined, when the music resonates with the fans, the image will too.

AKARSH SHEKHAR

The Brilliance of the

LUDWIG BLACK BEAUTY William and Theobald Ludwig established their brand by making the finest stringed and percussion instruments during the early 20th Century in America. A particularly famous concert snare called the De Luxe, was unique for its ornately hand-engraved, beaded, black brass shell. This sensational snare was bedecked in a black gunmetal finish, crowned with gold hoops and hardware, and exhibiting its inimitable sustain, power, and response. The De Luxe was most notably seen onstage in New York’s Aeolian Hall in 1924 at the world premiere of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Conductor and bandleader Paul Whiteman immortalized the words “black beauty” as he spoke of percussionist George Marsh’s perfectly present and distinctly moody black snare drum. The legend of the Black Beauty was born on that day.

The Black Beauty was rereleased in the 1970s by Ludwig, William’s later brand, following a Ludwig-name resurgence thanks to mainline drummers like John Bonham and Ringo Starr. The former 2-piece tack-soldered shell had been upgraded to a seamless 1-piece shell. The new version was machine drawn and spun into a cylinder from a single sheet of brass for greater resonance and articulation. The previous De Luxe’s single-flanged hoops were also upgraded to stronger triple-flanged hoops. The classic tube lugs were updated to Ludwig-branded Imperial lugs. Buyers at that time could also choose unadorned black shells and Supraphonic P-85 snare mechanisms. These features blasted the Black Beauty beyond the concert percussion world into the arms of rock drummers everywhere.

Iterations during the 80s saw the Black Beauty made from bronze and other precious metals before a return to form with the original brass shell formulation during the early 1990s.

Here are some of the features that make the Ludwig Black Beauty great • Artisan craftwork — The Ludwig brothers’ De Luxe set a visual standard with its engraved shell and tube lugs. Today’s Black Beauty continues this tradition with options for antique, modern, and hand-hammered finishes, as well as choices for lugs and snare mechanisms.

• Black brass shell — Brass is one of the most musical and sensitive drum materials on earth. The later Black Beauty’s single-ply, seamless brass shell exhibited a particularly impressive brilliance, fullness, bloom, and articulation, not to mention a versatile tuning range that refused to choke or bottom out. Optional hand-hammering in later models (’90s onward) imparted even deeper, cymbal-like levels of musical complexity.

• Iconic Name — Though “Black Beauty” may recall everything from carriage horses to cutaway guitars, its connotation in the drum world is unmistakable. Interestingly, Ludwig’s isn’t the earliest or only snare to carry the Black Beauty name — rival drum company Slingerland first coined the term in an ad for its Artist model. Even so, when it comes to name recognition, few snares carry the weight of Ludwig’s Black Beauty.

• Center-beaded design — According to Ludwig, the iconic center bead found on its brass and Ludalloy aluminum shells both adds reinforcing strength and opens up the tone of the drum. In the case of the Black Beauty, according to Ludwig’s 1980 flyer, it “adds to its full resonance” and concentrates the “special and rich brass-shell sound.”

• Exclusivity — Black Beauties have often been produced in limited numbers and serialized for identification. This makes them not only musical masterpieces but collector’s items as well.

• Recordability — Recording engineers and live sound professionals have long heralded the Black Beauty for its micability. This has made it a go-to option in studios across the world.

• Artist roster — Noteworthy users of the Black Beauty today include Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick), Chris Maas (Mumford & Sons), Charlie Hall (The War on Drugs), and untold others — endorsements that have gone a long way in making this snare a must-have on many drummers’ lists.

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I started learning music first from Pandit Bhavani Shankar, a Pakhavaj maestro. Later, I learnt Tabla from him. I was very fascinated with multi percussions. He is the one who sent me to Ustad Taufiq Qureshi. It has been twelve years since O started learning from him and the learning is still ongoing.

When I started playing with my father, I used to play in Orchestra, Dandiya and so on. It started from Rs.300 per show and the duration of the shows were six to seven hours. I used to play small percussions. I had done a lot of Navrathri shows.

I got to explore a lot of genres through this from Bhajans to Bollywood.

My vision of looking at rhythms changed after I met Taufiq bhai. He has an expanded vision of rhythms. He says there is rhythm in everything. I am blessed to be his student. His guidance, techniques have helped me out a lot and still does.

Elaborate on the techniques you learnt from your teacher Ustad Taufiq Qureshi His teaching process is such that it is very practical. In studio, I do lots of sessions and work in Bollywood. His techniques are very unusual. Say if he is given a song to be arranged, he wouldn’t follow a particular way of using percussions. If he feels a steel dabba can be used for eight bars, he would still use it. He always says not to keep your parts ready but the whole song should be in your head.

His techniques have helped in both studio and live shows.

Taufiq bhai has taught us to always look at the other instrumentalist’s hands to see what they are doing.

In conversation with Percussionist & Rhythm Arranger

Dipesh Varma

Talk about your music journey and biggest learnings in your career When the journey started at the age of 13, when I was in school.

My father is a singer. Since childhood I was attracted towards rhythms. I went to my father and told him I wanted to make a career out of this. He just told me I can perform with him during shows but asked me not to look for recommendations from him. He advised me to walk on my own path.

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Could you talk about your process of Rhythm Arrangement?

Rhythm arranger is someone who designs the rhythm part of the song. This person has to look after what kind of percussions should be used in the song, frequencies to be covered. The song is given to the rhythm arranger. Sometimes there is a rough loop going on under the song for a reference or other times there is a structure ready. For instance, the composer would say he wants a break after the second verse of the song. Sometimes, there is nothing but the voice and melodic instruments. The rhythm arrange decides how many percussions are required. I did the song for Pritam from Bajrangi Baijan, the song Selfie Le Le. We had about twenty Dhol tasha playing, and above that I layered percussions.

Sometimes only one person is needed and in such cases. I myself go and play for percussions part like in the song Aayat from the movie Bajirao Mastani. It depends on the vision of the composer and the kind of rhythms he is looking at. The job of the rhythm arranger is to make it bigger with his ideas.

Few years ago, everything was done through programming.

But now, I’m thankful to composers to have brought the live instruments back to the scene. These composers believe in the sound and texture.

Tell us about your upcoming projects I recently released a track for Ganpati and it was my first as a composer. I had recreated the Ganesh aarti especially for Lalbaug Cha Raja and Times Music.

I also recently did a track called Chumma Kizhi from the movie Darbar for music director Anirudh avichander.

I’m coming up with few songs for Bollywood for the composers Vishal & Shekhar, Amaal Malik, Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy and Pritam.

I am also coming up with my own single which is entirely based on Rhythms.

Sennheiser Evolution 900 Series Microphone: Designed for Musicians with best set of microphones Drummer can imagine Sennheiser has the right microphone for everyone in Evolution Wired Microphone line - the 900 Series. The evolution wired 900 series: conceived of as a harmonically calibrated family, these high-end microphones combine demanding sound with unmatched reliability. Uncompromising stage equipment for uncompromising professionals. The evolution wired mics simply evolve along any sound.

All the microphones in this series have in common is impressive sound, a clear focus on the job at hand and extreme ruggedness. These mics have been created in the best tradition of German engineering and are the result of the dedication of our engineers, of countless tests, and of the most meticulous manufacturing processes.

All 900 Series microphones are designed to offer transparent sound, be insensitive to handling noise, and feature excellent transient response and feedback rejection. Tight and uniform polar patterns, tighter manufacturing tolerances and gold XLR pins are common to the entire line. Targeted to professional musicians, PA rental companies and rehearsal studios, the 900 Series is optimized for all measurable parameters. While there are microphones for every professional in Evolution 900 Series, we will focus on mics designed for drumkit Sennheiser E901: The e 901 is a rugged boundary microphone that handles high sound pressure levels extraordinarily well.

Tailored to give the kick drum a highly precise, very dry sound character, the e 901 makes every attack lightning fast and realistic. The integrated preamp and gold-plated XLR connector have proven themselves to be exceptionally practical on stage. With half-cardioid polar pattern, the 901 delivers faster transient response, does not require a stand, and comes with a non-skid pad and slots for permanent mounting.

Sennheiser E902: If we have to describe this mic one line, you can clearly say, “Clean bass meets precise punch�. The e 902 is

especially designed for the low sound spectrum and convinces with firm, clearly defined bass sounds with a tight punch. The strongly contoured frequency response features a pronounced damping of the mid-range and an accentuated emphasis of the high-end and bass. It offers a clear, grainy sound with a full body and a precise kick that effortlessly asserts itself in a band context. The sound of the e 902 can be flexibly shaped by its positioning in the drum set: from warm and round to sharp and direct. The rugged housing meets the hardest of demands during live gigs. Evolution 902 offers higher resonant frequency (65Hz), a shock-mounted capsule with integrated clip mouth, and delivers more punch and tighter response of the lowest bass signals.

Sennheiser E904: It’s consistent frequency response creates a sound that is as transparent as it is harmonic and that can be wonderfully shaped. It can be cleanly embedded in the drum mix thanks to its precise attacks and voluminous body.

The set receives an extremely energetic and defined sound with this microphone. The e 904 reliably withstands even the hardest direct hits. The dynamic cardioid Evolution 904 drum instrument mic features a high mass metal chassis for greater stability with powerful, punchy sound characteristics suitable for a variety of musical styles. Thanks to its practical clip, it is child's play to attach to the rims of snares and tom-toms. And, with its compact form, it takes up a very small amount of space.

Sennheiser E914: The e 914 is a condenser microphone of the superior class with a full-bodied sound and excellent dynamics.

Its silky character, never headstrong, is developed from the gentle emphasis of the sophisticated treble. Its straightforward transient response accurately captures the temperament of each set, even at very high sound pressure levels. With its detailed resolution, the e 914 makes every live drum sound more refined. The capsule has extraordinary feedback resistance and can be individually adapted to various needs with three positions of bass roll-off/cut-off and pre-attenuation can be set.

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Studio tour

Cosma Music Studio

Tell us about the space COSMA is a self-built cosy space for music-making and learning, located in Bangalore. The focus is more on creativity and to provide an easy atmosphere for artists who want to build their songs/ideas further or start from scratch. I assist and work with all kinds of independent and emerging artists and provide Production, Mixing and Mastering services. The idea is to help make the process as fun and stress-free as possible and give them a fantastic sound. I also design courses and teach Music Production, Sound Design and Mixing on a one-on-one basis.

Take us through the process of setting it up First, I made sure the room can be acoustically treated well.

Then I moved in with my gear at that time (2015), upgraded my computer, cables and the studio monitors, because the room, and the speakers are the most important things to get right.

I tried all options in terms of speaker placement and found the sweetspot of the room. Then with the help of a friend/ carpenter, got all the acoustic panels made, carpeted the floor and sealed the door and windows. Setting up post that was a breeze as I don’t record drums in this space, and I don't run a lot of hardware units.

What are some of the studio essentials you would recommend?

If you’re starting out, I’d recommend finding the best possible space/room/apartment in terms of dimensions and your

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requirements, before you start setting up. Everything depends on what kind of a studio you want to build. I do not have a 'live room’ at my space so I can talk about essentials in a control room. If you have a flexible budget and have the possibility to build/alter the architecture of your space, great - you could hire a professional to build a sweet sounding soundproofed room. If you don't fall in that category, get help from friends who have a good idea about acoustics and room treatment or just put in the time, learn it yourself and experiment, there are great resources online, make the best out of the room/ bedroom/living room you have at the moment.

Invest on the most important things - Room Treatment, Speakers, Audio Interface and cables. A powerful computer, ergonomically designed chair and desk, trackpad/trackball will add a lot of comfort and reduce fatigue by a great extent.

Good furniture, air conditioner and an air purifier will make a difference.

What equipment do you use?

I run Ableton Live as my DAW, use NI Maschine for a few specefic things, run my microphones and instruments through Universal Audio Apollo Twin audio interface. My main speakers are Dynaudio BM6 MkIII. I own quite a lot of audio plugins, but mostly find myself using stock Ableton plugins and the things that Fabfilter, and Soundtoys make.

I use Sonarworks to calibrate my speakers with respect to the room, it makes my room sound way better. I mix in-the-

box completely, so a huge part of my equipment are the the plugins I own. Fan of everything that Fabfilter makes, I use them everywhere and they are my go-to. Apart from that I like a few brainworx plugins like the digital v3 EQ, Townhouse compressor. Absolutely love everything Soundtoys make, my favs are Echoboy, Sie-Q, Little Plate, Little Alterboy, Microshift.

Omnisphere and Keyscape Instruments sound fantastic, GForce Audio stuff is great, Arturia stuff is great, Korg’s new Gadget plugins pack is brilliant. I use Izotope’s Exciter and Maximizer in all my Mixing/Mastering projects. I love the things that Sonic Charge make, I’m a huge fan of Microtonic and Synplant - their synthesizer plugins that are absolutely stunning. I use everything that Valhalla makes, their new Delay plugin is really cool, I use Ableton’s Sampler a lot, you can see them everywhere in my productions, it is very flexible, powerful and easy. My latest finds that I love and use everytime I mix are ‘Bassroom’ and ‘Reference’ by a compamy called Mastering The Mix, 'Soothe’ by Oeksound, ’Gullfoss’ by Soundtheory, and Vulf Compressor and WOW Control by Goodhertz.

I love the possibility of using software synthesisers and samplers along with some hardware stuff that I have in the studio Elektron Octatrack, Elektron Machinedrum, OP-1, guitar amps, microphones etc. I’m a fan of synths/samplers on the iPad like Samplr and Animoog.

Philosophy or reasoning behind gear choices Invest in a piece of gear (software or hardware) if it means dramatic increase in scope of creative potential in your workflow. Buy less, make more music/mix more and consistently. If you buy a piece, make sure you can recover the cost in the least amount of time possible. Avoid big loans if you

are not rich. Make wise and tangible limitations, invest well in primal pieces of gear like speakers, room, acoustic treatment, audio interface, microphones, instruments and your computer.

Start small, and upgrade little by little when you feel you can’t grow any further with what you have. You don’t need pieces of outboard gear like Consoles, EQs, Preamps, and Compressors, Synthesisers and expensive software plugins etc to make a great sounding record. Not to say they don’t sound great, a lot of them sound great in general, but what is more important is how you keep building your taste, improve your palette, your ears, your curiosity for art and things around you, and how well you keep and know your toolset. A lot of the albums that I love were made entirely in a bedroom with very minimal equipment, and mixed entirely on a software (DAW) using mostly stock plugins on budget speakers. I believe people build mind blowing things with minimal tools.

Tips to aspiring owners of studios If you’re not rich, start small, upgrade little by little when you feel you grow further with what you have. Invest time everyday to learn new things about music/mixing or whatever that is.

Head out and meet more people, work out everyday. Don’t waste huge sums of money on a sound engineering school. I’m not against it or anything, but I feel there are way better ways to learn these days. You could join as an intern at a studio whose body of work you really like, you could learn from friends who are doing well and have the time to help out. Listen to different styles of music, get curious, your style of music/mixing is only going to be a reflection of your taste and the palette that you develop over time.

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SOUVIK CHAKRABORT Y

THE MUSIC THAT MATTERS TO US

Music is perhaps the most substantial and impactful non-violent way of protest. Indian music has been through many of these amalgamation of music and intellect. From doing a scavenger hunt for soulful music in our folk songs to finding remarkable beats in the words of the unheard language; the songs of protest are certainly a great facelift to all genres of existing music.

Indian activists and musicians have a great repertoire of using traditional music pieces for the cause of their lives.

MC Kash is one such artist, whose music bleeds beyond the valleys of the Kashmir through the angry hip hop of the youths.

The songs for protest usually talks against the violence in his land, and brims with the frustrations of a growing youth.

From human rights violations in Manipur to the border issues of Kashmir, the band called Ska Vengers forge their voice against all the political issues. It is great that that some musicians in the country still have the audacity to deviate from the mundane and politically correct lyrical ventures of most mainstream artists. The songs of dissent are like a waft of fresh air in a claustrophobic world of regularities in the various themes of music.

TM Krishna is another Carnatic musician who had used his musical abilities to root for the case against elitism in the Carnatic music itself. Perhaps, it is only possible through art that a voice can remain unadulterated and flexible. In 2016, TM Krishna got the Ramon Magsaysay award for the healing effects of his music. From breaking casteism to classist attitudes and divisiveness, Krishna’s music always ask the difficult questions about the world around him.

From the Renaissance to the 21st century poets and poetess, revolution has been the key to the creation of soulful art pieces. Music is not an exception to this process. In fact it will be a healthy exercise if the music of today’s

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time is enriched by the goodness of such musicians who stand up and resist against the tide of mainstream.

It would be unfair though, to not include the popular soundtracks from Bollywood which were at least close to the theme of protest. Staying within its limits of romantic melodramas and usual depiction of themes, some of these songs have actually broken from the clutter and stood out amongst the rest.

Bandeh from Black Friday is a classic example of powerful lyrics and questions about the Efficacy of violence and rage. A befitting tribute to the lost lives of the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

Dealing with the sensitive issue of farmer suicides, Mehengai Dayaan from Peepli Live was a succinct reply to the issue of corruption plaguing the entire nation. The story of the complicated inflationary pressures on the economy came across simply through the lyrics of the song.

Bollywood has the beauty of calling the entire nation to act, by the power of its outreach. The song, Khoon chala from Rang de Basanti, is a path breaker in this sense. Not only did the song instill the youth to be a part of the system to effect a change in the system. It also gave the youth, an anthem to pick up while they were resisting against all the wrong doings on its country.

Protests had not always been a case of voicing out against the authority or those in power. But, Bollywood has also gifted us songs like Give Me Some Sunshine, which is predominantly against the educational system and the adolescents living within the distressing family pressures.

Thankfully, the goodness of music has percolated deep enough in the society to effect a conscientious boost to the overall condition of the nation it belongs to.

AKARSH SHEKHAR Amplification and distortion is an integral part of heavy metal music. Quite frankly, metal without amplification loses a lot of its massive punch. Here are six guitar amps which will help you deliver some skull crushing mayhem.

6 Guitar Amps for Some Skull Crushing Metal

Marshall JCM800 2203X With the impact that Marshall has had over rock and metal, it's obvious that we are going to start our list with an amp from this legendary firm. The JCM800 family of heads literally owned the burgeoning metal scene on both sides of the Atlantic in the ’80s. And the 100-watt 2203, with its trademark “punch in the chest” roar, was the patriarch of the JCM tribe. In addition to its gloriously aggressive voice, the head fires through one channel of no-nonsense, all-tube (3 x 12AX7, 4 x EL34) brutality.

Diezel VH4 This Teutonic titan is built like a tank, and its fearsome tonal firepower made it an instant favourite with metal’s most influential players (including James Hetfield of Metallica and Adam Jones of Tool) from the very moment it first reared its head in the mid-1990s. A quarter of a century later, the VH4 remains iconic in the world of metal.

EVH 5150 III 50W EL34 The eye-catching 5150 III 50W EL34 sounds as good as it looks, and if you’re a fan of Edward Van Halen, that will come as no surprise. The living legend is a self-professed “tone chaser.” The 50-watt tubedriven head is armed with three channels that will take you from beautiful clean to brutal, densely overdriven carnage and all points in between. It also has an effects loop and a MIDI input. Its dual EL34 output tubes give it a distinctly “British” flavour, and if you want to super-size this sucker, it also has a 100-watt big brother.

Also, if

you prefer the more “American” sound that 6L6 power tubes deliver, EVH sensibly offers those options too, available in ivory and black.

Peavey Invective.120 In the world of modern metal where the use of the playing style known as “djent” is considered mandatory, Misha Mansoor of Periphery is deservedly heralded as a frontrunner by many. Not surprisingly, Mr. Mansoor has his own signature Peavey head: the Invective.120. This 120-watt tube head is an overthe-top modern metal “djent” machine that’s equally good at old-school metal chugging and some cool clean tones too.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier This amp is loaded with a ton of cool features, including a switchable choice of tube or solid-state rectification, three footswitchable channels with voicing options, an effects loop, a 6L6/EL34 Bias switch, plus a footswitchable Solo level. As a result, this highly versatile, diamond-plated 100-watt all-tube (5 x 12AX7, 2 x 5U4, 4 x 6L6) head is a monstrous, highgain force to be reckoned with.

Friedman JJ-100 Jerry Cantrell Signature In the world of building, modding, and repairing amps for guitar heroes, Dave Friedman needs no introduction — and neither do the fire-breathing heads, such as the BE-100 and the BE-50 Deluxe, that bear his name. One of the many stars he’s worked with is riff and tone master Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains (AIC). Enter the Friedman JJ-100 Jerry Cantrell Signature 100-watt tube head.

Jerry and Dave spent several years perfecting this EL34-powered, 100-watt, 2-channel colossus that captures both the complex cleans and devilishly dirty yet articulate tones that have made Mr. Cantrell’s signature sounds so desirable.

The magic switch labeled “JBE” can be found on the JJ’s rear panel, and when activated, that aggressive Alice In Chains’ beast of a tone is unleashed. Add to that Friedman’s critically acclaimed effects loop, custom transformers, plus the aforementioned clean channel, and the hand built JJ is indeed “lightning in a bottle.”

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6

MUSKAN GOSWAMI

RAJASTHANI

singers that you should listen to

India is a place where different cultures meet and rejoice. These varied cultures follow different languages and traditions.

Rajasthan is one such state in India which is in true sync with its traditional roots. Even the singers from Rajasthan carry the same exquisite vibe in their performances. Here’s brining you a list of Rajasthani singers who are renowned in the music industry:

3. Sartaj Khan and Sarwar Khan

1. Ila Arun

Sartaj and Sarwar are two of the youngest Ila Arun is renowned Rajasthani folk boys to have earned a position in singer and an Indian actress. She is known for her stout and husky voice. Ila Rajasthani folk singing. Sarwar Khan is a 12-year-old boy and Sartaj Khan is only 11 has sung various songs for Bollywood years old. The duo started their journey including “Choli Ke Peeche”, from the movie Khalnayak, “Ghup Chup” from the by singing in a reality show and slowly achieved recognition. The boys fit fame movie Karan Arjun, and “Ringa Ringa” from the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Ila when they sang for a popular Bollywood film, Aamir Khan starrer “Dangal”. The has acted in various famous Bollywood movies as well. These include the likes of duo had sung the song “Hannikarark Jodha Akbar, Shaadi Ke Side Effecrs, and Bapu” for which they have received immense appreciation.

Begum Jaan.

2. Mame Khan Mame Khan is a folk singer from Rajasthan who was exposed to folk music from childhood. He has been playback singer for numerous Bollywood movies like Luck By Chance, I Am, No One Killed Jessica, Mirzya, and Sonchiriya. In the 2nd season of Coke Studio @ MTV, Mame got featured along with Amit Trivedi, the duo performed the track “Chaudhary”.

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4.Swaroop Khan This Rajasthani folk singer came into prominence after becoming one of the top 10 contestants in a season of Indian Idol. Ever since then, he has sung for a number of hits in the Bollywood industry. Some of his incredible songs include the likes of “Ghoomar” from the movie Padmaavat, “Tharki Chokro” from the movie “PK”, “Bahut Hua Samman” from the movie Mukkabaaz, and the title track of the movie Emotional Atyachar.

5. Allah Jilai Bai She was one of India’s best Rajasthani folk singers. Allah Jilai Bai was a famous singer during ‘60s and ‘70s. She started singing when she was only 10 years old and slowly she gained popularity across the nation. In 1982, she was granted Padma Shri in Arts field by the government of India. Few of her popular songs include Kesariya Balam and Mumal.

6. Rapperiya Baalam Ashok Manda Bishnoi who is known by his stage name Rapperiya Baalam is a Rajasthan based singer. Ashok is known for being a rapper, a song writer, a music composer and a producer. He is known for creating experimental songs in Rajasthani folk music. His song “Mharo Rajasthan” featuring Swaroop Khan, made him popular across the nation.

Later, he released many other hits like “Hariyala Banna”, “Jaipur Anthem”, “Des Padharo Sa”, and “Dil Mere”.

AKARSH SHEKHAR

Music is definitely magical. It can stir up our emotions and ignite our imagination like nothing else. It can make us clench our fist in dissent or grab our lover's hand tightly with equal ease. However emotionally moving us isn't all music can do.

Ever-growing scientific suggests that playing an instrument, the piano in particular, can have a holistic positive impact on your life. Playing the piano is a wonderful experience for a multitude of reasons.

You can accompany you family while they sing holiday classics or entertain your horde (or a bunch) of screaming (or quiet) fans. Playing the piano can really help your brain in ways that you wouldn't expect. Here are some ways in which playing the piano can boost your brain power:

Improved Hand-eye Coordination A good hand-eye coordination is a must for playing the piano. A recent study (Music and Health; Alan H. D. Watson, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, UK) suggests that pianists actually change their brains’ cortical mapping to increase finger speeds. It’s a boon for people with reduced motor skills. Playing the piano can challenge their brains to make new connections and enhance their motor skills.

This can help children and even adults improve their handeye coordination later in life. It's never too late to start.

Expanded Cultural Knowledge A 2016 study (ScienceDaily and Massachusetts Institute of Technology) showed that musical preference comes from cultural influences and is not innate (born into us). So if you love the super-dissonant harmonies of Stravinsky, then you’re really no different than someone who loves Mozart —at your core, that is.

The study also shows that learning to play piano helps expand our cultural knowledge by exposing us to new sounds and styles of music. Especially for children, this exposure can encourage divergent thinking and a better acceptance of different cultures.

Improved Kinesthetic or Tactile Learning “Kinesthesia” is the sense that detects bodily position, weight, or movement of the muscles, tendons, and joints. In 2013, a study at an institute in Barcelona (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain) found that people who practiced piano had better neurological and psychological improvements compared with people who participated in activities such as football, basketball, or drawing, according to their scale.

How Playing the Piano Boosts Your Brain Power

Slowed Decline of Neural Processing, Hearing, and Memory As we age, our ability to process auditory signals usually begins to slow down. A recent study by ABC News discoveres that those who made a lifelong habit of playing music slowed this decline and that of brain processing and inner-ear hearing loss. A lot of pianists continue to play the instrument well into their seventies. ”Use it or lose it" is definitely at work here.

Enhanced Self-esteem A 2014 study of Canadian fourth-grade students (Sage Pub Journals) showed those who received three years of individual piano lessons tested higher on self-esteem measures and achievement tests. The feeling of accomplishment that comes from learning a piece of music is a wonderful confidence booster. Performing it from memory is even better. It's just an incredible rush of adrenaline and feel good hormones.

A Great Digital Detox The digital revolution has more or less enslaved us to our screens now. New research keeps popping up everyday which talks about the harmful effects of extended time spent on digital devices. A digital detox or spending time away from digital devices is really necessary for us all. Long periods of time on electronics have been shown to increase brain atrophy and lower cognitive functioning (Psychology Today, Victoria L. Dunckley, MD). Playing the piano gets you away from your digital screens. Since it's such an absorbing activity, it keeps you away from your digital screens for a long time.

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MECHANISM OF HEALING THROUGH MUSIC IN THE BRAIN AND ITS RELEVANCE TO PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL WELLBEING Key Words : Music Therapy mechanism, Music and mind,Substantia nigra, Neuroplasicity, Dopamine, Post traumatic stress disorder. Written by Prof B.Sai Kiran Kumar Consultant neurofeedback trainer BCIA USA, Sharath Manjunath Psychologist and certified Neurofeedback trainer Presidency college, Bangalore

Dopamine The application of music for therapeutic purpose was administered by Greek philosophers, Aristotle and Plato in the early days, especially for those patients who had intense amount of post traumatic stress disorder associated with war.

Depression and anxiety were among the popular mental health ailments of the earlier centuries for which music was considered as a non-pharmacological intervention. This phenomenon was later adapted in the 1700s to help the elderly and retired war veterans.

Therapeutic process involving music is mainly used to improve the brain’s neuroplasticity. Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter involved in neuroplasticity and dopaminergic neurons in the reward network of the brain including ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens. Hearing pleasurable or enjoyable music can activate these reward networks.

Understanding the influence of music in regulating the healing process on the brain enables us to create definitive protocols in practical applications for music therapy.

A predominant factor of music is that it interacts all the parts of the brain that are involved in listening, reading, moving, experiencing of memories and emotional context.

Music based intervention in neurological and psychological disorders have been one of the promising non pharmacological therapeutic processes in recent times. It is used to cure many neuro degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.

Recent neuroimaging studies on music and emotion show that music can modulate activity in brain structures that are known to be crucially involved in emotions, such as the amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, insula, cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex.

Subject selected music indicates highly pleasurable experience of chills. It was accompanied by changes in heart rate and

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Nerve cell ineraction through music

Nerve network acivation when music is played

respiration. Therefore, the increase in chills resulted in fluctuation of cerebral blood flow in the regions involved in reward and motivation, emotion, and arousal, including midbrain, amygdala, frontal cortex, and prefrontal cortex.

Modulating dopamine, increasing neural activity and reducing noise help in promoting neuroplasticity and music therapy is the only way to achieve it. So music activity helps to increase the release of dopamine which in turn activates dopaminergic related reward networks.

The physical relevance of therapy through music is predominantly noticed in the regulation of the heart rate in relieving the stress levels which can reduce the amount of inflammation in the body. This also proactively enables the lungs to have complete breathing cycle regulation through the neural control in providing optimum amount of cerebral blood flow with increased supply of oxygen promoting cognition and effective nerve network process.

Many studies have proven the deeper coherence and association between music and its significant role in helping the human mind and body to recover faster from any physical or emotional affliction.

1. R.J. Zatorre, “Musical pleasure and reward: Mechanisms and dysfunction,” Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1337:202-11, 2015.

2. S. Koelsch, “Brain correlates of music-evoked emotions,” Nat Rev Neurosci, 15:170-80, 2014.

3. A.J. Blood, R.J. Zatorre, “Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion,” PNAS, 98:11818-23, 2001.

4. V. Menon, D.J. Levitin, “The rewards of music listening: Response and physiological connectivity of the mesolimbic system,” NeuroImage, 28:175-84, 2005.

AKARSH SHEKHAR

How to Record Awesome Lead Vocals Like a Pro

When it comes to recording most styles of music, there’s nothing more critical than the lead vocals.

They hold the spotlight for most songs. So how do you coax the best performance from a singer?

How do you put a singer at ease?

Here are six techniques that you can use to get the best out of your lead vocalist:

Make the studio comfortable For lots of singers, the studio is a clinical place where they are put under a microscope. Singing alone in a room with headphones is something they never do anywhere else. Here’s a way I put one singer at ease: In the middle of a big, wide-open studio. You can add a plush rug, some floor lamps, a leather recliner, a potted plant, and a side table for snacks as well. There was a mic there too. A setting like that will make vocalist comfortable and avoid the performance pressure.

Consider dropping the headphones If you have a singer who is having trouble emoting or is pitchy when they’re singing in headphones, then lose the headphones. You can use speakers to create a foldback system for playing the music.

Set up two speakers at eye level that are behind the vocal mic, use a cardioid pattern —at 45 degrees, equidistant from the mic. Send a mono signal to both speakers and then reverse the polarity on one of the speakers.

That way, the signals arriving at the mic will pretty much cancel out. The singer can hear the track and sing along like they are onstage without headphones. However, this technique may not work if you have to do extreme vocal tuning, due to track bleed.

with hundreds or thousands of adoring fans cheering their every vocal phrase. In the studio, they have an audience of two or three people who are critiquing every syllable. Having those people staring at them from the other side of a glass can make them feel like zoo animals in a cage. Turn down the lights in the studio, so they don’t feel like you are staring at them. Music stand lights can help with reading the lyrics.

Drop the Mic Stand If your best mic is a vintage tube mic on a huge stand, but your singer is uncomfortable standing in front of it, then don't it. The emotion in the performance counts more than the fidelity.

Hand the singer a good old ’58 and get a great take.

Make a great headphone mix Far too often, headphone mixes can be somewhere between average and horrible. Don’t create a headphone mix while listening to speakers in the control room. And don’t expect that your mix is what’s best for the singer. Get a set of headphones and listen to what the singer is hearing. If the singer isn’t an experienced professional, then don’t expect them to come up with a good mix on your fancy multichannel headphone box.

Give them a 2-channel mix of what they need, with control over their voice level and a separate knob for “sauce” that has delays and reverb on it. But check what they’re listening to by going out in the studio and putting on their headphones. If they go overboard with the effects, then their pitch may go out the window. Give them what they need to do their best possible work in the studio, no matter what that requires.

Avoid Private Conversations Don’t talk about the singer without having the talkback mic on. Private discussions about the singers can make them insecure.

Eliminate the Fish Bowl Effect A studio is a very unnatural place for singers who are accustomed to being onstage

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KAUSTHUB RAVI & SIVANESH NATARAJAN

NEW YEAR, Liquidsonics Seventh Heaven Plug-in Simulation Simplified The Bricasti M7 is held by many as the holy grail of reverbs. As someone who has one at the studio, I can vouch for this with absolute intent. It’s ability to stay clean and give the effect of absolutely being one with the signal never fails to impress.

There have been many attempts to emulate this legendary box and we’ve been disappointed most of the time. The Seventh Heaven by Liquidsonics certainly changes that. We were first introduced to Liquidsonics through the Slate Bundle which had the Lustrous Plates which we were quite happy with.

It comes in two versions - Professional and ‘standard’. We were quite happy with the limited controls of the standard as it allowed us to get to a place quicker. But the professional version offers a lot more versatility very similar to the real M7. The $69 regular Seventh Heaven offers 30 of “the best” preset from the M7 v1, with a hard drive footprint of just under 500MB. The controls are simple and have Mix and Gain along with the Preset knob notches the 30 presets within their six categories, Decay time. There's a little extra under with the ‘advanced panel’ which offers Early/Late balance and VLF level controls along with high cut and low cut filters.

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The professional comes with a whole lot more. 10GB of IR samples, all of the controls and parameters that the M7 v1 and v2 have and every single preset included. It includes a fiveband Master EQ with Low and High cut filters, switchable High and Low shelving/ parametric peak filters, and a parametric Mid band. It's also a whole lot more expensive - 300$.

The plugin is built on something called Fusion IR which in their own words, is a unique modulated convolution-based capture and reproduction technology developed specifically around the needs of M7. Whatever the tech is, it seems to have worked. The seventh heaven sounds fantastic! It's impossible to have it sound bad. You can just run an instance on a set of busses with a very low mix value and it just glues the entire mix together, very much like the real deal. It's incredibly responsive and smooth. The UI is wonderfully simple and good looking while keeping the nostalgia of the M7 in the whole look and feel of it with the red on black. The M7, while being insane, is sometimes quite hard to dial in with its myriad of controls and parameters. The standard version of the Seventh Heaven allows you to get the closest ever to the M7 without all the fuss. While the professional version is an absolute beast and is worth every bit of what you are paying for it, the standard version is a more fun-sized and easy user experience.

In most cases honestly, it seems more than adequate.

NEW GEAR Softube Harmonics Analog Saturation A GREAT TOOL TO ADD TO YOUR ARSENAL! Softube, in recent times, has flown quite under the radar.

They’ve quietly put out some amazing emulations like the Weiss limiter which is undoubtedly one of the best so far.

This time they’ve taken what they’ve learned over ten years of taking up legendary hardware units to bring a plugin that delivers a varied selection of harmonics in one place.

Right off the bat, the UI looks quite different from a lot of distortion boxes. It obviously shows the 5 different types that you can use. On the right, input and output levels are balanced using the so-named faders, each with its own peak level meter. RMS metering is provided by a responsive pair of VUs, which, rather cleverly, can also be switched to monitor THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) - handy indeed when using Harmonics on the mix bus. The five red buttons select the saturation type, between them dishing up a broad range of coloration. Solid emulates the solid-state studio hardware of the 70s and is ideal for adding definition and presence to pretty much any source signal, but seems particularly at home on vocals. Transformer mimics an American console transformer and the master is a bit ambiguous but is intended for use on busses and is quite a subtle colour. Tube models a boutique valve circuit from the 60s, its quite coloured and works really well on stuff like guitars. Lastly, Modern is an English allvalve triode unit and the most aggressive and destructive of the lot by a margin. The drive knob, which increases input gain on the saturation circuit, is fairly straightforward.

However, the Character control is a fair bit more complex and has filters configured for each distortion type. It does change by a large margin and allows incredible versatility.

Turning it increasingly emphasizes high frequencies prior to distortion clockwise, and kicks up the low frequencies anticlockwise. The Low (10-400Hz) and High Cut (200Hz-20kHz) filters can be placed pre or post distortion, and each offer three slopes - 6, 12 and 18dB/octave. While all of this would’ve been more than enough to make one amazing saturation box there’s a little control called The Dynamic Transient Control (DTC) knob and it really sets it apart from other saturation plugins. Distortion inevitably has a destructive effect on the transients in a signal, flattening them out as they hit the dynamic ‘ceiling’. While Harmonics features a Dry/Wet mix control for doing just that, Dynamic Transient Control makes for a vastly preferable option. With DTC activated, Harmonics constantly analyses the dynamic profile of the input signal. The further the DTC knob is turned clockwise from center, the more that profile is reimposed on the postdistortion output signal to increasingly dial the transients back in. Alternatively, twisting it anticlockwise pulls the transients down even further, effectively over-compressing the signal, and making it weightier and less dynamic.

This is probably one of the best harmonics/saturation plugins to come out in recent times. Not just the amazing analog like the sound it offers, but also the sheer versatility of it. The only thing we missed is automatic gain control while we moved through presets and different drive and DTC settings.

Other than that, it's a great tool to add to your arsenal.

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MUKESH AMARAN

ALBUM ARTicle

MADHAV NAIR Hello, a little bit about yourself and your background in arts and music?

My name is Madhav Nair and I publish comics, illustration and other things under the pseudonym name of deadtheduck.

I grew up between Dubai and Trivandrum and went to Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology (Bangalore) to study graphic design and eventually public art, illustration, film theory and publication design. Comics were always a major part of my life, but so was the kind of stuff I used to watch on TV, which I've realized has affected a lot of the way I draw things, among other things.

At this point in your career, what role did music have to play in you getting to where you are?

Music was a natural part of my work, some of my favorite illustrations are album covers and I was always fascinated by the relationship illustrations, graphic design and, obviously, animation has historically with music. A lot of people I hung out with in college were extremely talented musicians who have become some of my favorite producers. I honestly suspect that I just really wanted to be part of the music scene somehow and Bangalore has a really tight, mature set of musicians, visual artists and comic artists constantly collaborating, if not all being one single person doing an assortment of things across the board. I was lucky enough to have worked with some really sick projects with people in Bombay as well. Once I moved here for a fulltime job, working with them became a lot easier and I'm lucky to have had a lot of different avenues within both these cities, and more importantly, all kinds of collaborations and experiments that I get to witness and hopefully collaborate with.

Tell us about your collaboration with Noni Mouse and Ankit Dayal from conception to creation and the end product.

Radha is one of my favorite artists and working with her has been a really fun process. She'd shown me recordings of a live arrangement/performance of a couple of her tracks (that eventually became the EP) in collaboration with the almighty Ankit Dayal. She pretty much gave me free reign of what I could do with the artwork and as we kept talking about the process behind these tracks, we naturally came to the conclusion that I should actively try and do a direction that broke me out of my comfort zone, so that it talks about the lyrical content but also reflected some of the journey behind the music as well, being a live translation of what Radha's production. I was also seeing

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a lot of the Jumbo/Rambo circus posters that were around Malad and it really fit the tracks energy for me and we came up with the idea of having two characters represent Ankit and Radha (with a obligatory mention of her egg-shaped shaker) as circus animal characters, with some heavy influences from those circus posters and Max Fleischer cartoons.

Tell us a little bit about the process that is involved in making a piece by deadtheduck.

Depends on what I'm making, I guess. All roads begin with my journal, a lot of the drawings in those eventually become more fleshed out ideas for comics, illustration and, sometimes, paintings. I spend a lot of time with those, they're easy to carry and it's often why a lot of the artwork I do for posters and covers are drawn by hand and then colored digitally. Recently, thanks to my friend and hero, Yash Chandak (Cursorama) helped me make a setup where I was doing live visuals for an electronic music set by the abominable Lacuna, with a webcam pointed at my journal and the images going through a bunch of crazy filters and becoming projections. I've wanted to do visuals for a while and this experiment was such a joy because of how minimal the setup was and how much I could do with some wrist-twisting and parameter-switching.

How is creating an album art different from creating other art?

One of my favorites parts of doing album art is getting to listen to rough cuts by some insane producers and musicians and get a sneak peek into their process and philosophy and absorb as much as I can. That's usually where the process begins and I've always seen it as a collaborative process with some really nice moments of the rough cuts and sketches affect each other. With comics and illustrations that I do as standalone pieces are usually things I try and finish within a couple of days so that I can still work on other projects. They're a lot faster and usually the main motivation behind them is trying out a new pen, brush or surface (even scale in some cases) There's also a massive difference between the work I used to in Bangalore and in Bombay. Bangalore had given me a lot more spaces to work on murals, self-published zines and even workshops/events around these. Bombay, on the other hand, has offered projects that are lot more collaborative, either with design for events, festivals to album artwork and visuals. But these lines blur with every passing season.

Gigs in January 2020 Date

Name

Location

Jan 4th

SEQU3l x Bullzeye

Jan 4th

Lemonade Delhi w/ Varg2TM

Jan 5th

Sunday Unplugged ft. Shiv Menon

Hard Rock Café, Hyderabad

Jan 5th

Sunday Unplugged ft. Aditya Veera Collective

Hard Rock Café, Bangalore

Jan 5th

SOCIALive ft. Bhayanak Maut + Devoid

Jan 5th

Sunday Unplugged ft. Groove Up

Jan 6th

Kriish Rohit & Shubhang Mujal

Jan 7th

Tuesday Night Live X nrtya | Queendom

Jan 9th

Reggae Music A Play w/ Sara Lugo ft. Supa Mana

Jan 10th

Karmen Rõivassepp Quartet

Jan 10th

HVOB • Mumbai

Jan 10th

Warpcore pres TRIKK [Innervisions]

Jan 11th

Urbanyadhwani Sessions Vol. 1

Jan 11th

MediumRare ft Iggy, Thee J Johanz & Zequen

Auro, Delhi

Jan 18th

Underscore Live Presents Ankur & the Ghalat

Fandom, Bangalore

Jan 18th

Guillaume Barraud Quartet

The Pianoman Jazz Club, New Delhi

Jan 23th

The Fat Percentage

The Pianoman Jazz Club, New Delhi

Jan 24th

Intimate | Pauli Pocket [Katerblau/Berlin]

Jan 25th

Wacken Metal Battle

Jan 25th

Loek van den Berg Quintet

The Pianoman Jazz Club, New Delhi

Jan 28th

Jenn Steeves & Shailendra Wakhlu

The Pianoman Jazz Club, New Delhi

Jan 29th

Monuments Live

Jan 30th

Auro pres Exos [PlanetX /трип]

AntiSocial, Mumbai Auro, Delhi

AntiSocial, Mumbai Hard Rock Café, Gurugram The Pianoman Jazz Club, New Delhi The Little Door, Mumbai Auro, Delhi The Pianoman Jazz Club, New Delhi AntiSocial, Mumbai Summer House Café, Delhi Fandom, Bangalore

Summer House Café, Delhi Fandom, Bangalore

AntiSocial, Mumbai Auro, Delhi

If it isn’t here, it isn’t happening! Write to us at contactus@highonscore.com to get your event featured!

Tag us on social media to get your gig featured. thescoremag highonscore

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