The Score Magazine March 2015 issue

ISSN 0974 – 9128

Vol 08 Issue 3 - March 2015

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India's National Pan-Genre Music MagazinE

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Star of The Month

Ricky Kej on his Grammy and beyond

Special Feature

BAND OF THE MONTH

The Amazing Paralight

MidIval Punditz!

Paralights brandishes the iconoclasm of Ayan De

on their upcoming new album!

fashion segment

how to design your dream music room

Cover Story

sudha

raghunathan On Women Empowerment and Recieving Padma Bhushan Also Inside : Wine Festival, Why It is Incredibly Cool

the edit PAD Is branded medium the only way ahead for music? We at Score have long pondered the sustained existance of niche media and it boggles our mind that with an estimated demographic of just about less than 20 million scattered all over India, of which less than a third meeting the "affluency" criteria. Granted that large pockets are centered around the metroes, and granted that gigs are becoming more mainstream, it's still very difficult to convince sponsors (the non hydroxyl ones anyway) to come on board.

On any typical day, you have about 10 non-bollywood musical events listed on bookmyshow, of which 9 out of 10 carry no title sponsorship. Most successful music festivals today are directly brand-owned(Bacardi, Kingfisher) and this idea is spreading across to television and digital as well!

In this fledgling market, no incumbent player has been around longer than 10 years, it will be intresting to see the shape of things to come in the next 5 years.

i nside 22 Band of the Month What makes the music of Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj stand out? Find out here!

Ajay Prabhakar Director - Strategy and Planning thescoremag

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Director, Strategy and Planning : Ajay Prabhakar Director, Business Development : Pragash VM Head - Marketing & Operations : Sneha Ramesh Associate Editor : Ananya Ashok Content Coordinator : Nidhi Iyer, Shreya Bose Editorial Advisor : Nikila Srinivasan Creative Director : George Vedamanickam Lead Designer : Nipun Garodia Cover Photography : T. Selvakumar The Score Magazine is wholly owned by

10 Sudha Ragunathan Talks about her Padma Bhushan and the music scene for women today.

28 Star Of the Month Ricky Kej talks about keeping music real.

30 Fest Focus Read here to find out all about the amazing Sula Fest.

Music and Wine, what more can one ask for?

32 Fashion Segment

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

Looking to get inspiration to design your own Music room? Look no further than this month's fashion segment!

36 Special Feature Ayan De on his inspiration and what makes Paralights amazing.

Guru of all Keyboards

The full lineup of 753 voices on the PSR-I455 features a total of 19 different Indian musical instruments, and of the 206 built-in styles, 23 provide automatic accompaniment perfect for Indian music. What’s more, the Arpeggio function also includes 12 uniquely Indian patterns. Add to this a diverse array of voices and styles from Mexican, Arabic, Brazilian, Chinese, and other genres, and it is easy to see why this portable keyboard is ideal for many different types of ethnic music from all over the world.

Raga scales The PSR-I455 also comes complete with ten different raga-mode practice songs* which will prove highly useful in instrument or voice training. *: Bilawal, Khamaaj, Bhairav, Kalyan, Asavari, Kalyani, Hamsadhvani, Mohanam, Hindolam, and Sankarabharanam

Tabla and tampura function Featuring 16 patterns with five different sections, the PSR-I455 faithfully recreates the sound of the electronic Tabla and Tanpura, rivaling standalone machines in the process. Tempo, transpose and balance for Tanpura/ Tabla can be freely controlled in real-time using the keyboard’s controller knobs.

USB Connectivity With a USB flash memory device plugged into the keyboard’s USB TO DEVICE terminal, you can easily save and load your own songs, as well as exchange data with a PC or another connected device.

For full list of features and specifications, please visit: in.yamaha.com

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Sudha

Raghunathan She captured the hearts of many in the early 90's as a bright, young, and beautiful rising star. Today Sudha Raghunathan is one of the most sought-after and iconic artists of the Carnatic Music field today.

Receiving more and more accolades as the years have gone by, she has yet another prestigious title to add to her already incredible resume. Score had a chance to interview this starlette about the musician's life, music education, women coming up in the field of music, and what it feels like to be a Padma Bhushan.

Photo Credit Bhargavi Mani The

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First things first, how does it feel to be Padma Bhushan? What does this award mean for you?

On top of the world of course… it is a cherished dream come true and I am grateful to the Almighty for being with me and guiding me all through. It has been hard work and the recognition only places more responsibilities – my roles and goals get bigger!

As a successful female musician, what are your thoughts on women coming up in the field of music and women empowerment as a whole in this field?

It’s definitely a welcome thought, no doubt. This field has expanded and opportunities are immense. Depending on the caliber of the performer, opportunities will continue to come by. Empowerment of women will certainly strengthen the nation as a whole. We have so many women leaders in different fields. From sports to financial sectors, from doctors to academicians, in art and culture…women have soared in strength and power!

What are your thoughts on raising awareness in classical art forms in schools? How do you believe school systems can propagate Indian art and culture among the youth better?

It is absolutely essential and when classical art forms are taught during the formative years, as a curriculum, the absorption is faster and more structured. School systems can play an important role by creating a separate syllabus, getting in senior musicians for lectures and demonstrations, encouraging children to attend workshops. Actually artistes have approached the Central Government in order to make classical music compulsory in schools. There is a lot of talent, which we get to see all across – reality shows are a typical example. There is also sufficient material available that can be passed on to the younger generation to get them acquainted with our rich cultural heritage

You have been in the industry for several years now.

Initially it would have been a struggle to come up in this field. How have you managed to stay positive and what are ways by which you stay focused without getting discouraged?

My mother and Guru, both instilled confidence in me completely. As my take off was accepted by everyone, the confidence only grew further. The rise in my career was step by step and steady. Managing to stay positive….I have worked a lot on myself and that has helped me in always having a positive outlook. Staying focused has been a trait from childhood – whatever I do, I give it my all. There are no two ways about it!

1993 Kalaimamani the highest award conferred by the Tamilnadu Government (India), given to outstanding artistes

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In your opinion, what are some obstacles that are unique to women in this field and how do you propose overcoming them?

Times are changing and more and more women are coming out of domestic environments to explore, learn and outdo. The generation of today, apart from their academics and chosen professions, also dabble in the arts and once they realize it as a calling, branch off to taking music as a full time career.

When there is perseverance and commitment, nothing is an obstacle – they only turn into challenges to forge ahead and excel. Balancing home and work during instances of long travel, extended hours, managing family…these are the regular challenges women face in any other profession as well and can always be learnt to be dealt with as time goes by.

Do you see the field evolving in terms of giving women musicians mutual respect and importance?

Most definitely yes. Today women musicians are in as much demand as men and post the era of our women Trinity – MS Amma, MLV Amma and DKP Amma, there has been great resurgence in the flock of women musicians. Instances of choosy accompanists, gender bias and pointed criticism are all fading away to herald a new set of more open minded, explorative and collaborative cultures.

What are some of the latest projects you have been involved in?

I have just signed up as composer for two Tamil films of director Vasanth. There is a lot of collaborative music in the anvil.

Tell us a bit about your routine on a daily basis.

Healthy eating, yoga, meditation and working out whenever I can make the time.

How do you manage to increase your repertoire year after year?

When the mind is always open to learning, it just absorbs at every opportunity. An ear for any genre of music, some good research, feeling the pulse of the audience, working on feedback….all this gives way to consistently enriching the repertoire and heightening performance, setting and raising the bar for myself each time.

In this day and age, parents are in a hurry to get their children ready for the stage. What is your take on when a student is ready to perform?

Parents these days are in a little bit of haste to get their children on to the performing platform. It is good to have such aspirations at an early stage. But they should also realize that once the children start performing, they also stop learning.

Please allow them the space to learn as much as possible. Then with the Guru’s approval, they can make the move.

2003 On 15 December 2003 Sudha Ragunathan was conferred the title ‘ARJUNA’ for achievements as a performer, and as a mark of personal distinction in the propagation of Carnatic Music by the Margazhi Mahotsavam at Chennai.

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2004 On January 26th 2004, The Government of India announced the Padma Sri award to be given to Sudha Ragunathan in the field of Carnatic music for 2004

2007 On August 23, 2007, Sudha Ragunathan was conferred The Rajiv Gandhi Moopanar Award along with nine others, for eminence in the field of music, in Chennai.

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Ananya Ashok

When the mind is always open to learning, it just absorbs at every opportunity.

An ear for any genre of music, some good research, feeling the pulse of the audience, working on feedback‌.all this gives way to consistently enriching the repertoire and heightening performance, setting and raising the bar for myself each time.

2015 On 26 January 2015 Sudha Ragunathan was announced as the recepient of the Padma Bhushan award for the year 2015.

2013 On 1 January, 2014, The title of the coveted Sangita Kalanidhi for 2013 by the illustrious Music Academy, Chennai, India was conferred upon Sudha ji.

2012 On 5 December 2012, The title Sangita Vidya Praveena was conferred on Sudha Ragunathan during Kala Kruthi's annual music festival.

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2009 On 2 March, 2009, Geethanjali of Bengaluru conferred upon Sudha the title Sangeetha Ratna, in memory of Bharat Ratna M.S. Subbulakshmi.

On 7 May, 2011The Honorable Mark H. Luttrell, Jr., Mayor of Shelby County, Tennessee presented a proclamation and citation to Sudha Ragunathan in recognition of her accomplishments in the field of Carnatic music. The Citation was handed over at the Mayor's Office in Tennesse.

2012 On 17 Mar 2012, Sudha received the Rasikas New Zealand Lifetime Achievement Award from Sri. Aravamudhan Gopalan Iyyengar at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre, Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand

Photo Credit Mr. T. Selvakumar

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GEAR REVIEW

by Mandar Deshpande

BOSS VE-20 Vocal Processor

BOSS VE 5 Vocal Processor

This is like a blessing. Great sound, Amazing features and great control. Extended harmonies option and twin pedal makes it more efficient on stage and the stereo output make you voice sound broad. I have also used it during recording and the control on dynamics and fx seems more efficient.

It is the must have machine to prove your vocal efficiency during live gigs. It is something which people ask you about after show.

There was a time when As a vocalist getting a stage balance for the voice was really difficult.

The VE-20 takes the familiar BOSS twin-pedal form as seen in the RC-20 Space Echo and the RC-20XL Loop Station. It's a very practical and easy to use processor - you just plug in a mic, dial up one of 30 presets and start singing.

Easy one-touch operation Six types of high-quality vocal effects inherited from the VE-20 – Reverb, Delay, Double/Harmony, Dynamics, Pitch Correct, and Tone/SFX Phrase Looper adds impact to real-time vocal performances, including harmonizing and layered beatboxing Favorite Sound function provides immediate access to preferred sounds Ideal for live performance, as well as tabletop setups; mic-stand mount included Internal microphone for instant gratification Aux input for blending external music Battery operation for street performance (AC adapter sold separately)

Features Specialized effects for vocalists, including Harmony, Double-Track, Dynamics, Reverb, Delay, and more Create the total of 3-part harmonies and layers Realtime pitch-correction tools Special FX, including Distortion, Radio and Strobe Phrase Looper with 38 seconds (mono) of recording time Phantom power for condenser microphones Runs on six AA-batteries or AC adaptor (PSA) Easy operation, road-tough BOSS construction

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This pedal gives you the best possible sound and tone required for the show as we can control effects, dynamics and even harmonies on stage. So the sound stays even when you are in jam room as well as venue.

Features

Lessons of

Whiplash If you have been following the The Academy Awards, you would’ve heard of a gem of a film by Damien Chazelle that has Hollywood critics raving.

If you haven’t heard of the film, I will gladly give you a brief synopsis. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, beware of spoilers!

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Ananya Ashok The film revolves around talented drummer, Andrew Neiman (played by the Andrew Teller) who is a first year at the Shaffer Conservatory, New York (one of the best music conservatories in the nation). A chance encounter lands him in the conservatory’s Studio Band and face to face with the short-tempered, borderline tyrannical teacher, Terrence Fletcher (JK Simmons). It is here where Fletcher continuously subjects protagonist Andrew to verbal abuse, as he never seems to measure upto Fletcher’s standards. It’s a brilliant film that studies the boundlessness of human potential as well as the boundaries in pedagogy.

The reason this film hit home for a musician like myself and probably for countless musicians I would imagine is because of the dialogues and messages throughout the film on perseverance and honest-to-god hard work. In the first twenty minutes of the film, Terrence Fletcher talks to Andrew who after witnessing Flectcher’s rage towards another student is a taken aback. He eases Andrew up and talks to him casually almost as a friend. He then draws the example of the legendary Charlie Parker saying, “Charlie Parker became Charlie Parker because Jo Jones threw a cymbal at his head. You know what I mean?”. At this point, most of the audience thinks, ‘Great, he’s justifying his madness by comparing himself to Jo Jones.’ However it isn’t until towards the end of the film the audience is exposed to the full story of Charlie Parker and Jo Jones. But before that, the film takes us deeper and deeper into the abuse that Andrew is subjected to.

The climax is when Andrew is on his way to a major competition to play the part he literally sweated and bled to get, only to fail miserably due to a concussion he gets from a car accident that he’s involved in just minutes before the performance (he actually gets out of the car, drenched in blood and runs straight to the auditorium a few blocks down-determination much?).

Months down the line, we see Andrew working in a café and out of Shaffer Conservatory. A chance encounter again with Fletcher at a nightclub brings the two together for a one-on-one candid chat.

Fletcher opens upto Andrew about him being hoisted out of Shaffer for misconduct (Andrew rats Fletcher out). It is here where Fletcher gets down to the nitty-gritty about his rather extreme methods.

“I wasn’t there to just conduct. Any moron can wave his arms and keep people in tempo. I was there to push people beyond what was expected of them. I believe that is absolutely essential. Otherwise we are depriving the world of the next Louis Armstrong or Charlie Parker”, he says. He then goes on to elaborate the famous Jo Jones/ Charlie Parker story mentioned at the beginning of the film.

“Parker was a young kid, pretty good on the sax. He plays one session with Jo Jones and fucks it up. Jo Jones literally almost decapitates him with that cymbal and Parker is laughed off the stage. That night he goes home, cries it all out.

But the next day he wakes up and he practices. And practices. He has but one goal in mind: Never be laughed at again. A year later he gets up on stage and plays the best mother-fucking solo

the world has ever seen. Now, imagine if Jo had said, ‘Ah that’s okay Charlie. Good job.”

It’s at this point Fletcher’s character says a very profound line, “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than Good Job” So, where is the lesson to be learned here as the title of this article suggests? After seeing this film, I can’t help but ponder on why the greats are mostly a thing of the past and truly meaningful music lies within a handful of people today. The message of the film is clear. In order to succeed in music (or any field for that matter) one must truly push themselves to a breaking point instead of settling for merely getting by day after day. Meaningful work can only be found in those who have invested several hours in a day over a period of many years.

I am reminded of John Hayes’ research titled, ’10 Years of Silence’ where Hayes investigated the role of effort, practice, and knowledge in the world’s top performers and what it took to get them there.

He started off by taking a look at all the late and great composers of the past. After several years of research, Hayes concluded that not one composer produced incredible work without atleast a decade of practice including the great Mozart himself. Anyone who has produced great work would most definitely say one thing, “It was hard work”. For it is only hard work and consistent practice, that will get you outstanding results. Hands down.

“But is there a line where the next Charlie parker gets discouraged from being the next Charlie Parker?”, Andrew asks.

Fletcher’s response, “No, because the next Charlie Parker would never be discouraged.”

The problem with practice is that it is discouraging. That is what practice does to a person. Infact that is what knowledge does to a person. The more you learn, the more you will realize how much you don’t and will never know. So why work insanely hard? What is it all for? Well, there is a saying, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”

An artform or field doesn’t evolve without putting in countless hours to the point of discovery. It is that discovery that is the blueprint for the next generation to make a new discovery and so forth. Hard work, as writer Scott Belsky says is the single most competitive advantage you will have in your field. As the film implies throughout, no great musician has defied odds through casual effort. At the same time, it is also necessary to acknowledge that in today’s world, time and energy are often misappropriated. Reflecting on status quo of a normal working day and the traditions that go along with that, it is easy to misuse hours in hour day in the name of working hard. The key however is to work around that and always remember our intentions and goals.

So instead of asking if it’s really worth working hard, the question that ‘Whiplash’ begs is, are you willing to roll up your sleeves and sweat it out to add a piece to that gigantic jigsaw puzzle?

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Vivek Rajagopalan turns fusion into the fantastic Vivek Rajagopalan is a storm wrapped in a sheath of sound. Listen to anything he has touched and you will be reminded of the possibilities of human diversity in it bare essence. He jams in a lot - Carnatic, Hindustani, jazz, folk, electronic, and drum n bass. But not a single note seems imposed upon or ruffled, each setting into into an exceptionally complicated aural puzzle which makes for the most transcendental listening. Most recently, he has released a music video named ‘Munyati’ with Culture Machine and featuring Georges Nehme from Lebanon.

He gets with The Score Magazine to talk about that, and so much more

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Shreya Bose Your website describes your music as "a seamless blend of Carnatic, Hindustani, Jazz, Folk, Electronic and Drumn-Bass with edgy & global soundscapes". That sounds intrepidly complicated. How does one actually go about arranging such music?

These are sounds that I grew up to.They were all influnences to my growing as a musician. For example, if you listen to Savare from my album Moving Images, the beats and the approach to harmony, it has a jazz school of thought towards the arrangements.

For me I just see them as ingredients which should never stick out but just be there in a sublte way and add to the taste.

Your single "QUEST" has this inalienable darkness in it, like something out of Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned.

Could you tell us a bit about it; how it was composed, what it speaks of?

The hook was composed first with the basic beats for which I stayed put in Embar Kannan’s house for two days recording with him. The idea of using Subramania Bharati’s Poetry was suggested by Kannan when I told him that we should put a strong thought and a vocal line to the track rather than just keeping it instrumental. Once I was back in Mumbai, SHRI (Badmarsh and Shri) had come over to my place a couple of months later and I requested him to add his signature bowed bass style to the track.

It was during that session that he came up with the second part to the song. He also produced this track (musically).

And then of course I like writing dark stuff, although it’s not intentional, but I find beauty there.

Your work is absolutely novel in the sense that one song will sound nothing like the other. There's a lack of a unifiying characteristic - something that one would call "Rajagopalan-esque", so to say. This testifies to an enormous creative reservoir, but do you feel it could also be a back thing in today's world of short attention spans where everything needs to be identified immediately.

My first album is definetly different in the way it sounded than the new ones that I am releasing.

In the series of singles that I am releasing now, one common thread that you will hear in all the tracks apart from being different is the mridangam, kanjira, chenda, violin sounds in all of them. I feel to create a sound that you can call your own, one has to write several tunes with that same sonic structure and only then can one achieve that. So I am trying to do that with this project, which is ‘Music Prayer Rhythm People’. Finix Ramdas on the violin, Shovon Mukherjee on Bass and Nylon Guitar have

all been a part of this sound as well.This project also features voices and melodies from Greece, Lebanon and of course India. I am not sticking to a genre but I am surely sticking to a sound pallete in these tunes.

For me personally its exciting ,because,with the same sound pallete I have been able to achieve very different sounding tunes.The reason for releasing all of them as singles is because I wanted each song to get full attention.The whole story will unfold with time

As one who intesively engages with folk music, do you prefer performing at grand global stages or smaller venues with more local participation?

Both have their own advantages, so I wouldn’t single out one.

Although if I were to choose,then It would be a global audience.

That way I would be able to present music from India, proudly.

Do you draw themes from literature or cinema? If so, could you give us a couple of examples?

I wouldn’t restrict inspiration to just one medium.

You've always been gloriously unmindful of genre when it comes to combining styles of sound. What experimentation can we hope to see next?

I haven't thought of it yet.I am still exploring this new found combination of sounds.

For you new music video 'Munyati', how did you begin to engage with Georges Nehme from Lebanon? Could you tell us a little about it?

It wasn’t as much of an engagement as it was a chance meeting that lead me to want to collaborate with him. I had met him while I was on tour for another project okworld ensemble and was almost instantly inspired to do a track with him. So almost after 8 months or so of trying to work it out, I got him down to Mumbai and we spent a week recording .The video happened so that I can present it to the world properly ,since we live in times where music is consumed as an Audio-Visual medium and not just Audio

Why did you decide to partner with Culture Machine Digital Video Entertainment Company, how did it help you?

Culture Machine has always been very supportive of my vision and my journey and that makes it a good reason to work with them.

Given the depths of history from which you bring forth your finished music, how much research does each track entail?

No research at all, just have to dig deep into my instincts and keep my ears open and keep learning from observations

Anything we can look forward to soon after Munyati?

I will be releasing my next single Theiyye on 8th of March, which also happens to be Women's Day. This will feature Resmi Sateesh from Kerala and is a song that the fans will surely relate to.

How about a little shot-out to readers of Score?

Hey readers of Score do subscribe to my channel www.youtube.com/TheVivekRajagopalan and do share your feedback there. Also, keep your eyes and ears open for Theiyye which releases soon.

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Manisha Bhat

Band of the Month

MIDIval Punditz This electronic(a) duo consisting of Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj have been entertaining the world with their Indian fusion music for over two decades now. Read all you need to know about them here. *Spoiler alert* There’s a new album coming out.

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Tell us about how it all started.

G: Well, Tapan and I have been friends since the fifth grade. Even in school we were always talking about music and later in college we kind of reunited. Tapan was in IIT and I was in Architecture, we were kind of hanging out, I was into DJing and Tapan was doing Audio Engineering work. So, eventually, we decided that we should make a band and experiment with electronic music. That was in 1995-96 when we started making music. That’s pretty much how we started.

How did you come up with the name ‘MIDIval Punditz’?

T: When we were discovering the kind of sound, the kind of music we wanted to make, we were among the new internet generation, in the late 90’s. We had these samples playing on the computer and we came with an idea to make something that sounds current and also ancient, because that’s the kind of music we were making. We were taking ancient Indian tradition and mixing them with the modern western beat. So, that’s how the word MIDIval(miedival) and Punditz have been used to show the kind of music that we make.

How did you get to this whole idea of creating something this cool? Because, one half of the Punditz did architecture and the other did engineering. Besides, there is this whole ‘rock band’ wave that’s been around for a really long time now, how did the idea of Electronica strike you?

G: From the internet we started listening to the new club music being played all around the world and we started liking that a lot. Also because we were DJing, we realised that we want to make our own music. And then it was very clear, being born and brought up in India, you experience certain art forms, especially music. And at the same time we were always going out to clubs, hanging out and listening to electronic music and it sounded really interesting. We kind of put everything together and this is what we came up with because that is what we were experiencing.

Was it hard for you in the beginning, when you guys started off?

T: To be honest, we started off with things that are little simpler and that we could do quickly. We started taking songs from old Hindi movies and started remixing them with the modern beats.

We didn’t know how people would respond to it because we loved them. But to our great surprise, from day one, we started getting a positive response. Not in huge numbers but to whomever we were playing it out to. We noticed that it was striking a common thread in their mind because they were also young people, they also like the old style of music that we’re already proud of and they also like the way that we’re presenting it. So,

Gaurav Raina

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maybe we didn’t have a tough time or a struggle because we had an audience. But it was a tough time with the record label. They were also excited about what we were doing but the kind of contracts they were handing out to us at that time was just obnoxious. So, we started looking outside of India, we signed up with Six Degrees Records in the year 2001.

You’ve been a major influence on the electronica scene in India. There are many that are inspired by you and start off their own, but many don’t stick that long. How have you managed to stay this long especially without drifting into anything else? Is there some kind of a secret that you’d want other relatively new bands to know?

G: I think a question like this is based on the consistency or the validation in this art form as a career option, if people can actually sustain their livelihood by producing music. I think it’s possible in this day and age. At this point our society and youth have taken into electronic music and it’s become a popular genre.

The secret of how we sustained is through perseverance. We had second jobs also which we were trying to use to pay the bills, but our hearts were in this. Sometimes you do have to do more economically beneficent stuff. But apart from that, I think it’s about perseverance and staying honest and true to the art form.

That pretty much holds good to all art forms because the minute you start commercialising it and start moulding it and try to sell it, it’s pretty much the end of the creative process.

You’ve travelled all around the world playing your music and not one is the same the other. How do you do that?

T: Well, we perform in two manners, either in clubs or we perform with our live band together.

Both these manners that we perform in, as electronic performers, in, as electronic performers, our performance is not fixed.

The song in the album could be five minutes long, and in

the performance it can be three and a half minutes long depending on how the crowd is reacting to it or eight and a half minutes long if the vocalist does a new verse spontaneously or if the flute player does a new solo depending on the crowd. So, the live performances keeps adapting and it breathes on the same energy that the crowd is giving back. When we come to DJ sets, it also has to move with the crowd, if the crowd wants to listen to heavy music and doesn’t feel like dancing, it has to change with the crowd.

Also, how does it change when playing at clubs abroad to playing at clubs here in India?

G: Obviously the clubs abroad move to the western music that we play, they are more receptive to it. When we play our music they are intrigued and are interested in it.

When we play in India it only depends on one thing, we either get a good audience or we don’t. But in major cities like Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore and Pune, the crowd has changed over the years and they’re more receptive and they’re more excited to hear interesting songs or even our songs. So for us, the experience of playing in India and abroad used to be 50:100, now it’s 70:100, so it’s getting better and better as we go by.

Who were your influences initially and has it changed over time?

T: When we started off we were very excited about the stuff from the west especially in the club culture, like The Prodigy, Underworld, and Chemical Brothers that came about creating a new kind of electronic sounds. We were definitely not interested in house music at that time, it was more beat and drum based inspiration we drew from the West. From India, since we grew up listening to the radio and have been subjected to

classical music and folk music. So, we’d been inspired by, and still are, legends like Zakhir Hussain, Ustaad Sultan Khan Saab, and all the greats of India and also the playback singers and musicians from Bollywood from the Golden Era, the fifties and the sixties.

How was the reception of your music abroad, initially?

T: We got a tremendous response abroad, even the record label that we’re signed with, Six Degrees Records, jokingly asked me why we’re not signed with any Indian labels. The only thing we were finding difficult was that they could not connect with our music lyrically because of the Punjabi or Hindi in our lyrics but they’ve all been connecting to our music. It’s been great and now with the new album coming out, we’re excited to tour in India and abroad again.

You spoke about a new album coming out, when can we expect it and how different is it going to be in comparison to the earlier ones?

T: The album is scheduled to come out on the 28th of April and it’s called Light. Something that we envisioned when we started making this album is to make it a live album. Instead of treating it like an electronic piece of music, it’s something that we want to perform in front of a live audience with the full band. So, it has all the essential tools that we have in our music and it also has a live aspect to it.

Which upcoming artist/band in the electronica scene do you think will make it big?

T: There are a whole bunch of new artists that are out there creating really interesting music. They’re not just making tracks but are making songs, with verses, chorus and stories. It’s not just some instrumental music that we hear and forget all about it in a few minutes.

Lastly, what are your plans for the year 2015, apart from the album coming out?

G: Apart from the album coming out, we have an India tour, and then we head to America. And I think we’ll just lie down because took around five years to make this album and there’s a lot of inspiration lying inside our head.

Tapan Raj

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A new stop for the connoisseur of good sounds in Chennai If you're in Chennai and salivate at the thought of running your fingers over the smooth edges of instruments and all accoutrements of music-making, you are in tremendous luck. Yamaha, the world's largest conglomerate in the music instrument industry, has opened up the Yamaha Music Station at Musee Musical store, Anna Salai.

In an alliance with Musee Musical, a music retailer that has built itself on a legacy of excellence, the Station houses a plethora of incredible instruments, be it guitars, drums, keyboards, synthesisers and practically anything you could want, whether you're an amateur or professional in the musical arts.

Yamaha has already made waves in Southern India with Yamaha Piano Salon in Chennai and Yamaha Music Square in Hyderabad. The Music Station is clearly set to continue their untouched record of proficiency. Yamaha Music India Managing director, Hitoshi Mochizuki is definitely feeling optimistic about the event. “It is the tremendous combo of musical instruments school and store which will attract customers from all sections and age groups who would like to fulfill their cult for music. Exploring Indian market with an aggressive associate like Musee Musical has been an enthralling journey and a huge commercial success ", he said.

Chief Executive Officer of Musee Musical is just as excited. In an article in The Hindu, he was quoted as saying "The Yamaha Music Station at Musee Musical is a step forward ensuring that the musicians of Chennai will not just settle for a Yamaha musical instrument, as a complete ensemble of instruments will be available at Musee Musical."

Sounds brilliant, right? Well, it certainly should be, given that experts in the field of forging and bringing forth some of the best gear of some of the best musicians in the world has come together to create a space for music-lovers to pick out devices for their craft. Its quite possible that the instruments might be a bit on the expensive, given their exquisite quality, but aspiring musicians are quite welcome to walk up to the Station and play the instruments themselves.

Plans to bring Western music intimately into the homes of Southern India are afoot, and a most promising start has certainly been made.

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Indian Grammy winner

Ricky Kej talks craft and reality.

Ricky Kej has won a Grammy for his 14th album, and by doing so, he has brought the state of the Indian music scene in a bit of question. Given the quality of his work, its a wonder that he hasn't been better known in his home country, unlike Europe or China, where his album has dominated charts for weeks and months on end. With Score, he opined about his work and the way reception to independent music works in India. He's got plenty to say about how we treat a song if its not attached to a film, and it makes much-needed sense.

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Shreya bose

Peace-love-harmony is a theme that is among the most expressed and used in musical composition and themes.

What gave you the confidence that you would be able to present a much-used idea in a distinctive and noticeable way in Winds of Samsara?

For me, it was all about making music from the heart. These days, you see a lot of music that's been made on an assembly line, like when boybands are created or a lot of mainstream pop. All I want to do is make music that is expressive of what I feel and believe.

The entire album is very positive. There is not a hint of negativity in it. Its a positive approach. We felt that rather than telling people what's wrong with the world - they hear that everyday already- its important to highlight what is good, right and beautiful. That was out intent from the very beginning.

When collaborating, do you look for a strand of similarity, something that fundamentally unites you and your collaborator in terms of artistic worldview. Or, do you ever decide to just work with someone completely different in thought and artistic execution?

Collaboration should never be forced, like the way it is with boybands and pop artists who combine to create songs. It works from a marketing point of view, because you get fans of both sides to listen. But, for me its very important for the collaboration to be organic. It has to work like a marriage where each person respects the other's sensibility They have to be completely true friends.

The whole approach to music making has to be syllogistic where the outcome has to be higher than the sum of the individual parts.

How does the process of composition work for you?

Mine is an uncompromising approach to making music I don't believe in surrendering to trends or a director's demands. Of course, as a person I am influenced by everything from pop to rock to classical to events around me. But they are organic influences, not imposed upon me by external factors.

When Sam Smith won his 4th Grammy and gave his speech. he thanked his ex boyfriend for breaking up with him, which led him to composing an album.

Adele, similarly has a breakup and writes entire songs about it. For me, music has to come from the heart. Rather than following the plot of a film and what it needs to be a success, I think of what I want to say about the world through my music.

How did the exchange between you and Wouter Kellerman come about?

I met him on the internet. I had composed a flute album which he really liked, and I had seen him perform at the closing ceremony of the

FIFA World Cup when it had been hosted by South Africa. From then, we started sending each other compositions, and it began to make sense for us to work together.

How do you perceive the music scene in India?

I don't think independent music really works in India. Bollywood exists as the dominating force in the industry when it comes to music in India. Every musician is expected to be part of it. In fact, the first questions that gets asked of any composer is "What films have you composed for?" Its a force that cannot be ignored.

In my personal opinion, Bollywood chooses to use music as a promotional device to sell movie tickets rather than as a revenue source, just like Hollywood treats movie trailers. As a result, people don't really see music as a commodity they have to pay for; its a free product. Consequently, piracy has become rampant in India, which, in my view is utterly disrespectful to the people who have created the music.

Every person in India has this incredible music collection on their phones or mp3 players, but when you ask them when was the last time they purchased music, they can't remember. In places like France, for example, if I tell someone that I have this album called "Winds of Samsara", they'll go and get it on iTunes. In India, I'll usually be asked if I can give it to them on a thumb drive or if I can mail it to them.

The situation is aggravated by musicians and composers in Bollywood who themselves don't treat their music as a revenue source. They're just happy with their one time payment for the composition, because they're not really losing any money through their songs being freely available. Piracy in India is considered to be a victimless crime, which is why despite the laws all being there, there is no motivation to actually enforce them.

What would you tell the rising crop of indie musicians in the country?

The younger lot of musicians need to understand that career need not be validated by movies. I love my work in Kannada cinema, but I did enter into it with the purpose of gaining validation. As an independent musician, it was difficult for me to explain what it was I did, to explain my work to people who weren't used to perceiving music outside or unattached to films.

Now that you have that Grammy, does it feel like you have keep outdoing yourself to stay relevant and live up to the elevated stature you've been placed on? Do you feel a doubled sense of pressure?

No pressure, actually. The Grammy win has opened up many more doors. A lot of musicians that I have wanted to work with, I can. And it has helped my music reach a lot more people. As musician, that is my objective at the end of the day - to get my message out there as much as possible.

You've done quite a few cinematic soundtracks.

Considering how visual the music of Winds of Samsara can be (especially when couple with the music videos), would you say that you enjoy with conflating vivid, pointed imagery within your sound?

Oh, definitely. And, you know, my music is primarily instrumental, with lyrics largely in the background. Of course, the words are important. But I prefer to leave my music open to the listeners' interpretation. I don't want lyrics to point them to a specific interpretation, though of course, I have a certain message in mind. But I also want the listeners to participate in the experience in an active way.

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The Main Stage

Lucky Ali – quite literally

The Greek style amphitheatre at the heart of the vineyards that acted as Main Stage was a nice, sunny spot to stretch your legs, sip a glass of wine and enjoy the act while munching on a roll. That was only afternoons. Come evening, and the spot seemed to magnify to the extent of accommodating over a couple of thousand people fighting to even stand.

Easily the biggest crowd-puller of the event. A festival goer overheard on day 1 - “Putting Lucky Ali in the middle of a vineyard, who would’ve thunk?!” - the anticipation was clearly there.

Although the performance was characterized by a lot of muffled and off-tune renditions, the crowd was all ears and visibly mesmerized.

The DJ stage – that just happened to be there in the way Scarcely fully occupied, the Atmasphere stage as it was named played host to a bunch of international DJs. The ground below played host to people happening to stop by chance. Although not a great distraction from the fest overall, it was a place to chill, with the additional, beautiful view of the long stretch of vineyards that it provided, just outside of it.

The wine – clear, sparkling and refreshing Seco Rose, a charmac method wine was the official drink of the festival. Hardy’s had joined in as wine partner, with other Sula wines on offer as well and special tastings and tours organized for sommeliers and wine enthusiasts alike through the Tasting Cellar and Tasting Room. If you were expecting wine prices to be low during the festival, it was exactly the opposite. The wine store discount of 15% wasn’t applicable on days of the fest. That did not keep festival goers from flocking the store, however.

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Vishal Shah

The 8th edition of the Sula Fest, Nashik hit ground on the weekend of 7-8h February. A unique festival that combines music with gourmet food and wine, Sula Fest has grown tremendously over the years since its humble inception in 2008 that witnessed 300 people to this year where close to 12,000 enthusiastic festival goers stepped in. Here, we capture some of the headlines of the event.

Young the Giant energy level: giant, music level: mid-sized man The group’s first performance in India ended on a high as they played as headliners on the Main Stage on Day 1.

Their brand of indie rock was taken with much enthusiasm as fans (read girls) flocked to the front and even lip-synced some of their songs. True fans indeed, some of whom had entered Sula just to catch them live.

Rodney Branigan the crowd’s boy With good acoustic rock with multiple instruments at a time up his sleeve, his fillers between the group acts kept the audience interested, as did the spate of conversation he kept going with them all throughout.

Food and Drink -- burp!!

Music – meh

With lots of options for both, the festival offered a wide variety, ranging from a pan cuisine to a dabeli, all of which tasted nice. The likes of Café Zoe, Woodside Inn, Maroosh and Busago kept up a tirade of good pairings of food and wine for the crowd. The alcohol wasn’t limited to just wine either, with beers, whiskeys and tequilas available as well.

Another association with Blue Frog meant a series of new acts, a lot of them international, and a variety in genres. There was reggae with Bombay Bassment, latin hip hop with the Cuban Beat All Stars, indie/alternative rock with Will and the People and Young the Giant, Lucky Ali, and of course electronica with Sandunes, Nucleya and DJ Hamza. There wasn’t a trend visible to make the music specific to wine – it was music for all, and quite like a Weekender. At least, musically.

Activities – a welcome break Wine tastings, tours, accessories to prove you’ve been to a wine festival, drunken grape stomping, an old records store, face sketching, tarot reading, massages and the in house cafes and restaurants in the campus – all provided a decent break from the proceedings on the main stages.

The impact of the festival on the localites being huge, there were things to do for everybody, including kids who had come along in large numbers.

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How to Design

Your Dream Practice Room It almost goes without saying that every musician needs a practice room in their home. It's the one place that should be your go-to think pad, intense-jam space, and a place of just pure solitude. So, how does one set the stage for that? Here are some ideas to help you design your dream practice room!

A Good Rug Whether you sit on the floor and practice Indian Classical music or sit on that nice wooden chair with you clarinet practicing scales, never underestimate the majestic touch of a comfy rug. If you want to create a space that is aesthetically pleasing for a musician, make sure the floors are clear with one or two decorative ornaments. Clutter can make some tense, but a beautiful rug in the center of the room can draw you to this part of your pad for hours at a stretch.

A Jazzy Book Shelf (pun intended) There is a beauty in seeing your carefully bound and bought music books on a vintage bookshelf. Books on an art form should be given a fitting home, one that is both solid and artistic. Vintage bookshelves are in abundance thankfully. You can find the one that suits you in a place like FabIndia as well as the expo in your city.

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Floor Lamp Let there be light where music is found! A special room requires a special type of lighting. By that I mean finding the light that speaks to you. Okay, maybe that sounds a little too artsy and poetic, but hey, we’re talking about a ‘dream practice room’, so anything goes!

Tapestry Good Tapestry, like a good rug adds flavor and vive to a practice room. You can pick from a variety of colors and themes based on your personal lifestyle. If you’re a Classical musician, something like a a kalamkari tapestry with god depictions is a great addition to your music room.

Wall Art Like Tapestry, wall art really adds personality to your special place.

As a musician, it’s always nice to have pictures/portraits of the greats of the past as well as contemporary inspiration. Pictures of Ancient Musical Instruments are very cool if you can get your hands on décor like that.

The Instrument Stand If music is a huge part of your life, you definitely need to have a special place to keep that, which matters to you, most: An Instrument stand.

Even if you don’t have the luxury of getting something custom made for your instrument, you should invest in getting a storage space for your instrument/tools. Think about something functional like this. You can get creative with arrangements and organize your items in a neat and organized manner.

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In the increasingly larger circles of electronic music aficionados, Above and Beyond is a name to swear by. The English progressive trance trio forged by Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamäki have been ruling charts and hearts since they released the single "No One On Earth," featuring the vocals of ZoÍ Johnston which was voted Tune of the Year for 2004 in Armin van Buuren's trance radio show A State of Trance. Ever since, they're surfed genres and labels, created the vocal trance group OceanLab with Justine Suissa, dabbled with "something different" in The Acoustic Project and been consistently ranked among DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJs Poll. They're no newcomers to India, and look forward to performing for the burgeoning fan base of music that was, until recently, confined to underground word-of-mouth. The Score Magazine takes a moment of their time to get to know about their notions of creativity, and how they operate as a musical collective.

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Shreya Bose You’ve been touring India every year for the last 5 years. How has the experience evolved with each time?

Which Indian artists have particularly caught your attention? Any collaboration on the cards? Anyone you would like to work with?

I think globally the dance music scene has grown over the years, and India is no exception. The shows have been getting bigger in India, and the audience ever more knowledgeable about the music.

I’m not really familiar with any Indian artists to be honest so there are no collaborations currently on the cards, but we are always open to new things.

How has the global electronic scene evolved in the same time? Whats the most significant insight in this evolution?

What would you say is the most challenging part of your creative process?

I think dance music has risen in popularity and it is now taken seriously, where as before it was seen as an underground scene, compared say to rock music. As a scene the shows have become more immersive and involving for the audience than before.

Tell us a bit about The Acoustic Project. When you say "reconnection with the musicians that we were before we met", are you looking to incorporate more individualistic tastes into your collective efforts?

I think when you spend a lot of time working with a keyboard and a mouse, staring at a screen making music you crave doing something different from time to time, and Acoustic was an opportunity to explore another musical area.

Perhaps knowing when to stop. One of the few good things about the business of music, is that it creates deadlines. I’m sure if we’d have been given another year to finish the album, we would have used it. Would the album be any better? I’m sure it would have been – using more time doesn’t always equal better results. Time and other limitations can actually make you more creative than having every choice available to you in the studio!

Do you ever consider shifting or juggling genres?

You have always been versatile, but would you ever consider a new genre entirely?

Genre is not at the forefront of our minds when writing and producing music. If you listen to the album, I wouldn’t say it was “of a specific genre”, personally so I find it hard to view our own music in this way.

Would you say that you have become more radical in your experimental inclination with the rise in your work's popularity? Or, have you ever felt threatened by the possibility of a dip in popularity if you tried something too ambitious?

I think that if you chase popularity it is a recipie for long term failure, even if you end up having some short term success. I want to be doing this in 10 years time, so it’s better to stuck to what you believe in rather than chasing fashions or trends. What makes music interesting is the many flavours it comes in, and some days you want to hear something obvious, simple and effective, where as other days you want to make something a bit more complicated and involving. That’s how I feel about writing music. Complexity doesn’t always mean beauty, but you’d get bored doing the same thing which is why we like to mix it up and not stick to one sound alone.

Would you like to give a shout-out to readers of Score?

Yes! Please say thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years, and we hope to see you at a show soon! You are the reason we are able to do this.

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Paralights A one-man answer to your cravings for the strange and beautiful

Paralights brandishes the iconoclasm of Ayan De, a man who's been producing music by the who's who of the indie music scene. We're talking names like The Riot Peddlers , The Lightyears Explode, Blek, Siddharth Basrur, Microphon3, Null Friction, and Goddess Gagged. Then he put his hand to composition, and created music which evokes question, confusion, dubious context and incalculable brilliance. His debut EP 'Scores for Your Background' gives you plenty to rave about. He takes a moment with us at The Score Magazine to discuss the nuances of his oh-so-distinctive sound, and how musicality operates for him.

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Shreya Bose "Paralights is visceral music". That is a beautiful description of your work. But, could you expand on why you'd qualify it as visceral?

Visceral was a word that felt right at that moment. To be honest, a friend of mine used this term to describe it and I thought it was fitting.

A good and possibly the only reason for me to make music as Paralights is to express ideas and thoughts and feelings that I cannot pen down or describe. The overtones through “scores for your background” was just that. The work is meant to fit anyone and any mood like a glove.

You music is incredibly melodious, but builds itself on a kind of unpredictability. This might sound vague, but would you ever say that there is something transgressive or fundamentally disruptive about the kind of music you make?

I wrote most of the songs in the release like a pop song (verse chorus, verse , etc) but it morphed into a “movements” based arrangemnt. Maybe that fundamentally adds to the unpredictability? I defenitely didn't aim for it to happen, but am glad it worked out the way it did.

You've long been one of the most sought-after indie producers in the country. The leap from production to composition - what inspired that?

Its actually been the other way around. I have always been a composer, I just am not in the habit of releasing much as I compose more to help production ideas or to try out engineering tricks. I stopped composing for a few years to re-invest my time towards production and the studio and just generally getting better at my job .

We know you're not big on categorising what kind of music you like, but are you ever worried that your generosity with compartmentalisation might confuse those accustomed to more mainstream labels?

Genres are important to differentiate, but apart from aiding me archive music into little boxes on my iTunes library I haven't found much use.

Given how many sub genres there are today, its difficult to pocket music into them, as a song can be in several at the same time, based on perspective (i.e according to instrumentation or vibe/feel or production or groove). I do listen to a lot of pop and vintage jazz and swing and classical music and rock and alternative and some electronica (very little compared to the rest), but given how two completely different sounding bands or songs or albums can be labeled under “Indie Rock” and“Alternative pop” tends to get a little

confusing. So in short, genres apart from the parent ones like pop or rock or electronica is pretty confusing as is, so I try not to spend too much of my time thinking about it , unless its clear from the start.

In an interview with NH7, you had said " At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what genre as long as I tap into the vibe of the music." Is tapping into the vibe a spontaneous reaction, or do you know what kind of stuff will make a song immediately appeal to you?

The “Vibe” to me is how much of the music feels real … cause anyone can download a software and make beats and lay down a track or sing into a mic, literally anyone. However if the song isn’t driven by emotions or feelings (for a lack of better words), regardless of how amazing the voice or instrument’s quality is, it almost never feels like a song, it almost doesnt feel right, there is always a void, it gets too mechanical or there is a lack of love or magic or whatever u want to call it.

So the vibe is definitely a spontaneous reaction.

That being said, a well produced song with fancy chops and parts and hooky toplines can be exciting, it does lose its charm over a few listens.

What is going on in the studio for you now, both production and composition- wise?

The studio recently relocated and I have been busy working on a few corporate projects and bands (i.e E for elephant, Noush Lewis, the tripp, etc) the studio work is keeping me busy so I don’t have too much time to compose for myself (as Paralights), I did make enough music for a Full length record right after scores for your background, but a week before I planned to release it I decided not to as I didn’t feel any kind of attachment towards them. So now I just write when I feel like it rather than just because.

Would you say that it would be possible to find echoes of "Scores for Your Background" in the music you produce? Or vice versa? Or are they completely divergent?

Scores for your background does echo through some of the tracks and music I make for ad films and such, but not so much otherwise, mostly because all the songs on Scores for your background were “singer Songwriter” acoustic songs that somehow ended up being the exact opposite when I produced them. This most likely happened cause I am not a good singer and just didn't bother adding the vocal parts on most of the songs so the vibe changed, it wasnt a planned process, it just happened over time.

Can we expect any collaborations, given that you have worked extensively with musicians in the indie scene?

I do hope to collaborate a lot this year, but given everyone’s busy schedules I dont see it happening anytime soon.

A little message for readers of Score?

If you are a musician or aspiring to be one or an engineer or a producer and have just started off, be open to all ideas and notions that you get, trust your instincts, cause it is the best tool u have in your arsenal.

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Art of Neraval Singing

by Arvind Soundarajan

Neraval is a beautiful aspect of the manodharma sangeetham (creative music) in South Indian Carnatic Classical music. A line of sahitya from a composition (a kriti) is chosen by the artist and repeated within the framework of thalam in different variations.

The way in which neraval is executed actually reflects the caliber (Gnanam) of the artist. The neraval singing is a main aspect of the Ragam Tanam Pallavi and sahitya positioning is given utmost importance while executing the neraval in an RTP. Neraval typically consists of two parts to it. One is the vilamba kaala neraval and another is the duritha kaala neraval. In the vilamba kaala neraval, the artist chooses to explore various pidis (meaningful phrases) of a raga in the neraval, within the thalam framework. In this process, the artist's understanding of the raga is fully exhibited & at the same time reflects the control over the layam.

Another way to approach the vilamba kaala neraval would be to give more emphasis to the thalam as the artist drops the words in the exact positions as they are placed in the composition. The durita kaala neraval is one of the most challenging aspects of neraval singing where the position of the sahitya needs to be maintained, the kaala pramanam (tempo) of the neraval needs to be in tact and also enough variations need to be presented to the listener. This is the area where an artist tends to get carried away by giving more emphasis to any one of the above and compromising the others. Hence, gurus used this aspect of the carnatic music to gauge the vidwat (mettle) of their students.

Taking the example of “Baamini Samudhayashaya Mohana Padmanabha Kamala Dharanidhara� from Sarasaksha Paripalaya Maam in Pantuvarali : The mechanics of executing duritha kala neraval is as follows.

1 Avartana (cycle) of Adi Thalam (8 beats) has 32 aksharas (notes) and the line that has been considered here for neraval is of length, 2 Avartanas.

One approach to singing durita kaala neraval would be assigning a Karvai of 3 to each of the padam (word) in the sahitya, we get 27 aksharas for 9 words and remaining 5 aksharas can be used as the concluding phrase of the neraval.

Another approach would be interspersing a karvai of 5 between the 3 karvais. This again would have the last 5 aksharas, which can be used to conclude the neraval.

Palakkad Sri KV Narayanaswami and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer were known and are remembered even today to be one of the greatest masters of neraval singing.

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BOSS VE-1 Vocal Echo Professional Studio-Quality Vocal Ambience at Your Fingertips!

BOSS is proud to introduce the VE-1 Vocal Echo, a compact stompbox designed for singers. Packed with a selection of impressive ambience effects plus automatic pitch correction, doubling, and more, the VE-1 allows performing vocalists to easily enrich their sound with studio-quality processing. Battery powered and affordable, the VE-1 also features USB connectivity for capturing vocal sounds in a computer.

The VE-1 makes it simple for any singer to get great sounds right away. The panel is intuitive to operate, with dedicated knobs and buttons for various functions and a large footswitch for turning the VE-1 on/off while performing.

The VE-1 includes seven ambience presets created with sophisticated processing, giving users quick access to a range of pleasing effects that beautifully compliment the voice. The Level knob controls the depth of ambience, while the Tone knob is used to vary the sound colour from dark to bright. Pressing the Double button instantly adds a rich effect that sounds like two singers singing the same part together, while the Enhance button evens out vocals for a more refined sound.

Automatic chromatic pitch correction is also included in the VE-1. A single-knob control allows users to dial in everything from minor correction for pitch stability to the exaggerated tuning effects heard on many of today’s biggest hits.

The convenient Memory function can be used to store three favorite settings for instant recall at any time. Along with the current panel settings, this gives vocalists quick access to four different sound setups while performing. Both the Memory and Double functions can be controlled from an optional footswitch such as the BOSS FS-7.

Via USB, users can record their voice along with the VE-1’s effects directly into their computer. This is ideal for creating songs in music production software, and also provides a simple way to achieve polished vocal sounds while recording performances for social media videos.

The VE-1’s XLR input is compatible with a variety of pro microphone types, including condenser mics that require phantom power. An XLR output provides an easy connection to a PA mixer, while the Phones/Line Out jack allows for private practice and connecting to line-level devices.

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Jeena Jeena (Badlapur) Atif Aslam clearly knows how to stay on top of his game. His coppice in this song is just as capable of transporting one to a cocoon of warmth and shove you into sentimental overdrive. Each word he intones drips with a balmy comfort that is the stuff of good music. Sachin-Jigar do a magnificent job of arranging instruments and vocals that almost seem fated to unite in ribbons of a luminous joyfulness.

This is what love might sound like.

Jee Karda (Badlapur) Divya Kumar has a voice for battle cries. Once the music starts, there's plenty to make your adrenaline soar and your heart pump. Sachin-Jigar's music is rough, throbbing with a barely suppressed rage and despair which is well-outlined in the lyrics. The words hit you like pistons behind a small tank, and we're loving how it turns obvious feelings of loss into a roar instead of a plea.

Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan (Roy) Roy wants you to dance. Plenty. Kanika Kapoor turns up the Punjabi beats in this track where its all about having a whole lot of fun. Its cute and serene in turns, and while it makes use of extremely overdone technoesque background scores, its a lovely little something to move to. Good enough, right?

Sooraj Dooba Hain (Roy) What I love about this song is that while it has a beat that goads you to dance with all possible abandon, it also carries with it beautiful words that tell you to undo your hair and lose yourself, instead of the party song staple - two beats that sound good and lyrics that aren't talking about anything (at most, they want you to grab and drink and stay out late.) This one is all about feeling that catharsis, de-stressing and dancing with your feet in the waves and sand for the best reason ever - yourself. Arijit Singh and Aditi Singh Sharma. have voices that perfectly encapsulate this liberating tone, and Amaal Mallik's composition is entirely delectable.

Tu Hai Ki Nahin (Roy) Bollywood has always do e 'love' in a breathtaking fashion, especially in terms of music. Ankit Tiwari's vocal cords should definitely be insured, because they are golden even on their worst day. What gets me on this song are the lyrics - a profusion of metaphors that refashion love as something so multifaceted in its manifestation. Plus, the hint of question in the title tosses it a little uncertainty to the context, which makes it just a tad different in terms of expressive ability.

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Khamoshiyan (Khamoshiyan) Arijit Singh is everywhere. And we couldn't be happier. In the title track, he holds us all in thrall ( as has become routine for him now ). We've run out of adjectives to describe those vocal contortions, so let's leave it at 'awesome'. The music is just there to cushion that voice, and more engaging is the song's meditation on a state of silence and its corelation with speech all within an understanding of desire. A perfect song to serenade your beloved with

Piddly (Shamitabh) Big B is big for a reason. He definitely has vocal chops, and this song is all about that gorgeous bass tone as he's intoning to everyone's delight.

Ilaiyaraaja's music weaves and crests with a life of its own, and stand out as much as the words.

Its fun, and has edges of a cynical darkness (or maybe I'm reading too much into it), but this song should be on replay.

Katra Katra (Alone) Prakriti Kakar and Ankit Tiwari's voices are beautiful, but I'm not really seeing appeal of this song. Maybe its the fact that its trying too hard to conflate sexuality and desire with some kind of "wildest love ever", but it just seems a tad awkward. Its a nice enough song, but its not hitting that sweet spot, especially not with the lyrics which abound in juvenile imagery (You've heard this a million times before.)

Judaai (Badlapur) Arijit Singh again. Wonders, again. Reshma Bhardwaj holds her own perfectly with a deep-throated, unconventional voice which sounds like it comes from the bowels of a secret world. I'm definitely hoping to listen to more of her - she enacts an intoxicating baritone which could do really well for an abstract fantasy soundtrack. We like. We like very much.

Tu Har Lamha (Khamoshiyan) I'm feeling really good about this movie, simply on account of its music. Mr. Perfect aka Arijit Singh does it again, with those uplifting refrains that perfectly reflect how the heart flutters when activated by a special other. This is the kind of song you can imagine yourself twirling to in a sunny meadow or dance to under the moon. You know what I mean.

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Indie reviews Apophenia (One Sock / Placebo) Created as a background score for a music-theatre production, this EP dotes on contextual expression more than anything else. Persuasion speaks to a few minutes of flotation in amniotic fluid of some partly-hazed dream : a muted peyote-fuelled vision, something half-Ginsberg.

Reflection emerges out of some cosmic music box set deep in Hades - an edge of anxiety set in the bowels of what could be called a Lovecraftian sound. It drones in whispers, and suspends itself into a blurry, thick ooze of spacey sound that provides much time to think. Skepticism is similar, but more layered in its conveyance of whatever its trying to say. It sounds a lot like something out of Bass Communion, with that overarching loop of a single, emphatic beat. Filtered sounds are scattered sparsely, like flecks of paint. Denial is the most memorable track, what with that half-sunk drone-bass sound cut through with a lazy but sharp beat. This one conjures up images of far away horizons and regressing into one's own head. By the end of it, you are writing a story in your head.

Exquisite expressive ability ; the music conjures up a stark visual component if you have the imagination for it.

Not accessible enough to anyone unaccustomed to ambient music.

Recommended: Denial, Persuasion

Flavawaves (Ezzyland) If you are looking to find a musical representation of what creative thought, plug into this right now. Flavawaves is intricacy of the curious, made palpable. Bonobob & deadmoo5e is all about a series of half finished cadences locked into lo-fi loops. Dynamite demonstrates Ezzyland's love for overlaying samples and turbulent ranges, smashed with hip-hop. Feck moves similarly, making a spectacle out of constructing dissonance. Glued ft. aeon flux fleshes out a stirring sensuality, moving into your body before your mind with that exquisitely timed oozy beat. Pizza swag sways to a lasciviously layered syncopation, stapled with an edgy drum pattern. riding elevators like has a more clarified rhythmic progression, but keeps its store of astonishing sounds melded together equally astonishingly. Slinky versus the world ( my fav ) and Y u do follow the EP's overarching principal, take a sound, morph it with another one, transform them into strange but sweet lines of unthought of melody and let it out into its own element. By the end, the album splashed over into absurdist territory, but lovably so.

Splicing sounds that don't go together, and making it sound sick.

This is so far from anything remotely radio-friendly that we can't even...

Recommended: Feck, Glued ft. aeon flux

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Homemade Music Vol. 3 (Synthetic Lying Machine) The man behind SLM has been stayed notoriously low-profile, which adds to a certain 'Je ne sais quoi' in the endeavour. Flaire Klotus, for instance is uninhibitedly experimental, cluttering cosmic sheaths with basic clinks and shimmering strings. डॉक्टर Earth (penkill tone CHF8 vB24) works the percussion like a pro, deliberately mismatching pseudo-electro fingerprints and imposing what sounds like a downtempo whale-song in the background. The sculpting of sound seems entirely natural, which is triumph in itself. sughar kanne(edit83.6u) features a delicious scratchy tone which is often overlaid with roughly-edged synth. The intertwining of sounds almost shines with a metallic edge and features scattering of previously tightly bounds beats.

6 बिट poly-माया (V4-AVENEERG) could be a Philip K. Dick-esque lullaby, rubbing itself on aural sandpaper, interspersed with ghostly vocals quivering on a somewhat unsure melodic foothold.

Anns_kitchen_102011 vb4 delegitimises ideas of delicacy, rushing into a profusion of askew beats and rickety rhythms. This song is made for a Raoul Servais film; a tonal representation of the joys of indefinability.

Entire album made with household objects and homemade synth(s). Wildly unpredictable.

Way too obtuse for anyone remotely mainstream.

Recommended: Every Song

In Tokens and Charms (Prateek Kuhad) There is something uncannily warm about Kuhad's voice. When he sings, your insides light up as if he shoots a little of his halo in your direction. Oh Love is all about wanting intimate with the 'love', but its puit across with a set of acoustic jangles which turn it into a soothing reflection on the nature of the feeling. In Holding On, he sounds ( only the littlest bit) like James Blunt.

Its a slow but paced track, with a shaven musical arrangement that revolves creeps up to you in brief but effective reiterations. Flames features a number of happymaking riffs and a guitar solo which is meditative and elevating at the same time. Into the Night is all about a few light grooves, enough to rankle those words into immediate memorability. The music seems deceptively simple, but is brought together as something a Sheeran or Mars could be proud of. Go softens into an expression of imtimate isolation; the music tiptoeing around the edge of the vocals with a perceptible daintiness. Fire sways temptingly, drawing you into the many questions Kuhad asks with an alarming candour, set to a guitar that pins them down with the barest notice. Held You Tight is textured with pitched stringsounds which snowball into a gorgeous riot of perfectly synced countours. Be at Ease enumerates the loveliest of acountic harmonies, dazzlingly deviant and yet easy to follow. Cold Shoulders moves like a thought, hesitant but perfectly charming; the music like a soft trot, cased in perfect rhythm. Artist ends off by mulling over the reality/perception dichotomy of someone ( anyone, really), with a skillfull layering of sneaky strings turn it into the perfect song for a contemplative moment.

Insightful, personal, utterly relatable lyrics. Acoustic usage that leaves you in adoration.

You're not likely to love the album unless you're a profound personality.

Recommended: Artist, Flames, Held You Tight.

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Ace pedigree guitarist Dweezil Zappa relies on QSC for optimum live monitoring reinforcement Having spent his career as a rock guitarist working solo as well as playing alongside music legends like father Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Eddie van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Lukather (the list goes on and on!), Dweezil Zappa took the stage at the age of 12, and quickly gained a reputation the world over as a master of tone. Often deploying elaborate rigs, both on stage and in the studio, Dweezil has achieved sophisticated and complex sonic signatures that has become truly unique to only himself. And the ace guitarist readily professes his faith and belief in QSC Audio products for his live performances, as he proudly affirms himself to be a part of the ever growing list of artists who have joined QSC's K for Musicians family.

As a musician who is very detail oriented in his creative process, Zappa prides himself in making sure that audiences can hear all of the nuances and details in his music when he plays his digital modeling rig onstage. Says Zappa, "Making music can be a complex task. Adjusting colors and textures and moving pieces of the puzzle until it feels just right is part of the creative process. Making a connection and an impact on the audience is another integral part of the process. I spend a lot of time on the details and I want to hear those details live on stage. I have a complex guitar rig that I designed to reproduce the full range of frequencies you would be able to hear from studio monitors in a controlled environment. The challenge is, how can I present and re-enforce this detailed sound for the audience from the stage?"

Dweezil goes on to talk about the key challenge he faced in achieving this objective, and how the QSC KW Series proved to be just the perfect solution to suit his expectations and demands.

As Dweezil puts it, “I needed something that was going to reproduce on stage what I was hearing on my studio speakers at home while programming the sounds. I wasn't able to get that until I started working with the QSC stuff.”

According to Zappa, his KW Series rig helps him have the sound that inspires him. In his words, “To make good music you have to be inspired by the sound, and for me the solution is the QSC KW Series. I think my current QSC KW Series setup is the best that I've had. The KW122 loudspeakers really have all of the full-range depth and clarity, and the headroom that is required to have it feel right.

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It does have more response with articulation - with the things that I play and with the nuances that I can get by inducing feedback or those things that you would expect from a guitar amp/speaker setup. I get the full-range frequency response but I also get the feel of pushing enough air so that it feels like a guitar cabinet. Yup, the QSC KW Series gives me what I need.”

And referring to the results achieved in utilizing the KW Series in a live setting, Zappa states, “In the end, when you listen to the sound, you would never be able to tell that it's not a tube amplifier.

But when I'm playing, the QSC speakers complete the overall feel and character of the sound -- and that's something that I really have enjoyed about working with the QSC speakers.”

In the past few months, Dweezil Zappa has been on tour in Europe with his band, Zappa Plays Zappa (ZPZ), which will continue in the U.S, playing material from the 60's, 70's and 80's. ZPZ recently released their new FOH series album entitled 'Out of Obscurity.'

And the past year marked the fourth annual 'Dweezilla' - a diverse musical boot camp for players of all skill levels created by Dweezil to give back to the musical community. In between tours, Zappa spends time on his own solo compositions, which span a wide range of musical genres.

The entire range of the K Family of loudspeakers are readily available within the Indian market through Pro Visual Audio Pvt. Ltd (the official distribution partners of QSC Audio products in India) and its various channels across the country, backed by superlative prompt after-sales service and support.