NAVYA C / SNEHA RAMESH
Do you think an artist will have a limitation to express the lyrical beauty of a composition on an instrument ? What is your approach for it ? Showing the lyrical component through an instrument is a constant quest for me . Picking up every ornament sung by the vocalist through sitar rendition is one way to express the lyrics . Whether it is a complex composition or a filmy number , this rule holds good . When we were working on this album Unbounded ( Abaad ), we were focused on the lyrics and that the music should reflect
the mood of the each word rendered .
According to you , what ' s the biggest challenge for a sitar player ? I think there is less of an awareness throughout the world about instrumental music . Though it is much better in the West with conservatories , how the music is perceived , and the individual understanding about each instrument such as timpani , drums , strings and so on . The students are educated about all these aspects . This is somehow missing in our own educational system in India . I believe this should be a part of basic education , as it is part of history , culture and music . Whether you are a musician or not , these aspects have to be learnt by
every person .
You have been performing actively for nearly three decades now . How do you keep yourself motivated and grow on a consistent basis , as a musician ? This question is very relevant in current times of pandemic where no live performances are happening at all and it is very difficult to keep the spirits going . However , this is only the smaller picture . The larger picture is about keeping oneself motivated , and feeling the burnout and demotivated after hectic schedules and the music gets jaded . Every performance feels like a same old drill and becomes monotonous . It is important to reinvent yourself on a daily basis , to be motivated and energised .
For example , I am practising the raag Chhayanut which is rarely performed on the sitar . Creating a new raag , a rhythmic cycle or challenging yourself will definitely keep the motivation up . The heart of an artist is expansive and it should continue to fly without bounds . Being jaded will lead you to become lazy and without realizing , it will take the fun off your music .
I always suggest listening to different styles of music by bombarding your mind with different kinds of music and it will surely bring new ideas flowing .
In this process , I have also created a new raag called Sahasra Deep which is a combination of raags Patdeep and Shahana .
UNBOUNDED - ABAAD - ARTWORK
How did you use the changing times of tech to your advantage , by collaborating with interesting artists ? The pandemic has been a great wake up call for many and I was no exception . I was thinking of putting out more music in the digital space , just before the pandemic began . If you see in the West , the streaming platforms have been generating revenues for a while . I thank my good friend and composer Shantanu Moitra who informed me about classical music present on digital platforms and how professionally it is made for this space . That got me thinking and when the pandemic arrived , digital platforms was the only way to put music forth . I was always focused on quality and the way it is mixed to give the perfect listening experience . I was learning the hacks of mixing and I could work with Aditya Srinivasan , who did amazing mixing and the main mixing was done by Christian Wright from Abbey Road studios who mixed the popular number “ Shape of You ” by Ed Sheeran .
I could also work with Mahesh Raghavan who plays on the iPad and Darshan Doshi who plays the drums . We all got together as a band named Live & In sync . We created an environment where we could play together in time in the digital space .
What motivated you to design an innovative instrument Doppelganger where old school sound meets digital tech ? I called it the doppelganger of sitar and it does look fancy . The actual name I gave it is See-Tar . It is visual more than anything else , and the reason for creating it is to give a theatrical element for my shows . The theatrical
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