If you ’ ve attended any of the large music festivals in this country recently , you may have noticed the excellent quality of production they deliver . From the fantastic light arrays to the detailed audio quality , festivals have been upping their game for the last 10 years .
The same goes for the incredibly detailed mixes that solo musicians and bands have been releasing in the same time frame . With access to cheap and varied software and hardware even so-called bedroom producers have raised the bar , whether it be for an Instagram reel or a music score for an independent film .
Bollywood is no exception to this change . There has been a massive shift from the traditional arrangements of songs , with the usual elements of a dhol , one or two melodic instruments and the lead vocal being now accompanied by a vast array of virtual instruments , live drum recordings and synthesizers .
The last 10 to 15 years in the audio industry have seen great progress and rapid developments . This can be attributed to a recent surge in the availability of stateof-the-art sound equipment and shifting mindsets . I spoke to three industry professionals from the sub-domains of live sound , studios and film mixing to get a pulse on the current state of this arena and its possibilities for anyone interested in audio as a profession in India .
The rush of live sound
Live sound deals with all aspects of delivering sound for a concert or event be it indoor or outdoor . This can mean anything from setting up stage requirements of an artist to tuning the PA system and all its peripheral equipment to following health & safety protocols and finally mixing the audio live for an audience or broadcast stream .
Sigmund Quadros has been working in live sound for the past 15 years as a freelance mixing engineer having worked with artists like Shilpa Rao , Kanishk Seth , Luke Kenny , Band of Boys and Sherrin Varghese .
It ’ s the live aspect that he finds the most challenging and rewarding element in his job . “ In a studio you may get 16 hours to mix one song , here ( live shows ) you get a two hour sound check if you ’ re lucky and a one-and-ahalf-hour show . You have to get it right ... it ’ s a little unforgiving . You can change something the next day ( in a studio ) but for a live show you have only one shot . But delivering your artists sound to an audience of 10,000 people , while they ’ re screaming those songs back at you ... it ’ s quite a high .” In the early days of live sound in India , mixing engineers didn ’ t necessarily have a musical ear , they were more concerned about the basics like making sure there ’ s no noise in a microphone or if all the equipment was connected properly . Today ’ s engineers are far more knowledgeable and aware of what an audience wants .
“ There ’ s been a positive shift in terms of technology , equipment and sensibilities . In the old days we ’ d try to get as close to the sound of an artist as their published songs ... but it didn ’ t work . Not that they did a bad job ... but they only knew the basics and didn ’ t have a way to improve their training . Nowadays good engineers can get the same sound as a released track . Engineers today do their homework ... most of them play an instrument and it really helps when engineering a show .”
When it comes to working with new entrants into the high-stress field of live engineering , “ Skills , knowledge ... that will eventually come . But what I look for in the younger generation is intent and drive . You have to want to deliver a show . This is no place for someone who just wants to “ try it out ”.”
In the studio
Jehangir Jehangir ( JJ ) founded Island City Studios , Mumbai in 2017 , a versatile studio that has an Atmos postproduction suite as well as jam rooms for bands and everything in between . The studio has been the birthplace of creation for artists like Raghav , Tejas Menon , Divine , Amit Trivedi , Gino Banks , Mohini Dey , Ankur Tiwari and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy .
Studio work can involve recording a voice-over for a TV ad , recording instruments or vocals for a feature song , mixing and remixing songs for commercial release . Even the composition and arrangement of music gets finalised in the control room of a studio . Besides the usual projects like a Bollywood film , an advertisement or an album , the work these days may also cover things like recording podcasts , live-streaming a band performance or upmixing already released music into modern surround sound formats .
And it ’ s because of this varied range that studio engineers are expected to have a large database of knowledge . “ In the old days if you wanted to learn from one of the great mixing engineers , you ’ d have to go meet them and hope you get an internship slot . However , nowadays great engineers are sharing their knowledge on the internet . Their techniques have become more accessible to people . I feel that because of this information the gap ( to western countries ) has reduced , but I think we still have some way to go .”
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