Inside The Singer's Studio

August 8th to 10th are 3 days I'll never forget in my life. For years, Music was always on the #1 spot in my er.. long list of hobbies. But converting a pastime hobby into something more serious was something I never thought of, nor attempted. The events that led to this:

8th August: a call came from Natarajan. I was required to compose the music for a song for the Independence Day. It was something regarding the young generation of India. At first I assumed it was a patriotic song, but soon the lyrics told me something else. It was a message to motivate young people to take charge of the country and to eliminate stuff like corruption, terrorism, etc. I pulled my rusting guitar out and connected it, and Karthik took over the Keyboard. We jammed around with a few chords, and came out with some simple tune. A Rock theme wouldn't harm the song as it was a message to young people. We started off with some drums and keyboards and soon, Natarajan joined in. The 3 heads together made some progress and we had a definite tune for the chorus. It was already past 11PM and we had to clear up. But Natarajan asked me to continue shaping the song at his office. So after some quick thinking and packing, I was off with all the instruments. We sat on his system and worked for a long time. Meanwhile his other employees were into other projects. 2-3 projects were being completed simultaneously and I fully realised how busy this guy has been ever since he started his company. Natarajan soon fell asleep probably due to over work and I continued to work on the song. The chords for the Verses were done, but with no definite tune. At 3AM the next day, I forced myself to sleep.

9th August: I woke up at around 8 and got back to the song. However I couldn't concentrate much and also realised that I left my amp and processor at home. So after a so-called 'Pizza' lunch (Veg hot-dog for breakfast), I went back home and carried the amp to the office. We resumed work and by evening, the song began to take shape. The verse tune was also done, but was almost on the same lines as the chorus. Nonetheless, we went forward with it and wrapped the day.

10th August: I was at home, finishing up the fill-ins and stuff and before I could complete them, I was asked to reach the studio for recording. We were only recording the vocals with the help of a backing track, and the rest was 'Software Magic'. After some confusion, I found the studio. Studio? It was a 2 roomed house in an apartment block. One room was converted into a recording studio. It was the most unexpected place to do such a thing yet, I was pretty impressed. I met the 'Singer' at the studio itself and went on with the process of explaining the tune and the timing. He caught on very very fast. A bit too fast actually. 10 seconds! Within those 10 secs he also managed to write up the whole tune into the 7 musical notes!! 'Shocking' is a huge understatement to what I felt. Natarajan was equally bewildered. We were both staring at each others blank faces while he conjured up the whole paragraph into notes along with improvisations.

He wasn't very good with Hindi, so I had to manually write the words down in English. Some time was lost in translation and a few technical glitches. But soon, all the equipment was alive. The 'Singer' suddenly announced he'll start recording. I wasn't so sure if he had all the words and tune in mind, but I just gave in looking at his confidence. He first started off with some humming so as to let the scale register properly, and Karthik was actually fighting off tears. The humming was so touching that we would have gladly passed it off as the final song without any lyrics at all. A long sequence of his hum was recorded so that we could use it for the fills. I suddenly didn't wanna use any of the available instruments. His voice surpassed everything.

Soon he started singing, and we were only left gaping by the speed at which he picked up the tunes. He also sang the lines a second time in Harmony with the original tune. He was basically giving us all he could so we could use it in any way we wanted. He ended a few lines in different styles to let us have a choice. And as time passed by, we were done. I really didn't want it to end. We had like 50-55 samples of his voice and thought it was a job well done. And by 11:15PM we were at dinner in Paradise. It was closing time and we had to rush up. It was there that I learnt what he really was.

He was not just a 'Singer', he was a Professional who worked with some big names in the Telugu film industry. His name was Krishna Chaitanya and he lent his voice for some big movies like 'Happy Days' etc. I was stunned to hear all this as he maintained quite a low profile all this time. It was beginning to near midnight (my birthday was getting closer) and he had no vehicle with him. We had to drop him at his house and I thought it was a good way to use up the last half hour. When we were nearing his house, it started raining. I was surprised. It didn't rain for 2 months, and suddenly at this odd hour, it began to rain. I really wanted to enjoy it for once. I let myself get wet a little too.

The great day of 10th August finally came to an end after we dropped the 'Singer' at his home. The rain just made everything look more 10 times beautiful. The empty roads, street lamps refracting light in the drops, a light breeze, everything was a sight to watch. Natarajan and I waited for the last seconds to tick away as my Birthday approached...