A new digital portal lets you mix Taufiq Qureshi's djembe rhythms with Louiz Banks' keys to create a music video set in Mumbai
Sufi singer and self-taught rabab maestro Chintoo Singh Wasir plays the instrument on the steps of Mount Mary church
In a five-second audio-visual clip uploaded on the digital platform, Mix The City, Folk musician Rais Khan, who hails from the Manganiyar community of Rajasthan, and is part of the band, Barmer Boys, produces trippy metallic sounds from the morchang (Jew's harp). He deftly uses his index finger to pluck the tiny, tribal wind instrument, while sitting on a tetrapod at Nariman Point. In another clip, acclaimed percussionist Taufiq Qureshi plays the djembe, standing within the Jindal Mansion premises on Peddar Road.
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A member of Chaush Brass Band at Cotton Press Studio in Elphinstone
The portal offers 12 such clips recorded with an array of artistes at several landmarks and music studios in Mumbai. The idea: You can mix the sample recordings to make your own four-minute music video and share it on YouTube.
Close on the heels of Mix The Play, which allowed you to reinterpret a scene from Romeo And Juliet, Mix The City is also the brainchild of the British Council, created in collaboration with technical partners Flying Object and Roll Studio from the UK, and has been curated by Israeli music producer Kutiman. The interactive music experience has already been launched in five world cities, including Istanbul and Hamburg.
Musical portrait
The Mumbai version launches tomorrow, followed by separate platforms for Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. “The idea is to capture the feel of a city and country through music, and put that into users' hands. India is the first country for which we've recorded multiple projects because Indian music has a uniquely rich and diverse range of styles, instruments and sounds, and we could only do them justice by exploring Mix The City more deeply than we ever have before,” says Alan Gemmell OBE, Director India at British Council.
How it works
The portal offers a range of music styles, including instrumental and vocals, with two samples recorded by each artiste. Every clip is super-imposed with an alphabet and you can use your keyboard to create the mix.
We mix Khan and Qureshi's samples with a vocal loop by singer-songwriter Meghana Bhogle, formerly part of India's first beatboxing ensemble, Voctronica. To increase the tempo, we choose a sample by ace percussionist Sivamani, and blend it with the shehnai rhythms played by a member of Chaush Brass Band, which was established back in 1948 in the Vaijapur district of Aurangabad. His portion was shot at Cotton Press Studio, Elphinstone Road. Using the Effects option, we add synth effect to the sounds.
On clicking the Record button, all the sounds come together to create a ear-pleasing track, which complements the setting of the artistes, and brings out the essence of Mumbai synced with scenes from The Gateway Of India, a cricket match in progress at Oval Maidan and the bustling streets of Dadar.
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