We sat down to another session with the special number. It's ready now. Added some last minute garnishing as it were, with fx and a tweak here, a chime there sort of thing, switched around some vocals and even edited a bit.
A leading radio channel is keen to play it, they say it's a fresh sound for Kannada and like the production. Downloads too on a mobile service provider is on the cards. The Music Mint will also feature downloads.
Here's to our own festival of lights!
Manohar sir was working since yesterday with Keshav on a project. More of it to happen tomorrow too.
Sasha needs a Radio Cafe sort of signature tune. The track is ready, need to add the voices. Ram too needs to work on the ETV stuff. And check out the mystery series.
Will be back soon

Happy Diwali to everyone out there! We are also full of habba feeling thanks to the habba habbavo sounding better and better as the mix progresses!
Ram and I will get to the studio and hope to finish the song. No idea when Gokul plans to come in. It's festivities in the air and Tejas is watching a Karnatak programme on TV, giving up his usual cartoon channels.
Tomorrow Ram needs to finish the title track with the violinists.
More later

Today we were trying to get the sound bytes ready. We'd been speaking to Prof Ananthamurthy who's just back from Frankfurt. He was busy and we were wondering how to get the recording done. But we managed today. He was in great form and the minute I sketched out what we were attempting he asked me most disarmingly if he could talk about what was uppermost on his mind. It was profound and brilliant. And fits in so wonderfully with the song's lyrics and mood. He was so forthcoming, welcoming and warm while he waved his magic wand of incisive thought over the song.
While we were trying to edit that Chidu walked in. He says the track is vibrant and sat discussing options for video.
Bhaskar sir, I wonder when we will get to work with you on the video?
Aru has not been reachable since she came in day before yesterday. She listened to the rough version of the track and was helping with her concise critique of it. I loved the way she said she's forgetting so many things. Things which are unpleasant and also things which are too important!
Gokul has got a mix ready. We are running out of time.
By Monday, it's out! That's what we've promised ourselves.
Another radio spot to be scripted by tomorrow and a team song in a couple. Sujit and Siddarth record tomorrow.

Today we took a break from our track. Gives you perspective too. And R K Padmanabh was in to record some of his many compositions. The novel thing was that he had Ravindra Katoti on the harmonium and Vishwanath Nakod on the tabla instead of his usual Karnatak accompanists. His ragas and their interpretations also inclined a bit towards Hindustani.
Hadn't met Nakod in ages and we caught up for about a minute in the break.
While the recording went on smoothly, I sat listening and doing my homework as it were. Concepts for a radio spot. Like old times when one studied with the radio on! Gokul has an idea a second when it comes to concepts and can tire you if you are trying to work it out into a readable form. Fortunately he was busy and could only come up with an idea in between takes!
We are kind of fixed up with the guests for tomorrow. Aru in the morning sometime and the folk artist with the percussion ensemble. Will probably wait till day after for the rest and get the mix happening.
Catch up with you tomorrow then!

I'm sitting here now with Deepu, who's just managed to upload a cool and subtle look for The Music Mint! Ram's been thrilled with him for other things as well. His bowing on the special song was exactly what we wanted to add to the track. All our Macs are now sitting around, and the Mint is looking a bit like the Apple store!

He's still giving us gyan on webs, internet, ethernet, another planet!

The folk artist listened to the track and wanted to go the full length and get his percussionists too on 17th. This is just a quick flash blog. More from us later!

There were a little more than a dozen. Deepak was simply wonderful with them. When we heard the refrain with the first part of the Deepak Lazarus choir we had goose flesh. The whole song is coming alive and so did the studio with all the laughter, merriment and fun filled voices which only children seem to know anything about!

Ram dashed off to fetch Dr Jumpa and his family. It was a full studio, full day and a full feeling at the end of it all. Only Bagesri couldn't make it. Her simple lyrics and the tune really work since we had the choir jiving to it!

Bruce (Lee Mani) had come in on the 10th. He played some amazing guitar, sang on the track and had us in smiles.
(We are still smiling, Bruce!) He wrote down the lyrcis in Kannada, and sang them!

After the choir was through, we tried out the folk bit. Deepu is coming in from Chennai tomorrow. All that we wanted to put in the song to make it special will be through tomorrow, except for the sound bytes.

Okay, about the song now. It's something special that we are doing for a big occasion coming up in the next fortnight. So why aren't we telling you all about it? Well, we want to keep it all under wraps until it's done, that's why. So watch out for the details.

We've already got some famous young talent on the song: Chaitra, who has won the best singer state award this year for her song in the movie Amritadhare, Bruce, the Thermal and a Quarter guy, and Deepak Lazarus's talented choir.

More details coming up just in a while, but tomorrow is the day for Deepu, who is a violinist and singer.

Bye for now and we hope to post more tomorrow.

We must have made dozens of calls to Caleb, but he must be touring with SPB in some exotic country! We are looking at a very rushed time ahead this coming week. We need to turn out something really nice for a big occasion and all our contacts who can ever make this happen are either vacationing (The long weekend for Vijaydasami and the Karnataka bandh helping out) or touring or something. Gokul is on the verge of giving up on this track happening. But Ram and I are pretty confident things will happen right. We got the tune happening with Tejas helping us with the composing. Right now he's ill, so Bagesri will be there now at 11 am to work on the lyrics. The chorus is ready, so we need to get her to write with that feel in mind.
Deepak comes in the evening to check out for the choir. Once Bagesri's ready with the words, we can wrap it up quickly. The video of course is being ambitious, but well, if you don't expect too much and dream, it's really alright.
Meanwhile our signature tune was a big hit with the client. And even while they were thrilled with tune, and lyrics, they were delighted about the speed at which the whole thing was completed for them. Chaitanya's to shoot a video for them. Meeting again on Monday.
The Tamil singing band is back and wants to work at the studio. So too the shloka recording, so the studio's busy too. The hotel ad would have started playing since yesterday.