Production and Practice

Spaces and worlds of sound collide inside the KM Conservatory as every niche of the building is being used. The sounds of classical cello practice therefore overlap with the sounds of electronic music production. The sounds of opera mix with the sounds of tabla, and so on. The sound of practice and of production have a similarly halting pace, interrupted with breaks of verbal communication or self-talk. There the similarities between the process of practicing an acoustic orchestral instrument and of producing electronic music probably cease, however. Oh, except for the click – the important metronome which keeps both the track and practicing musicians in line. Each of a metronome's clicks are exactly the same, but totally different because of the passage of time. The metronome can seem a dictator, loud anti-musical intervention of technique, but also the most tried and true method for successful coordination of musical time. The metronome is a ruler, a teacher, but one of the most demanding distracting sounds there are. The many different ways that students express themselves in music and strive to become better create a struggle of sounds that interweave and clash in the inside of a conservatory.

The competition of these various sounds creates the potential for a constant evaluation of the various types of value these different types of music have, their capital, the cache associated with them. One is constantly confronted with the differential... what do cellos have that a modern studio doesn't? Is there any way that the cellos can keep from being completely swallowed up with the hungry ear of the industry's microphones and possessed? The Sunshine Orchestra, the KM College of Music and Technology flagship orchestra project has been summoned into existence thanks to the capital and generosity of the man who is one of the greatest success stories in the history of Indian film: A R Rahman. Where and how does the sound of classical cello fit in to the mythos associated with this man and the institution he's founded?