Is Navin Iyer the same person as Naveen?
Warm Regards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vinayak http://www.flickr.com/photos/rightplacerighttime/ On Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 8:06 PM, Vithur <vith...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Big dreams in the pipeline > > > > Flautist Navin Iyer on working with his mentor A.R. Rahman, his > collaborative album and his experiments with unusual flutes > > It’s what you might call a quintessential Chennai music success story — boy > begins learning Carnatic music at the age of three-and-a-half; has his flute > arangetram in his teens presided over by acclaimed vocalist, > Balamuralikrishna; does jingles with his childhood friend (music director > G.V. Prakash) when he is just out of school ; is ‘discovered’ by the movie > industry at Saarang, where he does a hat-trick as best instrumentalist three > years running while studying engineering; and turns down a job with Infosys > to end up working with none other than A.R. Rahman. > > Meet Navin Iyer, who at 24 is one of the most in-demand flautists in the > film music industry, having recorded for over 500 movies in Tamil, Telugu, > Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. > > “I think I’m the youngest musician in the cine industry — not counting > singers,” says the young flautist (and self-taught saxophonist) as we meet > at his brand new personal studio in the heart of Mylapore. > > Life is hectic since, as he explains, he’s one of a handful of flute > ‘session artistes’ in the country. “Being a session artiste is another skill > altogether,” he says, lounging behind the studio computer in an old pair of > jeans and faded T-shirt. “The music director will demand a particular feel > for a song, which you have to deliver; at the same time, you have to be able > to add your own creativity and compose on the spot. You should be able to > change gears between the two immediately.” > > Recordings may last just a few minutes — his flute piece for ‘Akkam Pakkam’ > from Kireedam took just four (“sometimes things just fall into place”) — or > up to two hours for background scores, which generally take longer. “You > need to watch the movie scene to get in sync with it,” he says, comparing > the process to being ‘in a relationship’. “Unless you spend time with it, > talk to it, you won’t get the exact feel.” > > One movie scene is etched in his memory for good — the one in Rang De > Basanti, his first recording for Rahman. “He just called me and said ‘can > you come?’” he recalls, still sounding awed. “My flute comes in the > background score of the scene after Madhavan’s character dies… it was a very > emotional scene, very emotional for me too!” > > Since then, he’s played for a number of Rahman’s projects, including the > big one, Slumdog Millionaire. “The morning of the recording for Slumdog…I’d > actually overslept, but luckily made it in time,” he says, adding with a > laugh, “And then, my God, the Oscar!” > > He travels quite a bit for recordings, and sometimes, music directors > travel to him, such as Vishal of Vishal-Shekhar who came down to Chennai > just to record the flute track for Aakhon mein teri from Om Shanti Om, > because he liked Navin’s ‘ideas and style’ . > > “Earlier, music directors would have the entire score written and cine > musicians played according to that,” comments Navin. “Now music directors > are more open; they enjoy it when we give our inputs. It adds a new > dimension to a song.” > > Gone also are the days when session artistes had to come together at one > time to record a song; today, with the magic of track technology, individual > artistes can play their parts when they have time and “ping pong on to the > next recording,” he says. “Right now, for example, I’m practising during the > day for my concert tour with Earthsync, so I’m often recording through the > night.” > > The day we meet, he’d been at Malayalam music director Ouseppachan’s studio > at T. Nagar recording till 4 a.m., had gotten a couple of hours of sleep, > hit the gym (“it keeps you kicking”), and fit in our interview before a > practice session at 10 a.m. That’s the way he likes it — busy, with plenty > of variety. At his studio is a specially-made glass flute which he’s been > experimenting with. Next up is one made of clay, another of marble and a > saxophone of bamboo. > > Ready to roll out is a collaborative album, ‘Three 4 the Music’, with > mridangist D.A. Srinivas and violinist Raghavendra Rao that connects > Carnatic music with everything from blues and jazz to Irish folk music > (which translates as karaharapriyaragam, he tells me). And for the future, > he wants to compose his own music. > > “I want to explore, expand my horizons and focus on my versatility,” he > says. “I don’t want to get stuck in a small circle of experience.” > > *Trivia* > > Navin Iyer has collaborated with Vikku Vinayakram, Bombay Jayashri, Kadri > Gopalnath and T.V. Gopalakrishnan on one hand, and U.K. percussionist James > Asher, Earthsync and numerous DJs on the other. > > He sometimes does up to seven cine recordings a day. > > He sang on the title track of the National Award-winning Ore Kadal, but his > name is misspelled on the CD cover as ‘Navin Nayar’. > > The first thing he does upon visiting a new country is buy a flute from the > region. He has over a hundred world flutes. > http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/music/article31545.ece > > -- > regards, > Vithur > > > > >
