Is Navin Iyer the same person as Naveen? I dont think so..
"One movie scene is etched in his memory for good — the one in Rang De Basanti, his first recording for Rahman" On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 9:10 AM, Vinayak <mvinaya...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > 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 >> >> >> >> > >
