Know about career of Recording Engineers

Passion is the Word which says it all. It gives you wings to achieve whatever you want.
Talking about the technicalities associated with Music, let's Start with talking about Recording Engineer.
He is the person with at most vision of how exactly song would sound, shapes the album /song.
He records, edits and Mix Sound with the help of Various Tools like Microphones, Levels, and Sound Manipulation techniques. Knowledge of analog tape recording to Digital Multitrack Recording software viz.Cubase / Nuendo & Logic Pro etc. is necessary. Recording engineer can also be termed as captain of ship because many times  Recording Engineer is also the Producer of a Project. Thus he should have combination of creativity  along with technicality. 1st step of journey is obviously by learning from Various Recording Institute or with a Local Studio as a Trainee to get a Basic Knowledge. This has dual benefits along with learning one can get in touch with Various Artists and Clients, the working pattern, workflow for any Project and Some basic Techniques of Recording.
‌Technology comforts are at our door steps one can record from home or any corner of world but without knowledge and training technology can't help you to achieve career goals. Online learning courses can help a bit.  One must remember knowing the scenario and identify requirements are crucial. Investors have invested in your studio with a purpose which can never be taken for granted.
‌ Music Industry Works 24*7 so those who are part of industry shall also be ready to work 24*7

Tip for recording engineer is he should be person with creative mindset, balanced tempered, peace of mind shall be his first priority as well as he should be on toes to work one step ahead of artist's need.
~Nadeem Parmar

Aspects of music as career

Thank you for your response and love for my blog. I am obliged.
Let's quickly have glance at how music can serve as career for singer.
Singer's career which seems to most eye pleasing career because now days `singer enjoys alot of lime light '.  But every job has own pains and pleasures, singers now a days constantly have to stay updated, learning  new instruments is part of their art, recording in studio, practicing daily, a total sum of constant efforts, results into lime light.
`The most difficult step in league to succeed is to initiate '
So to initiate, looking  at present life style scenario clubs are social gathering hype so for learning stage singer can perform for various clubs and cafes and small private parties. To be an ace in your field, you need to work which ultimately helps you to earn.
Moving towards Indian context, Indian Classical Music is a huge ocean, you needs to dive into it, to fetch pearls out.  Learning is interesting process because it serves you with over all development, better opportunities and good networking. Quantity doesn't matters, Quality matters, more than anything else ability matters.
A must needed knowledge  for singer is  different genres of music, basics of chords and jargons as SINGLES, EPs, LPs…
Another career option, which is highly neglected is Song writing. No it's not about lyricist, song writing is wider term than lyricist.
Along with various songs, they perform well, let people know about the Song. This helps Artists to be known for his/her own skills.

Nowadays the Trend is, let social media work for your identity that's like Record your Song, Upload it to Social Media. But then it's an incomplete task,  One should take opinions from different people as Teachers, Mentors, Colleagues who are already doing good in the industry. One who can show mirror reflection of your performance. This exercise is important yet completely missing.
If you want to succeed let criticism be leading stone to path of your improvement.  Hope for best but be prepared for worst. Stay updated keep changing your self for better performances is must.

~ Nadeem Parmar

Music as career

It's an observation, may be there are exceptions but music still hasn't got prominent place as source of earning. Career options list is always filled up with those academic kind of option,  which has good pay scale according to society,which can serve good lifestyle no matter if in urge to achieve that lifestyle u actually get so much involved in the league of earning that u can't even make out time to live your life.   Ultimately it would be a society of great brains which will leave voice of heart unheard.
Parents here play a key role, if they understand how arts can be an ace in shaping future and overall development  of kids. I guess it's an art  to understand importance of art hence many people have failed to make a note that now arts has turned to be vast field. Musician can earn as good as professional of any other field.
As mentioned earlier it's a vast field anyone can jump into this ocean and enjoy life to the fullest.
Let's have glance at the career options one gets in field of music
For an instance one can be Music Producer
A music producer is the one who writes, arranges, produces and records songs for different artists or for their projects.
An average earning of a producer in India is ranging from Rs. 10,000 to 25,000 approx. according to his talent and group of people he works with.
Another and the most popular option is SINGER. In India everybody wants to be a Singer or they want their Child to be one. The sole reason I think is, SINGER is the centre of attraction and seems like the Show Stopper so here lime light is playing major role.
This list of options is endless. I would like to focus on other options as well including Music Producer and Singer; in detail.
What type of preparation is needed to be a pro, How much patience is needed,
advancement on respective field,  and the most difficult but Important part :-
Learning (Which Never stops)

Stay tuned for more details , and all your queries and suggestions are welcomed.
~Nadeem Parmar

Asheem Chakravarty: Man who made me Think!

Asheem Chakravarty! This Man shook me up completely. Was unaware of him as an individual. I knew him as a band member of Indian Ocean, knowing least about his contribution. thanks to Jaideep Varma for the film-Leaving Home..
The Life and music of Indian Ocean,
Asheem had a Unique Vocal texture. He had this unique style - playing Tabla and sing simultaneously, which actually inspired me to follow and enjoy Music more than just playing an instrument. Probably it was life learning lesson for me.
Notably, he was working for an advertisement agency as a copy writer.
He joined it at the Age of 40. Quoting his words -“I started as a copy writer at the age of 40, jahan par baaki log laakhon copiya Likh ke phenk chuke hote hai.”
But somehow he knew, that Music is what all he wanted to do. So after working for a while he quit his job and dedicated completely to Indian Ocean. He said- “Ab na... Main iss majhdhar mein apne aap ko phekunga aur kuch kar jaunga. Aise Araam Araam se nahi honewala.”
He plunged into Indian Ocean and gave some of the Best songs along with Guitarist Sushmit Sen.
His Contribution to the Band is Impeccable. He was a true artist, where he used to improvise vocal lines while on stage, sign of a True Artist, not following anything written or scripted but following his heart's voice and putting it into the performance.
He lived Music thoroughly. He gave some memorable song ideas and tunes to the meaningful poetry. My favourite of them all is-Bhor. As per Asheem he sang first few lines of the poetry,
which everybody liked and they worked together to complete the song.
Another one of my favourite is Desert Rain. Thumri Based in Raga Pilu - Nath Besar Balam Mangwa de... but with a touch of Indian Ocean and Asheems' vocal. He is fondly knows as
The Man with the Golden Voice.

The Actual Indian Ocean Sound is Missed by Fans these days.
~One of those fans
Nadeem Parmar

Arc of inspiration 2...

Thanks for reading &  appreciating the last post, continuing the same would like to share what actually helped me to know myself even better.

I have witnessed  the era, when there was NO YOUTUBE NO FACEBOOK, NO TWITTER and For Music, you have to visit a Music Shop, checkout your kind of music cassette even without listening to it.So just Out of Curiosity, I bought a cassette-Dessert Rain by a Band Called Indian Ocean. The Sound was exactly what I ever thought of as a Fusion Band. As I was interested in Fusion Music, I knew only fusion Artists like Taufiq Qureshi, Ranjit Barot, Sridhar Parthasarthy, Niladri Kumar, Louis Banks to name a few but Not Bands as such. 1997 was the year when Indian Ocean album Released but it was Re-Released in 2002 that is Exactly after 2 years after Rhydhun and my Intro to Fusion Music.

I Really Don’t remember what made me buy this cassette but I bought it from my pocket money. I was amazed because it was a Live Recording of their Performance at Delhi concert named SAHMAT. After listening to this album I actually wanted to play these songs on stage but Never got a chance because none of the Musician I Knew was aware of this kind of Music. But this Album Made a huge impact on me as a Musician.

My taste for Music started Developing. I was eager to listen to more of Indie Music. I came across another Album. The Artist - Raghav Sachar and his First Album “Raghav, For the First Time”.
The sound of this Album was a Mix of Blues and Jazz with a Pinch of Bollywood. I was Awestruck with his Talent. He is a Multi-Instrumentalist. Still, it was on Cassette and I would listen to it almost Daily.


So after that all I bought was Kandisa And Jhini by Indian Ocean. I was feeding my Soul with this Music. There was no Exposure to Western Music like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles. All these names where new for me because when I was learning because people around me were not aware about these names &  Musicians I Knew came from Hindi Film Music Background.

In 2009, CD player was trend. My Dad gave me a VIDEO CD and on that CD COKE STUDIO was written with red marker . One of his Student gave him that CD to check the content as a Music Lover. It was Downloaded from YouTube. The first song I saw was Aaj Lattha Naio by Javed Bashir with the Unique BTS video about the making of the Song.

This Again Blew my Mind Completely. THIS IS IT. This is what my Kind of Music. I started Going to Cyber Cafes Spent Hell lot of money paying Rs.25 Per hour watching COKE STUDIO Songs over n over.
This gave me an Idea of What is meant by MUSIC PRODUCER.
Rohail Hyatt is the Man.
Coke Studio is his Brainchild. And now I have a New Inspiration. Till Date I am a Huge Fan and I Wish to Borrow his Brain for a week if Possible. Jokes Apart, This is what I think of Music. This is what  I am Influenced by These sort of Artists.

All the readers are requested to Check these Artists on Youtube, iTunes and other Social Media.


Just a List of Artists for you if Interested:-

-Taufiq Qureshi

-Ranjit Barot

-Niladri Kumar

-Indian Ocean

-Raghav Sachar

-Rohail Hyatt



Love-Peace & Music

~Nadeem Parmar

Arc of inspiration

''Inspiration helps you to initiate '' with this thought I thought to present about incidences which as an artist influenced as well as inspired me.
Well for me being surrounded by music and carving my world in music was nothing new, 'It's like heart which loves music and mind which learns music'  because in my Family, music is bread and butter, hence it becomes easy to classify music than the rest of the World.

Being renowned amongst  Patel community of South Gujarat, my dad and grandfather performed at 'n'  number of places, hence bolloywood film music was the music I heard atmost. Hence listening to Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi became part of my lifestyle. Least knowing about Music but this was the Initial Introduction to Music.
Early 90’s where I started understanding Music, the Hindi Film Music Industry was Going through a Creative Lows. There were Singers like Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan ruling the Hindi Charts, With Private Channels and Cable Tv were taking Society by Storm there were TV Shows Produced by different Channels as Weekly Countdown. Showing the Best Song at No.1
 This era of Music according to me was Worst. The element of poetry from Lyrics was major missing, The Music Produced was Digital now. With the use of Advance Technology of Computer and Electronic Music Instruments, Songs and Films were losing in race of being musically engaging unlike older ones. As a Kid, I used to sing and Dance with those Songs but Somehow I was unable to Connect to the Music. Even In School, I was Selected for Singing group songs but that was a Different Genre of Music. As a young lad, I had no idea of Any Music though coming from a Musical Family, which I realized lately.
I started Drumming at the age of 15-16 with my Dad at his Office. The First song I played was R.D.Burman’s Dum Maro Dum, and the next one was An Evening in Paris. Still in dilemma, No Idea of What my Kind of Music or what I Relate to or what I want. I started Teaching Drum at Dads’ Office. My First Student was from My School, My Junior. Gradually I started teaching, and one of my student gifted me with a Cassette named PercJam. A recording of LIVE Performance of Legends like Taufiq Qureshi on Percussion, Niladri Kumar on Sitar, Sridhar Parthasarathy on Mridang and Bondo on Percussion as well. This Music was Something New and Actually Moved me from Within. I started Hunting for More albums of Taufiq Qureshi and I Understood what my kind of Music is. The music which my soul couldn't take me off from.
The Next Album I Purchased was Taufiq Qureshi’s RHYDHUN. Without even Knowing anything about his Style of Music, I started Imitating him. It was Fun Learning.
So the First Artist I was Influenced by was Ustad Taufiq Qureshi. And after that, I came to Know about WORLD MUSIC from him and then I started following various Artists like Trilok Gurtu, Sivamani, Billy Cobham. Luckily got a Chance to learn from Ustad Taufiq Qureshi for a short time though. Learning from Him Broadened my Vision as an Artist. As what I understood was; It's not just about Drums and Percussion that you focus or Learn, Understand MUSIC as a whole. Each and Every Music Instrument has its Own Uniqueness. You have to understand it and Keep In Mind the Same while Performing.
At every point of time your inspiration may change but the one who initiated to inspire you, motivate you helps you know your self better,  brings you closer to your talent, and adds life to your interest!
Find your inspiration and let your talent fly and explore... - Nadeem Parmar

Colors of Rajasthan..Part 2

And putting an end to your curiosity, here is all about remaining key and musical aspects of the album


Starting with song which will definitely give you goosebumps if you have spent a night in dessert. It actually creates dunes in your imagination giving you a feel of that clueless nights and loneliness amidst sand and stars. The use of Sarangi along with Strings is impeccable. And the following song is unique in its own way. What people label as a FUSION.
Again Ustad Sultan Khan Sahabs’ vocals are pretty well woven with 16 Beats Drum pattern with Guitar Riffs and Electronic piano accompanying it to auxiliary elements. This song is called Without You. Lyrics conveys grief but in a groovy style. Line of difference between sadness and darkness was taken care off,  There is a Sadness but not darkness. Thats the Magic of Taufiq Qureshi.


Now the Twist in ALBUM is the Next song, named RANTHAMBORE - The Tiger Hunts, masterpiece of Taufiq Qureshi. Ranthambore is one of the best national parks in the country for spotting a tiger. The majestic predator can be spotted ambling or basking under the sun. A jungle with Sounds has been created so well that it leaves you with an imagination of tiger going for a hunt, hidden & has keen observation over his prey. The large drum sounds are used to depicts its presence, tabla sounds for his mental preparation to attack. Tempo of the song unfolds each and every action. From slow Tempo of Flute and Strings with Warm Pads in Background to  high tempo Duff Patterns along with Brass Creates a Unique visual scene. And the Chase between the Tiger and the Prey is depicted using various instruments from Tabla, Frame Drums, Darbuka and Duff as Jugalbandi amongst each other.

 Next song is Campfire. The music is just light and easy going in its own way. Campfire is in way opportunity in  Rajasthan, where visitors and locals come together, locals perform their folk music with their group and the visitors may join in or can just enjoy the Music. Its a Jamming kind of scenario. This song is driven by Ravanhatha..with Triangle and Duff for the Groove.

The Next Song that follows is an Integral Part of the Rajasthani Culture and its Named MELA. Literally means FAIR. Where people from Different lifestyle comes at one place.The Song Starts with a very interesting Shenai kind of instrument with rhythms of Dholak and Dhol. This are the instruments actually used at Mela. The Fast tempo gives listener a few of various movements going around in mela and suddenly there is a Drop. All these hustle fades out and enters yet another mellifluous vocals by Ustad Sultan Khan Sahab. The song actually takes the listener to Tranquility. Taufiq ji has done utmost justice to the song by not adding more Instruments to it. Just a Simple Groove with Shaker a little Piano  and Bass Guitar to let Khansahabs’ voice float over. The lyrics sounds Traditional and Spiritual. The last song is A Meera Bhajan. Undoubtedly we can't forget about Meerabai specifically when it's something and everything about Rajasthan from Sand Dunes to Mela and Campfire to Ranthambore. Meera was a poetess and Devotee of Lord Krishna.
In the last song Geetikaji did the justice to the Bhajan. As if its her forte. The song is backed up by Strings, pads, Electric Piano and Morchang. Morchang again is a Traditional Instrument from Rajasthan. Its a Wind Percussion Instrument. In this Song Morchang is used for the Groove giving that Traditional Rajasthani Feel to the Bhajan.

So to sum it up, this Album is must listen forfor the ones who are interested in exploring World Music or Fusion Music. This Album will surely make you relive Rajasthan Memeories if have already visited and if Not, it will lure you to atleast visit once. Great Listen which can't be sum uped in expression of words!

Must Listen for all MUSIC LOVERS!!

keep Reading :)

Nadeem Parmar

Colors of Rajasthan

Here by I am trying to portray about Colors of Rajasthan by making an attempt to describe Ustad Taufiq Qureshi's album in sort of words.

If I could I would describe Taufiq Ji as An Ace Percussionist of India.Taufiq has learned Tabla from his Dad; Ustad Allarakha and widened his realms from Indian Classical to World Music  & He is the brother of Ustad Zakir Hussain. Moving forward about his 1st album, which was released on 1st January 1995, where he tried to capture the essence of Rajasthan through his mesmerizing music.

Whether one has been to Rajasthan or not but this album can actually make you live within the essence of Rajasthan, Indeed musical tour to Rajasthan! Its rich culture and the colorful lives of people are very well woven into this album.

Well proceeding further with the details of album; It has multiple degree compilations of ample of musical instruments and varied combinations thereof, 

Starting with the very interesting instrument named “RAVANHATHA”, made at Jaisalmer, rather especially at Jaisalmer, As the name conveys - Birth of a Warrior and a Lullaby. Lullaby is sung by a renowned singer and Taufiq’s wife -

Geetika Varde. Whose voice texture is so silvery that it may actually make you sleep. Her voice is beautifully accompanied by Acoustic Guitar and warm pads. 

Moving forward to very interesting song which is about a warrior leaving for the war, courage of a warrior is well expressed through Tabla Rela along with Folk Vocals which can actually create  a visual picture of War & listens without any doubt could feel every essential of it, moreover typical instrument named RANSINGA is used to enhance feel, followed by Geetikas Vocal again depicting the aftermath of a battle. After getting royal victory warrior is returning back & gets a grand welcome at Royal court.   The song that follows has been given a kind of commercial touch with Tabla and Classical Vocals auxiliary element was male and female chorus singing Indian classical parts. Sitar and flute plays a very interesting part in this song giving a complete virtual tour of Royal Court where the Prince is welcomed by all with great affection and respect. 

Now since the Prince is grownup and is adolescent, he has fallen in love and the song is profoundly sung by USTAD SULTAN KHAN along with his SARANGI which creates and gives the touch of Love. But as An Ace percussionist's quality Taufiq Qureshi added a piano along with the tabla pattern giving a complete feel of love and romance. Even the lyrics are traditional and uses a local Rajasthani language, which is a cherry on the cake!

A lot more to convey, it's not over yet, about absolute clueless night in dessert, 

Twist in album, Campfire song, 

An integral part of Rajasthan's culture all will be soon conveyed to you shortly in next blog update.

Let music embrace you with knowledge! -  Nadeem Parmar