Shankar Mahadevan, Founder, Shankar Mahadevan Academy Introduction SeekLMS gave us the power and speed to setup and scale our operations rapidly. I always wanted to make learning of all styles of Indian music easy, accessible, and exciting to people worldwide. The platform also allows students to meet one another, and gauge themselves. In our music event called Sangam, we have students and teachers perform together, so that they can be exposed to the culture. "Aspiring musicians must be exposed to the right kind of music. The online education platform caters to students who cut across ages – "two to 82," he says. "There's not even one," he says, going on to add that the Shankar Mahadevan Academy will be the first holistic offering that can be compared to universities from across the globe. However, India, he argues, is lacking of schools that can truly impart knowledge about Indian music. Mahadevan has a wealth of information that he hopes to share. Now, the motto is to simply go out, kill and come back." In a live act, you need to communicate with your energy. No matter what the circumstances are, whether or not your technical requirements have been met with, or even if someone is sick, the show must go on. I believe, if you perform week-after-week, you should ensure that the show goes on. When the crowd erupts, we've been gratified. "As composers, if we don't get feedback, the purpose is lost. It's evident that the banter he shares with his audience in live acts is important. With Mahadevan putting his vocals to work, we guess, every audience member is a genius then. They say, if you get goose-bumps when listening to music, you're brain is special. He flirts with familiar tunes to render them with more appeal than in cinema. Mic in his hand, Mahadevan seems to be placed in a playground. The young, he says, are listening to platforms like Coke Studio, which give wings to original composers. If you don't hear anything else, how will it do well," he questions, pointing out that arguments that remixes appeal to a "young audience" have little merit. Then, they shove the remixes down people's throats. When they rehash a song, they don't need to do that anyway. They're not ready to give enough royalty to composers. Also, with the copyright laws changing, they want more power in governing music. "Music companies are governed by those who don't know anything about music. "Music companies don't want to original compositions with the same conviction that we have when creating them," Mahadevan tells mid-day, adding that the industry could benefit if music honchos showcased more faith in composers. It's only natural then that his face drop when we point to a recent study suggesting that 2018 has been dominated by remixes. It's interesting, we admit, to get a sneak peek into the mind of the maestro who rarely stops appeasing with his compositions. The latter, he says, needed to sound like a warning distanced and distinct from the remaining stanza. Jogging our memory as he sings the lyrics that Joshi had penned for the title track of Taare Zameen Par, he talks passionately about how the melody of the introductory lines needed to be at stark contrast with the concluding one - Kho na jaaye ye, taare zameen pe. In conversation with frequent collaborator, lyricist and CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi, at Music Concept's recently concluded India Music Summit, the musician highlights how writing and composing run hand in hand. In a bid to highlight the role that his solid background in classical music played in defining his success as a commercial music composer, Mahadevan draws many a similar example. Yet, he asserts, "you can be inspired by anything". It's not conventional, he admits, to employ devotional music techniques for an item song. Where did the composer employ the technique, you ask? He did so to create Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's revered item song, Kajra Re (Bunty Aur Bubli), where the track's hook line sees the male vocals come chiming in after those of the female. It's therapeutic, collaborative and interactive, says Shankar Mahadevan. A singer renders a line, then urges listeners to repeat it after him. Nama Sankirtana is a term used in Indian classical music to describe the congregational chanting of a prayer. Lamenting that the world doesn't look at India as an educational hub despite its rich classical heritage, musician Shankar Mahadevan on how his online academy hopes to be at par with music schools across the globe
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