To record at Abbey Road Studios was a dream come true. We worked with some of the most iconic names in the music world, and were inspired by the discipline and professionalism that they bring into all their creations.
While Abbey Road Studios is associated with some of the biggest names in musical history, like The Beatles, it doesn’t continue to live off its previous accolades alone.
The focus is constantly on innovation – from utilising the latest technology to collaborating with the best of artistes around the world. It was a humbling experience to work with these engineers, and it’s no surprise that with their forward-thinking attitude, Abbey Road Studios has retained its global status for over eight decades now.
We recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gavin Sutherland and the London Voices. We were struck by their professionalism; the LSO was willing to play the same line as many times as they needed to with unwavering enthusiasm.
Even with all his years of experience and expertise, the conductor spent time and effort trying to understand how we wanted the track to turn out. The London Voices made sure to master the Sanskrit pronunciations for every word they were singing, and didn’t stop until they sounded perfect.
The sound engineer Jonathan Allen is truly an artiste who managed to get the best out of everyone. Indian artistes are comfortably integrating their music into traditionally non-Indian spaces, and it’s largely thanks to the groundwork laid by the generation before us.
Earlier, it was not uncommon to hear songs with a strum of the sitar thrown in just for a more ‘exotic’ effect. Today, Indian music is being recognised for its complexity and diversity, and not just because it represents something ‘different’.
When we see musical icons from around the world collaborate with our father (Dr L Subramaniam), we see the respect and admiration he receives. It isn’t simply because he’s Indian, it’s because his work speaks for itself.
The artistes know and understand the nuances of his music. It’s a testament to the fact that Indian music is now deeply ingrained into world music culture.
— The writer is the dean at SaPa and lead vocalist with SubraMania
