Agra offers world class recording studio to Bollywood

Agra, Oct 20 (IANS) Studio Wave, a new recording studio here, is being endorsed by top names in Bollywood music but the sound engineer who set it up is also hoping it will help local talent thrive.

Satish Gupta, who founded it, told IANS: 'The main motive of this studio is to promote local talent in music and singing. For want of decent facilities for recording, many artists either had to go to Mumbai or just give up.

'Now artists from all over Braj Mandal can get an opportunity to get the best results at my studio,' said Gupta, who recorded hits like 'Bheege honth tere', 'Sandese aate hain' and 'Kaho na pyaar hai'.

'A few days ago, Kunal Ganjawala had a look at the facilities and said he would love to record here. Other musicians too have shown interest. Bollywood can now come to Agra, and not the other way round,' said Gupta, a four-time International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awardee who set it up.

It was inaugurated by music director Sandesh Shandilya near the Kalakriti auditorium Monday.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Shandilya who left Agra for Mumbai 20 years ago and became music duo Nadeem-Shravan's assistant. He rose to become one of Bollywood's top music directors, composing songs for films like 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' and 'Chameli'.

'Bollywood music is getting transformed, with its stress on experimentation. This brings freshness and flavour, surprising music lovers with sounds that one cannot often imagine or expect,' Shandilya said.

The studio is equipped with the latest hi-tech gadgets, Gupta said.

'The studio is equipped with world class microphones and the studio monitor system is fitted with state-of-the-art technology supported by Otari, Radar 24 and Tascam MX-2424 track recorders.'

Shandilya too was impressed with all the gadgetry on display, and played his hit number 'Sooraj huya madhyam' on the system, saying the sound quality was remarkable.

Gupta pointed out that Bollywood sound engineers were a much neglected lot.

'Normally if a song becomes a hit, the credit goes to the music director and the lyricist. But the crucial role of the sound engineer is rarely recognised,' he rued.

'I will endeavour to provide the ultimate sound,' Gupta said claiming even Bollywood does not have the combination of old and latest equipment which Studio Wave does.

'For instance, so fascinated was Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruti with a 50-year-old mike used during a recording that she wanted to keep it.

'Equipment and technique make a world of difference to sound recording. The Altec Lansing monitors, unmatched and unbeatable, are not available in Mumbai as the company has closed down, but I have them in my studio, and the results are simply out of this world,' said Gupta.