Passion
(Published in "Studio Systems" Sept-Oct 2001 issue)
Jaidev Modi, director of Crossroads, the
Mumbai mega mall is a close friend and his passion for Classic Rock music has
to be seen to be believed! Not only does he have a fabulous music collection
and knows every song by heart, his children love them too! A horse race
enthusiast and the owner of many horses, Jaidev has named his horses after
Mega Classic Rock Acts like Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Simply Red, Deep
Purple and King Crimson. Not only are they are some of the biggest Rock bands
ever, each one is a different color! What a fabulous way to surround yourself
with what you love, in more ways than one. Jaidev lives life to the full and
it is this passionate approach that has served to vitalize his successful
lifestyle. Passion can truly drive human beings to super human levels and can
separate the men from the boys and the winners from the losers. It can help
us in reaching our goals regardless of the obstacles that lie before us.
This relentless devotion is characteristic
of numerous Classic Rock fans all over the world. It has resulted in this
huge business of merchandising that accompanies any major album release and
tour by big name acts. The selling of brochures, T-shirts, tour jackets,
watches etc. at concerts and through mail order has made the income from this
industry cross millions of dollars and there is healthy trade of these items
by fans amongst themselves. It can be very profitable too, a fact that so
many fans have realized when their old Rock concert tickets and posters fetch
good prices from die-hard fans who can't seem to get enough. The bands have
also greatly profited from this demand from the fans and every Music
personality today has a burgeoning trade in these items. It has been said
that the income from the merchandising at Pink Floyd (the Wall) concerts had
by far exceeding the income from ticket sales.
Indians are not far behind about their
devotion to their movie and music idols. In fact, we can carry our love to
the extreme! The Amitabh Bachhan temple in Bengal
is a case in point. In South India, film
stars have become chief ministers of their state and can command
unconditional devotion, even to the extent of self-immolation. Truly a case
of taking things too far! Unfortunately, this following has not resulted in
an organized merchandising effort that can accrue income to the stars and
copyright holders. A recent study also showed that the country's moneyed
elite class would rather wear T-shirts adorning the faces of WWF stars than
the Khans of Bollywood. They all love Hindi films but somehow they still do
not want to be that closely associated to it. Fortunately this is not true of
the NRI population who totally embrace Bollywood. A huge business opportunity
lies in meeting the demands of the merchandising market abroad, a fact that
is only being acted upon recently by our Movie producers. Hopefully they meet
some success there!
Palm
At least two generations of kids have now
grown up with not even having the slightest clue what mere sound
unaccompanied by film footage is. Therefore, the unqualified success of the
Palm Audio show in its very first year was indeed a happy occasion for the
thousands of audio enthusiasts in this country. The total emphasis on Audio
in the show hopefully manages to check the imbalance that exists in the minds
of people who look upon Audio as a poor cousin of Video. The focus has now
been attained and hopefully this energy can now generate results that are
long overdue for the Indian scenario. Hollywood has long realized the
importance of Audio for its marketability and the innovations coming from the
West, especially in the reproduction systems are remarkable. Bollywood is
fast catching up with the release of "Laggan" and other new
releases but it will be ages before we manage to create adequate exhibition
facilities needed for our movie crazy audiences. Thankfully the message is
clear for movie producers/exhibitors and Audio has finally climbed a few
notches up their priority list!
The conference
sessions at the Palm, which were planned in association with AES India, were a
pleasant surprise as the response was fantastic and the enthusiasm of the
attendees was heartening. This vital 'give and take' is very necessary to
bring about the changes that we need to see in our environment and the active
participation of the maximum number in the fraternity will result in the
vibrancy necessary for its upliftment. The only complaint was from the
exhibitors at the fair who could not leave their stalls and attend! I hope
Studio Systems and AES India
can have other conference sessions for the Audio Industry away from the fair
so that we can have everybody there. Besides being technically educational in
nature, these sessions could also serve in bringing the industry together to
discuss procedural, customs and tax issues and become the platform to address
issues concerning the Audio Industry as a whole.
Manpower Requirement
The conference session on "Manpower
requirement for the future in the Audio Industry" is a subject, which is
of great importance to me as a Studio owner/Composer, and I was very pleased
to accept when Anil asked me to moderate the session for the occasion. We had
a comprehensive discussion on the various issues that needed to be addressed
to meet this challenge and the distinguished panelists included Satish Kumar,
Head of sound engineering department, Film and Television Institute, Pune,
Avinash Oak, Western Outdoor Media Technologies Ltd- Hon., Chairman of AES
India section, Manohar Kunte, Chief course conductor and teacher in
Certificate course in "Sound recording and Reproduction" at Mumbai
university and Ratish Babu, the new entrant into the Sound engineering
training scenario, CEO - SAE Technology College.
The Indian entertainment industry is poised for a massive growth and is said
to become Rs 48, 074 crores by the year 2005. This will result in a
tremendous demand for media professionals, a task that seems impossible with
the present quality and quantity of training facilities. An emphasis on the
strengthening of basics of sound engineering seemed to be the unanimous
opinion of the panelists and audience at the session; a fact that I hope is
stressed upon at the earliest by the educational institutes. Also, other
issues besides the technical need to be addressed. The importance of people
skills, creativity, professionalism and personality development have to be
understood as they can play a major role in the grooming of a successful
media person.
AES India
The other side of the coin lies in the
reeducation of the existing pool of media professionals. The tremendous
progress in technology has made the education of already existing technicians
obsolete and refresher courses are the dire need of the hour. AES India is
hoping to meet this challenge head on with its various technical seminars for
members. Plans are also in progress to make this education more complete in
the form of short-term courses that adequately cover the new technologies.
The IMAX experience is the next big thing to hit the Indian market and this
seems to be the next treat in store for AES India members. Mr. Manmohan
Shetty has kindly consented to demonstrate this new film technology to AES
members in his new IMAX theatre in Mumbai. For me, the 3D Imax Theater in New York was an
incredible experience when I was there a few years back. The Smithsonian
Museums in Washington also house these theaters and the educational films
that are shown there are truly enlightening. When the Bollywood mandarins get
through this technology, as they are to do shortly, we can be certain that we
will see new dimensions to this breathtaking experience. Another important
milestone for the AES India chapter was the launching of its very own web
site. This will soon be developed to be an important resource center for
Indian Audio professionals. Please check it out at www.aesindia.org
Audio Awareness
Another important function that AES India hopes
to achieve is 'Audio Awareness' through workshops for the school and
college-going students of our country. Professionals can now dispel some of
the common misconceptions about Audio.. The workshop series will guide the
students through the myriad world of Audio developments, from Gramophone
records to DVDs. The various attributes of Sound will be explained through
demonstrations and the mystery of High fidelity (Hi-Fi) divulged. Sound
reproduction and recording systems will be discussed with an emphasis on the
growing impact of Audio Digital technology. The Computer with its impact on
the Audio Industry will be explored along with a peek into the future of
Audio and its exciting world on the Internet. The speakers are Mr. Manohar
Kunte -Head of the Dept. (Sound recording) Dept. Of Music, Mumbai University,
Victor Dantes- Senior Recording Engineer, Western Outdoor (AES member) and
Mr. Avinash Oak -Associate Director (Audio) Western Outdoor and Chairman AES
(India). Our first workshop is scheduled for 20th October at the Bombay Scottish School
and I will be moderating the sessions this time. Hopefully we can succeed in
carrying the gospel of Audio to the coming generations of this nation.
Nandu Bhende
homesite :http://nandu_bhende.tripod.com
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