Rhythm is everywhere: Anandan Sivamani

Ace percussionist Anandan Sivamani was at the HYSEA Design Summit in Hyderabad. Says Sivamani, “I am sure that my ‘first drum beat’, was in my mother’s womb. When I was young, I used to always look for the time when my father S.M. Anandan would go out of the house so that I could sneak into his room and lay my hands on the percussion instruments.

Today, I first pray to my parents before every programme. I am so inspired by Noel Grant that I always wish for him to come into my body and start playing. I can never forget the encouragement given to me by the ‘master’ playback singer of the film industry, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam . He took me to Mumbai for the audio recording of the film Saagar.

The music was being directed by R.D. Burman and well known drummer Franco Vaz was at his best, making great use of the ‘sub-mixers’. It really opened a new chapter in my performing thought process. Later, it has been a wonderful journey with Ustad Zakir Hussain, Louis Banks and  A.R. Rahman.

“There have been hard times, especially in the ’80s.The Roland drum machine was launched and most live recordings started happening on the drum machine. I used to wait for days before I would get any small opportunity to record a piece in a music studio,” he says.

“Rhythm is everywhere. The sound of car indicators or the high heels of a woman walking can also create ripples and bring energy, which becomes a synergy of rhythms. Once I got very excited, jumped into a beautiful swimming pool and started ‘splashing the water’ and recorded the sound. My forthcoming album’s song Tu Hi Tu contains these natural sounds,” concludes Sivamani.

The writer is a musician, creator of ‘Jaywant Guitar’ and a freelance photographer