Working with other professionals is a big part of this job.
The director, lyricist, writer and the composer...
...are the four main ingredients for any film's music.
Sometimes you also have to work with the producer.
So, all of us have one...
...intense jamming session.
Where the director and writer share their vision of the film.
The lyricist and I absorb all of that information.
And then we get to work.
Once the creative part is done,
...that is when the songs are made,
...and everything is approved.
Then we approach the singers,
...and there can be multiple singers in one film.
Following this, you have programmers,
...arrangers, musicians,
...sound engineers and sound designers.
Here, the producer plays an important role as well.
After all, it is he that puts in the money.
The producer thinks from the business...
...and return on investment point of view.
Now, the director shares the song, and the music...
...of the film, with the producer.
A producer can ask for a change,
...in the last of songs,
...if he feels something won't work...
...in terms of returns.
So everybody has their own role.
A composer has to balance out all these visions...
...of the director, and the producer...
...and finally, the audience.
The first role...
...I would like to mention, is of a music arranger.
Earlier, music arrangers would coordinate with...
...hundreds of musicians.
They used to be the translator,
...for a composer's music piece...
...to the hundreds of musicians...
...who would play, to complete that song.
Now that has evolved.
The whole piece of work is now managed...
...by music programmers.
They themselves are music arrangers.
They do the same job now, but on a computer.
When I ready my own 4 minute structure,
...I will program all of the basic ideas...
...in the piece...
...by myself.
Because, I want the song to sound like my own.
Then I share that with the programmer.
With a brief.
The programmer decorates it,
...with a better sound and completes the music.
Once the programmer is done,
...with the arrangements of the music,
...I try to figure out...
...the pieces in the song,
...that we can record live.
I always prefer the sound...
...and feel of live music.
A computerized sound cannot beat that for me.
When I have to pick instrumentalists,
...for a live piece of music,
...that decision is genre and vibe specific.
And likewise for the singers.
In the song Pashmina,
...the woodwind strings and electric guitar are live.
But the rest, like the drums...
...and the bass are programmed.
I need to know my musicians, and their skills.
And at the same time, they need to know me as well.
Once the song is programmed...
...on the Digital Audio Workstation,
...that session goes to the recording engineer.
Recording engineers do a live dub on that session.
Whether it's singers, the live instrumentalist...
...or whether it's the chorus, or whatever.
Then everything is put together...
...by the recording engineer.
And they balance the whole thing.
Once it's balanced,
...and it's in a good place.
Then it goes to the mixing engineer.
Now, the mixing engineer...
...applies their expertise.
They take all the elements...
...and unite them as per their preference...
...and bring them to unison.
Their job is to make it sound like a song.
Sometimes a mixing engineer...
...might have to fix something...
...the recording engineer has missed.
So, the mixing engineer...
...takes all of this and...
...gives the entire sound a proper shape.
They work to complete the song...
...with proper equalizers,
...which we call EQs.
Proper reverbs, delays...
...balance of the track,
...levels of instruments,
...sound patches, and vocals etc.
A neat soundscape is created...
...for all these things.
Once the song is mixed,
...I share my inputs.
Then there's a back and forth,
...till we get the mix at a satisfactory level.
Once you all are satisfied,
...then finally it goes to the mastering engineer.
Mastering is the final product.
The boost.
The song has to be mastered in such a way,
...that the song has a standard volume.
At the mixing stage, you work on...
...individual components of a song.
In mastering, you work on overall levels...
...of the song, as a whole.
It deals with the stereo aspect of the song.
The basic logic of mastering is...
...that no matter where the song plays,
...it has to sound proper.
It shouldn't matter what kind of...
...headphones somebody is listening on.
Whether they're listening on computer speakers.
Or the home theatre, or the TV.
Or the song is playing in pubs, or wherever.
It has to sound proper everywhere.