The two-time academy award winner AR Rahman talked with music legend L Subramanyam on his YouTube channel. During the conversation, Rahman talked about the things that made him choose a different path and perspective concerning his music.
When Subramanyam proceeds to ask exactly how he changed his old ways of composing music, which used to have a lot of musicians and a whole orchestra, Rahman stated that this was all due to the advancement in technology. He talked about how, back in the day, there used to be only eight tracks for any particular film and that he came from the jingle industry, where he was given 16 tracks per jingle to do a lot with it. But the sad reality was that, at the time, nobody thought about it. Everybody wanted the depth, but nobody wanted to open their wallets to front the bill for an orchestra because it was very expensive. However, with time, all the big instruments became small. Due to this, there came a time when he went through a transition period of technological change. He stated that it gives him much time to experiment and fail. Nobody knew of the failures he faced but only saw the success he achieved because all of it happened within the studio. So, in the end, all the freedom he got was because of having a home studio.
He said that he got freedom from having the studio at home. He also said that everybody works for money, but beyond that, he had a passion for working. You always wondered why the west is doing it, then why can’t we? We listen to their music, but they don’t. Repeatedly asking himself this question led to him becoming a better producer, giving his music better quality, distribution, and mastery that drives him to this day.
AR Rahman also said that sometimes he sees some Bollywood movies make it to the Oscars but never win it. According to him, the top brass doesn’t quite understand; they are sending the wrong movies. He states that one must be in another person’s shoes to understand, as he envisions himself in a Westerner’s shoes to understand what is happening here.
