BENGALURU : Twenty-four-year-old Amrutha M is already a dancer, theatre artiste and teacher. But what sets her apart is the fact that she is one of the few rhythm pad players in Bengaluru, who lends background music to stage plays.A dancer since the age of eight, Amrutha’s interest in acting took shape in the last four years, and she became interested in the electronic instrument two years ago.
“There are not many women in Bengaluru who play the rhythm pad. I have come across only male musicians playing the instrument. I work with theatre groups to provide live or recorded sound susing the pad,” says Amrutha, who is a dance teacher at Capitol School by day.
“What is unique about this instrument is that it can re-create any other kind of musical instrument, as well as sound effects such as bomb blasts, rain, sad tunes to accompany melancholic scenes,” says Amrutha, who recently worked on the background music for Kannada play Moksha-Mouni. “For example, I created the effect of sad emotions with the violin and powerful shanka sounds. I composed percussion beats imitating Djembe and Chande (similar to drums),” the artiste says.
The Bharatanatayam dancer and her troupe Nrithyankura are the go-to team for the Karnataka government for performances. She was recently on the state panel of dance examiners. “In June, I was asked to to be an external examiner for Bharatanatayam senior board examination in Puttur by the state government,” she says.