After watching Anushka Sharma in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil or Alia Bhatt in Dear Zindagi – headphones on and vibing in a crowded disco party, did you ever wish to be like them and become fully immersed in your own music world while soaking in the energy of a crowd? An emerging trend in the city is making this dream a reality, offering music lovers a novel way to enjoy live performances. Unlike typical club nights or concerts where speakers blast tunes for everyone to hear, silent discos provide wireless headphones, letting party-goers choose their own music and become immersed in a highly personalised sound experience.
Although the concept remains relatively new in India, it has been popular globally for years. One of the early organisers of silent discos in Bengaluru, Surbhi Tiwari at Fusion Beats – Silent Disco sheds light on her journey. “Almost a decade ago, my parents, who are wedding planners in Indore, encountered a regulation that prohibited loud music past 10pm. Around the same time, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was released, and we saw the concept of a silent disco featured in the movie’s Breakup Song. That got us curious. When we researched, we got to know it’s a very popular concept outside India,” she explains.
For musician and sound engineer Abhi Tambe, silent performances are not just a workaround to noise restrictions but the heart of his evolving performance language as evident in his solo performance that fuses theatre, sound art and live music, titled Portal Waiting. “I need headphones because they provide such an immersive experience. It’s a love letter to sound,” he shares. In his show, the audience is transported through layered soundscapes like forests, voices, wind and many imagined characters. “I couldn’t do it on speakers, it just wouldn’t be quite as powerful,” he explains, adding, “You can carefully control what’s on the left and on the right and make it sound really realistic and immersive.”
An attendee at Tambe’s concert, Prerna Kaul found her first silent disco experience transformative in a different way. “I was immediately drawn into the energy of the space… There was an invisible pulse in the air,” she recalls. Unlike a regular club, where noise fills the room, the silence outside the headphones sharpens the connection inside. “It’s definitely more intimate. I felt like the performance was curated for me.”
Silent discos offer something regular clubs can’t, which is complete control of listening choice with listeners switching between multiple channels using the headphones’ controls. “You can have four to eight DJs playing simultaneously and tune into whoever you want. It’s your creativity at the end of the day,” notes sound engineer Vinod Kumar Naidu, founder of Ampersound Productions, which also specialises in headphones’ rental for events. He adds that this offers a uniquely communal experience, saying, “When the sound is lowered, you can hear almost nothing but feel the anticipation and excitement in the air underneath the silence. It felt like a collective experience where everyone was plugged into the same performance, moving together.”
Beyond discos and parties, these silent events have started to include theatre performances, corporate conferences, music therapy sessions and more, facilitated through these multi-channel headphones. Naidu says, “The possibilities are endless with these headphones – we are even collaborating with mental health practitioners to help Parkinson’s patients using music therapy,” he shares, adding, “Next month we’re planning events with breathing exercises, meditation and musical instruments.” Giving an intimate experience, the no noise policy of such parties also means the party doesn’t wage war with its surroundings, minimising logistical challenges that come with hosting parties. “There is no noise pollution so people who are sitting outside don’t get disturbed,” says Tiwari. Naidu adds, “Compared to a typical sound system, which needs massive power and many speakers, this is also cost-effective.”