Monsoons in Hyderabad might be a menace for the usual office-goer but for some the rains are all about nostalgia and inspiration. Taking his cue from the rains, city-based software employee turned music composer Ashwin Palaparthi has set to tune his first-ever composition in Hindi titled ‘Rim Jhim’. The single set to tune by Ashwin has lyrics by his friend Saba Yunus, a Kanpur based poet and lyricist who works as a lecturer.
The 33 year-old self-trained composer gave up a career in software testing and his startup in order to fund the dream project and pursue music full time. “Interestingly, this song was born on a rainy day when I overheard a gaggle of girls arguing on whether it would rainon a particular day. I composed the music on the same night and sent it to Saba for the lyrics,” reminisces Ashwin. The trans-national project features singer Tamara Menon from Dubai who is starting out in Bollywood as well. The song also includes two other singers, Veena and Vandana who play fillers. The single was launched under the banner of Ash Music Factory set up by Ashwin two months ago to bring his dreams to fruition. “I invested my hard earned savings to set up the sound studio for Ash Music Factory. I have always been inclined to music.”
The five and half minute song combines instruments such as chimes, saxophone, xylophone, violin, flute and ‘Veela Pakshi’ were used to bring out the melody. The instrument ‘Veela Pakshi’ was named so by Ashwin and is used by tribals in the Araku region to hunt for birds. “When I was visiting Araku forests, I saw this stick like instrument carried by tribals. It is swung to mimic a whistle which attracts the birds in the forest which is trapped by the hunters. I used it in the video signifying a call for the rains.”
Ashwin plans to compose for a few films and his second album will be released in the following months featuring nine compositions.
Check out the single on Youtube.