VIRTUALLYTHERE MIX IT LIKE MUMBAI

Would you pair the djembe with shehnai rhythms? Or think the morchang (Jew’s harp) can perfectly fit in sync with the sitar? You no longer need to be a music composer to string together compositions. The British Council’s online app, Mix The City, lets you do it – with a local twist.

Mix The City was launched for Mumbai and Delhi this month. The app offers a range of music styles, including instrumental and vocals, from India and cities as far apart as Mannheim, Hamburg, Moscow and Istanbul.

“The artists were recorded at places typically associated with ‘Mumbai’ like Nariman Point, Elphinstone Road and Bandra’s Chapel Road, and geotagged the places so that people watching it could visit these spots,” says Vivek Mansukhani, director of arts at British Council India.

To create your own mix pick a city from the app. Then choose from 12 options, each holding two five-second samples of music recorded on loop. Pick one, add another composition to the piece, add a synth effect if you’re not satisfied with the acoustic version. If you are pleased with the composition, hit record and save your track and share it on Youtube.

In the Mumbai mix you can choose from a musical note played on the morchang by multi-instrumentalist

a vocal loop by singer Meghana Bhogle, a composition by percussionist Sivamani or the melodious tunes of the sitar by Imran Khan, among many others.

(below), Rais Khan