Part 15
Thursday morning I was down at the studio and we listened to the whole album together. The tech had noted the six tracks that would make good duets and had even transcribed the lyrics for me so, when we set up to record, we nailed them by lunch-time.
I went out and got some lunch and then went back. He had produced a CD for me to take as well as two other CDs with the two albums on with the orchestra toned back so we could play them and add our backing. He told me that Salman had booked the studio for all the weekend and every evening the following week and told me that I may get a message from Janet soon. She did ring me not long after and told me that I should make myself available over the weekend and every evening next week and that Salman had told her that he would like it if we could come up with an album by the end of the week. No pressure, then!
I told her that when she called the others to tell them to come around to my place when they got home tonight and I would play them the two albums so that they had, at least, an idea of what would be required. They came around after work and I played them my latest duets when they were all there. I then gave Jenianna the two CDs of the original albums and asked her if she could get the copies to the others as quickly as she could. The three girls complained that they would lose time with their boyfriends but everyone agreed that it was a chance too good to pass up, even if it did need a bit of hard work. We agreed to have another session at the hall on Friday evening and Kajari said she had a portable CD player we could use to listen to the tracks to work out some backing.
I worked with my duets during Friday and worked out the dholak backing pretty well. Most of the solo songs on the album were slow raga style so I reckoned that we would be able to nail them quickly. Friday evening we all went to the hall again and firstly worked on the twelve duets, going late but ending up happy with the result. It was weird hearing me sing while I played the dholaks and I sang along quietly as I did so, not wanting to put everyone off.
Saturday morning Janet picked us up in the mini bus and Balnoor was going there in his own car, Janet getting Gaurav to give him a day off. Salman joined us and told us that he was excited but didn’t expect too much of us so quickly. We told the tech that we would do the duets first and to just give us the male voice full with the orchestra very quiet as a guide. Once we were set up with the microphones we started the with the first duet, the tech being happy with our third take, as were we when he played it back to us. I could see Janet with a big grin on her face and Salman looking very serious. Over the course of the morning we had recorded the master for another three duets and we stopped for a delivered lunch that Salman had organised.
I could see that he was almost exploding with curiosity at the addition of Balnoor and the extra that it gave the music but Janet kept patting his arm and talking quietly to him. That Saturday afternoon we finished the rest of the duets, all with me singing with the band and getting a better delivery because of it. Everyone did their bit with the backing singing as well, Balnoor adding a lovely baritone note. We left our kit in the studio and Balnoor followed the bus to a small restaurant where Salman finally was able to express his thanks and congratulate us on being so professional by buying our meal. Janet looked like she was the cream licking cat and she took me and Tavleen aside when we went to the ladies. “You lot have shown Salman his new career, I think” she said “he has this idea that he will become a great music producer now. I will have to bring him back to earth next week as I am, and always will be, your manager as long as I have your signatures. I need to get Balnoor to sign tonight as he does bring an extra dimension to the sound.”
She did just that before we left the restaurant, he driving off with a stunned look on his face at what he had achieved that day. Janet took us back home and told us that she would pick us up in the morning. Sunday we were back in the studio and working on the rest of the solo songs. As the band had already heard all of them we only took about four takes each to get a good master. By the end of the week we had finished the two albums and the tech gave us all a CD with all the songs on them in the order they were on the original albums before we went home for a well-earned rest.
Well, we had a rest for some of Saturday as we had a reception booked and it would be the first as the Dhawanees. Balnoor was a bit antsy but we told him that if he couldn’t feel the music, then not to play anything but just groove with us until it came to him. We told him that he was already good with ragas which were the basis of the show and to just ‘go with the flow’. It worked out well and, as the reception was another that was not traditional, we all had a jolly good time getting the guests onto the dancefloor and gyrating. Balnoor took a while to get loose but then became quite the showman I knew he could be, sometimes playing with Tavleen in a complicated duet while the rest of us stayed in the background. They did look good together on stage and his violin added the extra pathos to my love songs.
At the end of the night Janet took us to the block where Balnoor had parked his car earlier. As we got off she said that she was truly proud to know us all and gave everyone a hug and a kiss on the cheek. When she drove away we all went into the lift with me saying goodnight as I got out at my floor. Tavleen said she would message me as the doors closed and I went to my room to put my dholak bags away, strip and sit by the window again with a cup of tea watching the lights of the cars. What a week it had been.
Sunday morning I had got out of bed and dressed in a pair of jeans and my boots with a colourful top when Tavleen sent me a message to say they were on their way down so I put the kettle on and waited for their knock. Tavleen came in to say that the other girls had all been picked up by their boyfriends to catch up on the time they had missed during the week. Both she and Balnoor were in jeans which led me to the conclusion that he now had some of his things hanging in her wardrobe. We sat and had breakfast together and chatted about the show last night. Balnoor was over the moon at being able to play with us and said that it had really brought him forward to play with such soul.
He then said “Yesterday I spoke to an old school friend of mine. I had not seen him for ages but he was happy to get my call. He is an Anglo but was well regarded at school by the way he fitted in with us Indian kids. He married an Anglo girl and they now live in the country just south-west of here. The thing is that his father was a publisher and he took over the business and one of the magazines he publishes is a music paper in which his wife writes a column as a reviewer. I asked him if he could listen to a disc for me and let me know what they both think of it. They will be there this afternoon but before we go there, I would like to buy you both a good lunch, as a thank you for turning my life into a wonderland.”
We tidied up and I went and got a cardigan and my chunni and bag and we went up to Tavleens’ room where she got her own chunni and bag. Balnoor drove us out into the country where we finally parked at a country pub overlooking the river and we had a lovely meal. We then went to quite an imposing house where we were introduced to Jack and his wife, Sheila. They gave us a cuppa and we sat for a while as Balnoor and Jack caught up. I had gone to the same school as well so knew some of the people they spoke about. Finally, Jack said “OK, business time. What about this music you wanted us to hear?”
Balnoor gave him the unmarked CD and said “This is two albums that the girls and I recorded over the last seven days. It features a singer from India who you may have heard but I will leave his name so that it does not skew your thoughts when you listen. If you want to hear it alone we can go somewhere else as I, for one, will be very self-conscious hearing it with such experts as you two.” Sheila showed us to a sunroom and got us a pitcher of lemonade and glasses and we sat, soaking up the sun and chatting, while they listened to the CD. It took the best part of an hour and a half before she came back to beckon us back inside.
We sat down and Jack said “The male singer is Anudeep Dhawan and I have heard him before but his voice always sounded too syrupy then. I know that he has never left India so how on earth did you get these albums?” Balnoor looked at me to carry on so I told him that Anudeep was a cousin to Salman Dhawan who had seen our band at a wedding reception we had played. “That was before Balnoor joined us. He got in contact with India and they sent him the masters of two albums and one I was told has been released in India recently. We spent the last week in the studio in the city with those masters and added the music and singing tracks to replace the original orchestra tracks. I know what you say about his voice; I heard the original master and his voice was almost drowned out by the strings but has been brought forward in our takes.”
Sheila said that she was really taken by the sound and she was not a devotee of Indian music and then asked who it was on the disc. Tavleen said that she was there on shehnai, Husnia on sarod, Jenianna on tanpura and Kajari on bansoori with Balnoor on violin and “Geet, here, on the dholak and doing the duets.” We were told that the recordings were first class and asked what will be happening to them. Balnoor told them that Salman Dhawan owned the new masters and he thought that a copy would be sent to India, with the likelihood of them being released here if Anudeep came over to tour, especially if we were to be the backing on stage. “Now” said Sheila “that would be a show I would like to go to.”
Marianne G 2021
