In 1968, The Beatles famously travelled to Rishikesh, India on a spiritual journey. This visit turned out to be one of their most prolific writing periods, with the majority of The White Album being written during this time.
For decades, musicians have ventured to India on musical pilgrimages seeking inspiration, spiritual guidance, and the secrets of their craft. But in these techno times where information and inspiration can all be found with the click of a mouse, is there still a need to travel to ‘the source’?
Audio Network composer, David O’Brien discusses his own pilgrimage to India and how it has influenced his music.
David is a multi-instrumentalist and successful composer whose credits included compositions for numerous global advertising campaigns, theme music for the BBC and collaborations with commercial artist The Freestylers.
Whilst David’s compositions span various genres including electronica, dubstep, rock and world music, his work consistently features a strong eastern influence and traditional Asian instrumentation.
In 1991, David travelled to India where he studied Hindustani music at the Music Ashram in the ancient city of Varanasi. Varanasi has had a long tradition as a ‘musical hub’, and is the birthplace of India’s most well known instrumentalist, Ravi Shankar.
At the Ashram, David studied the Bansuri – a bamboo flute with a rich history in Hindu mythology. The Bansuri was the instrument played by Lord Krishna. It is believed that when he played the Bansuri, it had a mesmerising effect over women and animals. Hear the sound of the Bansuri on the Audio Network track Monsoon composed by David O’Brien and Kevin Browne.
“After the first week of lessons the flute teacher measured my hands and sent a special order to the factory. The custom built instrument they delivered is a perfect fit and has a beautiful, warm tone. It cost around £5 – a whole day’s travelling budget!”
This custom made flute has remained a special instrument to David and he continues to incorporate it into both Eastern and Western style compositions. “I have always loved exotic and evocative music, particulary Indian and Arabic melodies. The first band I was involved in fused psychedelic rock with Eastern influences and these remain a theme through much of my work”.
David has been composing music for film and television for over ten years and has written over 100 tracks for Audio Network. David’s experience in India resonates through much of this work. Hear how David combines the Bansuri with contemporary electronica to create the haunting trip hop track Sky Trains. To hear more of David’s work, head to Audio Network.
Audio Network has over 45,000 tracks of high quality production music, and with over 270 leading composers Audio Network has music for every genre, style and mood. Every track that Audio Network produces is with the filmmaker and end user in mind – providing the simplest, easiest and most efficient way of delivering a great choice of high-quality music to the people who need it. Audio Network regularly record original orchestral tracks with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, enabling all producers, regardless of their budget, to use the richest and highest quality recordings in their productions.
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