The Wizard of Sound is no more. It was late news for me and moreover, bitter - I only knew it on the 5th of December that he went into silence forever on Dec 1. It was tragic news immediately following the terror attack. H. Sridhar - The man who mastered and engineered sound throughout his career. He could perfect sound as sound as it could sound to its natural tone. To describe him more would be a very difficult task for me bcos the legends who worked with him, and the music industry, who are shocked too, have already shown their gratitude and poured in all possible word to define him and his work.
Not even many of music lovers would recognize him despite the fact that he was right-hand of A.R. Rahman. He had been associated with A.R.R. right from the onset of A.R.R's career. The way the duo has performed outstanding music needn't be explained. I liked the way he designed and mixed sound as the way I liked A.R. Rahman. Only because of him have I come to know of audiography and wished to be an audiographer and pursue a career in sound engineering after my schooling. Well, that's still a dream - bcos I know it can only be a dream, with no steps of advancement. The way I heard music after he stepped in cannot be expressed in words as I find no other form other than music to express it, as he is related to it. If Rahman introduced music in the digital form, this man too would be the cause for its digital introduction.
Theres no doubt the music fraternity will miss him forever.
But its still hard to believe, as many say, he passed away at the age of 50 from a massive heart attack. He was a hardworker as I could know from everyone in the industry. This must be life - unpredictable! Just imagine, he was working the last night with A.R.R. and Murugadoss at the final stages of Aamir's Ghajini. He left the workplace around 4 a.m. and by around 8.30 a.m. he was gone in his sleep not to wake up anymore. The loss would be a loss forever for his family and A.R.R. more than anyone.
I just can't imagine how Rahman would be feeling right now having lost his close friend and teammate, who has been with him throughout his career. I've been tracing to get some news from Rahman regarding this and I got this:
Shocked at the untimely death of his friend H Sridhar, the music maestro packs off for a break in the US.
AR Rahman has been so shaken up by his friend H Sridhar’s death that he has packed his bag and headed off to New York to spend some time away from Chennai. “Rahman has been shattered. Sridhar was absolutely fine, working with Rahman till the last day on the music of Ghajini. Nobody expected him to pass away at such a young age,” said a friend.
He won the prestigious President's Gold Medal (National Award for best Audiography) four times.
"He engineered the correct sound equilibrium to the Mozart of Chennai's tunes." - Sify.com
"H. Sridhar was a towering icon when it came to mixing music." - Indiaglitz.com
"He was the best sound engineer I have ever worked with, he pioneered the DTS format in the country." - Director Priyadarsan
He was a favourite of Mani Ratnam, Shankar, Kamal Hassan, P C Sreeram, and many others. He pioneered the use of Digital Sound in the DTS format in the country. What more can someone say of him after having opened up a new era in the history of music and cinema.
And, everyone who knows his work and search for his name in movie titles, you can't find it anymore. More saddening is that there wont be the 'H.Sridhar/Siva Kumar' title in cassettes/CDs anymore.
But still, every time I slide up and down the equalizers on my audio system, I am sure without doubt, I will remember you Sir.
This post is a tribute to 'Sridhar Sir,' as many call him in the industry, to whom this is the least I can offer.
Image Source: Indiaglitz
1 comment:
May his soul rest in peace
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