longtime AR Rahman collaborator, flautist-singer Naveen Kumar cut an album recently. He told Shana Maria Verghis about designing three flutes, God and his large instrument collection
We catch him while he is having an evening walk in a Vile Parle park. Or maybe he is jogging too, because his voice sounds like its panting a bit. Naveen Kumar moved to Mumbai to be closer to the films, which gave him lots of work. Bombay to the recent Munni Badnam Hui, he has done a lot.
He also sang for Tamil movies, and has been associated with AR Rahman from the time that he produced his first hit for Mani Ratnam.
Working with Rahman, he said, “gave me lots of exposure. My parents (he was raised in Andhra), had taught me to be a good Christian. I also sang in the church choir. With AR, I learnt to be more spiritual.”
After being introduced to cinema in 1984, he had encountered Rahman and asked him, “‘how can I be successful like youIJ” The reply was, “it is possible with the help of God.”
Naveen said, “We Protestants believe in a concept of Holy Spirit, and my father taught me, ‘leave everything to God’. So I keep calm, and whatever I think about happens.” He learnt carnatic vocals and took up the flute by the age of 12, when his father, a telecom engineer, gave him one as a gift.
When he played in school, his principal gave him three more as a present and he was hooked. Since then, he developed three different flutes: There is his ‘You Flute’ of brass, an ‘Overtone Flute’, made of PVC, and a ‘Naveen Flute’, from bamboo, with three steel strings insides. He hopes to get them manufactured large-scale. Kumar explained, “I can do lots of things with the string flute, like rig up a keyboard with flute sound. The string vibrations and audio convert as mini signals to keyboard. I use it for concert recordings.
“I’m currently recording software to send to a major Hollywood mixer named Tony Maserati.”
He added, “there is a story behind my Naveen Flute. I was in Chennai recording a session with a guitarist. He went out and I was doing riyaaz. Then I sensed something vibrate beside me. It was the strings of the guitar! I spoiiled many flutes while I was designing. I have also created a tuner with a violin neck. The strings in the flute are fixed according to gauge and length of the bamboo. Its great for jhalas.”
“Technology is changing fast, and one upgrades everyday . I got the habit messing with it from my father, who was not a musician. But he would design instruments and buy components, make keyboards, etc. In school I’d layer one tape recorder with another. It was pleasurable.” He went on, “I respect new directors too, because there is magic undiscovered. And I listen to everything. To recreate a piece of music, I must obey God. If you think you are the creator, you will end.”
He recalls, “For all the hits in Bombay, Rahman would say, ‘close your eyes and play. Then I felt no diversion. It was beautiful. The result you get is like when someone plays the same thing everyday, then one word hits you.” Adding, “I developed spiritualism because of the music. It’s the same with Rahman. He would call me a 4am or 3am to his studio. Now people work around my schedule.”“Connecting to God means being in a meditative mood. It influences my life. Because of the flute I’m quiet and think positive.”
When he was having a bad mood, he said, “I would go to an empty church and play. I felt God listened, and it gave me great peace.”Over the years, he collected 200 flutes from various continents.
“Most unusual is a handmade article of rosewood, with a Mayan God’s image. It was not for playing, but a decorative. I used it anyway. The sound was great. Now I play it frequently.” Naveen did an album for Sony Music recently called FluteTronics. He has a band, NAM.