The Hindu Business Line : A `sound' career

Sindhu Rajaram laughs her way into one's heart. And on the telephone, she could be easily mistaken for a bubbly youngster, enjoying life in all its splendour. But as one of the youngest audio engineers in the country today, she has a hectic life recording famous voices, mixing soundtracks and editing sound at Kosmic Studios, Chennai.

"I decided at 12 to choose my career in music and oriented myself towards audio engineering at 14," she says. This orientation involved listening to music keenly, in an attempt to see how sounds were mixed. "I used to especially listen to A.R. Rahman and see how the various sounds were all put together," recalls Sindhu, who got wholehearted support and encouragement from her family.

"I didn't even know that it was called audio engineering," she laughs, remembering how she chose her career. Her father's transfer to Chennai from Bangalore helped her join the School of Audio Engineering in the city at the age of 15, as one of the "few girls" in a predominantly male group.

After her diploma, Sindhu interned at playback singer Unni Menon's studio, `Sound of Music', in Chennai. "He showed special interest in the growth of my career," she says. After joining Kosmic in 2003, Sindhu's first big project was with singer Hariharan.

"Hariji had come to Chennai for a concert and he had noticed us enjoying his music. The next day we worked together. He's very cool," says Sindhu, as she recalls the excitement of her maiden assignment, which involved some work on Hariharan's concert recording.

Many such projects followed and over the next few years, Sindhu handled dubbing, song recording, mixing and music programming assignments.

So what does she enjoy the most? "Music recording, of course," replies Sindhu who is also a singer-composer. A lover of world music, she was also part of the group that won the Chennai anthem competition organised by VIBA in 2006. "We saw the advertisement in the papers, a friend composed the tune, I arranged it and as friends, we put it all together," she says.

This penchant for music not only brought her to this demanding profession, but also introduced her to music legends in the country. "I love my profession since there is a lot of scope for creativity and you get an opportunity to work with top musicians like Hariharan, Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan, Bombay Sisters and many others," she says.

Still, there are not many women pursuing this profession in the country. Sindhu feels there are few who are ready to accept the challenge, as the industry demands odd timings and extended working hours. As for her, none of this can stop her from reaching her "ultimate goal of working with A.R. Rahman who I see as my guru and inspiration." She also acknowledges music director Manikanth Kadri who has been her guide throughout her career.

Currently working on the dubbing and mixing for a feature film, Sindhu says she also makes sure she gets her weekends free — to relax and "chill".

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