Charanjit Singh

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Charanjit Singh (* 1940 ; † July 5, 2015 in Mumbai ) was an Indian musician . He is said to have made the first recording of an album with significant use of the TB 303 synthesizer and the TR 808 drum machine and thus the first record in the style of acid house .

Life

Singh was involved in the recording of the soundtracks of various Bollywood films in the 1960s and 1970s . He was also the head of the entertainment band called Charanjit Singh Orchestra . In 1982 he recorded the album Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat , which is essentially based on melodies from TB 303 and rhythms from TR 808 as well as synthesizer accompaniment with a Jupiter-8 . When recording, Singh understood his compositions as contemporary interpretations of ragas in disco style with the use of new instruments and the renunciation of the classic tabla accompaniment . Singh had just bought Roland's devices shortly before and explored their use experimentally. The album was commercially unsuccessful and also remained the only album with original compositions by Singh, who otherwise released around ten albums with cover versions and Bollywood soundtracks. The album remained undiscovered for a long time until the record collector Edo Bouman bought a copy in Delhi in 2002 and was amazed by the minimal character of the pieces it contained. Bouman re-released the album on his label Bombay Connection in 2010 , although it was initially received as a hoax , as the combination of TB 303 and TR 808 characteristic of Acid House is otherwise commonly attributed to the group Phuture for the first time on their 1987 album Acid Trax . Singh, who lived in seclusion, was not aware of his pioneering work up to this point. He died in Mumbai on July 5, 2015, at the age of 75.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Daniel Kreps: Charanjit Singh, Acid House Pioneer, Dead at 75. In: Rolling Stone . Wenner Media, July 6, 2015, accessed on July 6, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Singh, Charanjit
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1940
DATE OF DEATH 5th July 2015
Place of death Mumbai , India