*http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Winds-From-Across-The-World/355896/ * ** *Flautist Naveen Kumar can't count the number of wind instruments he owns. His current favourite is his own invention, a flute with guitar strings inside*
Ever heard of a flute with guitar strings? Meet Naveen Kumar, freelance musician who's played wind instruments in some of the catchiest tunes in recent years, picking from his collection of innumerable flutes. A flautist who lends his rendition to top music directors from Mumbai and Chennai and now also an inventor of what he calls the 'Naveen Flute', the innovation bringing to wind instruments some of string instruments' zing. "I've introduced guitar strings inside the bamboo flute and that gives it a synthetic vibration," says the diploma holder in Carnatic music from Andhra University who started his musical journey as a folk singer in school. Naveen, in his mid-thirties,has till date also handled music direction for seven Telugu films and has even sung 20 songs for Tamil films. But what interests one most about his prolific music career is his experimentation with all kinds of sounds related to flutes. "I've traveled all over the world and collected different kinds of flutes unique to that part of the world and its culture. This automatically opens me to newer ideas and sounds because I cannot be playing just the bamboo flute as there is a continuous search for newer sounds," says Kumar. Apart from the 'Naveen Flute', he has also made for himself a glass flute that, instead of absorbing notes as in traditional bamboo flutes, reflects it. And these are just two among his collection of unique flutes of which he has lost count. "I cannot count the number of flutes I have but can say that I have the largest collection of flutes," adds Kumar. Flutes also include ones like Japan's Sakuhachi, Ireland's Ullienn Pipes and Hulsi — used for the title track of Jaane Tu— which that Naveen says are extremely rare flutes. While Naveen has applied for a patent on his invention, he is still to find out what has been the progress on that front. After all, he's been busy with his albums. In 2005, he released his first album titled Fluid by Sony Music. Among collaborations with international musicians he counts the one with John McLaughlin for his album "Meeting of the Minds" as most memorable. Kumar is currently working on his second album that features a guitarist from Armenia, a rapper from Canada and a cellist from Los Angeles along with the likes of Sivamani, Louis Banks and Selva Ganesh. Ask Naveen on what influences his music and he doesn't talk of legends but the encouragement from the crowds in front of whom he has performed. "The musician in me is encouraged by the crowd," he says and then hesitantly talks of an album called 'Black Rain' that was given to him by none other than A R Rahman. "I've worked with Rahman since Roja and if there is one music director who is beyond boundaries, it is him," he says. "From James Galway to Ravindra Sangeet and Shastriya Sangeet, from Brahmatalam to Rock, I've heard all kinds of music and inspiration comes from everywhere," he adds. After all, be it the catchy Airtel tune, Dhoom's title tune, the flute in Roja's title track or the wind instruments in the Bombay Theme, all of them bear Naveen's signature. "I don't want to be traditional, I want to be free and working with different instruments adds to experimentation," he says before jetting off to Chennai where he's headed to Rahman's studio for another recording. -- regards, Vithur ARR -- The Sweet Cube always
