“Motiv Stories Mumbai”
with Shure
Chapter 1 : Hardik Verma | “Raag Tilak Kamod” on sitar

“Sitars are notoriously difficult to mic – with an impressive range which cover upto 4 octaves, the higher notes are difficult to catch and sustain. Add that to the extremely windy conditions under which we were recording, we wanted to see if the Shure Motiv MV88+ mic was upto the challenge.”

Hardik Verma is a 27-year old sitarist who comes from a family where Hindustani classical music has been passed down as knowledge through generations. Hardik has studied music at the Benaras Hindu University and learnt sitar under his guruji, Professor Birendranath Misra. Currently, he stays in Mumbai and has taken tutelage under one of the best contemporary Indian sitarists of the age, Niladri Kumar.

We met Hardik for a sunset jam at Versova in Mumbai. Overlooking the Versova marshes and beach, with a glorious sunset in the horizon, we proceeded to record Hardik’s sitar play on a windy evening – with the Motiv MV88+ Digital Stereo Condenser Microphone, which Shure had sent us to record this playthrough with.

Hardik plays a freestyle rendition of “Raag Tilak Kamod” along with a surprise jam on a concept we will reveal later, as this series progresses.

All the audio you hear in this story has been recorded live outdoors on the Motiv MV88+, which we found to be a portable, state of the art digital stereo condenser microphone, which is equipped to record instruments in high fidelity at any location.

At Instrupad, we’re looking out for tools and techniques to recommend musicians which can enhance and add value to their ‘musicmanship’.

With the Motiv 88+, musicians can now record their sound wherever they go – from solo jams in the solitude of your private balcony at home, to concerts and live performances at public spaces. We’ve been putting the mic through the test, all around the soundscapes of the city of dreams which is Mumbai ; we highly recommend this mic for all what it promises to deliver.

Follow us for more in the ‘Motiv Stories Mumbai’, as we take you through sounds of Mumbai, with some incredibly talented musicians who journey together with us in our experiments with recording their sound.

An Instrupad Production
Research and Edited by : Dhananjai Sinha
DOP and Color Grading : Pranoy Kanojia
Sound recording and mixing : Tamzid Rehman