MS Viswanath on the Violin | Kochi
“Motiv Stories : Kochi”
with Shure
Chapter 5 : M S Viswanath
M S Viswanath is an accomplished strings player, proficient on the traditional violin, cello, and 7-string violin. In fact, he has the unique distinction of being a Guinness World Record holder, for Longest Marathon Playing of a violin- a whopping 36 hours, smashing the previous record by a whole three hours. Based in Kochi, he heads a band with his friends from the city itself, “Rithu Ragas”, and extends his passion for music into teaching youngsters to play.
“Raga Sreeranjini”
We met M S Viswanath at the home of one of his students in Kochi, and recorded his playthrough next to a canal. In the background was the sound of a boat motor and a steady but calm breeze over the water. The interview was shot on the common lawns of a colony nearby with people and vehicles coming and going.
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.
A violin can be a shrill instrument, and the player is often dealing with very frequencies of notes. The Motiv mic is able to handle a wide range of frequencies at both extremes of the spectrum, and Viswanath noted that the mic would work just as well for his cello as it did for his violin. The mic can be easily set up with minimal time, requiring nothing more than a phone and app to record crystal clear sound.
At Instrupad, we’re looking out for tools and techniques to recommend musicians which can enhance and add value to their compositions.
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, now taking it around India- this time in the beautiful city of Kochi; we highly recommend this mic for all what it promises to deliver.
This is the fifth chapter in the ‘Motiv Stories ‘ series in collaboration with Shure, where we now take you through the sounds of India with distinguished musicians in their fields- who journey together with us in our experiments with recording their sound.