HIS CHILDHOOD
AS Dileep Kumar, who now is familiar with the name A R Rahman all over the world, was born in Chennai, on Thursday, the 6th of January 1966 , in a musically rich Tamil Mudhaliyar family.
RK Sekhar, his father, was a well-known music composer and arranger in South India . Music was Dileep's passion since childhood. He is the second of four siblings.
Being son of a renowned composer, music was in Dileep's blood. His musical tutelage had begun under his father. Interestingly, it was the 'Univox' and 'Claviolin', the early avatar of the present-day 'synthesizer' that Sekhar had imported from Singapore , which fashioned Dileep's romance with octaves.
That time, Dileep was not allowed to play with it, it being 'valuable'. But as they say, 'say 'no' to the children, and they're sure to do it!' Dileep started playing with the black and white keys of his father's musical instrument when he was just four. In no time he started to play his father's songs, and to recognize the different musical notes. Later he learnt Indian classical music formally, Carnatic from Dakshinamoorthy and N Gopalakrishnan and Hindustani from Krishnan Nair. He took classes in film music from Nithyanandham and Western Classical from Jacob John. He also learnt playing guitar at the age of 10. "I've spent all my life playing second fiddle... It is only through my son that I can hope to win some day..." This was the remark of the late R K Sekhar, musician and father of the today's musical phenomenon A R Rahman. Dileep's father, R Kulasekhar or RK Sekhar, as he preferred to call himself, was originally native of a place called Kizhaanoor near Thiruvalloor in the Tamil Nadu State of India . Being the son of Rajagopala Bhagavathar, a reputed Harikatha exponent in South India , Sekhar had music in his genes. He had picked up the nuances of Carnatic music from V Dakshinamoorthy, and had started serving as his assistant music director.
Sekhar had the musical mettle to make it big, and because of this born talent, he got chance to work as the lieutenant of many prominent music directors in the South, to name a few: Devarajan, Salil Chowdhary, and V Dakshinamoorthy. Sekhar Master's talent was even noticed by famous Hindi composer SD Burman in those times, and reportedly the latter had also invited him to arrange music for his assignment. At the age of 31, Sekhar master got married with Kasthuri, who was 17 then. Their marriage took place in Tirupathi, the abode of Lord Venkateshwara in the Andhra Pradesh state of India . After the marriage the couple had settled down in Mylapore in Chennai.
The couple was blessed with three daughters and a son, Kanchana, Dileep, Bala, and Israth. Sekhar Master would be very busy; yet he was fond of Dileep. Dileep's early memories are of the studio where he went with his father. Dileep's inspiration has always been his father. Sekhar was a workaholic musician, who would go to seven-eight places for work each day. Famous Tamil musician, Ilaiyaraja used to play the combo organ for background music recording sessions with Sekhar Master at the age of 17.
Sekhar introduced numerous talented artists, including singer Yesudas, into the Malayalam filmdom. According to many musicians who were Sekhar Master's contemporary, he had quite a hand on the harmonium, and also displayed an extraordinary musical sensibility. But his day never came. The handful of Malayalam movies he scored music for, fell by the wayside. Endless hours of rehearsals, re-recordings, and song recordings - mostly fuelled with tea and dry bun (Porai as it is called in Tamil) - took their toll on Sekhar's health, and he was bedridden with stomach related maladies. The man, who literally lived in the recording studios, spent his last days in different hospitals. His assistants would attend him in his hospital bed for the musical score. Sekhar succumbed in 1976 aged 42. Unfortunately that was the same year when his first movie as an independent music director had released. Rumors still abound that Master was the victim of black magic by his rivals. Dileep was just nine years old.
The years that led to Sekhar's premature and painful passing and those that followed it were the purgatory that the boy progressed through. In the course of time the catharsis swept away the old thoughts and brought in a new faith... Rahman was born!Father R K Sekhar and son A R Rahman share the same seven notes but the colours have changed and so has the world. Rahman attributes all the fame that has come his way to God. We are sure.that includes his father
In 2005, A. R. Rahman has built a new studio, called A. M. Studio. This studio is equipped with a 140 channel Euphonix System 5-M Digital Mixing Console
with 2 crores . Having worked in several top studios in the UK , USA & Canada , Rahman had the opportunity to work with and evaluate all the large format consoles currently available in the market. He decided to go for the
Euphonix System 5 as it gives him the speed, power and flexibility that he needs for his work which ranges from Music Recording & Mixing to 5.1 Mixing . Another important factor for Rahman was that the System 5 supports 24-bit / 96KhZ operation which allows him to work in the highest quality digital environment and to be ready for DVD Audio .
