Music
Bollywood synth pioneer Bappi Lahiri’s 303 experiments
In honor of the 303 bassline, Himanshu Pandey writes about one of the least known uses of the iconic synthesizer, ahead of Red Bull Presents rRoxymore (live) at Room 303 this weekend.
United Machines will host a Geardo Jam for Red Bull Music Academy's International Synthesizer Day celebration on 23rd May at True School of Music, Mumbai. The program will also feature workshops by Berlin-based rRoxymore, and local artists BLOT! and Aqua Dominatrix. Click here to RSVP for entry.
Did Bappi Lahiri arrive from the future? It’s a question that’s been debated at after parties and panel discussions alike.
The 66-year-old Mumbai based music composer has produced an immense body of work over the years since he scored his first film (Zakhmee) in 1975, over four decades ago! Call him a visionary, time traveler or disco king -- you run out of superlatives to describe his legacy. But for synth aficionados, like me, he stands out for being amongst the earliest to explore the potential of electronic music in Bollywood (RD Burman and Laxmikant Pyarelal, come to mind). The most fascinating aspect of his career is how he was ahead of his time and used elements from a style of music (acid house) that was yet to evolve.
Acid house originated in the underground clubs of Detroit and Chicago in the mid- to late ‘80s. You can’t mistake an acid house tune: the genre is symbolized by certain elements, the most notable of these being the Roland TB 303 bassline synthesizer.
The TB-303 is a tiny, innocuous looking synthesizer. Unlike its bigger brothers, the Jupiter-8 and the Juno-6, which could produce all kinds of sounds, the TB-303 was designed for one specific purpose: To replicate the sounds of an electric bass guitar. Legendary Japanese instrument makers Roland originally meant for it to replace the bass guitarist, and theoretically you could use it in conjunction with a Roland TR-606 Drumatix (drum machine) to replace your band’s rhythm section for the practice session at home. The TB-303 does not have a keyboard like a traditional synthesizer. It does not even have a MIDI or CV input to be played from a keyboard. Instead, it played back individually programmed steps as a sequence of notes in a loop - a bassline: therefore the Transistorized Bassline or TB-303.
The number of guitarists who used it in the originally envisaged role may be debatable, but the truth is that the TB-303 was a spectacular failure in this regard. Production was quickly discontinued by Roland and only about 10,000 units were produced. Here, fate stepped in.
In the mid ‘80s, Chicago & Detroit music producers on a budget like DJ Pierre, Herb J and Kevin Saunderson started using the TB-303 in more unconventional ways, tweaking the filter and resonance controls on the unit to make it sound edgier. The TB-303 was typically run in conjunction with drum machines, tempo locked via DIN sync. Once a drum machine and bassline synthesizer were tempo locked (slaved) to each other, they could be programmed with basic drum rhythms and basslines which stayed perfectly locked in sync. The Roland 808 and 909 drum machines in combination with a TB 303 were soon to become the unmistakable sound of “Acid House”.
Meanwhile, in India…
RD Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Bappi Lahiri and their colleagues in the Hindi and Tamil film industry (most notably, Ilaiyaraja), were experimenting with synthesizers from the early ‘70s. But they used the synthesizer as a standalone element, like any other instrument. They were using drum machines as well. But nobody was clocking a drum machine to a bassline synthesizer or sequencer to get “electronic grooves” -- tightly syncopated rhythms which cannot be played by hand.
Sessions musician Charanjit Singh was probably the first Indian artist to use this style for his album “Ten ragas to a disco beat”. Charanjit acquired a TB-303, TR-808 and the Roland Jupiter 8 synthesizer from Singapore, not long after they were commercially released. He learned the instruments from the user manuals, and figured out that they could be “DIN synced” or Tempo Locked to each other. This small discovery led to him creating his now well-known album using these instruments in 1982, four years prior to the release of “Acid Tracks” by the Chicago-based act Phuture. A famous vocal refrain from the album goes “This is a sound the kids call acid”. They could not have known that an older generation of Indian musicians were already in on this sound.
Hunter 303
Charanjit Singh’s album could be called an oddity. It’s the only known piece of work in this particular style by him. By no stretch of imagination can he be called an originator of Acid House. There are no other tracks made by him or other Indian musicians of the time that referenced this style. Or are there?
In 1983, Bappi Lahiri used the TB-303 on at least 3 tracks. Keep in mind that unlike now, the TB-303 did not have any clones or similar sounding devices on the market to compete with. Besides the year in which these songs were produced, the second giveaway is the “bassline”. A repeating pattern of notes using glissando and accented notes, sometimes with the unmistakable filter being tweaked. There was only one machine in 1983 capable of creating this sound.
Who programmed these basslines? Did Charanjit show this technique to Bappi? Did he play them himself? Did he influence others to start clocking? The following tracks illustrate that “Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat” was not an anomaly. The TB-303 influenced several others, like, Bappi Lahiri to begin with, and to explore it deeper.
Koi Lootera Dil Ke Mera - Wanted (1983)
Berlin-based music producer Pawas Gupta brought this tune to my notice. The bassline in this song is unmistakably the TB-303. The filter is being tweaked aggressively and it is slaved to a drum machine. The track is full of synth sirens and gunshots, a veritable samplist’s paradise. Also, the bassline continues for a large part of the song, through the main refrain - “waanted”, quite unusual indeed. The film is a spaghetti western, and if you are into Indian cowboys, this movie is a must watch (alongside Feroz Khan’s cannon, of course).
Aah Ha Oonh Hun - Do Gulaab (1983)
This track starts off with a drum machine (sounds like a TR-909) locked to a TB-303. It’s an unconventional introduction for a Hindi film song. It then introduces a lovely saxophone solo, another 30 seconds or so of drum machine, TB-303 and saxophone - an early homage to house music, but then the dholaks kick in and it’s all downhill from there.
Tum Tum Tumba - Karate (1983)
The 303 bassline drops in unexpectedly around 2.36 minutes into the track, filter tweaking can be heard again. It’s joined by a horn chorus, and then back to the usual flutes, strings and guitars. The 303 sound is used in the outro again. Karate (1983) is quite a fun watch, especially if you are into parallel universes and alternate reality cinema. A vengeful Mithun Chakraborty “walks” into a karate-practicing tribe somewhere in India.
TR-808
The story of Roland TR-808 drum machine is pretty similar to the 303: A commercial failure for the company initially, it was destined to acquire cult status many years later. It was also features on several Bollywood tunes. Here are a couple of examples.
Baaton Se Baat Na Banegi - Hiraasat (1987)
This track uses the TR-808, especially the “cowbell” percussion sound from the unit in the intro. It’s probably the kitschiest video you will see today, and samplists will spot some cool synth samples in there.
I am a Street Dancer - Ilzaam (1986)
This song uses the “rimshot” sound from the TR-808 quite tastefully and almost through the entire track. Since the track has minimal percussion (for a Hindi song, at least), the 808 stands out quite well. Ignore the vocals. This is another alternate reality cinema-type video that shows biker gang members “street dancing” in Mumbai featuring Govinda for a change, instead of Mithun Chakraborty.