Beating himself to make music

As New York gets ready for the International Body Music Festival Concert tomorrow, India is busy churning out its own ‘body drummers’.

As New York gets ready for the International Body Music Festival Concert tomorrow, India is busy churning out its own ‘body drummers’.

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Globally acclaimed Kolkata-based tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh is set to create a record with his ‘Body Drumming’ solo track. Part of his album Tablasphere, slated for an October release, the track is the first of its kind by an Indian artiste. Ghosh plays on various parts of his body using different hand movements, and creates an acoustic guitar-like sound using wind movement through the nostrils.

The different sounds include the slow frequency beat, created by cupping the hands and beating against the chest, the mid frequency beat that involves hand clapping and slapping in different styles on the stomach, thighs and legs, and high frequency sounds, created by hand-on-cheek movements.

The idea struck when Ghosh was recording in his studio with friend Pijyush Chakraborty: “I told him I have this new thing on my mind; and we got going!”

Body percussion, originally a tribal practice, is common in South Africa, but Ghosh’s track retains the Indian classical touch. He has also applied for a copyright.