Yeah, you read that correctly. The Dubai-based team is comprised of sound engineer Rajesh Bhatia and composer Tarun Pancholia. These two use Lumia 640 XLs to record audio from cricket matches using the Perfect Recorder, and mixed the recorded sounds using Wave Master.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=AKkpv_NOrA8
There are two oddities at play here. One is the concept of mixing cricket game sounds to create music. The other is doing that using no traditional equipment, only a budget smartphone.
The first one may not be so odd. Bhatia explains that he adores both cricket and music, and wanted to combine the two to create uplifting music. He says:
“Cricket may be the furthest thing away from music, but I hear music in every beat.”
Pancholia, who also loves music and pursued the music craft from a young age, carries similar motivations, and also has a much more broadly minded outlook on the nature of music.
“I like to think of the world as an infinite library of sounds, all you need to do is find the perfect recipe.”
The second oddity can be addressed by the Lumia 640 XL. The duo explained that the budget phablet’s features a high quality microphone that exceeded their expectations, obviating the need to carry around more sincere recording equipment. The device also had stellar battery life, lasting an entire day of recording with plenty to spare. Finally, the sounds and songs were shared on OneDrive for collaboration. Rajesh says it best:
“You have a studio in your pocket at all times.”
The beauty of capable devices like the Lumia 640 XL is that they can enable productive workflows that are either cumbersome or not possible with traditional setups. While they carry their own limitations, they also carry strengths, and it’s up to the artist to figure out how best to utilize them. To that end, there’s no reason to believe future Lumia devices can’t become our primary creative devices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=37&v=qNAbDzUSbOk
If of course it hasn’t begun happening already.
See the end results of their project on SoundCloud.
