Music of insects

BANGALORE: Music forms an integral part of one’s life. One must be sensitive enough to grasp the sound produced by every instrument. Here is a Bangalore-based sculpture and product design student, Nachi Ramanathan whose passion drove him towards creating a musical instrument called Puchi.He was recently invited to play at the Sunburn Festival held in Goa. The artiste shared his views about the instrument, passion for music and his further goals.Nachi was deeply inspired by the various sounds produced by musical instruments.He said, “During my internship at Svaram Musical instruments, Auroville I got an opportunity to experiment with all kinds of musical instruments. Since they are a team that do research on sound, music and sound healing, they funded my project. I am still in collaboration with them and would like to use their facilities to go deeper into sounds.”Puchi — the musical instrument is made up of different materials which make unique sounds, and it looks like an insect sculpture. Nachi explained that he always had a fascination for insects and creatures. He said, “I am amazed by their characteristics and sounds they make. Subconsciously while trying to give the sound garden a form, it turned out to be the shape of an insect.”Nachi said that one need not be a musician to create an instrument but the passion for music drove him to create Puchi. When asked about the materials he used for the instrument he said, “Heavy metal pieces from the scrap yard, veena strings, construction rods, bamboo and shiny metallic balls for the eyes were used. It was a combination of a whole lot of materials to achieve the sounds and also to make it insect like.”As Puchi is a new concept among music lovers, many are still curious to know what the instrument is and what kind of sound it produces. When asked about the response from the musicians and critics, he said, “As the instrument enhances the flow of energy, many musicians wanted the instrument live on stage while they performed. I have got a positive response from musicians, critics and music lovers. I am happy that my endeavour is recognised and appreciated by many.”Nachi who has showcased the instrument at different venues like local music festivals including Kitschmundy, Counter Culture and other popular restaurants in Bangalore took three months to come up with the idea and create the instrument. He was also invited for Sunburn Dance and music festival in Goa. Expressing his opinion on naming the instrument as Puchi he said, “The sculpture of this instrument in Tamil is called ‘Isai Poochi’ and poochi in Tamil means insect. Effectively, the name comes together as music of insects.”“I would like to collaborate with music bands as music has a greater depth to explore and experiment new varieties,” he concluded.