HARMAN Professional Solutions India celebrates “World Music Day” with women percussionists at The Dumru Woman of Rhythm Festival in Pune
HARMAN Professional Solutions, the global leader in audio, video, lighting and control systems, including networked AV, celebrated “World Music Day” by powering a unique and never seen before festival – “Woman of Rhythm”. Seven amazing women rhythm and percussion artists took center-stage at the Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium in Pune and delivered a spellbinding, power-packed performance to music-lovers attending the concert.
Aditya Prabhu, organizer of the event, conceptualized “Woman of Rhythm” which replaced “The Dumru Festival” this year with a motive to encourage more women to take up music as a career and add to the profound talent of percussionists the country has. Music is integral to HARMAN’s rich heritage and globally HARMAN encourages its own staff to participate in in various informal street studios, organize and play in bands and make music videos. Music festival collaborations lend to promote this heritage and to celebrate the true spirit of music.
“When it is about delivering crisp sound, the only brand name that comes to my mind is JBL”, said Aditya Prabhu. “From my earlier days in the event production industry, I used to concentrate on good sound because at the end of any concert what music lovers take back is sound. I had an experience in 2008 when during one of the shows I was setting up in Pune; the sound system received was not upto the mark. I called up my friends from the industry, checked online, and came across one Rental Company who had JBL line array system and AKG mics in their inventory. We used JBL & AKG there for the first time. That was an event, which got known for the sound it delivered and since that day I have been an avid fan of JBL and AKG sound. We have been associated with Harman now for 2 years in which we have delivered “The Dumru Festival” in 2015 and now “Woman of Rhythm” and thanks to the end–to–end audio solution delivered by Harman gear, we never faced any technical glitches.”
The Woman of Rhythm festival was powered with eight JBL VRX 932 LA-1 as main PA system, eight JBL VRX 915M for stage monitoring and four JBL STX 828S sub woofers. Amplification was through Crown XTi 6002 and Crown XTi 4002 power amplifiers and a Soundcraft Vi3000 console was used for both PA and monitors. Microphones used on the stage included two AKG C1000 for the Tabla, two AKG D7 for Pakhavaj and Mridangam respectively, six AKG D5 for Padanth and two AKG Drumkit Premium sets for both the drum kits. Rental partner Dwarika Light and Sound, Pune, provided the complete solution.
“Women today are taking up roles traditionally fulfilled by men and music is no stranger to this as well. At HARMAN Professional, we encourage new musical talent and encourage artistes from all genres and backgrounds to dream and fulfil their aspirations in music. Lending support to a such a unique event with talented female percussionists, especially on World Music Day was an opportunity for us to re-affirm our commitment to gender diversity and to encouraging local music. We have been associated with the Dumru Percussion festival in Pune for two years and this collaboration has been extremely Fruitful in delivering a rhythm fiesta to music lovers” said Prashant Govindan, Sr. Director, India and SAARC, HARMAN Professional Solutions.