Kishore Banan,Head of Sound Engineering

Kishore Banan

Head of Sound Engineering

The True School of Music (TSM) was founded in 2013 by Ashu Pathak and Nitin Chandy, both of whom worked extensively within the entertainment business, Ashu as a composer and performer and Nitin as an audio engineer. During their careers they noticed that many of their colleagues were self-taught and were aware that there were very few skilled practitioners. Realizing this, they set about creating a school in the heart of India's entertainment business Lower Parel, Mumbai to help create the next generation of musicians and producers. With the core purpose to educate musicians, producers, sound engineers and DJ's both in their musicality and commercial development, so that they can maximize their abilities and make music long-term career goal, TSM has imbibed in a unique educational philosophy that empowers a learner to achieve their personal aspirations.

Delineating the Progression
Laying a significant focus on developing skills on music production, music performance (vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass and drums), sound engineering and Djing, TSM equip students with highly relevant practical and creative skills backed by a solid foundation of theoretical concepts and principles. "These courses also lay significant focus on developing communication, collaborative and analytical skills that are highly essential for artistic professions in the media & entertainment industry. In sound engineering, we offer only one program, which is a 2 year pro-sound engineering course and it is designed with degree-level learning goals. The course places equal emphasis on developing transferable skills along with extensive domain skills. After completing this program, the students are qualified to attempt skill assessment by the Media and Entertainment Skills Council of India to earn a NSQF level 4 skill certificate for sound engineering
jobs," says Kishore Banan, Head of Sound Engineering, TSM.

A strong industry link is the backbone of TSM's curriculum and student experience. They maintain close ties with record labels like Sony Music (India), industry leaders, performance venues and production houses, providing avenues for students and graduates to engage in professional music-making. Through TSM's exclusive degree articulation agreement with University of Hertfordshire, the graduates of the pro sound engineering course may opt to study one year in the UK to earn a B.Sc. degree in sound production. "We identify, recruit and retain well-qualified faculty members with ample domain expertise in sound mixing, sound design and industry experience. They impart the pro sound engineering course and help us to maintain a careful balance between academia and industry. Learning from them, the students experience a variety of learning and teaching methods, including lectures, demonstrations, ear training and aural analysis, individual practical work, group activities, online discussions, presentations, peer critique, project works and internship," explains Kishore.

"TSM lays significant emphasis on equipping students with highly relevant practical and creative skills backed by a solid foundation of theoretical concepts and principles"

A Symphonic Place To Learn Music
The pro sound students at the True School of Music are subjected to a holistic learning environment, where the curriculum itself is very comprehensively designed to ensure the students are industry-ready by the time they graduate. "Apart from the curriculum, the pro sound students benefit the nature of education by interacting and collaborating with students from other disciplines such as music producers, musicians and singers. They also get the opportunity to attend introductory clinics '101', conducted by faculty from various departments. Other than these, we routinely conduct master classes which are presented by resident and guest experts," asserts Kishore. The facilities at True School of Music
are designed to support the curriculum, and the students are trained based on the principles of music recording, live sound technology and post-production. "We have a studio complex which is designed by acclaimed acoustician sound wizard and the studios are well equipped with internationally renowned brands like Solid State Logic, Neumann, Dynaudio, Crown, Lexicon, Avid, and SPL," explains Kishore.

With these pieces of equipment, the school has multiple lab facilities with Apple DAW featuring the latest software tools and the school is proud to have Harman India as a technology partner. "Our Auditorium is equipped with latest live technology from brands such as JBL, Soundcraft, AKG, Shure, Sennheiser, DBX, and Crown. The students get access to these for project work, practice and workshops. We also have a well-stocked library with excellent books on every field of audio technology," states Kishore. He further states, "Our students have worked in projects PALM Expo, Yamaha, Performance Cube, Harman Live Arena, Design and Install of Jazz Bar 'Quarter', Frog Fest at Bluefrog, Mahindra Blues Festival, Soundscape DJ Contest to name a few."

Taking placement aspect very seriously, The True School of Music has taken an active role in placing the students in Bajaao, Performance Audio, Sound and Light Professional, NJSM Live Sound, Yash Raj Studios, The Quarter and many others. "Jehan Sahukar is working at Sound & Light Professional who has been involved in VH1 Supersonic 2018 and Bryan Adams Ultimate Tour. Working at the same company, Chirag Jaisinghani has done projects for Vishal ­ Shekhar and Richa Sharma. Rachnit Manchalwar, another student who is a Sound Engineer at Bajaoo has worked for Indus creed and Gino banks," elucidates Kishore. While making students' careers shine, TSM entered into a number of academic partnerships with Point Blank (UK), and British & Irish Modern Music Institute. Now, they are working to expand employability opportunity for students at international benchmarks.
Top 10 Sound Engineering Institutes - 2019