Raised in England, musician Talvin Singh traveled to India as a teen-ager to learn to play tabla drums. On returning to the UK, he found himself drowned out by Western musicians. "I felt like a novelty, like some incense burning in the corner," he recalls.The experience prompted him to develop an internal microphone and digital processing system for his percussion instrument. This synthesis of traditional Indian music with the technology of experimental electronica is what he calls cyber tablas or tabla tronic.Singh has performed with artists like Bj�rk and Massive Attack, but he maintains a fierce independent streak. His label, Omni Records, was created to spread an international sound that combines the past and future in the present. The goal, he says, is to integrate new media with "a certain type of aesthetic, which isn't really about samplers or cut-up music. It's about composing new music."
SCANS
Tabla Tronic
