On Friday, 31 March, British Council India launched the inaugural version of Mix the City India with Mix the City Mumbai. With sounds curated by British art rock band Django Django, the digital platform features original renditions from 12 famous Mumbai based musicians, which are recorded at several iconic locations across the city. Some of the artists part of this initiative are Sivamani, Louis Banks and Taufiq Qureshi.
To start off, you can view the mix created by Django Django at the website. Also, the web app lets you combine the sound samples from each artist in your own way. Tapping on ‘Make Music’ throws a brief tutorial at you before jumping straight into a musical kaleidoscope. Each tile represents one artist and tapping them cycles through the first sample, the second sample and mute. Each sample perfectly synchronises with the others. You can even add a synth effect with the ‘space’ key or the Effect button. And when you think you have a mix ready, hit the record button to start recording your mix.
The recorded mix is presented with a nicely compiled video and can be shared on social media or via a shareable link. You can also find out more about the musicians and the locations of the sample recordings by clicking on Meet the Musicians.
Mix the City covers many cities around the globe
Mix the City India will have three other editions – Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai. While the Delhi version is supposed to be releasing soon, the Kolkata version might take around six months as the British Council is still working on finalising the musicians. Each region will have 12 musicians who will record a total of 24 samples, and its own curated track as well.
This is a novel initiative that combines British innovation with Indian culture and provides a platform for these sounds to be shared with the world. Visiting the Mix the City website will show you the other cities that are already part of this initiative, namely Tel Aviv, Hamburg, Moscow, Istanbul etc.