One of the distinctive features of Indian cinema is the importance given to song and dance in the plots - it is what gives the films their unique flavour and a primary reason for their popularity. Maintaining this popularity requires continuing excellence in sound track and background score production of which the audio engineering process is a key element. One of the leading figures in the field is KJ Singh (Kanwarjit Singh Sawhney), a recipient of many major industry awards for his audio engineering work.
KJ Singh is based in Mumbai and has had long and fruitful working partnerships with many figures in the Indian film industry, including A. R. Rahmann, the composer of the music for Slumdog Millionair and film music composer and director Vishal Bhardwaj. He is the proprietor of Fast Forward Productions, an audio production firm he founded in 1987 and his latest venture is Asli Music, an independent music label which aspires to discover, develop and promote new talent.
Having used many Genelec monitors since the mid-1990s, including the 1029, 1030, 1031, 1037 he was keen to try out the 8000 Series when it was launched in 2004. From the start he was impressed. "I got to try out the 8040/8050 series a few months after the launch. At this time I was starting to set up my own studio and I felt I needed more bass and SPL than my set up at the time could provide. So my local distributor, at the time, sent a pair of the 8050 over to my studio to try them out. I unpacked them and immediately liked the futuristic design with the large DCW which is integrated into the smooth aluminum casted enclosure.
"After a careful, calibrated setup, it was a delight to hear the detail of every nuance from these loudspeakers. The legacy of Genelec was taken forward in the tight low-end, even dispersion, good stereo imaging and amazing transient response with accurate reverb tails.
"As the months rolled by and I got used to them, in my room, it became quite hard to work on any other monitoring system - including my older 1031A's. So I stuck with them for all my film and music work when, in 2006, my audio distributor offered me the first 'champagne' coloured demo DSP version of the 8250. The auto-calibration and DSP offered more room correction, which most small rooms have and I was instantly hooked. To this day these remain my main monitoring tool."
KJ works in a variety of production rooms and enjoys the built-in DSP which helps correct any inherent acoustical problems the room may have. He recently purchased a pair of 8020 for near-field work and for use in other studios.
(Jim Evans)
