All’s quiet at the Sound Engineering Academy (SEA) in Jagathy, save for faint traces from a lecture in progress in one of the classrooms, where a batch of students are listening in rapt attention as their tutor takes them through the principles of sound designing. Even the spiffy 100-year-old gramophone that sits in a corner of the reception area is silent. In fact, the only sound to be heard is the one of success that reverberates in the voice of the institute’s 31-year-old chief executive officer and director, A.R. Vishnu.
The former IT professional started SEA in 2004 when he was all of 20. “Quoting Paulo Coelho’s Alchemist : ‘When you want something to happen, the whole world conspires to help you achieve it’ – if you have the passion and the determination to succeed, that is. It was really like that for me. I was a reluctant techie, who only got into IT because my parents, S. Asokan, a retired government employee, and Renuka, a homemaker, wanted me to be an engineer. In fact, when I started working, I only lasted three months as a techie in Technopark! I couldn’t conform to the rigid structure,” recalls the enterprising Vishnu.
Even while he was working, though, he knew his future lay in sound. “I used to work the night shift to journey through the realm of sound during the day. I searched high and low for a comprehensive one-year course that would teach me how to be an audio engineer but couldn’t find one that taught all aspects of the job and that too for multiple mediums – films, television, music albums, live shows, internet audio… That’s why I decided to start my own institute and learn on the go, with a capital of Rs. 10,000, which I borrowed from my mother,” says Vishnu.
He began SEA with just three students and one faculty member, K.S. Ravi [now the institute’s head of department], and it functioned out of a rented space in Poojappura.
Over the past 10 years, the self-proclaimed sound buff gradually built SEA into a state-of-the-art training centre for audio engineering, one of the biggest such centres in the city, if not in Kerala. SEA now has 100 students on its rolls, in two batches of 50 each, for its certificate courses.
“Our success is measured in the hundreds of world class sound engineers, sound designers, audio technicians, sound recordists, broadcast engineers, live sound engineers and the like that we have contributed to the professional audio industry,” says the genial Vishnu, sitting in his swanky office where a violin and a chenda too find pride of place.
“I am fascinated by all aspects of sound and constantly update myself on techniques and styles. I am learning to play both these instruments. In fact, I hope to give a violin concert soon along with my friend and well-wisher, veteran guitarist John Anthony,” adds Vishnu. He is also a student of martial art (Kalaripayattu) and a keen photographer too.
Vishnu believes that his institute’s success lies in the “alternative training” that they provide, which lays emphasis on practical knowledge and focusses on exploring each student’s individuality.
“Our biggest challenge is actually getting students to think beyond the syllabus. We guide them to unlearn what they have learnt, to apply the knowledge gained, explore and, most importantly, learn to share their knowledge with others. We have five studios exclusively for the students’ use – one each for recording and mixing, editing, MIDI, dubbing and effects and jamming/practice pad, where they can work on their skills to their heart’s content. It’s not the final exam marks that get them the diploma. Each has to prove their talent doing the three projects – sound reinforcement of a live show, the sound for a 20-minute short film and the recording, editing, mixing and mastering of a music album,” he explains. Sounds like a framework for success.
