“It’s not a box of chips; it’s a shaker that we sometimes play in combination with drums,” six-year-old A Vidyut corrects me, as I quizzically examine what used to be a container full of Pringles before its second life as a musical instrument. He goes back to drumming more complex beats involving the whole drum kit, while I figure out how to simultaneously beat the bass drum with my right foot and the snare drum with the sticks in my hands.
On the neighbouring set, a beginner gingerly hits the drums. “It’s just like how you walk. One, two, one, two, with equal emphasis on both beats,” instructs the teacher, well-known drummer Murali Krishnan, who, luckily, doesn’t bore his students with too much theory in the first class. “When you see a percussion instrument, you just want to tap it, and that’s exactly what I let my students do. I then explain the different parts of a drum — bass drum, snare drum, hi-hat, toms and cymbal.”
Krishnan started his drumming school, Jus Drums, in 2003, and, ever since, has trained hundreds of students in drums and djembe. This is the 15th edition of the school’s annual summer workshop. “I remember when I just started, six-year-old Pranav’s parents brought him here because there was no other school that had drums to suit his height,” says Krishnan. Today, his students comprise pint-sized brats, high school and college-going students, working professionals and even retired employees. And, most of them have great fondness for their affable teacher. One of the walls is covered with sketches and paintings of Krishnan by his students with captions such as ‘Murali sir rocks’ and ‘Thank Yous’.
Krishnan first learnt the mridangam when he was 10 from Vaikkom Devarajan. At 12, he started playing drums under the guidance of Hari Nikesh, and learnt the classical nuances from Umayalpuram K Sivaraman.
Krishnan says that, sometimes, people wonder if learning a musical instrument will be useful later in life. He believes it can come in handy. “One of my students Rithvik Anantharaman, who is now a chef with The Oberoi Gurgaon, was at an interview for his Post Graduate Diploma in Kitchen Management at The Oberoi in Delhi. The interview panel was keen on hearing him play the drums when he told them about his interests. So, he played a few beats using the table and flower vase and he got selected,” says the 39-year-old, adding, “I have taught my students to play just about anything, right from plastic pots and cardboard boxes to construction materials.”
He then hops onto a stool and pulls out a large drum case that’s filled with interesting paraphernalia, with which he creates music and diverse sounds like that of the jungle, waterfall, birds and, what not. There are plastic bottles with pista shells, a buttermilk churner, rattles made from old film rolls, wooden toys, shell curtains, Feng Shui frogs... In fact, every year, one of the segments during his annual show, features music created from junk.
The students who graduate from his workshop take to the stage, showcasing their skills, and, in the final segment, play on a bunch of objects such as asbestos sheets, floppies, cordless phones, gas cylinders and broken car parts.
“Music can be made out of just about anything; what’s important is the passion,” smiles Krishnan.
