(Above) Craig Vear recording the sound of a train in Mumbai. Picture: Ben Pugh
The National Railway Museum will be immersing visitors in the sounds of Mumbai on the evening of April 16 2009 as they celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the first passenger railway in India.
The date marks the annual festivities for the anniversary of the first Indian passenger train service, which made its opening journey in 1853 between Bori Bunda, Bombay (now Mumbai) and Thane. Covering a distance of 34 km (21 miles), it was hauled by three locomotives, Sahib, Sindh and Sultan.
Staff at the museum will be decorating one of their locomotives with garlands to capitalise on the appetite for all things Bollywood. The move owes much to the recent success of the Danny Boyle film Slumdog Millionaire and, in true Slumdog style, the evening will see the world premiere of a musical performance piece.
Visitors can immerse themselves in the sounds of Mumbai. Picture: Ben Pugh
Commissioned by Bradford Mela, Superfield (Mumbai) has been composed by Arts Council England Fellowship winner Craig Vear and takes the listener on an imaginary journey through the streets of Mumbai. Craig used recordings of every aspect of everyday life in the bustling Indian capital to create the unique soundscape.
As the audience sit in low-level lighting surrounded by the icons of the Museum's Great Hall they will listen to a variety of sounds captured during Craig's trip to India with colleague Ben Pugh, including vibrant street music and traffic noise.
"People often create a visual response to aural stimuli, so I am hoping the noisy street scenes of Mumbai will make them picture the places we visited through sound," says Craig, who made the recordings on Mumbai station using Cold War-style covert earpiece microphones.
Mumbai Station. Picture: Ben Pugh
"These highly sensitive microphones look like Walkman headphones, so they are barely noticeable – or so you would think," he says. "Ironically, Mumbai doesn't have an iPod culture, so as the only guy walking around with headphones in I did attract some attention – not ideal when you are trying to capture the natural ambient sounds."
The celebrations are part of the NRM's successful Easter holiday India Festival (April 4 - 17).
Superfield [Mumbai] begins 7pm, April 16 2009. Tickets £5/£3, call 01904 685724.
