Kuldeep Muralidhar Pai (born 9 January 1982), best known as Kuldeep M Pai, is an Indian musician, composer,

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...

vocalist, and

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. His videos are mainly performed by children and are released under his own recording label, Chith Studios.

Early life and education

Pai was born in the

Thammanam Thammanam ( ml, തമ്മനം) is a region in the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second ...

neighborhood in the heart of

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

city in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

state to V. S. Vijayakumari and G. Muralidhar Pai. His mother tongue is Konkani. He has a younger sister. Pai completed his schooling in St. Jude's school, CCPLM Anglo Indian High School and

Pre-university course The Pre-University Course or Pre-Degree Course (PUC or PDC) is an 2-year Senior Secondary Course under the 10+2 education system after Class 10th (SSLC, SSC) and the PUC commonly refers to Class 11th and Class 12th and called as 1st PUC (1st Year ...

(PUC) at

Cochin College The Cochin College, located at Kochi, Kerala, India, is an accredited first grade Arts, Science and Commerce College affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India. The Cochin College is one of the oldest Arts and Science colleges loca ...

, Kerala. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Computer Applications in BPC College Piravom, Kochi. He won the 'Kala Pratibha' Award in the Mahatma Gandhi University Youth Festival in 1999. He was a gold medalist in Masters of Indian Classical Music at

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

and also holds a Diploma in

Sound Engineering An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

. He was formally trained by N. P. Ramaswamy, Antony and O. S. Thiagarajan in Carnatic vocals; Hariharan in Violin and Ramamurthy in Western Classical

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

. He learned Mridangam from four masters: Dennis, Vaikom S. Gopakumar, Kalamandalam Krishnankutty, and Mannargudi Easwaran. He is a self-taught player of

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

and flute.

Career

In 2002, Pai moved from Kochi to

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

along with his family, to begin his career. His voice was praised by P. Vijayambika, though T. T. Narendran said of one concert that "the image of the raga eluded him". He established a career as a singer of

. He has accompanied the singers O. S. Arun,

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

, and

Vani Jairam Vani Jairam (born as Kalaivani on 30 November 1945), also credited as Vani Jayaram, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in South Indian cinema. Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. She has do ...

on harmonium for nearly 300 concerts since 2014. He has also sung for Indian classical dance performances for almost eleven years. He has also provided vocal support for few Indian

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s. From 2015, he began performing online. Pai is an Ashtavadhani, His album ''Adviteeya'' is an experimental album in Carnatic genre where he has sung to his own live accompaniments of

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, mridangam,

ghatam The ghaṭam ( sa, घटं ''ghaṭaṁ'', kan, ಘಟ ''ghaṭah'', ta, கடம் ''ghatam'', te, ఘటం ''ghatam'', ml, ഘടം, ''ghatam'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across India. It's a variant ...

, kanjira,

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

, harmonium and

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usua ...

. This album was released by his guru O. S. Thyagarajan on 22 November 2006 in Chennai, and singer

received the first copy

Music direction and composition

Pai has composed and rendered four songs for a Switzerland-based multi-lingual movie titled “Madly in Love.” He has composed music for dance dramas like “ Janani Jagath Karani” and “Sri Krishna Vaibhavam” produced by Sri Devi Nrithyalaya. He has also had famous songs like Paluke Bangaramayena, Vaishnav Janato, Pibare Rama Rasam, Brahmamokate, Shivashtakam, Mahalakshmi Ashtakam & Ram Govind Hare sung by a young musical artist Rahul Vellal and

stotra ''Stotra'' (Sanskrit: स्तोत्र) is a Sanskrit word that means "ode, eulogy or a hymn of praise."Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'Stotra'' It is a literary genre of In ...

s for his YouTube spiritual music series, 'Vande Guru Paramparaam', including Ganesha Pancharatnam, Shivashtakam, Namo Namo Bharathambe, Shiva Panchaakshara Stotram, Mahalakshmi Ashtakam, Ashtalakshmi Stotram, Bhavani Ashtakam, Rama Ashtakam and other devotional songs. He is currently pursuing training in

Western Classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" ...

.He also has many sanskrit songs including ashtakam composed by adiguru

shankaracharya Shankaracharya ( sa, शङ्कराचार्य, , " Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi Shankara; te ...

etc

Awards and recognition

In 2008, Pai received the D. K. Pattammal award of excellence from Karthik Fine Arts. He has also received the “Yuvakalabharathi” award from Bharath Kalachar in 2007. Pai also received the 'Social Harmony Award' in the field of music, arts and culture at the International Convention of Peacemakers for Universal Harmony in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pai, Kuldeep Carnatic composers 21st-century Indian musicians 1982 births Living people Sanskrit-language singers