Staccato: Chennai's Olympics connect

The London Olympics has been creating a buzz for various reasons, and primarily among the British
 population considering it’s coinciding with their Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebration. However, on the Indian sub-continent, things are also getting more interesting not just among sporting circles.

A 15-member band from Chennai has been invited to perform at the International Cultural fest that takes place on the sidelines of the Games.On July 30 and August 2, they will occupy the coveted main band stand and perform a string of their compositions. In an invitation to this Indian contemporary-classical group, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has requested them to also perform at various other parts of the Olympic Park on these days.

Called Staccato, the troupe is the first Indian band ever to be invited by an Olympic Committee
to perform at the event. The fusion band comprising a bunch of teenagers is one of the two bands of Asia selected by "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle from among 10,000 entries world over.

This band previously landed in international spotlight for the soundtrack for the film Thinapayanam,which won accolades for the best score at the Paris Film Festival.In the year 2011, Staccato represented
India at the World Finals of Tum Tum Pa, a percussion event organised by Red Bull in Brazil.

The band is likely to go in full strength, as they would be required to perform in front of 2,50,000 spectators and on a stage that can accommodate around 40 musicians. It consists of Sruthi Saagar, Vikram Sarathy, P.D. Balasubramanian, Ajay Gnanasekaran, Tapas Naresh, Kaashif Rafiq, Rohit Krishnamoorthy, Vandana Srinivasan, Aishwarya, Manoj Kumar and Shallu Varun.
 
Besides trying to figure their music out, the band is also trying to arrange for sponsorship to get to the Games in the first place. “The invitation only extends till giving us a slot. But the rest of the expenditure including travel, stay and food, is ours. So we’re trying to find sponsors who can fund our trip,” explains Aishvarrya Suresh, a vocalist with the band. Staccato will be performing at the Olympic Park in London on July 30 and August 2, playing two slots of 40 minutes a day.
And that’s not all. Impressed by their sound, the Olympic committee has organised for the band to play at the Aberdeen Music Festival on August 3 and 4.

Brilliant work Staccato!! Hope your music will inspire our athletes to a new Olympic glory.

Here is the link to staccato's compositions
http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_songs/1244182

Music and the Olympic Spirit

Each time the Olympics come around,those of us who get our eyefuls of the Games from the television also get our ears full of the unmistakable Olympic fanfare. The music of the Games can become just as much a
part of the excitement and can create just as many goose bumps as the athletes, theclose calls, and the medals.

Music has played an important role at the Olympic Games ever since they were revived in Athens in 1896. Sixty thousand people from all over the world converged on the city that Easter Sunday, March 24th. The following day the Philharmonic Orchestra played the National Anthem and the first Olympic Hymn, written by poet Kostis Palamas and set to music by the well-known Greek composer Spiros Samaras. The Samaras version remained the official Olympic Hymn until 1912, when various new hymns were tried every four years. Samaras’ music returned for the Games of 1960 and continues to be used today at the opening and closing ceremonies.

In addition to the Samaras standard, new Olympic music comes around each year. Fivetime Oscar winner John Williams, famous for his movie soundtracks for the likes of Star Wars, E.T., and Superman, has written four Olympic themes Michael Kamen, who composed the score for Mr. Holland’s Opus, contributed music to both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Atlanta games

Fashions have changed over two thousand years, but music has remained the factor which best conveys the emotion within a crowd, and which best accompanies the amplitude of a great spectacle.” Over a century later,Olympic themes continue to signify the sportsmanship and peacefulness of the Olympic Games, events to which athletes and spectators around the world look forward with excitement and good spirits.
Olympic Music.

As the London 2012 Olympics draw near, we have seen many of the Olympic trials and  heard all about the athletes that are expected to bring home the gold medal. What we haven’t heard a lot of is the soundtrack to this globally recognized event… until now. Recently “Survival” by the British rock band Muse was chosen to be the official song of the London Olympics. Thanks to the Coliseum like chanting, aggressive guitar strings and drum line of “Survival,” Olympians in London should have no problem giving it their all in route to the gold. Check out “Survival” by Muse below.

Selling Your Music Through Merchandise

Merchandise has always been big business though, in the age of illegal downloads and plummeting
record sales, it accounts for an ever-growing percentage of a band's income. Rare is the gig that
you don't see trestle tables awash with T-shirts, key rings, pens, stickers and posters.

Before you just jump in and start spending money on anything; you need to get into the music business
state of mind. Think about what your fans buy from other bands that are similar to yours. When you're
just starting out it's easier to not reinvent the wheel if you don't have to. For example, if you're
playing shows with bands that are selling out on 7inch vinyl every night, then you might want to invest
 your moneys into pressing up some vinyl to sell. It's as simple as doing what's already working.

Another trick you can do to sell merchandise is to create merch bundles. Merch bundles could include a
shirt, CD, hat, and a sticker. This works out for everybody. You discount all the merchandise in the bundle because the customer is buying in bulk so the customer gets a deal, and you move more product and make even more money!

In today's music industry it's essential to connect your music to the internet. When you're making up t-shirts,
 stickers, buttons, etc, one of the best things you can do is put your bands website address on the merchandise.

A great part of having a band in this day in age is merchandise companies are moving toward on demand inventory and drop shipping methods. This means you don't have to have a box of Cds sitting under your bed that you may never sell. When someone buys a CD or a shirt online the order goes to the merch manufacturer and they make and ship the product directly to the customer. If you're interested in this option make sure you shop around for a company that drop ships.

So if you're an indie band or just a solo artist, merchandise can become a great channel of income to help you move forward with your music career.    

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Would You Buy Your Food From an ATM?

Food is increasingly available through machines or self-service devices, and not just those dull boxes that spit out a crumbly bag of chips or lukewarm soda. Check out these three gadgets that have taken vending machines to the next level:

1. Cupcake ATM

Sounds awesome, right? The Sprinkles cupcake chain in Beverly Hills, Calif., installed this popular machine earlier in the year. Customers choose a cupcake on the touch screen, swipe their credit card and get a fresh cupcake delivered to them by a robotic arm at any hour of the day. The machine is debuting at five Sprinkles locations by the end of the year, according to Restaurant News. The popular ATM sells more than 1,000 cupcakes per day and even has treats available for your furry friends.

2. Pizza Vending Machine

It’s not delivery, it’s … a vending machine? Yes, you heard right — after a successful introduction in Italy and then the U.K., the “Let’s Pizza” vending machine is now set to make its way to America. The machine takes care of it all, from kneading the dough to adding your choice of three toppings before popping out a 10.5 inch pizza in under three minutes. Creator A1 Concepts is preparing to open headquarters in Atlanta, while the machines will debut in a Florida theme park before expanding to various locations across the states.

3. Mobile Automated Food Stores

Everyone loves the sweets, but what if you want something healthier to balance out all those cupcakes and pizza? OK, fine, the machines can do that, too. Carts Blanche’s “VendaMart” food trailers are designed to deliver healthy, nutritional foods to people in food desert locations. The self-serve food and beverage trailers are equipped with built-in refrigerated, frozen and ambient temperature vending machines that accept cash, credit and debit. They’re a convenient alternative to using trucks and carts to deliver produce, or offering it at curbside stands and farmer’s markets.

Credit: http://www.investorplace.com/2012/06/would-you-buy-your-cupcake-from-an-atm/

Image credit : http://www.neontommy.com/news/2012/04/night-owls-flock-sprinkles-cupcake-atm

Want an Idli for 2017?

Imagine Idlis that can last forever. Wistful, but this sizzling idea could become a reality if the latest advances in food technology in the US are anything to go by.

In fact, long lasting food has been termed one of the 10 great ideas that are changing our lives. The signs of food posterity are already there. In 2002, the US Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate made the ideal sandwich with a filling of barbecued chicken and glycerol and sorbitol to absorb the water. It was then wrapped in a packet with chemicals which removed oxygen and put in polypropylene and foil.

Nasa recently reported making a bread pudding which could last four years, while the Pentagon made cake that can stay spongy for five years. No, it wasn’t the wine suffused Christmas cake that lasts a whole year even in the hands of the most ordinary cook.

Cut to desi food. Can Indian food with its generous doses of oil and spices be palatable after years? “Why not,” asks Darly Thomas , head of technology transfer and business development at the Mysore-based Central Food Technological Research Institute. “Though it hasn’t been tried, it’s possible to do so chemically. Besides, if it can be done in the West, why can’t we?”Be it Indian or continental food, what’s important is to see that the water content is reduced, microbe activity is nil and packaging material air-tight.

The signs are already there. McCain Foods India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of McCain Foods Canada which specializes in frozen French fries and potato products, even launched an India specific product this month – McCain Idli Sambar Combo Pack. MTR, which has been supplying to the army, and ITC, too, are upgrading to cater to the Indian palate.

Credit: http://canasiantimes.com/index.php/want-an-idli-for-2017/

Idli & Dosa-Making Machines on board INS Vikramaditya.

                                                                                

Even as aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, formerly Admiral Gorshkov, is getting ready for pre-induction trials, it has seen the successful demonstration of a product that is exclusively Indian.

For, a group of engineers from Eskay Enterprises, Bangalore, has installed six dosa-making machines and three idli-making machines on board INS Vikramaditya and just returned from Arkhangelsk region in Russia where the ship was docked. It will help serve traditional Indian delicacies to the Indian crew once the ship is commissioned.

The automated dosa and idli making technology was developed by Mysore-based Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) and Eskay Enterprises is one of the licensees authorised to manufacture the automated machines.

The automated technology will enable assembly-line production of 400 dosas and 1,000 idlis an hour on each machine and will cater to the nearly 2,000 crew members who will be on board the ship. Eight wet grinders have also been installed for grinding rice and other ingredients for batter.

The technology was developed by the CFTRI in 1998 and since then has proved to be popular in major industries where catering for a large workforce requires mass production. The machines have been so designed that they take care of all operations pertaining to making a dosa such as spreading batter to the requisite size, oiling, cooking and even dispensing curry and chutney. The automated technology also ensures that hygienic norms are observed in the kitchen as it obviates manual labour during mass production of idlis and dosas of uniform taste.

Credit:  http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/karnataka/article3501663.ece

MNCs can’t make Indians abandon Idli, Dosa or Chapathi.

Thai, Chinese, Mughlai, Continental…there has indeed been a cultural invasion into Indian menu in restaurants and hotels but when it comes to eating at home, Indians still like to have Idli, dosa, chappathi, vada.

This is what the three post graduate students of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, who won the ‘Become Indra’s Advisor Contest’ had to tell PepsiCo. The 200-odd teams who participated in the national contest were given the topic, ‘Transforming breakfast for Indian consumers’ centered around the company’s Quaker Oats and Tropicana juice brands.

The winning team of Indradeep Das, Sunitha Subramaniam and Sameep Mendiratta got the rare opportunity to spend time with Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo, Chairman in New York and present their creative views on the Indian breakfast market.

The team told PepsiCo that oats, cornflakes are alien to Indian diet so is juice for breakfast when tea and coffee are more preferred. Packaged breakfast for morning should take into account lack of time for the working class and existing food habits that die hard.

Can the invasion of PepsiCo, Nestle, Britannia or Coco Cola change the ingrained food habits of Indians? The cornflakes example shows it isn’t that easy.

Credit: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/mncs-cant-make-indians-abandon-idli-dosa-or-chapathi-48194-3-48195.html

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/85403689@N00/3086651712