Integration into popular music

Many modern composers have been influenced by Indian and Gamelan music. Examples include The Beatles, Ravi Shankar, Talvin Singh and Nitin Sawhney.

The Beatles

During the filming of 'Help' George Harrison was asked to hold a sitar as a comic prop.

George developed a keen interest in this instrument and arranged to meet the famous sitar player Ravi Shankar in London in 1966. Ravi Shankar agreed to teach George Harrison how to play the instrument so he went to India for a seven week course.

At this time the other Beatles also visited India where they developed the distinctive sound that was used on the Sergeant Pepper album. Two Gurus can be seen on the cover of this album. In the track Getting Better All the Time you can hear a tambourine drone and there is a sitar playing in the track Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

Listen and notice the Indian influence in Love You To:

Ravi Shankar

Perhaps the most famous populist of Indian music in the West.

Born in 1920 in India he moved to Paris in 1930. By the age of 25 he had already established himself as an accomplished sitar player.

He appeared at the Woodstock and the Monterey Pop Festivals. Being broadcast to millions of people lead to massive notoriety and his first Grammy Award in 1966. Downbeat Magazine also voted him 'Recording Artist of the Year' as well as 'Musician of the Year'. He received his second Grammy in 1972 and has received many honorary doctorates from numerous institutions.

Talvin Singh

Talvin Singh is a classically trained tabla player from the East End of London, who began to mix Asian and Western music while performing at the Blue Note Club in Hoxton.

In 1999 he won the Mercury Music Award for Best Album with his record OK, which blended Indian Classical and Western dance music, and was very influential.