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 Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

vocalist, and

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. 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 is a ward of Kochi, Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining ...

neighborhood in the heart of

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

city in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

state to V. S. Vijayakumari and G. Muralidhar Pai. His mother tongue is

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

. He has a younger sister. Pai completed his schooling in St. Jude's school, CCPLM Anglo Indian High School and

Pre-university course According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), basic education comprises the two stages primary education and lower secondary education. Universal basic education Basic education featured heavily in the 1997 ISCED ...

(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, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India. The Cochin College is one of the old ...

, 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 is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

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, reproduct ...

. He was formally trained by N. P. Ramaswamy, Antony and O. S. Thiagarajan in

Carnatic Carnatic may refer to: *Carnatic region, Southern India *Carnatic music, the classical music of Southern India *, the name of several ships *, a minesweeper of the Royal Indian Navy *, the name of several ships of the Royal Navy See also *Karnata ...

vocals; Hariharan in Violin and Ramamurthy in Western Classical

Piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. He learned

Mridangam The ''mridangam'' is an ancient percussion instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion in ...

from four masters: Dennis, Vaikom S. Gopakumar, Kalamandalam Krishnankutty, and

Mannargudi Easwaran Mannargudi Easwaran () (born 1 April 1947) is a leading contemporary ''mridangam'' player and Carnatic musician. He was a staff artiste of All India Radio and has received several awards, such as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2008) and Kartik ...

. He is a self-taught player of

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

and

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

Career

In 2002, Pai moved from Kochi to

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

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. She is widely referred to as Janaki Amma and Nightingale of India(nightingale of South) . She is one of the greatest playback singers in the history ...

, and

Vani Jairam Vani Jairam (born Kalaivani; 30 November 1945 – 4 February 2023) was an Indian playback singer in Indian cinema. She is fondly referred to as the "'' Meera of modern India''" Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. ...

on harmonium for nearly 300 concerts since 2014. He has also sung for

Indian classical dance Indian classical dance, or ''Shastriya Nritya'', is an umbrella term for different regionally-specific Indian classical dance traditions, rooted in predominantly Hindu musical theatre performance,, Quote: All of the dances considered to be part ...

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 meanings 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 referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

mridangam The ''mridangam'' is an ancient percussion instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion in ...

ghatam The ''ghaṭam'' (Sanskrit: घटm ''ghaṭ''; Kannada: ಘಟ ''ghaṭa''; Tamil: கடம் ''ghatam''; Telugu: ఘటం ''ghataṃ''; Malayalam: ഘടം ''ghataṃ'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across the ...

kanjira The kanjira, khanjira, khanjiri or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. As a folk and bhajan instrument, it has been used in the Indian subcontinent for many centuries. The Kanjira's emergence in Sout ...

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

, 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 usu ...

. This album was released by his guru

O. S. Thyagarajan Ombathuveli Subrahmanyam Thyagarajan (3 April 1947 – 31 December 2023) was an Indian carnatic musician based in Chennai. Biography Born on 3 April 1947, he was the son and disciple of Sangeetha Booshanam O.V.Subrahmanyam. He learnt music f ...

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 Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. 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 Rahul R. Vellal () is a singer and musician from Bengaluru, India. He started learning Carnatic Music at the age of 4. He is known for playing concerts at several locations across India and other countries, and won prizes in multiple music co ...

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 #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. He also has many Sanskrit songs including Ashtakam composed by Adiguru

Shankaracharya Shankaracharya (, , " 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; teachers from the successive line of 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 bound by 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