Perched on the edge of Expo City Dubai, a recording studio with world-class facilities backed by music maestro AR Rahman is hitting just the right note.
The Firdaus Studio by AR Rahman draws on the box office appeal and success of the Oscar and Grammy award-winning composer.
The National took a tour to learn more about the two-storey structure lined with wood-panelled floors, which features state-of-the-art sound systems with precision speakers neatly hidden in wall and ceiling panels.
When an artist walks in, there should be no technical limitations for him or her to produce anything
Navneeth Balchanderan,
studio engineer at Firdaus Studio by AR Rahman
Packed with high-tech audio and live streaming equipment, the space aims to draw the world’s best music and theatrical talent to the region to record soundtracks.
It has already hosted some big names. A small studio crew watched as Coldplay’s Chris Martin sang and played on the ivory Steinway piano, which commands the stage in a scoring room with high ceilings.
The soundtrack to the action-adventure Secret Headquarters (2022), starring Owen Wilson, was mixed at the studio.
Tucked away under the shadow of the DP World pavilion on the repurposed Expo site, few know that artists have been composing and recording original scores behind the grey and white walls of the studio.
Hub for music and movie industry
In a previous interview with The National, Rahman revealed how he envisions the space as a creative hub for musicians to experiment in, craft new sounds and deliver explosive performances.
“This will be one of the world’s best studious with all the top equipment,” Rahman said. “This will attract the cream of the industry and musical talent to Dubai.
"I conceived the studio, its function, the quality, what equipment needs to be kept there.”
Firdaus, which means "paradise" in Arabic, was planned as a legacy structure to remain after the gates shut on the Middle East's first world expo.
The Dubai Expo Dubai team drew from Rahman’s experience to construct a studio to cater to Western classical, fusion, pop or rock bands, fit in an entire orchestra and record documentary, Bollywood or Hollywood music tracks.
The aim is to provide the infrastructure and top-notch quality to inspire collaborations from musicians who come to Dubai to record.
Musicians can create in large or small rooms and use a range of instruments such as the harp, violin, flute, Indian sitar or bongo drums.
Studio designer Aditya Modi, a long-time associate of Rahman, said acoustics and audio video integration were core features.
“We had to design the best studio possible, which was acoustically pristine, a motivational and inspirational space to create music and with top-notch equipment,” he said.
“The acoustics had to be perfect for various modes such as recording, filming, concerts, screening, stereo or Dolby Atmos mixes and hence have a flexible, adaptive system of acoustics that can change the characteristics of the room for every mode.”
The ceiling in the main stage area literally moves as a suspended structure or truss strapped with sound and light fixtures can be lowered or raised to focus on the performers.
From a control room overlooking the main stage, engineers adjust light strobes that shift from exuberant colours to mood lighting depending on the performance.
It also has a collection of 300 microphones of varying sizes and power to capture the loudest boom to the smallest hum.
Working with legends
The studio opened in February and has been booked by bands such as Ben&Ben from the Philippines as well as hip hop artists, Bollywood composers and Arabic musicians. It has even been used for poetry sessions.
A 50-strong orchestra plus a 30-member choir have rehearsed in the main studio.
“This studio is designed so that an artist can literally do anything here,” said Navneeth Balchanderan, a studio engineer who leads the sound section.
“When an artist walks in, there should be no technical limitations for him or her to produce anything.
“The entire studio is wired up so you can record from the lounge, the cafeteria or anywhere in the facility you prefer."
Cameras, screens and audio in every room are linked via network connections to the main control zone.
It has been inspirational for engineers to work with established and new artists.
Famous for the soundtrack of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman has won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe for melodies that cut across genres.
His Bollywood songs are hummed by millions of fans and tens of thousands flock to his concerts worldwide.
“When I first saw Rahman play, I honestly didn’t know that anything could be so magical,” Balchanderan said. “He sat on the piano, started playing and there was nothing like it ever.”
Watching Coldplay's Martin work in the studio — after he lit up the Expo stage in February — was exhilarating for the sound crew.
Martin recorded the piano section of the single Let Somebody Go, which features Selena Gomez, at the studio.
“It felt like we were listening to an entire Coldplay album take off right in front of us,” Balchanderan said. “It was a very surreal experience. He did five or six takes and every single one was perfect.”
The venue can be also used to screen movies with a large projection screen in the scoring room doubling as a theatre.
Vocal booths in four recording rooms are equipped with cameras to enable live streaming of performances.
The minimalist facade was built to enhance sound quality allowing for outdoor performances in good weather, with speakers fitted to a short zigzag walkway leading up the facility.
Bookings can be made via email and the cost varies between Dh1,200 to Dh2,000 ($326 to $544) an hour depending on the work and based on customisation an artist or company requires.
As the studio builds its reputation, Rahman's team is working to build a recognisable global brand for high-quality sound in Dubai.
“Expo 2020 Dubai was a hub to bring in people from all over the world and we wanted to make a facility to bring in musicians from everywhere,” Balchanderan said. “We wanted a place where everyone can pitch in their ideas and make music happen.
“There is no such facility in this region so we wanted to grow the artistic capabilities.
“Dubai is a cultural hub so we want this to be the creative space, the centre of whatever happens here.”
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
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Innocent Witness, June 26 at 7pm
On Your Wedding Day, June 27 at 7pm
The Great Battle, June 27 at 9pm
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion, June 28 at 4pm
Romang, June 28 at 6pm
Mal Mo E: The Secret Mission, June 28 at 8pm
Underdog, June 29 at 2pm
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- Sep 1, 2016 Beat Japan 2-1 (away)
- Sep 6, 2016 Lost to Australia 1-0 (home)
- Oct 6, 2016 Beat Thailand 3-1 (home)
- Oct 11, 2016 Lost to Saudi Arabia 3-0 (away)
- Nov 15, 2016 Beat Iraq 2-0 (home)
- Mar 23, 2017 Lost to Japan 2-0 (home)
- Mar 28, 2017 Lost to Australia 2-0 (away)
- June 13, 2017 Drew 1-1 with Thailand (away)
- Aug 29, 2017 v Saudi Arabia (home)
- Sep 5, 2017 v Iraq (away)
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- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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A cheaper choice
Vanuatu: $130,000
Why on earth pick Vanuatu? Easy. The South Pacific country has no income tax, wealth tax, capital gains or inheritance tax. And in 2015, when it was hit by Cyclone Pam, it signed an agreement with the EU that gave it some serious passport power.
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