'The human voice is a singing voice'

IN the world of reality music shows, Ananth Vaidyanathan is a familiar name. From Super Singer to Indian Idol, he's been a voice trainer to several generations of aspiring singers.

- NIKHIL JAYAKRISHNAN

With the pandemic having revolutionised education, Ananth has joined hands with the Mumbai-based Artium Academy, cofounded by Ashish Joshi and Vivek Raicha, to offer an online course in Karaoke and Stage Skills that promises to tap into one's vocal skills, enabling them to present them at a much larger stage.

Excerpts follow

You've been a voice trainer for quite a number of years and have helped generations of singers find a voice. Yes, I've been on Vijay TV for about more than a decade. I've also worked in the North, for Indian Idol and Sony etc. but I'm familiar largely with the Tamil population because I've been very closely associated with Vijay TV Super Singer for more than 10 years. And when you combine the juniors and seniors age group, the age group with which I've worked is very wide.

How does the nature of your pedagogy differ from the usual music training?

The human voice is supposed to be a singing voice, and that's a fact. There is nothing called a special singing voice, or a singing aptitude. The human race is a singing race and singing species and has a singing voice. I myself lost my singing voice over 40 years ago because of wrong training. My voice recovered and I've recovered hundreds and hundreds of voices over the last 30 years.