Located on a picturesque narrow lane in Fontainhas, it is suffice to say that the unassuming board announcing the music space, leaves you totally unprepared of what is to come. As you step into through the door of Audiophile Goa, it is almost as if you have entered a new world altogether as the sound of music draws you in.
And sure, all of us listen to recorded music often, but as Louis Armstrong's iconic voice fills the space, what amazes the listener is that it sounds almost live, as if Armstrong is performing a live private concert especially for you. It is not surprising thus that given this high quality of sound of vinyl records, that musicians and music lovers the world over are moving back to this format. "We have all gone through the cycle of convenience, where we started making the audio smaller and smaller until someone realised that the quality was suffering and then everyone went back to vinyl," says musician Buland Shukla, who started Audiophile Goa, in a bid to popularise this growing trend in Goa. "This trend has seen a boom in the last five years and surprisingly 70 percent of the clientele is under 35 years of age. While it being something entirely new for them may be one of the reasons for this, more importantly there is the great quality aspect," he adds.
For Shukla, the whole project began as a personal library about a year back. After doing a lot of research into what was available and what new things could be added, he began Audiophile Goa in November last year as a one of a kind retail and experience space for audio enthusiasts. One can find vinyl records, turntables, phono stages, tube amps loudspeakers, cleaning equipment etc here. "All these are imported. I also get a lot of records from private collectors. Of course a lot of times it is a hit and miss situation as records may be in a bad shape. Although there is strict standard of classifying the records these can't be trusted. Sometimes though the bad records can be refurbishes back to pristine condition with the different cleaners and brushes," he says. And listening to ‘this pure form of audio' has also changed the way he composes music himself, admits Shukla, who is a member of the band The Banjara Quartet. "People often listen to music on their phone in the bus and this is their standard.They don't know what the music is about. Apart from the quality, you learn so much more about the composition, the instruments involved and it can transport a person to the place of record and quite literally give a feel of the room where the recording was done,"says Shukla. "Suddenly I am aware of so much detail which we take for granted. Even the slightest things can be heard."
Interestingly, Shukla states, while the technology of playback has undergone change, the technology of the record has more or less remained the same through the years. "Now we have shifted from sapphire to diamond needles. The weight of the turn table needles has also changed. While earlier it used to be about 3 gms, now the tracking force is between 1.5 to 1.7gms," he says. And it's not difficult at all to maintain the records. "You have to brush the record before and after playing it so as to remove any dust particles. When you store it, keep it vertical and away from a source of heat," he says.
Apart from just walking in and getting a demo of the vinyl record experience and being able to make your very own buys, Audiophile Goa also hosts Vinyl Club Sundays where you can listen to records and also learn more about the history behind the music and musician. "It's been easier to connect with older people so far because they know what records are but my aim is to cater to the youngsters. Also I have observed that older folk have with great difficulty moved on from records to tapes and then CDs and now don't want to take the trouble to go back. They come in here for the nostalgia or if they have old records they come in to fix their turntables etc," explains Shukla. "For youngsters though, who started directly with torrent downloads it is easier for them to invest in something like this."
What needs to be kept in mind is that there should be an honest reproduction of the music, says Shukla. "There are cases where records have been pressed from CDs which makes no sense because the quality won't be the same. Apart from this the speakers, amplifies and cables etc are designed not to add colour the source. When you play a record all the equipment should disappear and it should be only about the music," he says. In fact, his music space too has been done up keeping the look very minimal so that the music is the centre focus.
India, notes Shukla, is catching up pretty well with this vinyl record trend especially with the setting up of the Amarrass Records which has begun pressing records. Buying reissues of records begins at about Rs 1000 while originals are more expensive. Once you begin and are in it though, Shukla warns, it is almost like an addiction and you can never have enough of it.
