Electronic music pioneer Charanjit Singh, 74, has died. The cult figure, who was noted by some as the creator of the first ever acid house record, died at his home in Mumbai on 3 July.
Although he had forged a career as a session musician playing on numerous Bollywood film soundtracks throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the producer’s proto-acid music had a revival in 2010, when his 1982 album, Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat, was reissued by record label Bombay Connection. Although Singh was reluctant to claim his part in the evolution of the genre, the album was one of the earliest records to use the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the Roland TB 303 bass synth – a machine that built much of the acid house sound.
“There was lots of disco music in films back in 1982,” Singh said, in a 2011 interview with the Guardian. “So I thought, why not do something different using disco music only. I got an idea to play all the Indian ragas and give the beat a disco beat – and turn off the tabla. And I did it. And it turned out good.”
News of his death was confirmed by his manager and booking agent Rana Ghose. Musician Talvin Singh, who was meant to collaborate with the late musician in London this year, paid his tributes to Charanjit on Twitter.
I was thinking much about him and he,s music last night, with my Juno 106, which i had taken out the cellar.
— Talvin Singh (@talvinsingh) July 6, 2015
Walking down the road yesterday Remembering Charanjit Singh ji, the Guru of Eastern Electronic Music and i wake this Morning with Sad News.
— Talvin Singh (@talvinsingh) July 6, 2015
Charanjit Singh performed material from Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat live from 2012 onwards, until the cancellation of a number of shows in June 2015.
