From strings to sliders: How a guitarist became a leading sound engineer
Zakir Hossain is a guitarist of the band ‘Conclusion’. But he is also one of the go-to sound engineers for some of the biggest musicians in the industry
Almost a decade ago, a conversation with Asif Asgar Ranjan, guitarist of Arbovirus, would go on to change the trajectory of Zakir Hossain's life. The arena of audio and sound engineering was an untapped market in Bangladesh. None of the engineers in the circuit were musicians themselves. Zakir, being a guitarist himself, could potentially make a difference in the industry, Ranjan pointed out to him.
Fast forward to the present, Zakir is the guitarist of the band 'Conclusion'. But he is also one of the go-to sound engineers for some of the biggest musicians in the industry.
From perfecting the sound for an audience of 20,000 people at Army stadium to mix-mastering wage monitor sounds at a local bar show for 20, Zakir has created his own space in the niche audio engineering community of Bangladesh. His latest work can be heard in Coke Studio Bangla.
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Zakir's pursuit of developing the perfect sound stemmed from his intrinsic love of making music with friends. "We always sought after that ideal tone when we jammed. But we always struggled to create the sound we wanted," said Zakir.
This led to him explore and experiment with various sounds, consoles and tones. He often attended concerts only so he could keenly observe how seasoned musicians and audio engineers operated during live shows. He also studied audio engineering online.
"There aren't that many opportunities for audio engineering in Bangladesh. There were no jobs for me where I could master my craft. Only way to mature in this trade was through experience. I used to go to a ton of concerts and just sit beside the consoles. Sometimes I used to tweak a few things here and there just as an experiment. Over the years, that's how I learned," said Zakir.
Ranjan would go on to aid Zakir's career even further. "One night Ranjan Bhai asked me if I wanted to go to Sri Lanka, which I readily obliged," said Zakir.
The learning experience that awaited him was invaluable for his career down the line.
Live Square, a company that was heavily involved in the music scene back then, along with the Norwegian Embassy in Bangladesh and Norwegian NGO 'Concerts Norway' organised an audio engineering workshop designed by industry veterans.
They sent young and aspiring artists to a two-week workshop conducted by Stig Aron Kamonen – he is best known for touring with the Rolling Stones.
The workshop used to conduct an ear-training session for four hours every morning. The participants were also taught other basics of sound such as different kinds of microphones, the pick up patterns of microphones, console, speakers and speaker patterns, etc.
They held classes in the first half of the day and after that, all of them were taken to local club shows and were asked to replicate what they learned earlier.
"You have two objectives: first you satisfy the artists, then you satisfy the audience. Stig taught us that," said Zakir, explaining how fruitful the workshop experience in Sri Lanka was. This training set him up for life.
Fuad Almuqtadir also had a huge role to play for his recent career development, it was Fuad who vouched for Zakir to Arnob for Coke Studio Bangla.
"You get to learn a lot just by being around Arnob Bhai. He is someone who is never satisfied or happy with his sound because he has certain needs which no engineer has been able to satisfy up until now. But after they hired me, Arnob Bhai told Buno Bhai (Bangla's bassist) that he finally found someone who did his reverb mix just right," said Zakir.
Zakir Hossain is primarily working with (Arbovirus, Coke Studio Bangla, Arnob & Friends, Elita Karim) Avoid Rafa, Cryptic Fate and Nemesis as their engineer.
