Who I Am
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I am an American pianist, multi-instrumentalist, keyboardist, composer, arranger, and producer based in Asheville, NC, working out of my Black Bear Audio studio. I specialize in the rock, progressive, metal, classical, jazz, film scoring, pop, and folk genres.
I studied classical piano for ten years at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and in 2017 received my degree in music composition for film from Oberlin College and Conservatory. Some of my relevant experience includes: - Live keyboards for Miles Davis Band alum Sam Morrison - Pianist in cinematic duo Silent Skies, featuring Evergrey vocalist Tom Englund on vocals - Keyboardist of veteran multinational progressive metal band Redemption, with whom I played Progpower USA (the USA's premier melodic metal festival) as a co-headliner - Keyboardist and composer for progressive rock/fusion trio Lux Terminus, with whom I released a record in 2018, The Courage to Be, featuring guest appearances from famed Dutch vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen, Delain guitarist Timo Somers, and touring Leprous cello player Raphael Weinroth-Browne - Recorded keyboards and orchestrations for Haken frontman Ross Jennings' 2021 solo album - Alum of the Palomar Film Music Workshop (Larry Groupé, Roger Neill) and the NYU/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop - Recorded guest keyboards for The Zenith Passage (feat. members of The Faceless, Fallujah) - Recorded keyboard arrangements for Timo Somers (Delain, Vengeance) on his tribute to Chester Bennington. - Keyboardist in USA cinematic metal band Threads of Fate - Winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs competition for classical composition - Finalist in the ASCAP/Morton Gould classical composition competition - Keyboardist for Cleveland progressive rock/metal band Gravity - Guitarist for Cleveland symphonic/progressive metal band Meridian - Recorded close to 100 piano arrangements of rock/metal/progressive music on my YouTube - Released my solo prog/instrumental EP "The Hammertong Project" in 2017 What I DoI am available for any kind of sessions work, including the following:
- Sessions piano/keyboards studio work (including my real mic'd felted grand piano!) - Sessions electric guitar/bass guitar work - Drum programming/arranging - Orchestration (programming or arranging for live players) - Solo piano playing for your live event or function - Live/touring keyboards/piano/guitar/bass/drums - Mixing/mastering - Songwriting/composition - Composition for media (video games, film, TV, etc.) I am also available for lessons (Skype/in person) in the following fields: - Piano/keyboards (classical, rock, jazz, etc.) - Electric guitar - Songwriting/arranging - Mixing/mastering - Music theory Contact me at vikramashankar@gmail.com, and let's talk! |
My Gear
I proudly use the following equipment:
- Korg Kronos-88 and Prologue-16, Moog Sub-37, Oberheim Matrix-1000
- Adam Audio, Audeze and 64Audio monitoring
- Earthworks piano microphones
- Boston by Steinway hand-felted grand piano
- Kiesel, Fender, and Yamaha guitars and basses
- 360Infinite keyboard stands
- MOTU, Focusrite, Rupert Neve outboard gear and interfacing
- A variety of industry-standard software plugins from Arturia, Fabfilter, Waves, Plugin Alliance, Spectrasonics, Imperfect Samples, Synthogy,
Spitfire Audio, Cinesamples, EastWest/Quantum Leap, and many more
- Korg Kronos-88 and Prologue-16, Moog Sub-37, Oberheim Matrix-1000
- Adam Audio, Audeze and 64Audio monitoring
- Earthworks piano microphones
- Boston by Steinway hand-felted grand piano
- Kiesel, Fender, and Yamaha guitars and basses
- 360Infinite keyboard stands
- MOTU, Focusrite, Rupert Neve outboard gear and interfacing
- A variety of industry-standard software plugins from Arturia, Fabfilter, Waves, Plugin Alliance, Spectrasonics, Imperfect Samples, Synthogy,
Spitfire Audio, Cinesamples, EastWest/Quantum Leap, and many more