Zahid Nirob to teach background scoring in a masterclass: 'The aim is to light the hidden fire'

A scene in a film, web content or drama often stays with the audience largely because of its background score. This music brings alive, for viewers and listeners, the emotion of what is seen on screen. Yet in Bangladesh there is almost no institutional opportunity to learn the craft hands-on.

As an effort to fill that gap, popular music director Zahid Nirob is now set to take a masterclass on background scoring. His initiative aims to introduce enthusiasts to the world of this specialised branch of music.

Organised by Motion Skills Academy, the workshop will be held on October 24 at 4 p.m. in Baridhara in the capital. In the four-hour masterclass, Zahid Nirob will share his experience of creating background scores, his working process, and various aspects of his own journey in the field.

His background music for popular content such as 'Mohanagar', 'Bachelor Point', 'Poran', 'Bonolota Express' and 'Rockstar' has won audience appreciation. He will also share the experience of those works with participants in the masterclass.

Zahid Nirob says it is not possible to teach everything about background scoring in a four-hour workshop. The main goal is to give enthusiasts the right direction. In his words, the purpose of this workshop is simply to light the hidden fire.

According to one of the busiest musicians of the time, anyone interested in learning background scoring can join the workshop. It can also be useful for assistant directors, because having an idea about background scores makes it easier to understand the use and necessity of music during production.

Sharing his own learning experience, Zahid Nirob said that when he started working on background scores, there was hardly any hands-on way to learn in the country. Around 2016, he bought an online masterclass for about 16,000 taka. Pavel, Emon and others also went through a similar learning process at that time, and the online masterclass helped him a great deal in the beginning.

In his view, composition is something that cannot be fully mastered merely by being taught by someone else; it requires one's own practice. But with the right guidance from experienced practitioners, enthusiasts can find their own path to developing their skills.

Music created to match a scene plays an important role in shaping the audience's feelings. Which melody will intensify emotion in which scene, and where silence itself will be most powerful — such decisions are the heart of a score composer's work.

Zahid Nirob therefore does not see this masterclass for background-score enthusiasts as just a training session. To him, it is an initial direction for starting work in this special branch of music.

If the October 24 event succeeds, many music workers and creators of the new generation are expected to find inspiration to step into the world of background scoring.