Musicians set Guinness World Record in Assam

A group of 500 musicians and vocalists from across the globe played 315 different folk instruments here to enter the Guinness World Records (GWR).
The half hour 'A Musical Journey for Peace' entered the Guinness World Records yesterday as "the most number of unique instruments used in a musical composition", the organisers said today.
Musical instruments, including Sattriya doba, khol, taal, mridangam, pepa used in Jhumur, Borgeet and Bihu in Assam and North East region, those used in Indian classical music and folk like bhangra and others were played by 500 musicians as over 200 vocalists accompanied them with European chorus, Irish, Western and Mexican songs and Sanskrit shlokas.

The composition included a variety of styles of music from world folk, classical jazz, Latino, Irish, Chinese and Japanese music.
The programme 'Musical Journey for World Peace' is the first of its kind in the world. US-based international award winning film and music director Rupam Sarmah composed the non-classical symphony and conducted the performance, the organisers said.
The lyrics in English, Assamese, Hindi and Bengali spoke of world peace and patriotism with the message of love.

The organisers said the event was an effort to unite musicians across the globe and an attempt to create a world record.
It was witnessed by GWR officials from London and organised by maZumba Media and Entertainment, a branch of RJ International USA.

GWR officials had arrived here for the first time and gave a certificate on the spot for the success of the event.
The event was also witnessed by Hollywood song writer and music composer Alan Roy Scott who did the honours 'behind the scene' and traditional Japanese percussionist Ken Koshio played the Japanese drum, the organisers added.