Est Sound has launched Meanders, a cinematic sound palette created in collaboration with British-Indian cellist and composer Meera Priyanka Raja. Built around solo cello, shruti box and synth textures, the instrument brings together detailed performances and layered tonal elements within a single library.
Meanders features more than 30 recorded articulations, designed to move fluidly between note centres through nuanced, expressive performances. The recordings focus on capturing a sense of motion and subtle variation, with material that shifts between sustained drones and more dynamic gestures.
The library is organised into four sound banks, allowing users to layer different elements within the instrument. More than 20 microphone positions were used during the sessions to capture a wide range of tonal detail and spatial character.
Additional processing options form part of the core sound design. These include:
- A live-tracked Leslie cabinet
- An H910 Harmonizer in the recording chain
- A processed sub microphone for extended low-frequency texture
Meanders was recorded over three days at Konk Studios using a vintage signal path. The sessions aimed to document a range of textures developed through Meera Priyanka Raja’s improvisational approach, including Oscillating Octaves and Sliding Harmonics. These articulations were captured in detail to preserve performance characteristics that are difficult to reproduce in live settings.
The sound palette combines static drones with glissandi and both major and minor ricochets, offering material suited to cinematic scoring, ambient composition and textural layering. The inclusion of shruti box alongside layered cello and synthesizer elements reflects Meera’s ongoing exploration of building a personal sonic landscape beyond conventional genre boundaries.
Meanders developed from a long-standing musical collaboration between producer Dan and Meera Priyanka Raja, whose friendship began during their time as students at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. The project follows a similar production approach to Poet’s Piano, with an emphasis on detailed recording and characterful signal processing.
Meera Priyanka Raja maintains an active freelance career, performing internationally and contributing to film and television scores. Her credits include the award-winning short film Aajao and the album Essence of Raga Tala. Inspired in part by John Mayer’s cello works Prabhanda and Ragamalas, she began developing improvisations over musical drones, shaping a style centred on layered textures and sustained tonal environments.
In a statement about the project, Meera explained that the concept for Meanders emerged from conversations about developing her identity through cello improvisation. She described layering sounds with textural nuance as a way to create a sonic landscape that supports freedom of expression, noting that the recording process involved experimentation and collaborative exploration.
Meanders is available from the Est Sound website for £99.00, with an introductory price of £79.00.
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