Pradipika: Duo System is a collaboration between multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Jihad Darwish and percussionist, producer and composer Magnus Mehta, exploring the edges of rhythm, texture and improvisation.
Fusing jazz, electronic music and global influences, the duo works with live sequencing, MIDI-controlled synthesis and an expanded percussion setup to build fluid, evolving sound worlds. Instrumentation moves freely — from sitar and bass to synths and electronics — with no fixed hierarchy, allowing the music to shift direction in real time. Moving between pulse-driven intensity and open, spacious abstraction, the project foregrounds interaction, spontaneity and the transformation of rhythm into texture.
Jihad Darwish is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer from Hackney, working across acoustic and electronic sound. His practice centres on the exploration of rhythm, texture and form — drawing on improvisation, live sequencing and subtle traces of global musical languages, including the sitar. Moving between instruments, his work unfolds as a shifting dialogue between structure and spontaneity, where sound is shaped in real time. His recent releases have received critical acclaim and national radio support. Alongside his own projects, he continues to collaborate across diverse musical settings.
Magnus Mehta is a session percussionist, composer, producer and musical director known for his ability to skilfully collaborate with artists from a wide range of musical and cultural backgrounds. London born to an Indian father and Scottish mother, Magnus was excited by rhythmic sounds from an early age, initially requesting a drum kit aged 10, and consequently studying timpani and percussion at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. After playing in all of the major Scottish orchestras Magnus took a radical change of direction and relocated to Cuba to further his musical studies. Time spent living in Morocco, Kerala, Tanzania and Turkey then followed, and ever since Magnus has built a reputation as one of the most creative session musicians, moving fluidly between a multitude of genres. His output with his critically acclaimed band Penya, and his productions for the Tanzanian multi-instrumentalist Msafiri Zawose have led to multiple invitations to compose, produce and musically direct varied project
Magnus is an associate artist at Shakespeare’s Globe, and was co-composer and musical director for the Globe’s productions of “Hansel and Gretel” (2025) and “Shakespeare at the Abbey,” (2023), at Westminster Abbey.
Magnus has an array of credits as a percussionist, drummer, timpanist and music producer. These include working for such artists and ensembles as, Jacob Collier, Brian Eno, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hannah Peel, O’Flynn, Damon Albarn, Bastille, Moses Boyd, Ibibio Sound Machine, LSO, Sarathy Korwar, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Peter Zummo, Greg Foat, Dengue Dengue Dengue, Royal Opera House, El Búho, Cassie Kinochi, the Lion King, Abba Voyage, Melt Yourself Down, English National Opera, RSNO, BBC Scottish Symphony and Emanative. His soundtrack credits include ‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One’, ‘The Hobbit, an unexpected journey’, the Channel 4 series ‘Indian Summers’, the BBC’s “Wolf Hall: `The Mirror and the Light” and the Iranian film ‘Hussein Who Said No’
Magnus currently operates Liminal Studio from his home in London, which houses a collection of several hundred rare percussion instruments from around the world, where he provides remote percussion sessions and sound design for music producers, composers and artists