Makhan Lal Roy sitar surbahar repair
Here is an old and worn Makhan Lal Roy & Son sitar with numerous defects coming to my shop. It is a very rare surbahar style sitar with very little decoration. I have no idea about the age of this sober beauty but she has clearly been through a lot. View the main list of defects: Neck plate is loose Joint is loose Pardas are worn Pegs are worn & greasy Tarav holes are broken…
Dagar Tanpura
Ud H. Sayeeduddin Dagar, a great dhrupad singer, cousin uncle from the legendary Dagar brothers, frequently visits Belgium for concerts and teachings. Because travelling with big tanpuras is not easy and not without risk, Dagarji has kept a couple of them here resident for this purpose. Recently, a huge, very old and worn tanpura was in the shop. It was made by famous tanpuramakers from Miraj: Abdul Sattar & Hadji Abdul Karim. There was a…
Murari Rudra Veena on visit
This very impressive new Rudra Veena came to my workshop for initial setting and jawari. It is now owned by Fabio T., a very enthousiastic ICM adept and young italian filmmaker. This is one of the last rudra veenas made by maestro Murari Mohan Adhikari, the last representative of Kanailal and Brother, worldfamous Calcutta based musical instrument makers. It was originally ordered by late Asad Ali Khan and, although the instrument is already a couple…
Ivory Jawari V
Chico’s ivory jawari, made from an old billard ball, is still doing remarkeably well. Now after more than 4 years of pretty intensive play, there is still no noticeable excess wear. Only discoloration occurs. The jawari’s surface will have easily a yellow appearance. The sound however always remains very stable. Details of the construction of this rare ghodi can be seen here.
New pardas on Hiren Roy
This old Hiren Roy sitar, brought to me by Arnoud E. needs new pardas and some small repair work. Arnoud provided a full set of new pardas made by Hiren Roy Company, but some of them were made too short. Thus I decided to reuse a selection of the old pardas and fitted them at the end (the last 4, nearest to jiwari). Also some body cleaning has been performed and together with new strings…
Ivory Jiwari IV
After more than one year of extensive and regular playing by my friend Chico, the ivory jiwari doesn’t show too much wear. This material is even much more resistant than horn!! Although it doesn’t feel as hard as horn, it is definitely much tougher. Note that the jora string caused an almost bigger cut than the playing string…? (click on the photo to zoom in) See the making of this unique billiard ball jiwari here.
Jiwari 1997
Watch this video, made by my friend Denis on 29/05/1997 at my home in Bierbeek. At that time I’ve been inviting Hari Chand for the first time in Belgium and we temporarily turned the living room into a small improvised sitar workshop. On this video Hariji is doing jiwari and I am watching carefully. Join us… Read more about doing jiwari here…
Jiwari
Today I added a small article about “doing jiwari” to the maintenance page. This seems for so many an insurmountable task, for others it remains a sacred secret on which sometimes insiders make profit by doing or pretending that this is only to be touched by a lucky few. Of course it is not an easy task to do, and surely it is not a good idea to experiment with your one and only finest…
Ivory Jiwari III
Last weekend I fitted the ivory jiwari on Chico’s sitar. It gave a noticeable warm and round sound… Good old friend Chico is very proud with his new ivory jiwari. Now it’s up to him to test the durability of the material.
Ivory Jiwari II
This upper jiwari has also been made out of the same piece of billard ball about 9 years ago. Although this ivory is rather smooth, I have the impression that this jiwari sound lasts much longer than staghorn.