Meet the Maker #1 – Sitar Makers Series – Ivan Rügen
Meet the Maker: Ivan Rügen, Sitar maker from Saint Petersburg In a studio in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Ivan Rügen works on instruments and art objects that blur the boundaries between craft, music and visual art. His work stems from a deep fascination with sound, form and material. Combining traditional…
Meet the Maker #1 – Ivan Rügen
Meet the Maker – Ivan Rügen: Sitar making in Russia Intro In the Meet the Maker series, I talk to sitar makers from all over the world. People who bring instruments to life with their hands, their ears and their hearts. Meet Ivan Rügen. In Saint Petersburg, Russia, instrument…
Meet the Maker – Interviews with Instrument Makers
Meet the Maker: Instrument Makers Around the World This page contains an overview of various instrument makers from around the world. Instrument making is a unique combination of craftsmanship, creativity and a deep understanding of sound. Behind every instrument is a maker: someone who uses wood, tools and experience…
Intonation blocks
Intonation on the sitar (& surbahar) is a very complex aspect for players to master due to its unique structure and intricate tuning system. Unlike Western stringed instruments with standardized frets, the sitar’s pardas (frets) are movable, allowing players to adjust the intervals between notes to suit different ragas…
Tabli info
Dear friends, please hereby find some info about different styles of tabli. Clicking on the pictures will show up a drawing presenting the thickness (in mm) on different locations of the tabli and a zoom showing details of the surface finishing on the backside. Notice the increased thickness at…
My Last See-Tar
A random photoreport on the making of my latest and last plexiglass See-Tar. Read more about the making here: The See-Tar story … and here: 2 more Plexitars
2 more Plexitar sitars
This year I’ve completed 2 plexiglass sitars. They are 100% See-Tar cloned replicas according to the original Purbayan Chatterjee copy as seen here on this site. Plexiglass sitar Sound sample: Comes with a solid AUER CP 12416 Protective case Pro with locks & wheels in beautiful “blutorange” (vermilion) color.
SBS-02, with 3 Lipstick pickups
I have improved the sound of my solid body sitar SBS-O2. I added one Lipstick ‘bridge’- pickup to the combination. The earlier 2 ‘neck’-pickups can be switched in parallel or in series and now smoothly be mixed with the additional ‘bridge’ pickup by means of one of the pot-meters.…
Tabli Info
Dear friends, please hereby find some info about different styles of tabli. Clicking on the pictures will show up a drawing presenting the thickness (in mm) on different locations of the tabli and a zoom showing details of the surface finishing on the backside. Notice the increased thickness at…
Hybrid Sitar mod
… the ultimate guitar for sitarists … Frédéric t’Serstevens is a young and talented sitarist and disciple of Shubhendra Rao and Kushal Das. Since in the beginning he was a dedicated (bass) guitarplayer, he came up with this rather common idea to convert a sitar into a guitar. But…
Hybrid Sitar, a real Guitar Sitar
The modification of an acoustic travel sitar into an electric hybrid guitar-sitar. Specifications Materials Drawings The modification process This instrument has been made on demand The original idea comes from Frédéric t’Serstevens (March 2016) Design & drawings by Klaas Janssens @ SiTAR FAcToRY(April 2016) Completion by Klaas Janssens @…
Engravings on Elforyn
Elforyn™ is a modern synthetic ivory substitute and can easily be engraved. The technique is identical to traditional decorative engravings on real ivory, bone, celluloid and plastics. You only need a “pencil” with a hard and sharp end, coloured wax and a scraper. The pencil can be made out…