Saraswati Veena bridge repair
When Archana Kumar contacted me from Germany, she was worried about her beloved Saraswati Veena. A student of Smt. Sujana Vadlamani in Chennai, she regularly performs at local Tyagaraja and Dikshitar concerts. But recently something had changed. “The notes are not exactly right and I really need help to…
Surbahar head repair
A hiding fracture One day, a problem arose with Kees Verbeek’s Hiren Roy surbahar. The instrument had previously been repaired at the headstock. It had probably been dropped or suffered transport damage at some point, but had been repaired very neatly. The instrument had always remained stable, but suddenly…
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…
New Narka series
I made a new set of narkas, this time from the wood of an old broomstick (aspen wood). They are done in different colours and a new SiTAR FAcToRY logo is burnt on them. My dear neighbour girl Felien Swillen is very handy with a small wood burner. She…
Staghorn Narka
I made a narka out of Belgian stag horn. This is a tuning aid to comfortably and finely tune the taravs, the sympathetic strings on a sitar. A deer antler hung on the wall. You can find them at old flea markets, or nailed to the wall at hunters’…
Kunti Hole Bushing
A sitar tuning peg or “kunti” works on the basis of friction. The peg is conically ground and is clamped into a conical hole. After some time, the surfaces will wear out and the peg will go deeper and deeper into the hole. Eventually it comes out deeper and…
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,…
Tuning problem: Cracked wood
On a traditional sitar, tuning is established by pressing a wooden peg (kunti) into a hole. Unfortunately the wood on this Barun Ray sitar is cleaved. There is a long and deep split line between the baj and jora kunti. Both strings were not keeping tune anymore. The pegs…
Sitar in E
In the musicschool of Breda (NL) De Nieuwe Veste resides a very inspiring, young sitarteacher. In order to motivate new pupils he teaches them first to play rather light classical music and easy popular tunes. Therefore they need their student sitar being tuned in E (instead of C#). Notes…
Dead notes
Dead notes on sitar In music, a ghost note, dead note, or false note, is a musical note with a rhythmic value, but no discernible pitch when played. On stringed instruments, this is recognised by the sound of a muted string. Muted to the point where it is more…
Swarangini Modification
Swarangini Digital is an electronic tanpura machine that delivers high quality original tanpura sounds. It has been introduced to the market in 2008. For more info about this very handy and popular machine visit the Sound Labs website. The machine is excellent for tuning and accompaniment. But, since this…
Travel Sitar Mods (2)
This modification I made to Mark B’s Travel sitar because he was unable to play the jora tar comfortably. The steel wire jora tar, although open correctly tuned, sounded too high while playing a note on the pardas. I added a fibre intonation block to the jora tar, just…