I am learning sitar since past 3 years. Thanks a lot Ajayji for your TH-cam videos. I have understood the importance of the instrument structure. I like the tone of some sitar, sustain power of another or even the Chikari sound of yet another sitar. Some sitars play good on lower notes while others on mid or higher notes. So getting all the above combined sound quality from a sitar which will highly appeal an individual is a luck factor. Inspite of having two sitars modified couple of times, I have a gut feeling that the sitar I am craving for will be from your store. I will definitely visit your place & buy a sitar for myself with your valuable inputs.
Hello i have watched many of your videos with great interest in your craft, i am a retired man in the United Kingdom, and I normally make banjo and cigar box guitars to keep my mind active, i would like to try to build a sitar, could you help me with the scale length and the basic fret position please, thank you
about the timbre and how the jawari works, it is not necessary to have sympathetic strings (those only reinforce the sound generated by the main bridge). Basically, a flat bridge allows you to generate "triggered harmonics", when the string vibrates, the end section of the bridge "punctures" the string (just like a musician does when generating triggered harmonics on a guitar or other instrument). But in the case of the flat bridge, that "pinch" is very very close to the point of support of the string (only a few mm away). And obviously the quantity and quality of the harmonics depends on the amplitude of the vibration, the curve of the "flat bridge" and the feedback generated by the soundboard (which also enters into resonance). Said in scientific terms "jawari is a unilateral constraint on the displacement of a string, that is, a mechanism that is essentially nonlinear and time-dependent because of contact/separation phenomenon." Some info drkashyapdave.blogspot.com/2009/06/jawari-mechanism-of.html . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jivari#Effect
What's better a radha krishna sharma, rikhi ram or kanai lal sitar. I want to buy one but not sure what make I should go for. Naeem sitar makers I was told were also good.
Paul Moon, please contact Jayant Sengupto in Hatibagan area, he is one living legend in crafting the true Sitar himself, unlike others who commission them from Uluberia small timers and put their label !
Some Sitars do have one or more small sound holes. But the primary reason they don't usually have one is to compress the sound in order to activate the sympathetic strings. The sound hole on an acoustic guitar is meant to project the sound forward, almost like a beam of sound towards the audience. The F-holes on the violin family, are shaped to have the maximum amount of airflow past the edge of the wood, almost like a reed instrument and is meant for maximum volume to fill the entire room. On Sitar, Sarode, Esraj, Sarangi etc, the sound is produced about 60% from the main playing strings and the body and 40% from the resonant (sympathetic) strings, give or take a large margin, I am just generalizing over the whole family. This was done for both volume and sustain effect. It also has the side effect of helping you know when you are in perfect tune with the raga and amplifies the microtones when they are present in the ornaments (small details in the bends). The large flat bridge absorbs the vibrations from the strings in an almost "spanking" like way and creates an acoustic feedback loop feeding energy from the body back in to the main playing strings as well as feeding some of the energy from the body into the smaller "jawari" bridge when the sympathetic string cross. It is not quite flat, it is a parabolic curve and opening or closing the curve (by carving) determines how clear or buzzy the sound from the 2 bridges are. For example; Ravi Shankar has a closed curve (closed jawari) on his main bridge producing a buzzy, but sustained sound that feeds a lot of energy into the sympathetic strings. Vilayat Khan has an open curve (open jawari) producing a clearer tone, more like a lute, but losing a little energy for the sympathetic strings. Closed jawari could be described to a guitar player as a bit like overdrive, warming the tone and producing more harmonics. Open jawari can be described as a bit more like reverb, like a clear sound playing in a church or hall. I build Guitars as well as Sitars, hybrids and odd ball creations, the acoustic concepts of Indian classical instruments (folk as well) are on a different evolutionary path than European instruments, each equally complex. But the Sympathetic element in Eastern/Asian instruments is a very advanced and poorly understood technology. Sorry for anyone who thinks they are absurd, they are missing out on a very interesting technological phenomenon that is present in our daily lives from aerodynamics to movie theatres/ music studios to sound pollution and psychology.
I am learning sitar since past 3 years. Thanks a lot Ajayji for your TH-cam videos. I have understood the importance of the instrument structure. I like the tone of some sitar, sustain power of another or even the Chikari sound of yet another sitar. Some sitars play good on lower notes while others on mid or higher notes. So getting all the above combined sound quality from a sitar which will highly appeal an individual is a luck factor.
Inspite of having two sitars modified couple of times, I have a gut feeling that the sitar I am craving for will be from your store. I will definitely visit your place & buy a sitar for myself with your valuable inputs.
Hello i have watched many of your videos with great interest in your craft, i am a retired man in the United Kingdom, and I normally make banjo and cigar box guitars to keep my mind active, i would like to try to build a sitar, could you help me with the scale length and the basic fret position please, thank you
How he sounds like Cricket commentator Ravi Shastri
Thank you Ajay, this is very informative!
about the timbre and how the jawari works, it is not necessary to have sympathetic strings (those only reinforce the sound generated by the main bridge). Basically, a flat bridge allows you to generate "triggered harmonics", when the string vibrates, the end section of the bridge "punctures" the string (just like a musician does when generating triggered harmonics on a guitar or other instrument). But in the case of the flat bridge, that "pinch" is very very close to the point of support of the string (only a few mm away). And obviously the quantity and quality of the harmonics depends on the amplitude of the vibration, the curve of the "flat bridge" and the feedback generated by the soundboard (which also enters into resonance).
Said in scientific terms "jawari is a unilateral constraint on the displacement of a string, that is, a mechanism that is essentially nonlinear and time-dependent because of contact/separation phenomenon."
Some info
drkashyapdave.blogspot.com/2009/06/jawari-mechanism-of.html
.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jivari#Effect
Dokan ta kothi sir
Make video of tanpura sir
What's better a radha krishna sharma, rikhi ram or kanai lal sitar. I want to buy one but not sure what make I should go for. Naeem sitar makers I was told were also good.
Paul Moon, please contact Jayant Sengupto in Hatibagan area, he is one living legend in crafting the true Sitar himself, unlike others who commission them from Uluberia small timers and put their label !
9579267373 Call me on this number
Buy guitar of good quality
Or you'll be screwed...
Is this Haribhau Vishwanath in Dadar??
Good job
why does a sitar not have a soundhole?
Because its an absurd instrument 🤪🤪🤪
Some Sitars do have one or more small sound holes. But the primary reason they don't usually have one is to compress the sound in order to activate the sympathetic strings.
The sound hole on an acoustic guitar is meant to project the sound forward, almost like a beam of sound towards the audience. The F-holes on the violin family, are shaped to have the maximum amount of airflow past the edge of the wood, almost like a reed instrument and is meant for maximum volume to fill the entire room.
On Sitar, Sarode, Esraj, Sarangi etc, the sound is produced about 60% from the main playing strings and the body and 40% from the resonant (sympathetic) strings, give or take a large margin, I am just generalizing over the whole family.
This was done for both volume and sustain effect.
It also has the side effect of helping you know when you are in perfect tune with the raga and amplifies the microtones when they are present in the ornaments (small details in the bends).
The large flat bridge absorbs the vibrations from the strings in an almost "spanking" like way and creates an acoustic feedback loop feeding energy from the body back in to the main playing strings as well as feeding some of the energy from the body into the smaller "jawari" bridge when the sympathetic string cross.
It is not quite flat, it is a parabolic curve and opening or closing the curve (by carving) determines how clear or buzzy the sound from the 2 bridges are.
For example;
Ravi Shankar has a closed curve (closed jawari) on his main bridge producing a buzzy, but sustained sound that feeds a lot of energy into the sympathetic strings.
Vilayat Khan has an open curve (open jawari) producing a clearer tone, more like a lute, but losing a little energy for the sympathetic strings.
Closed jawari could be described to a guitar player as a bit like overdrive, warming the tone and producing more harmonics.
Open jawari can be described as a bit more like reverb, like a clear sound playing in a church or hall.
I build Guitars as well as Sitars, hybrids and odd ball creations, the acoustic concepts of Indian classical instruments (folk as well) are on a different evolutionary path than European instruments, each equally complex. But the Sympathetic element in Eastern/Asian instruments is a very advanced and poorly understood technology.
Sorry for anyone who thinks they are absurd, they are missing out on a very interesting technological phenomenon that is present in our daily lives from aerodynamics to movie theatres/ music studios to sound pollution and psychology.
@@davidlynch4338 That's incredible! Thanks for explaining how it works!
Kothi dokan to