The Sitar

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:05 am

I was wondering, since there seemes to be a broad sampling of people who play a broad spectrum of instruments here on C&F, if there were any Chiffers who play the Sitar...If so, what is your experience with it?

Last night a friend and I went to a local Indian restaurant that I frequent (I love Indian food), and they have started inviting a few local Indian classical musicians on different nights. I've always enjoyed Indian classical music, but I had never before experienced it live.
Wow...talk about an experience.
The sitarist was amazing! I could have watched that dude all night if I didn't have to get to work at 4am!
When I get the new house paid down a bit, and when I have a bit more free time, I think I'd like to learn the sitar...

djm · Post by **djm** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:10 am

Talasiga usually frequents the flute forum. He is big on Eastern music, and might be able to give you direction. There are lots of places that sell sitars on the web, but since they are the same places that sell garbage quality ITM instruments, I would guess the same goes for their Indian instruments. If there was a local musician playing, and you know where he plays, you have at least one potential teacher in your area.

djm

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:14 am

Yeah, I have to work up the guts to ask this guy to teach me a few things, couse he's great.
I did a google search on the Sitar to learn more about it, and came across one site that looks reputable, at least to my semi-veteran-instrument-buyer eyes.

beowulf573 · Post by **beowulf573** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:25 am

My wife and I saw Ravi and Anoushka Shankar perform this past weekend. Wonderful show with a full complement of instruments for the first half and just them for the second.

I hope when I'm 85 I still have enough air to play the flute. Or at least enough air to breathe.

Eddie

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:29 am

beowulf573 wrote:My wife and I saw Ravi and Anoushka Shankar perform this past weekend. Wonderful show with a full complement of instruments for the first half and just them for the second.

I hope when I'm 85 I still have enough air to play the flute. Or at least enough air to breathe.

Eddie

That must have been an awesome show...!
I think, if I'm not mistaken, Anoushka has a new album coming out....supposed to be more of a world music fusion type of deal, i heard something about it this morning on NPR.

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:45 am

Tyler Morris wrote:
beowulf573 wrote:My wife and I saw Ravi and Anoushka Shankar perform this past weekend. Wonderful show with a full complement of instruments for the first half and just them for the second.

I hope when I'm 85 I still have enough air to play the flute. Or at least enough air to breathe.

Eddie
That must have been an awesome show...!
I think, if I'm not mistaken, Anoushka has a new album coming out....supposed to be more of a world music fusion type of deal, i heard something about it this morning on NPR.

I went and checked out Anoushka's website...her new album is called Rise.

http://www.anoushkashankar.com/

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 10:45 am

I took sitar lessons when I lived in India. Has to be the most painful instrument I ever tried. You have this little wire cage thingie for your right hand index finger which is what you pick with. Maybe they have decided to start using insulated wire but at the time (1972) it just cut into my finger painfully. Then, on your left hand, the string, of steel, has to be depressed so much that it wears a groove in one spot on your finger pad, much moreso than st string guitar. My sitar teacher, in Hyderabad, would put an ointment of Novocaine or something similar, eat some hashish and begin practicing. The groove in the finger often goes bloody so you have to take a break.

Sitars can be bought for not a lot of money but its likely that most of them are not very good. I wouldn't know how to get a good one but with so many more Indians in the US these days, perhaps there is an online resource with something near you.

To me, it's not an instrument for dabbling.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:21 am

The Weekenders wrote: eat some hashish

So, Weeks, what you are saying is that learning the Sitar has it's good points!

Tom

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:31 pm

TomB wrote:
The Weekenders wrote: eat some hashish

So, Weeks, what you are saying is that learning the Sitar has it's good points!

Tom

Yeah, in those days, I found lessons quite enjoyable. The dude was a real stoner.

Wormdiet · Post by **Wormdiet** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:19 pm

If you're looking for a sitar-like instrument, you might want to consider the harp. Not just any harp, but so-called "Gothic" harps from the renaissance. They have these little gadgets called "bray pins" that interfere with the strings' vibrations. In other words, they buzz like a sitar. Or a bagpipe

Unfortunately they ain't cheap.

Sound sample:
http://asni.net/amoroso!.wav

from the following site.

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:06 pm

One of the strangest things that I heard was at the Fox’s Lair in Augusta. The guy that played there had a HUGE request list and in the middle of one act re tuned his guitar to sound like a sitar and played “Dueling Sitars”. The brain was in pain.

I Always thought that the instrument was huge (even though I think the name translates to the “three string”) I wonder if they have smaller versions, may be a baby sitar.

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:18 pm

Anoushka Shankar was on NPR this morning.

Interesting interview, some astonishingly good music. On this page, you can hear the interview, and a little down the page are audio links of three complete tracks from her new CD:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4855112

Best wishes,
Jerry

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:10 pm

The Weekenders wrote: To me, it's not an instrument for dabbling.

.

Very true.

Doesn't it take five or six years just to learn how to tune it...

Lot of hassle.

Slan,
D.

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:29 pm

It's been a while but I think it was some kinda tuning like a banjo or dobro or something, maybe a triad like GBD.... Getting the little sympathetic strings in tune at first might be hard, but, being steel, they would hang on pretty good once broke in. I remember thinking that really, it was straightforward to learn the scales (they teach you Indian solfege which is sa ri ga ma pa da ni sa, instead of do re mi, etc.. The structure of the music ran in cycles, sorta like flamenco as I recall and they had ragas for different times of day and such. Like I said before, I just remember a lot of pain trying to play the damn thing.

And, being built like many of my Western Euro compatriots, another pain dimension was sitting yoga-like just to hold the instrument. Even when I was skinny it hurt. I remember looking around and wondering if I shouldn't have taken up the Veena. It's sort of a South Indian sitar and is dinkier and the music is very cool...

Or even tabla. Hey, its a drum that has a melodic scale on the head. How cool is that??

missy · Post by **missy** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:43 am

dubhlinn wrote:
Doesn't it take five or six years just to learn how to tune it...

Lot of hassle.

Slan,
D.

nah - that's a hammered dulcimer!!!!