Have questions? Leave a comment for an answer. I'll be filming upcoming episodes to focus on the differences between the Kharaj Pancham (Ravi Shankar) and the Gandhar Pancham (Vilayat Khan) style sitars. I will also be filming detailed tuning instructions for each and finally providing you with my review of each instrument. A big thank you to olddelhimusic.com/ for supplying the sitars used in this video. I was not paid to make this content.
I sent Will an email, but I'll ask you the same stuff, I want both your insight. What will humidity do to the sitar? (I'm in Florida) How do I pick a teacher? (Its gotta be a Skype thing I guess) And on a scale of 1-10 how hard is it to play? Looking forward to the new vids!! Peace and love!
@@jasonreese4573 humidity and a sitar is the same as with an acoustic guitar. Try to keep it from fluctuating too much day to day and if you have a lot of temp/humidity shifts then keeping it in the case when you are not playing will help. Dry air means tuning pegs want to slip, humid air means they might not want to turn as easy. But once the instrument slowly adjusts to its new home you should be fine (assuming it’s a quality instrument). For resources on finding a teacher and for info about difficulty playing I suggest visiting the sitar subreddit on Reddit.
Jawari is a art all by itself . These types of Craftsmen that can perform these bridge Refinements mostly live in India and only a few in USA. But the Sitarist that perform live are very exacting in what they Desire for the Sitar to sound like.
Rikki Ram . Barun Ray . If you are in USA Contact Rain City Music , Lars is an expert in the US and will hook you with the best insturment in your Price range . Would recommend Kharaj Panchum style Insturment . Kharaj instruments have Bass strings and 7 main strings . 13 symps and is highly Ornamental in construction . Learning sitar , how ever , in the first few years , is not going to be important to be ornamental . What will count is sound , playability , and good set up. If you buy on line , you'll no doubt need to send it away for proper set up and Jawari. Lars at raincity music is the place to have this done . You'll also need to have good strings , The strings on the Sitar When arriving from India , are very poor.
@@JeffStarr Would love to watch you play some intricate classical pieces on your surbahar. The sound of surbahar holds a different aura. Also.... I'm pretty sure you can play the veena as well
Dear Sir, I would be very great full if you could speak directly to where you put main bridge - middle and to left slightly? Closer to the butt of the instrument? And even better, if you can demonstrate jawari I know many many people who would really find that useful. I have been doing my own jawari, as I am disabled, lack the funds to have a car and travel for any kind of hands on help. I have made 3 “starter” sanding blocks for OPEN, CLOSED, AND MEDIUM jawari to get started, then finish by hand, but still, the placement of both the main bridge and the tarif - I am just not sure about, I want to use some Behlen amber crystals and de-natured alcohol to seal these two pieces in place permanently, as they can slip and you wind starting all over again. Thank you, sorry for the long story! Steve Buffington. BTW- I spent my life as a guitarist, but Sitar is/has been always on my mind. I had a few beginning lessons but my teacher was too far away, cost too much, and while I was working I just had no time. I am now 68 and disabled, like I said, and now is the time for me to get more serious about the sitar. I am restringing it and have to repair the old grommets (bone) as they have been worn through. I have very old Radha Krishna Murti (sp?) with 13 symp. Strings, Ravi Shankar “maihair gharana” style.
Yes. Sorry if I oversimplified this. I have a video from a few years back where I mention that Pandit-ji has Sa tuned to C#. Using C in this video was intended to make tuning easier for new students who have a western music background. My personal Kharaj Pancham sitar made by "Barun Ray Hiren Roy's Son" is in C# and my Gandhar Pancham is in D. I will be recording a detailed video on tuning each style of sitar and I will make sure to explain this better along with ideas regarding swara and temperament. Thank you for your comment as it helps to inform viewers.
Yooooo thats amazing. I have a question. Are these round parts that are on the neck necessary or do they qualify the instrument as a sitar? I have one without it so idk if it might be a different instrument altogether.
Do you mean the toomba gourd at the top of the instrument? That is not required to make it a sitar. If you are referring to the sympathetic strings and the tuning pegs you see along the side of the instrument those string are a big part of the sound. Not all sitars have them and they are sometimes omitted on student models.
@@Grachtnakk the round thing at the bottom? Some modern sitars are “travel” sitars and they don’t use a large gourd and instead are wood and cut with a flat back. It helps reduce size. These sitars sometimes have tuning pegs using guitar tuners as well. Totally legit (if it’s made well). :)
Hi. I eas thinking abouy buying a flat sitar,bacause of the more handy and travel friendly size. Would i loose a fair amount of sound quality, due to the lack of roundness? Regards Simon
Sitar is a very old instruments and descenDant of Veena(which was invented in India 3000 -5000 BC). In ancient India the sounds of instruments are amplified by adding additional toomba at its neck. You will find this in almost all stringed instruments that originated in India. There is no other additional functionality of Toomba rounded gourd)except it acts as an amplifier. The stringed instruments of India are made of Gourd because only sound originated from gourd is Round and not sharp like that of Guitar or any other western stringed instruments.
Yes, this full review is in progress. I am making sure to test the sitars throughly and give them time to "break in" a bit before I give my final thoughts.
Nice video! If I may, my friend, since you mentioned you have been learning sitar from some time, it is always good to try and be as faithful to the source as possible. I am saying this because of the pronounciation of the name of the instrument itself. It is not as in "sit"-"ahr" ; the sound is closer to "see"-"tAr". It might sound silly, but it is somewhat important to name the instrument you're playing, properly. Also, Wanted to point out a detail: Different styles in sitar construction are NOT gharanas. They might be related in some point, but many gharanas play in Kharaj-pancham sitars (mistakenly or inaccurately refered to as Ravi Shankar style in the west) and some gharanas use "Vilayat Khan" style. Just commenting with the best intention of contributing something useful; I hope it does not sound in any other way. Keep it up!
Thanks for the feedback. These sitar videos are designed to be broad introductions to the instrument. Sometimes my over simplification can result in mistakes. Sorry if I was not clear when discussing the styles of sitars and gharanas. Thanks for watching. Cheers.
@@JeffStarr Nothing to be sorry about; at all!. I understand your point 100%, man =) It is difficult to jam a lot of concepts in a short video; you did great. I was just clarifying that, in case it was of use. About the sitars, I've had some sitars made by Naeem (a dear friend) and two surbahars. Amazing instruments. Your video does justice ^^ Cheers, fellow sitarist!
@@JeffStarr It'd be my pleasure to share! I actually enjoy playing surbahar just as much (or even a bit more ;) than) sitar. My guruji is Raju Chakraborty, from Kolkata; Bishnupur gharana. ruclips.net/video/IFJ2i-CGYpY/видео.html Let's keep in touch! And do not hesitate to contact him, also. Amazing artist and teacher
hmmm no.. sitar has a short vowel in the first syllable- सितार is how you write it in Hindi, which can be transcribed as sit-aar, and not सीतार, which would be read as seet-aar. So kindly stop being bothered about pronunciation that you barely know. So the pronunciation in the video is just fine!
The price will vary based on the model. They have a very helpful website showing what is in stock and on preorder. Check it out and then I highly recommend emailing or calling Nic at OldDelhiMusic.com. Tell him you watch my videos. He will take good care of you and will make sure you end up with a great instrument.
Have questions? Leave a comment for an answer. I'll be filming upcoming episodes to focus on the differences between the Kharaj Pancham (Ravi Shankar) and the Gandhar Pancham (Vilayat Khan) style sitars. I will also be filming detailed tuning instructions for each and finally providing you with my review of each instrument.
A big thank you to olddelhimusic.com/ for supplying the sitars used in this video. I was not paid to make this content.
I sent Will an email, but I'll ask you the same stuff, I want both your insight. What will humidity do to the sitar? (I'm in Florida) How do I pick a teacher? (Its gotta be a Skype thing I guess) And on a scale of 1-10 how hard is it to play? Looking forward to the new vids!!
Peace and love!
@@jasonreese4573 humidity and a sitar is the same as with an acoustic guitar. Try to keep it from fluctuating too much day to day and if you have a lot of temp/humidity shifts then keeping it in the case when you are not playing will help. Dry air means tuning pegs want to slip, humid air means they might not want to turn as easy. But once the instrument slowly adjusts to its new home you should be fine (assuming it’s a quality instrument). For resources on finding a teacher and for info about difficulty playing I suggest visiting the sitar subreddit on Reddit.
Wow, thanks. I would've thought the opposite about humidity and the tuning pegs. I'll hit up reddit.
Peace!
Jawari is a art all by itself .
These types of Craftsmen that can perform these bridge
Refinements mostly live in India and only a few in USA.
But the Sitarist that perform live are very exacting in what they
Desire for the Sitar to sound like.
I own a Kharaj Pancham by Naeem Sitarmaker (The maker here ). and it's a quality instrument.
Great video. Im gonna do a lot of research before buying a sitar, your videos help.
Rikki Ram . Barun Ray .
If you are in USA
Contact Rain City Music , Lars is an expert in the US and will hook you with the best insturment in your
Price range .
Would recommend Kharaj Panchum style
Insturment .
Kharaj instruments have Bass strings and 7 main strings . 13 symps and is highly
Ornamental in construction .
Learning sitar , how ever , in the first few years , is not going to be important to be ornamental .
What will count is sound , playability , and good set up.
If you buy on line , you'll no doubt need to send it away for proper set up and Jawari.
Lars at raincity music is the place to have this done .
You'll also need to have good strings ,
The strings on the Sitar
When arriving from India , are very poor.
Just ordered a Naeem from old Delhi .. can’t wait
Great! Did you let them know you watched my video?
@@JeffStarr by just I mean like a week and a half ago before I came upon your channel .... I’ll drop em a line
I bought an Electric Sitar from Naeem SitarMaker Miraj last year.
How do you like it so far? Are there any videos with you playing it on your channel? I’d love to hear it.
@@JeffStarr it is unique to say the least. It’s the blue color strapped sitar. Even my recent videos I’m playing it.
Can’t wait for the shredded paper 🤣🤣
I didn't even know there are variations of sitar as well😶....
Btw... You should try surbahar as well
It’s a dream of mine to play a surbahar one day!
@@JeffStarr Would love to watch you play some intricate classical pieces on your surbahar.
The sound of surbahar holds a different aura.
Also.... I'm pretty sure you can play the veena as well
Need more Sitar content
Hi , can you tell me the gauge of the main sting thanks 🙏
Shall we expect an alap on these two anytime soon? ☺
Yes! I’ll be making additional videos using these instruments.
Dear Sir, I would be very great full if you could speak directly to where you put main bridge - middle and to left slightly? Closer to the butt of the instrument? And even better, if you can demonstrate jawari I know many many people who would really find that useful. I have been doing my own jawari, as I am disabled, lack the funds to have a car and travel for any kind of hands on help. I have made 3 “starter” sanding blocks for OPEN, CLOSED, AND MEDIUM jawari to get started, then finish by hand, but still, the placement of both the main bridge and the tarif - I am just not sure about, I want to use some Behlen amber crystals and de-natured alcohol to seal these two pieces in place permanently, as they can slip and you wind starting all over again. Thank you, sorry for the long story! Steve Buffington. BTW- I spent my life as a guitarist, but Sitar is/has been always on my mind. I had a few beginning lessons but my teacher was too far away, cost too much, and while I was working I just had no time. I am now 68 and disabled, like I said, and now is the time for me to get more serious about the sitar. I am restringing it and have to repair the old grommets (bone) as they have been worn through. I have very old Radha Krishna Murti (sp?) with 13 symp. Strings, Ravi Shankar “maihair gharana” style.
How is a chilaquiles post installed? Would like to see if u could post the process,,thanks
Hey! Plz suggest some online courses to learn sitar.
Can you tell how to tune a sitar...
If you go to 12:23 in the video you will see a basic diagram to help with tuning. I will be making a more detailed video soon.
What about all the sympathetic strings?
Pandit Ravishankar used c# as Sa. Source, his biography
Yes. Sorry if I oversimplified this. I have a video from a few years back where I mention that Pandit-ji has Sa tuned to C#. Using C in this video was intended to make tuning easier for new students who have a western music background. My personal Kharaj Pancham sitar made by "Barun Ray Hiren Roy's Son" is in C# and my Gandhar Pancham is in D. I will be recording a detailed video on tuning each style of sitar and I will make sure to explain this better along with ideas regarding swara and temperament. Thank you for your comment as it helps to inform viewers.
Yooooo thats amazing. I have a question. Are these round parts that are on the neck necessary or do they qualify the instrument as a sitar? I have one without it so idk if it might be a different instrument altogether.
Do you mean the toomba gourd at the top of the instrument? That is not required to make it a sitar. If you are referring to the sympathetic strings and the tuning pegs you see along the side of the instrument those string are a big part of the sound. Not all sitars have them and they are sometimes omitted on student models.
@@JeffStarr I mean the very big thing on the back of it. I got mine 2nd hand. The former user only put it on the wall for decoration.
@@Grachtnakk the round thing at the bottom? Some modern sitars are “travel” sitars and they don’t use a large gourd and instead are wood and cut with a flat back. It helps reduce size. These sitars sometimes have tuning pegs using guitar tuners as well. Totally legit (if it’s made well). :)
Hi. I eas thinking abouy buying a flat sitar,bacause of the more handy and travel friendly size. Would i loose a fair amount of sound quality, due to the lack of roundness?
Regards Simon
Sitar is a very old instruments and descenDant of Veena(which was invented in India 3000 -5000 BC). In ancient India the sounds of instruments are amplified by adding additional toomba at its neck. You will find this in almost all stringed instruments that originated in India. There is no other additional functionality of Toomba rounded gourd)except it acts as an amplifier.
The stringed instruments of India are made of Gourd because only sound originated from gourd is Round and not sharp like that of Guitar or any other western stringed instruments.
A second part of the review would be nice - performing on the sitars - a review of the instruments rather than the construction and general tips.
Yes, this full review is in progress. I am making sure to test the sitars throughly and give them time to "break in" a bit before I give my final thoughts.
Nice video! If I may, my friend, since you mentioned you have been learning sitar from some time, it is always good to try and be as faithful to the source as possible. I am saying this because of the pronounciation of the name of the instrument itself. It is not as in "sit"-"ahr" ; the sound is closer to "see"-"tAr". It might sound silly, but it is somewhat important to name the instrument you're playing, properly.
Also, Wanted to point out a detail: Different styles in sitar construction are NOT gharanas. They might be related in some point, but many gharanas play in Kharaj-pancham sitars (mistakenly or inaccurately refered to as Ravi Shankar style in the west) and some gharanas use "Vilayat Khan" style.
Just commenting with the best intention of contributing something useful; I hope it does not sound in any other way.
Keep it up!
Thanks for the feedback. These sitar videos are designed to be broad introductions to the instrument. Sometimes my over simplification can result in mistakes. Sorry if I was not clear when discussing the styles of sitars and gharanas. Thanks for watching. Cheers.
@@JeffStarr Nothing to be sorry about; at all!. I understand your point 100%, man =) It is difficult to jam a lot of concepts in a short video; you did great. I was just clarifying that, in case it was of use.
About the sitars, I've had some sitars made by Naeem (a dear friend) and two surbahars. Amazing instruments. Your video does justice ^^ Cheers, fellow sitarist!
@@DiegoEstevezSitar I’d love to learn more about your Surbahar. That’s awesome! Who are you learning from?
@@JeffStarr It'd be my pleasure to share! I actually enjoy playing surbahar just as much (or even a bit more ;) than) sitar.
My guruji is Raju Chakraborty, from Kolkata; Bishnupur gharana. ruclips.net/video/IFJ2i-CGYpY/видео.html
Let's keep in touch! And do not hesitate to contact him, also. Amazing artist and teacher
hmmm no.. sitar has a short vowel in the first syllable- सितार is how you write it in Hindi, which can be transcribed as sit-aar, and not सीतार, which would be read as seet-aar. So kindly stop being bothered about pronunciation that you barely know. So the pronunciation in the video is just fine!
At 10:59 , is there a crack showing in the front plate of the head next to peg 1 and 2?
No crack. It might be a little reflection or finish checking but the instrument was very clean without any cracks when I had it.
How much total it's cost to ship nd the sitar price itself
The price will vary based on the model. They have a very helpful website showing what is in stock and on preorder. Check it out and then I highly recommend emailing or calling Nic at OldDelhiMusic.com. Tell him you watch my videos. He will take good care of you and will make sure you end up with a great instrument.
Kharaj Panchum Sitar.
Gandahar Panxchum
Hiy