General Music Chat

It's a waste of fkn time... I just popped a sympathetic string... No f**k idea how I'm gonna replace it.
I can forget this piece of sh*t now... It will look great hanging over the fire place... Or maybe in the fireplace.

I spent weeks trying get information on this instrument , to no avail.. It just simply isn't supported , I cant get a f**k straight answer out of anybody who even claims they know how to tune it...
Oh well It was fun while it lasted .. It'll sit in my closet now until the day I die ...

Sorry that thing is turning out to be a nemesis!
Tamboura might be a little easier to get help with I always thought they are similar instruments. Welcome to the frustrations of being a musician. I have tons of gear for various similar reasons.

I can always use some firewood.

Ravi Shankar Where are you when we need you,He is flowing within you and with out you.Don't give up.

Ehh! One of these days I'll get around to restringing it... I havent lost interest... Its just frustrating.

I recently discovered that it was poorly made (some of the trim edging of the body is already peeling away...even though I have taken great care to properly handle and stow the instrument..

This happened to me cause I'm white! LOL!

It's a waste of fkn time... I just popped a sympathetic string... No f**k idea how I'm gonna replace it.
I can forget this piece of sh*t now... It will look great hanging over the fire place... Or maybe in the fireplace.

I spent weeks trying get information on this instrument , to no avail.. It just simply isn't supported , I cant get a f**k straight answer out of anybody who even claims they know how to tune it...
Oh well It was fun while it lasted .. It'll sit in my closet now until the day I die ...

You can find tons of useful info on this board, this thread might get you started on finding strings ... http://forums.chandrakantha.com/viewtop ... =2&t=10987

This site is good too http://www.joerizzo.com/sitar/

Since it is a new sitar, you may have to keep retuning a lot it until things get settled as well as acclimated to your local climate.

I think you will have either a 7 string instrument meant for Ravi style or a 6 string Vilayat Khan style ... go with what you have, Ravi? It's probably a little bit less "Islamic" since Ravi was Hindu.

You do not have to tune to up a piano's C# ... that is just a guide for tourists an Indian "c#" sharp is like"do" as in do re me fa so" or "Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa" as they say c# is sa. It could just as well be "b" or "c" etc. on a piano. The relative intervals are what are important rather than what absolute pitch you begin with.

.008 gauge are often used for tarab strings.

Oh .... and you should smoke a joint first ... in case you happened to have misplaced that stash from your wild youth ... here are videos to help get you in tune for the task: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkP5XUFDI00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLZhNgF3Z0s

vinny, you are the measure of true grace. others might talk the talk.......

grant, you've never struck me as a quitter.....i'd say it's time roll up you sleeves, son and show that thing who's boss. i can't believe that w all the stuff out there on the interwebs you can't find the info you need. good luck.

vinny, you are the measure of true grace. others might talk the talk.......

grant, you've never struck me as a quitter.....i'd say it's time roll up you sleeves, son and show that thing who's boss. i can't believe that w all the stuff out there on the interwebs you can't find the info you need. good luck.

Gawd! Mark, You and vinny need tA get a room!

Vinny, Thanks... I knew deep down you were one of the cool ones... For a moment there I had changed my mind about that...but then... i changed it back...

It's a waste of fkn time... I just popped a sympathetic string... No f**k idea how I'm gonna replace it.
I can forget this piece of sh*t now... It will look great hanging over the fire place... Or maybe in the fireplace.

I spent weeks trying get information on this instrument , to no avail.. It just simply isn't supported , I cant get a f**k straight answer out of anybody who even claims they know how to tune it...
Oh well It was fun while it lasted .. It'll sit in my closet now until the day I die ...

You can find tons of useful info on this board, this thread might get you started on finding strings ... http://forums.chandrakantha.com/viewtop ... =2&t=10987

This site is good too http://www.joerizzo.com/sitar/

Since it is a new sitar, you may have to keep retuning a lot it until things get settled as well as acclimated to your local climate.

I think you will have either a 7 string instrument meant for Ravi style or a 6 string Vilayat Khan style ... go with what you have, Ravi? It's probably a little bit less "Islamic" since Ravi was Hindu.

You do not have to tune to up a piano's C# ... that is just a guide for tourists an Indian "c#" sharp is like"do" as in do re me fa so" or "Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa" as they say c# is sa. It could just as well be "b" or "c" etc. on a piano. The relative intervals are what are important rather than what absolute pitch you begin with.

.008 gauge are often used for tarab strings.

I have the 7 string instrument, with 13 sympathetic. I had already run across the site you recommended (jorizz0).. It prescribes key in C...Trouble is C is too loose on the lower registers. (Other sites are telling tourists that C# is better to avoid the slack) . They even prescribe D. and on the-you tubes.

The are that I'm having extrordinary difficulty with is tuning the sympathetic... I start 1 and 13 as D. From 1, I'm half stepping the scale... Problem is the pegs slip (Need that carpenter chalk) and it was on the 4th that the string popped.

The buzz is that guitar strings are too short.. I guess I could order a proper set on line...if I had a clue what to order...

vinny, you are the measure of true grace. others might talk the talk.......

grant, you've never struck me as a quitter.....i'd say it's time roll up you sleeves, son and show that thing who's boss. i can't believe that w all the stuff out there on the interwebs you can't find the info you need. good luck.

I have found numerous sites. But I dont know what the fk half of them are talking about... I was hoping I could find a real tutorial that takes it from beginners...
THeres nothing adequate out there. I learn by hearing and observing... SO far no one out there delivers a proper tutorial. I can see why its not a popular instrument in the US.. NO real teachers out there.

...PaperDog ... many years ago when I was in England one of the guitarists in my band had a Sitar and knew how to play it well and loads about it as he had actually gone to India to learn all about it. If you like I can see if I can "dig him up" I know for certain that he would be able to answer any wonder questions etc. I have not spoken with him since the early 80's but I will try and get in touch with him. His name is Duncan Foy and he had very red hair. He was a bit short so we called him tiny little Duncan but he was an excellent player and a very nice fellow. Give me some time and I will see if I can get a hold of him. I will ask my wife to possibly help as she is quite good at "finding" people.

...PaperDog ... many years ago when I was in England one of the guitarists in my band had a Sitar and knew how to play it well and loads about it as he had actually gone to India to learn all about it. If you like I can see if I can "dig him up" I know for certain that he would be able to answer any wonder questions etc. I have not spoken with him since the early 80's but I will try and get in touch with him. His name is Duncan Foy and he had very red hair. He was a bit short so we called him tiny little Duncan but he was an excellent player and a very nice fellow. Give me some time and I will see if I can get a hold of him. I will ask my wife to possibly help as she is quite good at "finding" people.

Vampier, Thank You, and your wife. Very kind and thoughtful. I can use all the help I can get

...Pleased to attempt to help ... I took the liberty of putting up a thread on the UK chat to see if either Duncan or anyone else can help. I knew a couple of sitar players in CA but they are idiots and have been "high" for such a long time that their sitars are not the only things "out of tune"...I think they got sitar to act as "chick Magnets" a few decades ago. The last time I spoke with any of them ( a couple of years ago) even that was not working out so well for them.

Let us hope that either Duncan can be found or someone "real" turns up on the UK thread. At any rate it will be an interesting exercise.

It's a waste of fkn time... I just popped a sympathetic string... No f**k idea how I'm gonna replace it.
I can forget this piece of sh*t now... It will look great hanging over the fire place... Or maybe in the fireplace.

I spent weeks trying get information on this instrument , to no avail.. It just simply isn't supported , I cant get a f**k straight answer out of anybody who even claims they know how to tune it...
Oh well It was fun while it lasted .. It'll sit in my closet now until the day I die ...

You can find tons of useful info on this board, this thread might get you started on finding strings ... http://forums.chandrakantha.com/viewtop ... =2&t=10987

This site is good too http://www.joerizzo.com/sitar/

Since it is a new sitar, you may have to keep retuning a lot it until things get settled as well as acclimated to your local climate.

I think you will have either a 7 string instrument meant for Ravi style or a 6 string Vilayat Khan style ... go with what you have, Ravi? It's probably a little bit less "Islamic" since Ravi was Hindu.

You do not have to tune to up a piano's C# ... that is just a guide for tourists an Indian "c#" sharp is like"do" as in do re me fa so" or "Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa" as they say c# is sa. It could just as well be "b" or "c" etc. on a piano. The relative intervals are what are important rather than what absolute pitch you begin with.

.008 gauge are often used for tarab strings.

I have the 7 string instrument, with 13 sympathetic. I had already run across the site you recommended (jorizz0).. It prescribes key in C...Trouble is C is too loose on the lower registers. (Other sites are telling tourists that C# is better to avoid the slack) . They even prescribe D. and on the-you tubes.

The are that I'm having extrordinary difficulty with is tuning the sympathetic... I start 1 and 13 as D. From 1, I'm half stepping the scale... Problem is the pegs slip (Need that carpenter chalk) and it was on the 4th that the string popped.

The buzz is that guitar strings are too short.. I guess I could order a proper set on line...if I had a clue what to order...

You are reminding me a little bit of kids who bring their guitar to a repair shop to get it tuned

This would be one case in particular, where having your call for support outsourced to India would be a good thing!

If you have no access to a teacher you will need to exercise extraordinary resourcefulness to learn all the details. You are in luck that so many in India are online ... there is quite a bit of info available, so much so that may be where you are getting confused. Also this instrument was designed to play a system of music mostly unknown to you.

Just tune to c# for now if you are breaking strings. You will have to tune, tweak and reweak it settles.

Here is a tutorial from a store located in Texas http://www.buckinghammusic.com/sitar/sittut/btut.html

Here is a nice lady to explain it to you ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsJoOE9x8s4


Here are some hi quality strings http://www.ebay.com/itm/Batish-Pro-Indi ... 27ca46dbd3
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pyramid-Indian- ... 27ca46dbfa

... but buy and try these first to mess around with,
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPLETE-SET-OF ... 3cd1016d18

once you feel confident with what you are doing, getting ready to record etc ... then put on you expensive HQ strings