Sitar : Iran musical instrument

The sitar as it is called in the English language is a plucked stringed musical instrument that is used primarily in Hindustani music and Indian classical music. The musical instrument descended from the long-necked lutes taken to Northern part of India from the Central Asia and is also assumed to be influenced by the. The musical instrument flourished in the 16^th century as well as the 17^th century and came to be in its present form in the 18^th century Mughal period. The sitar derived its unique tone quality and resonance from sympathetic strings, bridge design, a long hollow neck and a gourd resonating chamber of the instrument.

source of picture: pakrashi-harmonium.com

The sitar, which is widely used throughout Indian subcontinent, became known in the western world via the work of ravi Shankar starting in the later part of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s. the musical instrument saw further use in popular music after the Beatle featured the musical instrument in their compositions, "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", "Within You Without You" and "Love You To". Their use of the sitar came because of George Harrison’s taken lessons on how to perform the musical instrument from Shankar and Shambhu Das.  

The sitar descended from Central Asia to North Indian during the Delhi Sultanate era and is said to be influenced by the Veena. The first prototype musical instruments were fabricated during the Delhi Sultanate era of the 13^th century and the 14^th century, when the Persian patrons of music and poetry stimulated innovation of Indian art. The musical instrument is named after the Persian musical instrument known as setar.

Dr. Lalmani Misra, in his Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya, traces the development of the musical instrument from the Tritanti veena via the nibaddh and the anibaddha tambouras that is also known as tanbur and later the jantra. Invention of the analogous tempura was explained by tansen.

During the time of Moghul Empire in the Indian subcontinent from about 1526 to 1857, Persian lute instrument were performed at the Mughal court and may be have provided a basis of this musical instrument called sitar. There is a physical evidence for the instrument until the time of the fall of the Mughal Empire between the year 1690 and 1720. For comparison, lute-like musical instrument were portrayed in the ancient Egyptian tomb painting traced back to the 18^th dynasty, so perhaps predating evolution of the musical instrument by 3,000 years.

A typical sitar could have 18, 19 or 20 strings. 6 or 7 of them are played strings that run over curved, raised fret and the remaining strings of the instrument are sympathetic strings that run beneath the frets and resonate in sympathy with the played strings. The frets of the instrument are movable, permitting fine tuning on the sitar. The played strings of the instrument run to tuning pegs on the head or near the head of the sitar, while the sympathetic strings of the instrument that are made of different length, pass through small holes in the fret board of the instrument to engage with the smaller tuning pegs that pass down the neck of the instrument.

The musical instrument has two bridges; the large bridge of the instrument that is there for the playing and drone strings and the smaller bridge of the instrument for the playing of the sympathetic strings. The tone quality of the sitarresult from the way the strings of the instrument communicate with the wide, sloping bridge of the sitar. As a string of the instrument reverberates its length alters slightly as its edge touches with the bridge of the instrument, promoting the production of overtones and giving the sound its unique tone. The maintenance of this particular tone by shaping the bridge of the instrument is known as ‘jawari’. Many players of the instrument depend on the producers of the instrument tom adjust this for them.

The bridges of the instrument are attached to the main resonating chamber, or kaddu at the base of the sitar. Some instruments have a secondary resonator, the tumbaa, near the top of the neck. The materials that are used for the construction of the musical instrument include teak wood or tun wood that is a variation of the mahogany wood, for the neck and the faceplate of the instrument and a gourd for the resonating chamber of the instrument. The bridges of the musical instrument are produced of deer horn, ebony or from the camel.

There are three main modern styles of the sitar offered in a variety of sub-styles and decorative methods. The two popular patterns are the

‘gayaki style sitar’ and the full decorated ‘instrumental style sitar’. The gayaki style sitar is often produced of seasoned toon wood, with very few carved decorations on it. This normally has dark polish. The inlay decorations are often mother of pearl. The number of sympathetic strings is often limited to about 11 but may extend to about 13. Jawari grinding styles are also different as is the thickness of the soundboard. 

The instrumental style sitar is most often produced of seasoned too wood. But can be manufactured of teak sometimes. It is usually fitted with a second resonator, a small tumba on the instrument’s neck. This style is often fully decorated, with floral or grape carvings. Among the styles of this musical instrument, there are student styles, beginner styles, semi-pro and pro-styles as well as master styles. Prices of these styles of the instrument are determined by the manufacturer of the instrument and not just the look of the instrument or the materials used for the production of the instrument.

Though not technically a sitar, the electric version of the sitar is a guitar that has a special bridge that is known as the buzz bridge and sympathetic strings that mimic the sitar instrument. The electric version of the musical instrument has 6 strings and do not have frets.

The tuning of the sitar depends on the schools or the style of the instrument, as well as the tradition and each artist’s personal preference. The main performing string is almost invariably tuned to a perfect 4^th above the tonic, the second string of the instrument is tuned to the tonic. the sympathetic strings of the instrument are tuned to the notes of the raga being performed, but there is a little stylistic variance as to the other of these, they are typically tuned:

• I Sa= D
• VII Ni= C#
• I Sa= D
• II Re= E
• III Ga= F#
• IV Ma= G
• V Pa= A
• VI Dha= B
• VII Ni= C#
• I Sa= D
• II Re= E
• III Ga= F#

The player of the instrument should retune for each raga. The strings of the instrument are tuned by the tuning pegs, and the main playing strings of the instrument can be fine-tuned by sliding a bead threaded on each strings just below the bridge of the sitar.