Sursingar: India musical instrument

The sursinger is a musical instrument that is seen in India. The musical instrument is a lute-derived sarod, except it is bigger in size and manufactures deeper sound. The musical instrument precedes the sarod chronologically.

source of picture: indische-instrumente.de

The neck of the musical instrument has a metal fingerboard and the steel and bronze strings are performed with a metal plectrum. The bridge of the musical instrument is produced of a flat horn. The musical instrument has two resonant boxes; the main box of the musical instrument is produced from a cut pumpkin, on which a wooden cover is affixed.

The main body of the musical instrument is produced of wood and not of leather. The sound producing mechanism of the musical instrument is formed by a gourd. The gourd is fixed to a hollow wooden handle. The handle of the instrument is covered sometimes with a metal plate to facilitate the glissando. The musical instrument has four main strings and four rhythmic drones called chikari. The strings of the instrument are manufactured of brass rather than a cat gut in the earlier versions of the musical instrument. These modifications resulted in the increase of resonance in the musical instrument and thereby leading to the popularity of the instrument.