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Tutorial
Care for the Tanpura
Sitars
and tanpuras are instruments which must be cared for
like a baby. In fact, tanpuras and sitars are such
instruments which have to be constantly monitored. Sitars and tanpuras are extremely expensive outside of India and one
mishap can cost you from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
On
a lighter note, here are some simple things you can do to care for your tanpura or sitar
1) Whatever you do, protect the gourd!
The
gourd is made from a pumpkin! Imagine taking all the juice outside of a
pumpkin, having it dried out, and then used as a sound-box for an instrument!
It'll be delicate like anything. Avoid any sudden movements with the instrument
and carry a carrying case. It is worth the extra money getting the case rather
than wasting more money trying to repair the damaged gourd or getting an
entirely new instrument! Whatever you do, protect the gourd as if it was a
baby!
2) Loosen your strings!
For
tanpuras, it should not be problem. For sitars,
however, it'll be drag to loosen the strings and then retightened them up again
when it comes time to practice or perform. But it is very important for the
vitality of the instrument. Un-slacked tanpuras and
sitars will loosen in the range of tuning. In addition, it'll slowly damage the
bridge. In the tanpura and the sitar, the flat bridge
is known as the jawari, made of camel bone. The
contour of the jawari is done in such a way, that the
unique buzz forms. Due to age and strings tensions on the jawari,
the strings will cut grooves into the jawari which
will result in dull, muffled, or off-key sounds. This is why the jawari has to be filed. Of course, if you slack your
strings, the frequency of performing jawari
fine-tuning is less than tight strings.
3) Change your strings every three
months!
If
you play your instrument every day, then change its strings every three months.
If you play it here and there, you can extent that period to every six or seven
months. It's just proper maintenance requirements of the instrument.
4) Avoid extreme temperatures!
Treat
the sitar or tanpura as if it was a person. Better
yet, treat it as if it was a baby. They will react to any weather condition you
put it through. In the heat, the wood can crack and the entire instrument will
be no good. In the cold, the gourd will break. In either state, the strings
will slacked or loosen or just go off-key. Keep it in a room with a controlled
temperature.
5) Do not leave it unsupervised!
Kids
get easily fascinated with any Indian instrument. Even though it’s good for
their morale, it can be potentially hazardous for the owner. Keep it away from
children in such a spot where there is a controlled room temperature in a case
with a lock.
Of
course... mistakes can happen. One day, you might end up accidentally placing
the instrument too hard on the ground and you hear a crack and created a hole
in the gourd. If it has a hairline crack, don't worry about it. Just treat it a
little more sensitively. If you seem holes or a huge break, then you will end
up having to find all of those broken shells and have it repaired. The way tanpura and sitar repair people fix broken gourds is they
take the pieces of the broken gourd and fix them together. The result is a
gourd which is much stronger than before. The best bet overall is just to buy
an entire new instrument. In most cases, it's cheaper to do that than to get it
repaired in America.
For
those insisting on getting it repaired, here is great link on how to fix gourd issues.
UPDATED: June 23, 2009