How do you tune a sitar?

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KingstonRock

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A friend of mine just bought sitar, I guess he just thought it would be funny, because he doesnt play sitar or guitar or any instrument for that matter. Does anyone know anything about string/tuning them, I told him that I could probably help just from what I know about music, even if all the notes are named differently and the tunings are completely different.

Eric
 
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Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm burning the evening fattie.
 
It's extremely complex, but I'll try and make it as simple as possible. Usually a sitar is tuned to the scale of C or C#. I guess if you're using it to play non-indian music, C wld be a better choice and much easier to transpose to play songs in other keys.

The main playing string (The thinnest gauge one) is generally tuned to F below middle C. The other playing strings are tuned in 4ths and 5ths (ie C and G an octave/2 octaves below middle C). There are "chikari" strings which are tuned to in fifths (C and G). Sympathetic strings is tuned to the scale of the song...so cld be a mjaor scale, minor scale etcetc...u get the idea.

Cheers!
 
Woah....I didnt know people played those things any more. They sound cool though. got the twangy goodness. do they make bass sitars? who knows. i guess that was one of those impulse buys, like my cousins digerido *sp?* you know its one of those long tube things those aborginals blow into. its fun to play.

freak
 
As a matter of fact, the sitar is still very much in vogue in India, in fact as far as traditional Indian instruments are concerned, the sitar would occupy the top spot. Lots of pple play it! :)

Bass sitar...you cld put thicker gauge strings, but the increased string tension may cause the soundboard to break in half! :o

Cheers!
 
Drone instruments never went away...

Case in point:


http://www.beyondthetrees.com/sympb.htm

Fred Carlson, that Vermont hippie from my youth, started making cool guitars up in Burlington and then Went West. In the process, people started playing his Sympitars. Fred is now one of the most highly respected luthiers alive, and his work is flat out amazing. I never met the guy, although I saw him a few times in the old days. (Damn. Another lost opportunity...)

Look closely at these pictures. In addition to the harp guitar aspect (additional bass strings) note the number of tuning machines and then the number of strings. There is a mismatch because Fred designed this instrument to incorporate tuneable sympathetic strings running through the neck and to a mount near the tailblock, inside the instrument. Imagine what it takes to build something like this and engineer it to maintain structural integrity. As far as I am concerned, Fred Carlson is the Michael Hedges of lutherie or, perhaps more appropriately, the Fred Carlson of lutherie.


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fred%20with%20oracle%20bracing.JPG
 
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