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So I just bought a sitar....NOT!


miroslav

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Posted

Picked up what appears to be a very well cared for used sitar (about 10 years old). Got it on eBay for only $232 w/shipping (and I paid for it with PayPal ;) ).

 

It's a double toomba...nicely decorated...and comes with a hard case. :thu:

 

Been wanting one for a couple of years now...and finally got one for a great price (not too many bidders this late on a Sunday night). :D

 

http://i5.ebayimg.com/05/i/07/80/88/b4_12.JPG

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

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Posted

Oh mannnn that's cool. :thu:

 

Wish I hadn't a looked at this topic though, it's causing me some major GAS pains. :eek:

 

I have no idea how those sitar contraptions work, but IMO they're magical sounding thangs.

Just a pinch between the geek and chum

 

 

Posted
Originally posted by Geoff Byrne:

What would send me crazy is the fact that you can move the frets around..........

On the POSITIVE side, you can explore all sorts of REALLY alternative tunings. By moving the frets, you can muck around with the intervals themselves. I don't have that sort of patience myself but I can see how it would be very interesting.
Posted

http://www.clivearrowsmith.co.uk/galleries/web200205/images/n.jpg

 

RAGA 'N' ROLL, BAYBEE!!!

"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine"
Posted

That is really interesting Miro. :thu:

Fun Fun Fun. You will have to record something and post a clip for us.

bbach

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

Posted

I've never played a sitar or a sarod, although there is a music store in the Village where they are for sale. And I have loved Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan and others for years! Of course, I approach it as another form of lead guitar playing... sorry, Ravi!

 

ANY instrument is hard to master, but a good guitarist should be able to pick one up and come up with a nice lick or two... maybe I'm wrong, but I think so! Any input from sitarists welcome!

Posted
Originally posted by Pappy P:

Yeah, Batgirl brought up a great question.

 

Where do get the strings?

I suppose you could buy several packs of guitar strings, use needle nose pliers to twist them together, end to end, and make big long strings...You'd have to watch out for the pointy bits where they are twisted though. It could give you one heck of a cut if you did a slide.
Posted
That was funny, and when taken in the context of Spock smoking a cigarette... it was frickin' hilarious. As if Spock just got done showing them the "disappearing Vulcan sausage" trick, and them lingering a while afterwards.
"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine"
Posted
Originally posted by A String:

Originally posted by Pappy P:

Yeah, Batgirl brought up a great question.

 

Where do get the strings?

I suppose you could buy several packs of guitar strings...
No, you can find 'em around, it's easier than I would have thought... here's someone selling La Bellas, fer instance...

 

http://www.juststrings.com/sitar.html

Posted

There are plenty of online dealers where strings, mizrabs (picks), parts...etccan be gotten.

 

A complete string set can be had for about $30-$40...depending on style/type/brand.

It appears that there are many personal string/tuning variations made popular by the big-name players...so it's not a very straightforward setup...

...but at this point, I'm sure I will be able to coax enough sitar sounds out of it to use as ear-candy on some tunes.

As far as really getting proficient as a player...it depends on how intrigued I become...but I've always enjoyed sitar music, and I have quite a few CDs/Albums that feature sitar.

One of the earliest sitar/Indian soundtracks that caught my attention was the music from "Charlie" (a movie that came out in the mid-60s, I believe).

Ravi Shankar did that soundtrack...it was quite interesting and enjoyable.

 

Hey...a few years ago I bought a pedal steel guitar...

..and while I'm not a *player*...I have played it and recorded some sweet pedal steel on a couple of tunes! :cool:

 

I'm planning on using the sitar on at least one of the songs that will be on the album I'm working on right now. (I was shooting for a summer "release"...but I'm moving a bit slower than planned, so hopefully by early fall.)

 

And yeah...I also want to get a cello or violin...as I think I can use some of those tones also!

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

Posted

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That's true of a number of non-Western stringed instruments, like the Turkish saz & cumbus, Persian & Afghani tar, as well as historical instruments like the viola da gamba. Alternate tunings are always available.

 

Scott Fraser

Scott Fraser
Posted

The Ali Akhbar Khan school of music has a shop in San Rafael, California which carries a number of Indian instruments & string sets for all of them. A web search should turn up an address. They do Internet sales.

 

Scott Fraser

Scott Fraser
Posted
Originally posted by miroslav:

I'm planning on using the sitar on at least one of the songs that will be on the album I'm working on right now. (I was shooting for a summer "release"...but I'm moving a bit slower than planned, so hopefully by early fall.)

You have to record a clip of that sucker for us. I'd love to hear it.
Posted

Congrats, Miro! :cool:

 

It's definitely a unique sound, and I imagine quite difficult to soft synth properly with all the drones.

 

Here's a search at Elderly Instruments for "sitar". In addition to selling strings online, it looks like they have new sitars for $370. So it sounds like you did real good on your price. (I've been to their store in Lansing a number of times.)

 

I like how the search turned up two gadgets and one book to get sitar-like sounds out of a guitar. :freak:

 

Ooh! Jerry Jones has a Coral repro! Not quite the same as a sitar, but what sitar discussion on a guitar board could go without mentioning the Coral? ;)

Posted
Originally posted by Justus A. Picker:

Too cool! I imagine tuning it will be a nightmare....

I think the trick is to make sure you are facing Mecca.... :P

"And so I definitely, when I have a daughter, I have a lot of good advice for her."

~Paris Hilton

 

BWAAAHAAAHAAHAAA!!!

 

Posted

I brought my guitar to the Guitar Museum in Long Island to have my headstock fixed, and was surprised to see sitar strings for sale!

 

And at the place in the village I bought my sarod pick, which is great for playing lead with a strong sound. I highly recommend it, except that you have to be careful. They are made out of coconut shell and if carry it in your wallet and sit on it, you can break it!

 

Sitar picks are these tight fitting metal wires on your fingers, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to use THEM! I guess you can get used to anything, though.. even BARRE CHORDS!

Posted
I wish I knew how to play a sitar, I really really wish I knew. Damn, so tell us is it hard to play sitar? Anyone who knows can you tell me?
I am known as Valentinez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gombigobilla Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser the Third Dont hesitate to call
Posted
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g30/scmcfaul/78855DIKH_w.jpg
What a horrible night to have a curse.

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