There is a recurring theme in music, and in Indian Classical music, in particular: musical instruments change and evolve to keep pace with the changes in music. Some musical instruments become extinct, some get modifed and some new instruments emerge. Sitar, Surbahar and Chandraveena, the three instruments we look at today, are no exceptions.

Sitar

The word “Sitar” originates from the Persian word Sehtar. Today, the Sitar is a highly evolved and a very sophisticated concert instrument in Indian Classical music. The traditional Sehtar is still played in the music of Middle Eastern countries. Both in terms of physical structure and in terms of acoustics, you can see and hear the difference between the two instruments. These differences are a result of the evolution of the instrument which occurred out of the needs of Indian Classical music.

Surbahar

Surbahar is a bass instrument. One could say it is a “bass Sitar”. It has many structural similarities to Sitar. It was likely invented around the 1800s. The anecdotes that I have heard are that many Rudra Veena players of the past would not teach Rudra Veena to students outside their family. So, for those who wished to play Dhrupad or Rudra Veena style of music, they were taught Surbahar. It is likely that this instrument was invented out of this need. Regardless of the story, Surbahar is indeed a beautiful sounding instrument. For a long period of time, Alap was played on Surbahar, and faster compositions or Gats were played on Sitar. But today, especially from the last 100 years or so, Sitar is a very versatile instrument, capable of playing both Alap and Gat.

Chandraveena

Chandraveena is a new musical instrument born out of my musical necessity. If you want to know the motivation for “Why Chandraveena” or the story of “The Making of Chandraveena”, please read the linked posts. You can also learn more about the differences between Saraswati Veena and Chandraveena both structurally and also their musical consequences.

Special Note on PureTones

All tracks in this performance are accompanied by a very unique drone (Tanpura) accompaniment track. This drone track is synthesized from a project called PureTones. It has been microtonally adjusted to precisely suit the scale of the Raga. As mentioned in the video, to understand string behavior, harmonics, javari, and its implications, you can read the article here.

Program Notes

In this video, I talk about different structural aspects of Sitar, Surbahar and Chandraveena. I compare and contrast the instruments along with short demos on all the instruments. I hope this information helps you in understanding these instruments better, and appreciate the music more.

Program

1. Raga Alapana in Raga Bhimpalasi on Sitar (Exclusive for Bandcamp patrons)
2. Raga Alapana in Raga Gavati on Sitar
3. Structure and design of Sitar
4. Raga Alapana in Raga Abhogi on Surbahar
5. Sitar vs Surbahar: a side-by-side comparison
6. A Brief Introduction to Chandraveena
7. Raga Alapana in Raga Rageshri on Chandraveena

Raga Alapana in Raga Bhimpalasi on Sitar (Exclusive for Bandcamp patrons)

Raga Alapana is an improvisation and a systematic presentation of a Raga. This part has no rhythmic accompaniment. It has three parts - Alap, Jod and Jhala. This format is also known as Ragam and Tanam.

Here are some notes about the Raga.

Raga - Bhimpalasi

Scale - Sa Re ga ma Pa Dha ni

Family - Palasi (Sa Re ga Ma Pa ni)

Melakarta - Kharaharapriya (Sa Re ga ma Pa Dha ni)

Prahar - 4th Prahar (3 pm - 6 pm)

Raga Alapana in Raga Gavati on Sitar

Here are some notes about the Raga.

Raga - Gavati

Scale - Sa Re Ga ma Pa Dha ni

Family - Palasi (Sa Re ga Ma Pa ni)

Melakarta - Kharaharapriya (Sa Re ga ma Pa Dha ni)

Prahar - 4th Prahar (3 pm - 6 pm)

Raga Alapana in Raga Abhogi on Surbahar

Here are some notes about the Raga.

Raga - Abhogi

Scale - Sa Re ga ma Dha

Family - Kanada (Sa Re ga ma Pa dha ni)

Melakarta - Natabhairavi (Sa Re ga ma Pa dha ni)

Prahar - 6th Prahar (9 pm - 12 am)

Raga Alapana in Raga Rageshri on Chandraveena

Here are some notes about the Raga.

Raga - Rageshri

Scale - Sa Re Ga ma Pa Dha ni

Family - Kharaharapriya (Sa Re ga ma Pa Dha ni)

Melakarta - Harikhamboji (Sa Re Ga ma Pa Dha ni)

Prahar - 6th Prahar (9 pm - 12 am)

Reading the scale

In Indian Classical Music, the seven notes in an octave are called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni and then Sa comes again. Notes with a capitalised first letter are called Tivra (or sharp) notes. E.g., Ga and Dha in Gavati above. Notes written fully in lower case are called Komal (or flat) notes. E.g., ma and ni in Rageshri. Sa and Pa are always written with a capitalized first letter.

Prahar

In Indian Classical Music, Ragas are classified into Prahars (time periods of a day or night) which are said to represent the most appropriate time to perform the Raga.

Credits

Artist

Sitar, Surbahar and Chandraveena - S Balachander

Production

Sadharani Music Works - https://www.sadharani.com

Release Links

The musical comparison of Sitar, Surbahar and Chandraveena is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPOx5h_GVZs.

The above video contains excerpts from a Raga Alapana in Raga Rageshri on Chandraveena. The complete recording of the Raga Alapana is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9bVDAwLJyo.

Purchase CD quality audio of the musical performances from this program from https://chandraveena.bandcamp.com/album/sitar-surbahar-and-chandraveena-a-musical-comparison.