SARANGI
I started to play the sarangi in the mid- 1990s, after hearing Ustad Sultan Khan's beautiful playing on the soundtrack for the movie Gandhi. I am almost completely self taught, with some basic playing technique instruction by a couple of sarangi players.
The first thing to do when one starts to play the sarangi is to make sure that it fits your hands. I had to completely disassemble the instrument and modify the string height and spacing to make it work for my hands (which are much larger than "Indian hands"). While at it, I also removed a heavy coat of schellac, exposing the raw wood and intricate inlays. And I swapped the main gut strings for cello strings to mellow the sound of the instrument. The addition of a dual sensor piezo pickup completed my tweak. The sarangi is a difficult instrument to play because you use the cuticles of your left hand to "pitch the instrument" while bowing with your right hand. Baby powder helps to avoid blisters but it takes practice and patience to get this lovely instrument to sing. Also pictured are several more sarangis that I own but that are in less than perfect condition. I recently re-strung my main instrument after the bone bridge broke- a three day process to restring, clean, and fix the sarangi. It is truly an instrument from another era. |
|