All you must know before buying your tambura

Miscellaneous topics on Carnatic music
Post Reply
sadaa
Posts: 7
Joined: 26 Mar 2021, 23:05

All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by sadaa »

Hello all, new member here!

Would like to have some inputs on what to look for while buying a tambura.

Will be great if some of you could throw some light on these points-

- basic aspects to remember
- price range of tanjavur/miraj/trivandrum/mysore tamburas
- opinion on purchasing a tambura online
- how to check the genuineness
- authentic places to buy from
- any personal experiences that will help
- Old make vs New
- taking care of the beautiful instrument


Thank you!

Ananthakrishna
Posts: 130
Joined: 01 Nov 2019, 17:38

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by Ananthakrishna »

Vid. Rithwik Raja recently released a set of informative videos about the Tambura. Hopefully they'll answer most of your questions

Part 1: https://youtu.be/kANOvS2IVFc
Part 2: https://youtu.be/u0PZ1NPZLGw
Part 3: https://youtu.be/SPR-pwmtM3Y
Part 4: https://youtu.be/AYydc-RGgHU
Part 5: https://youtu.be/hkem8Ur2_6k


In general travel tamburas (or tanpuris) are far cheaper than their full sized counterparts. I have also seen that in general, Miraj tamburas are the most highly priced, followed by the Bobbili Ekaandi Tamburas, then Thanjavur, Andhra, Mysore and Trivandrum roughly fall in the same price range.

Maintenance work is far lesser on the travel tamburas, but there is still some work that needs to be done. We need to prevent rusting of the strings, and keep it in regular use. Also we must not vary the shruti very often, lest the pegs become very loose. The best way to learn how to use and maintain a Tambura is by asking your guru and observing how your guru handles it.

I have recently entered the "Tambura market" myself as a customer😀. So I don't know about all the manufacturers and sellers out there. But I can tell you that it is infinitely better to buy the Tambura straight from the manufacturer than any retail outlet. Buying straight from the manufacturer can assure you of quality, and you can also learn about the Tambura by associating with its makers.

I got my first Tambura quite recently, and because it was my first, I bought a travel tambura. I learnt how to tune and play a tambura long back from my guru, but I had to re-learn it through the excellent video series Rithwik Raja made! I bought a tambura whose natural shruti was C#. I initially experimented with tuning it to C and D, but I realised that the tambura sounds best when tuned to its natural frequency. So if you buy a tambura whose natural pitch is F#, preferably do not tune it to any other pitch, and definitely not to a pitch that is very "far" from F#. Please tune the tambura only at a pitch close to it's natural pitch.

A seasoned old Tambura will certainly have a better sound than a very recently manufactured one. But again, an old Tambura also has more maintenance work associated with it. So if you are buying a Tambura for the first time, always go new!!

I bought my Tambura from Rajat Satarmekar, a Tambura and sitar manufacturer based in Miraj. He manufactures some very fine Tamburas, and I think this is proved by the fact that in a recent concert of Vid. M S Aishwarya, one of the Tamburas she used was manufactured by the same person!! I'll give his phone number below (he doesn't mind, and I think he actually welcomes the publicity!)

Rajat Satarmekar- +919730311044

If I can think of any more information, I'll add it!

Happy buying!

kmrasika
Posts: 1258
Joined: 10 Mar 2006, 07:55

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by kmrasika »

If you want to make it a good investment and are in a position to maintain the instrument well, then invest in a Miraj(superlative sound quality). Yes, they're very costly owed to the painstaking process of hand-manufacturing them-the families in Miraj have been making them for generations. IINM, you have to custom order them,-they make them from scratch, perform gaņapati hōmam prior to your pickup/dispatch to your location.

Else, if you need more portable options, then the tanpuri versions would be practicable.(IINM,, they're foldable options available as well).

msakella
Posts: 2127
Joined: 30 Sep 2006, 21:16

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by msakella »

Very sadly, most of our Carnatic musicians do not have the right sense of the consonance or dissonance. Moreover, many of them are mostly addicted to one kind of dissonance or the other.
amsharma

sadaa
Posts: 7
Joined: 26 Mar 2021, 23:05

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by sadaa »

Ananthakrishna wrote: ↑06 Apr 2021, 20:10 Vid. Rithwik Raja recently released a set of informative videos about the Tambura. Hopefully they'll answer most of your questions
I did listen to the entire series, it was beautiful! That's what made me post the questions here, actually :)

I have a travel tambura that I got as a prize in a competition. Is it true that they are not made for a specific shruthi? Because when I received it, was surprised to find it tuned to C sharp. When I asked the organiser, they said all i needed to do was to change the strings to suit my shruthi (G sharp)

sadaa
Posts: 7
Joined: 26 Mar 2021, 23:05

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by sadaa »

kmrasika wrote: ↑06 Apr 2021, 20:41 If you want to make it a good investment and are in a position to maintain the instrument well, then invest in a Miraj(superlative sound quality). Yes, they're very costly owed to the painstaking process of hand-manufacturing them-the families in Miraj have been making them for generations. IINM, you have to custom order them,-they make them from scratch, perform gaņapati hōmam prior to your pickup/dispatch to your location.

Else, if you need more portable options, then the tanpuri versions would be practicable.(IINM,, they're foldable options available as well).
Is there any compromise in the sound of the travel tamburas as compared to the full sized ones?

I have two tamburas, one is a Miraj, but a shorter version and the other is a flat back version that I think they purchased from Chennai. I didn't get to choose either as they were given as a prize :)

Was not happy with the sound of the short Miraj, somehow feel that it is not made for my shruthi. Just never gets tuned to my satisfaction. Or might it be just because it is short?

The flat back is quite good in terms of the tone, volume and the tuning stays intact for a long time.

But I always wonder whether a full tambura be better and more "complete" with its sound.. when I took my Miraj to a music shop, he told that the sound of my short Miraj can come no where near the full Miraj, or was it just marketing, I don't know. :lol:

sadaa
Posts: 7
Joined: 26 Mar 2021, 23:05

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by sadaa »

@Ananthakrishna and @kmrasika , ever thankful for the beautifully summed up responses.

Ananthakrishna
Posts: 130
Joined: 01 Nov 2019, 17:38

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by Ananthakrishna »

sadaa wrote: ↑10 Apr 2021, 00:30
I have a travel tambura that I got as a prize in a competition. Is it true that they are not made for a specific shruthi? Because when I received it, was surprised to find it tuned to C sharp. When I asked the organiser, they said all i needed to do was to change the strings to suit my shruthi (G sharp)
Because travel tamburas don’t have the large resonating Koda that the full sized tamburas have, even if we tune to a frequency other than its own, the tonal quality is affected almost imperceptibly. However, even they do have a natural pitch of its own. Basically any resonating column has a natural resonating frequency, and so even the travel tambura will have it.

As mentioned before, with a travel tambura it is possible to change the strings and tune to any other pitch without significant loss in tonal quality. But this is something that I personally do not recommend. It’s always preferable to tune every tambura to its natural pitch only.

Ananthakrishna
Posts: 130
Joined: 01 Nov 2019, 17:38

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by Ananthakrishna »

sadaa wrote: ↑10 Apr 2021, 00:43
Is there any compromise in the sound of the travel tamburas as compared to the full sized ones?

I have two tamburas, one is a Miraj, but a shorter version and the other is a flat back version that I think they purchased from Chennai. I didn't get to choose either as they were given as a prize :)

Was not happy with the sound of the short Miraj, somehow feel that it is not made for my shruthi. Just never gets tuned to my satisfaction. Or might it be just because it is short?

The flat back is quite good in terms of the tone, volume and the tuning stays intact for a long time.

But I always wonder whether a full tambura be better and more "complete" with its sound.. when I took my Miraj to a music shop, he told that the sound of my short Miraj can come no where near the full Miraj, or was it just marketing, I don't know. :lol:
The short Miraj tambura of which you speak, does it have a gourd or doesn’t it? The presence of the gourd adds to the tone and sound. The full tamburas certainly do have an edge over travel tamburas when it comes to sound quality.

From what you have told us, you’ve clearly had experience maintaining and playing a tambura. As I bought first one recently, I took the “safe” option and chose a Miraj travel tambura :D . I think given that you have some experience now, you ought to go ahead and consider obtaining a full scale tambura only. Miraj tamburas are typically louder and slightly more resonant than the South Indian variety, So for a very balanced sound, if you don’t like how Miraj style sounds, you ought to try Mysore or Trivandrum perhaps. My guru personally prefers the Mysore, Trivandrum and Tanjore tamburas for their tonal quality. I posses only one tambura of my own, but I like the sound of Miraj, Trivandrum and Mysore quite a lot.

As far as the tuning is concerned, the fine tuning of a tambura is certainly tricky! Requires a lot of practice to get it right. If the pitch you are tuning it to is not close to the natural pitch, sometimes no matter how much you try the sound won’t feel right. I think with practice you’ll be able to tune tamburas to any pitch satisfactorily, so don’t worry about that now!!

Have you identified which style of making is the flat back tambura designed in? If you like the sound of that you can consider buying a full scale tambura designed in the same style.

sadaa
Posts: 7
Joined: 26 Mar 2021, 23:05

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by sadaa »

Ananthakrishna wrote: ↑10 Apr 2021, 03:03
The short Miraj tambura of which you speak, does it have a gourd or doesn’t it?
Yes, it does have a gourd. The only thing is that the height has been cut down. Because of that I think the sound lingers for a shorter period of time. I feel compelled to play faster, only then the sound of all the four strings come together and get linked. But the over all sound does not feel okay.

Ananthakrishna
Posts: 130
Joined: 01 Nov 2019, 17:38

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by Ananthakrishna »

I have had no experience with a Tambura of the kind you have described, but if the height has been cut down, when the strings are being plucked at the usual position, the sound may not last very long. Maybe pluck the strings at a position a little higher than usual, or pluck them with a little bit more force.

I had a problem sustaining the sound of my guru's tambura once. I remember that when I changed the jeeva strings and replaced them with a new, slightly thicker set the sound was not only louder, it was also sustained for a longer period of time. Perhaps try that.

If you play the strings too fast, the sound will be jarring and not musical. So try any other means of sustaining the sound.

Sometimes even if the jeeva strings are tight, and structurally everything is perfect, if the saarani and anusaarani are not in tune with each other, the resultant sound will be jarring (this is from personal experience). In that case the overall sound too doesn't feel right. So if all other methods fail, retune your Tambura, and the problem should be resolved.

kmrasika
Posts: 1258
Joined: 10 Mar 2006, 07:55

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by kmrasika »

@sadaa : Guage it by hearing the sound yourself.This is a somewhat full-size Miraj women's tanpura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QZi53ZQPVo&start=20s

sadaa
Posts: 7
Joined: 26 Mar 2021, 23:05

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by sadaa »

Ananthakrishna wrote: ↑11 Apr 2021, 19:10 I have had no experience with a Tambura of the kind you have described, but if the height has been cut down, when the strings are being plucked at the usual position, the sound may not last very long. Maybe pluck the strings at a position a little higher than usual,
Great! will try.
Ananthakrishna wrote: ↑11 Apr 2021, 19:10 I had a problem sustaining the sound of my guru's tambura once. I remember that when I changed the jeeva strings and replaced them with a new, slightly thicker set the sound was not only louder, it was also sustained for a longer period of time. Perhaps try that.

If you play the strings too fast, the sound will be jarring and not musical. So try any other means of sustaining the sound.

Sometimes even if the jeeva strings are tight, and structurally everything is perfect, if the saarani and anusaarani are not in tune with each other, the resultant sound will be jarring (this is from personal experience). In that case the overall sound too doesn't feel right. So if all other methods fail, retune your Tambura, and the problem should be resolved.
Have experimented with these, doesn't work for my short miraj :(

sadaa
Posts: 7
Joined: 26 Mar 2021, 23:05

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by sadaa »

kmrasika wrote: ↑11 Apr 2021, 20:09 @sadaa : Guage it by hearing the sound yourself.This is a somewhat full-size Miraj women's tanpura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QZi53ZQPVo&start=20s
Thank you for the link! Yes, the full tambura does make a huge difference, i think.

AhiriMusic
Posts: 16
Joined: 06 Sep 2020, 03:21

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by AhiriMusic »

Hi! Can someone recommend a manufacturer that can ship the Tambura to the USA? Or a dealer within the US?

TIA

msakella
Posts: 2127
Joined: 30 Sep 2006, 21:16

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by msakella »

There are more reliable drone instruments than this less useful Tanpura, but our outlook itself must change. msakella

kmrasika
Posts: 1258
Joined: 10 Mar 2006, 07:55

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by kmrasika »

AhiriMusic wrote: ↑14 May 2021, 04:41 Hi! Can someone recommend a manufacturer that can ship the Tambura to the USA? Or a dealer within the US?

TIA
Try the Musicians Mall. They have many types. For e.g., a miniature male tanpura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS6YBuy8Imw

@msakella : For modern convenience, we have the app/śruti box, etc. , but nothing comes close to a properly fine-tuned
strummed tanpura.

msakella
Posts: 2127
Joined: 30 Sep 2006, 21:16

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by msakella »

Unless you happen to eat more sweeter sweet than the one you in general eat daily you will not become aware that there will certainly be more sweeter sweets in the market than yours. msakella

thenpaanan
Posts: 635
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 19:45

Re: All you must know before buying your tambura

Post by thenpaanan »

Ananthakrishna wrote: ↑06 Apr 2021, 20:10 Vid. Rithwik Raja recently released a set of informative videos about the Tambura. Hopefully they'll answer most of your questions

Part 1: https://youtu.be/kANOvS2IVFc
Part 2: https://youtu.be/u0PZ1NPZLGw
Part 3: https://youtu.be/SPR-pwmtM3Y
Part 4: https://youtu.be/AYydc-RGgHU
Part 5: https://youtu.be/hkem8Ur2_6k
Thanks for posting these video links. I was not aware of them until now.

As Shri Raja says, there is no mention of tambura in our musical history until the seventeenth century. I wonder what our music sounded like before the advent of tamburas, since the audio ambience of the tambura is so essential and universal to today's classical music experience.

Also, the patron saint of music, namely Naarada muni, is often depicted with tambura in hand these days, which could be considered anachronistic. I wonder what someone like Saarngadeva would think of our use of tambura. It is another piece of evidence that not only is our music constantly evolving, but also that over the centuries the changes have been quite profound. Likewise, we should expect that our music will likely morph in the distant future into something quite different from what it is today (and possibly against our tastes).

-T

Post Reply