Vidvan RK Shriramkumar, along with the tambura maker Sri Dakshinamurti's son (the father, originally listed, was unable to be present) started this season's Academic Session series at the Music Academy with an insightful overview of the tambura. Some key points: requesting others to add -
i. RKSK pointed to likely origins of the instrument in central Asia, with instruments named tanbur, tunbūr, tamboura, etc. and to its occurrence in miniature paintings depicting Tansen [1500s] and Akbar.
ii. Richness of overtones in the tambura, not found in electronic tamburas: RKSK urged practitioners and organizers to bring the tambura back to the classroom and concert stage.
iii. Tanjavur, Trivandrum, Mysuru, Miruj and Calcutta tamburas were discussed and differences among them were pointed out - most notably the use of gourds as resonators in the Miruj tambura, which also dictates this instrument's placement on the floor rather on the lap.
iv. Importance of jiva - silk/cotton strings placed between the bridge plate and the metal strings to produce the buzzing tone.
v. Interesting anecdotes involving MS Subbulakshmi, KV Narayaswami and Kumar Gandharva who paid utmost attention to tuning/fine-tuning of the tambura and spent considerable time ensuring alignment of their voices to the tambura.
vi. The tambura maker (I apologize for missing his name) spoke about gauges used for tamburas tuned to lower ('male') and higher '(female') pitches.
Experts' Committee members added their reflections on wood seasoning practices, storage (velvet-lined box was mentioned), and an innovation of a second bridge inserted between the nut and the first bridge to reduce the length of the vibrating string and raise the pitch for female singers. TM Krishna, SK designate, wondered aloud if the concept of a rAga, which presupposes an AdhAra note, could have existed prior to the the advent of the tambura.
Some questions I would have liked to see addressed - maybe Uday and others on this forum nay be able to respond:
- the importance of the resonator upper surface being convex, and whether the surface flattens over time as it does in the Veena
- the tuning of tambura in panchama-varjya rAgas: given the time it takes to re-tune, does one omit strumming the panchama string while rendering tambura accompaniment to rAgas without panchama, , or re-tune Pa to Ma or Sa>
- diferences and similarities between the resonator of the tambura and veena in terms of the surface plank and thickness.
L Ramakrishnan (vainika)
169) 
