Hello;
It is obvious to those of us who play either the tun and teak models of Mangla Prasad Sharma sitar that this is a top-end, high quality instrument, suitable for professional sitarists. But those I know play this sitar for their personal enjoyment and maybe on an amateur basis for a few friends. I am curious. Are there any sitarists out there who play a Mangla professionally? Do you prefer it over the other well- knowns? Thanks.
Yes, Indrajiit Bannerjee play Mangla Sharma. nice sehtar. yes. well made, i feel. He professionael player. Have CD of Indrajiit playing Mangla or other. Huti Verma
Russ (Jan 09, 2002 02:28 p.m.):
Hello;
It is obvious to those of us who play either the tun and teak models of Mangla Prasad Sharma sitar that this is a top-end, high quality instrument, suitable for professional sitarists. But those I know play this sitar for their personal enjoyment and maybe on an amateur basis for a few friends. I am curious. Are there any sitarists out there who play a Mangla professionally? Do you prefer it over the other well- knowns? Thanks.
Hello Huti,
From the photos on Indrajit's CD's ( got 'em all!) I do not recognize his Sitar as a Mangla Prasad Sharma. He endorses them but I do not know if he actually plays them. I'd be curious to know what he does play. It may be an older family heirloom. I think Russ took a lesson from him, so maybe he knows. Sinda
Hi guys;
Yes, I took quite a few lessons from him. Planning on doing it again next year.
He does own a Mangla but does not play it professionally. He has played a special old Hiren Roy for so many years, that he will not play another sitar in concert until his old one is no longer playable. Only then perhaps will we hear his Mangla. Might be well seasoned by then. . .
Another very good (IMHO) up and coming maker is Manoj Kumar Sardar. Nice tone, solid construction, quality materials and TLC with each instrument. I can't remember if they're out of Delhi or Calcutta. Happt New Year to all. Kerry Fredrichs. USA
Happy new year to you Kerry and everyone else out there in ICM land. I have played a Kumar Sardar. .the one I played sounded like cross between a Miraj and a Hemen- if you can imagine what that would sound like. I thought it was a solid, well designed instrument with attention paid to every detail. It had a very sweet and sonorous(sp?) quality. The only thing I didn't like about it was the second gourd was very small- almost to the point of the instrument not balancing well when placed down earthbound.
Another very good (IMHO) up and coming maker is Manoj Kumar Sardar. Nice tone, solid construction, quality materials and TLC with each instrument. I can't remember if they're out of Delhi or Calcutta. Happt New Year to all. Kerry Fredrichs. USA[/quote]
Hi guys;
Yes, I have heard good things about the Manoj Kumar Sardar. I haven't heard one live yet. .
I believe MKS is Calcutta-based, and I think only recently (last year or so) began importing to the US. Only two sites I know of right now that advertise them for sale in the US.
With very few exceptions, the tiny neck tumba is a characteristic of all double-gourd sitars coming out of India. What I did was buy a 9 1/2-inch diameter Mangla neck gourd with collar, and replace the little gourd on a generic I have. Worked well, good balance now and there is a small sound change too. I use the old tiny gourd as a candle-holder now. Looks kind of cool, you know?
MKS is a large music store in Kolkata that sells electric guitars, etc. and sitars also. Rumour has it that they subcontract out for the making of their sitars. I've played one of their cheapest simple decoration models and it didn't sound too bad, actually sounded better than the fancy models for what it's worth. . . .
:-)
