Homepage >> Forum Archives >> Archives >> Sitar Forum >> This Page

INDIAN MUSIC FORUM ARCHIVES: Sitar Forum: tuning up in wv

 

Author Message
rg
tuning up in wv Aug 30, 2003 12:13 p.m.

Okay,
I got the sitar back from the music store with all of the strings. The guy tried to tune the thing - but I don't think he did a good job. I have a clamp on guitar tuner, and would like a suggestion on how to tune the strings - especially the sympathestic strings so I can get that "harp like" sound which begins most of Ravi's stuff.
PS - just got ravi's 80th birthday dvd - awesome
rg
pb
Re:tuning up in wv Aug 30, 2003 12:52 p.m.

Hey Rg,
I clamp my pickup clip onto the nut or bridge and tune the tarabs according to the raag. Make sure your Sa is right and match it with the first tarab (caveat: sometimes cheap tarab strings may break), the same for Re, Ga etc. What ever notes are in the aroha/avaroha of the raaga. I always use two tarabs tuned to the vadi and samvadi for extra emphasis.

Pb
Jeff
Re:tuning up in wv Aug 30, 2003 12:53 p.m.

Hi,
Tune the top strings F-C-G-C-G-C-c the 4th string C is an octave lower than the 2nd string C and the 7th string c (chikari) is an octave higher than the 6th (chikari).
for the tarbs I tune them c - b - c - d - e - f - g - a - b - c - d - e - f.
I actually tune to C# now but C is good for total begginers. Also go to sitarsetc,,, web site and click on the knowledge center, there is a few diagrams and charts for tunings.
The best way I found to tune the sympathetics is to tune them by the fretted ma (first) string notes. fret 7th fret 1st string that will give you C and tune the 1st longest symp, to that. Then fret 6th fret 1st string and that gives you B then tune 2nd symp, to that note, go back to 7th fret again for C then 8th fret for D then 10th fret for E and so on.
Hope this helps but I'm sure you'll get better explanations then mine soon enough.
Good luck! :-)
Jeffrey R King
AJ
Re:tuning up in wv Aug 30, 2003 01:55 p.m.

Hi rg! I'd been mucking about with tuning for a long time and recently got some advice that seems to be working really well for me. . . .!
I tune all my taribs first, keeping my hand on the upper strings to prevent reverse resonance.
The reason to tune the taribs first is that they resonate even when not exactly in tune and mislead your ear, tuning the top strings becomes impossible. . . . .
I tune them, from lowest to highest like this (for bilval scale)
tarib strings:
C# C C# D# F F F# G# A# C C# D# F
1) Tune the SA sympathetics (C#)
2) Tune the PA or MA sympathetics (G#, F#)
3) Tune the 3 chikari strings, middle SA (C#),
PA (G#), top SA (C#) in that order
4) Tune the 2nd string SA (C#) exactly, it
should set off the SA(C#) & PA(G#)
sympathetics
5) Tune 3rd string PA(G#), & 4th string SA
(C#), in that order
6) check SA(C#) and PA/MA (G#/F#)
sympathetics
7) check all 3 chikari stings (C#, C#, G#)
:-) check 2nd string SA (C#)
9) tune main string MA (F#)
10) check 2nd string SA (C#) again
11) tune the rest of the sympathetics
12) make sure the frets are in the right place
The second string SA (C#) must be checked most, it sets off more sympathetic action than any other string on the instrument. . .tends to be the least stable string on most sitars

You can break this down into 3 steps:
1) tune tarib strings
2) tune top strings, check and recheck
3) check position of frets

I was also told that I MUST be able to sing the scale I'm tuning to because first, you have to tune your head, THEN you can tune the sitar, which makes a great deal of sense to me : )

hope this helps some, all I know is it's really helped me. . . . . .I was getting a bit worn out of it, the hodge podge way I was going about it, this has made a difference. . . . .still takes me a while though but it sounds much better to me now

see ya
AJ
AJ
Re:tuning up in wv Aug 30, 2003 01:57 p.m.

Hmmm, don't know why the kewl smokey smiley came up for step :-), I didn't put him there! tried to change it but it wouldn't work!
oh well!
best of luck to you in your tuning!

AJ
Billy
Re:tuning up in wv Aug 30, 2003 04:59 p.m.

AJ (Aug 30, 2003 01:57 p.m.):
hmmm, don't know why the kewl smokey smiley came up for step :-), I didn't put him there! tried to change it but it wouldn't work!
oh well!AJ

The "smileys" on the board are entered using common key combinations. To see what they are, when writing a message, click on the "Emotions Legend" to the left of the box where you type the message.

The "kewl smokey smiley" is created by a combination of the number 8 followed by a right parens. So when you do 1), 2), 3). . .no problem, but when you get to step 8, you got the smiley.

This is one of several things I don't like about this board's software. I'm not at all critical of Chandra and David for providing this board, its not their fault that the software is somewhat remedial, but being so the software does cause a few problems. I've been considering opening a new board using better software, but I certainly don't want to compete with what is already a good thing. So I'm quite conflicted. Guess for now, I'll leave well enough alone, and just try to chill about the software. :-)

Namaste',
Billy Enigmar Godfrey
Jeff
Re:tuning up in wv Aug 30, 2003 08:05 p.m.

Billy please dont start up a new board. I'm warm and comfy right here.:-)
Jeffrey R King
Billy
Re:tuning up in wv Aug 30, 2003 09:36 p.m.

Jeff (Aug 30, 2003 08:05 p.m.):
Billy please dont start up a new board. I'm warm and comfy right here.:-)

Like I said, for I'll leave well enough alone. If everyone else can live with this software, then I'll learn to.

Namaste',
Billy Enigmar Godfrey
Beenkarji
Re:tuning up in wv Aug 31, 2003 02:40 a.m.

I dont know, maybe a new forum would be cooler. I dont like the way you post images, and you cannot easily attach other media unless you are a computer whiz. So, if you can somehow build a forum where we could post pictures, sound and links easily, by all means do it. I think it would be really cool not to see all of these ads and stuff, and something besides the color yellow as a background. .lol
Beenkar Ted Ceplina
Billy
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 08, 2003 02:34 p.m.

I'm replying to this topic only to bring it to the top of the new topics, as questions about tuning are asked quite often, and I really like AJ's answer above to this.
Namaste',
Billy Enigmar Godfrey
AJ
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 08, 2003 04:44 p.m.

Thanks Billy!
What a nice compliment!
Welp, all I know is that since I've started tuning with this method, it goes much better and sounds WAY better!
I was getting very frustrated, getting to the point I dreaded even picking Her up many times, I was spending so much time trying to tune and it sounded lousy. . .and I mean ALOT of time tuning, I was not getting much scale work in at all (let's just say it had ceased to be much fun at all, in fact, a total bummer!)
This has worked wonders for me and if it helps anyone else at all, well that's the idea!
Everyday I am grateful to the kind soul who gave me this method!
Thanks again for the kudos!
I'll be sure to pass them on to the source!

AJ
Jeff
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 08, 2003 05:05 p.m.

AJ, I thought I was the only person who said "Welp" although I spell it "Whelp" I have never heard anyone but me say this non-word. Where did you pick it up from? Actually I think I picked it up when I was a kid, me being a "piney hick" and all.
Jeffrey R King
Billy
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 08, 2003 06:13 p.m.

Welp, I say it all the time, but I don't think I've ever typed it before. But then again, I'm "fixin'" to go eat dinner. . .

What can I say, I grew up in Texas! Though as a theatre student in my first stent in college, I worked hard to get rid of the Texan accent, its harder to get rid of the expressions!

Namaste',
Billy Enigmar Godfrey
AJ
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 08, 2003 06:15 p.m.

Hmm, ya know Jeff, I honestly don't know. . .!
I've been saying "welp shoot, shucks, sh*t etc etc" for ages. .I like it better thank "well, shoot! (or shucks or sh** or whatever happens to be apropos to whatever is going on/happening at any particular moment in time, heheh)
I dunno. . . .just the way I talk, I guess. . .at least when I'm being casual, relaxed, hanging out, etc etc. . . . .must've heard it from somebody when I was a kid, that's my best guess. . . .that's the best I can offer here on that one. . .!

Welp, guess I'll go!
See ya round like an oilbox!
AJ
Jeff
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 09, 2003 12:14 a.m.

Whelp,, I thought that was just a piney word from here abouts in south jersey. Heres some more.

Apple palsey = Drunk.
Antmires = Ants.
Point = Fork in the road.
Beant Going = I'm not leaving.
Sneakbox = Small boat.
Boughten = a loan.
Twernt Not = No I didn't.
Dish of,,= Cup of tea, coffee, milk,etc,,,.
Ketchy = Changing weather.
Menders = A feild or meadow.
Nooin= Lunch time.
Snew = Past tense for snow.
Turkles = Turtles.
Waspers = anykind of bee.
You's = More than one person.

Now,, dont you's wished you's lived here? :-)

Jeffrey R King
AJ
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 09, 2003 01:16 a.m.

Heheh, sounds like a fella'd need a translation book with ya!
Probably easier to understand than espanol tho!

AJ
Stephen
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 09, 2003 08:25 a.m.

A "welp/whelp" is what my mother (English teacher) used to threaten giving to us for improper use of the language. She's not around anymore and she certainly never heard me talk while on bourbon. But it isn't just a Jersey thing.
Believe me, I heard many jokes about my Kentucky take on the use of English during my ten year tenure in New York, I thought it best to leave the jokes about the way they talk alone as I was severly outnumbered. And like our language isn't a challenge enough, we try to sort out the many variations on terms that come out of India. I get a lot of laughs from Indians when they hear what I've taught myself in the Hindi language (I suppose that Beenie has a better handle on this than I do). I commonly screw it up and talk like a girl as one set of tapes that I had primarily used a female speaker (although she was much clearer in her pronunciation than the guy). I've got to be careful about which gender I speak in (I usually realize what I've done just after my big mouth executes it). I need an Indian girlfriend, I suppose.
Billy
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 09, 2003 10:05 a.m.

Stephen (Sep 09, 2003 08:25 a.m.):
I commonly screw it up and talk like a girl as one set of tapes that I had primarily used a female speaker (although she was much clearer in her pronunciation than the guy).

This brings up a point I've wondered about; I work around quite a few Indians, have even had Indian supervisors on a couple of occasions. Now I have Hard-Rock hearing, which seems to make it harder for me to understand heavy accents. It always seems to me that I can understand a Indian woman much more easily than a Indian man. Is that just me, or is there some reasoning behind this?

Namaste',
Billy Enigmar Godfrey
AJ
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 09, 2003 02:15 p.m.

"Now I have Hard-Rock hearing, which seems to make it harder for me to understand heavy accents. It always seems to me that I can understand a Indian woman much more easily than a Indian man. Is that just me, or is there some reasoning behind this?"

Maybe your ears can hear higher pitched sounds clearer, Billy?

AJ
Billy
Re:tuning up in wv Sep 09, 2003 03:47 p.m.

AJ (Sep 09, 2003 02:15 p.m.):
Maybe your ears can hear higher pitched sounds clearer, Billy?
AJ

Perhaps, although usually such hearing damage is in the higher registers. But I found the last time I had a hearing test many years ago, that my sensitivity was damaged fairly flat throughout the range. My hearing still isn't that bad, even with the damage (which came more from ten years in the Army than Rock), but it sure isn't what it used to be. Who knows, maybe I can just relate to the women better :-)

Namaste',
Billy Enigmar Godfrey
[Previous] [Up] [Next]

SPONSORED LINKS