P. & Brothers Female Tanpura Hybrid
The Female Tanpura Hybrid by P. & Brothers has the traditional design with gourd resonator, but is only as long as a typical instrumental tanpura. The perfect female tanpura for travelling!
This noble brand instrument offers high-quality materials and workmanship and the sound of a good female tanpura with tonic between G an A: very balanced, round, full and rich in overtones. At 110 cm, the Female Tanpura Hybrid is considerably shorter than traditional female tanpuras. Accordingly, the top is somewhat narrower and the gourd resonator smaller. This makes the sound somewhat finer and the overall instrument more compact and much easier to carry. The additional fifth playing string strengthens the resonance vibrations and allows interesting variations in tuning. The almost pigment-free varnish shows off the natural wood grain very nicely. The ornamentation is quite simple and tasteful, with carved blossom pegheads as a little extra.
Sound sample played on one of our P. & Brother Hybrid female tanpura in G#
- Top and neck made of toon wood
- synthetic bridge
- five playing strings
- highly polished shellac surfaces
- gourd body
- celluloid inlay work
- blossom pegheads
- including padded carrying bag
P. & BROTHERS is a very small, relatively little known family business in its third generation in Calcutta. Originally, the company was founded in Dhaka, in today’s Bangladesh. After India became independent and divided, the three sons of the founder Gopal Karmakar moved to Calcutta. Initially they worked with other musical instrument manufacturers and finally opened up a joint business under the present name in 1953. Among their customers were, e.g. Nikhil Banerjee, Kartik Kumar and Manilal Nag.
Today, Suman Karmakar is running the business, a grandson of Gopal Karmakar. Especially in a small company like this every instrument is made and checked with great individual care. As we have been continually working together with P. & BROTHERS since setting up India Instruments in 1994, they supply us with rather high quality instruments at a relatively favourable price.
P. & BROTHERS is specialised in excellent sitars and tanpuras. Suman Karmakar has been taking advice from Hiren Roy's son Barun Roy, and his sitars come as close to Barun's as one can get. After 2010 P. & BROTHERS has also taken to making wonderful harmoniums, and we carry their harmoniums since 2015.
Dimensions: length 109 cm, width 37 cm, depth 34 cm, scale length 77 cm, weight: 2 kg
Each instrument is a handmade unique piece, which can individually deviate from the specifications given here.