Dilruba Monoj Kumar Sardar Pro

The Dilruba Pro by Monoj Kumar Sardar offers a high quality of materials and workmanship and a full, powerful, round sound. The mechanical tuning pegs for all strings allow a very precise tuning quite easily. However, this also makes the instrument somewhat heavier than models with traditional wooden tuning pegs.

EU: 689 € (incl. bow)
incl. VAT, plus 19.10 € shipping within Germany / 34.10 € within Europe
Non-EU: 578.99 € (incl. bow)
plus 34.10 € shipping within Europe / overseas on request

The sympathetic strings are fitted with cogwheel mechanisms instead of the traditional wooden pegs. This makes tuning of the sympathetic strings considerably easier. Furthermore, the tuning stays stable whereas traditional wooden pegs slip out of place easily during transport or due to changes in temperature or humidity.


Features

Dark stained toon wood, synthetic varnish surfaces, sound box covered with goat skin, synthetic bridges, frets made of nickel silver, peg head with cogwheel mechanism for six melody strings and pegs for five sympathetic strings, 15 sympathetic cogwheel mechanisms on screwed sidebar, string holder made of metal, inlay work made of engraved celluloid, back side of sound box with carved decoration.

The included simple bow meets Indian quality standards but it cannot be compared with high quality classical Western bows. Among other things, the adjustability of the frog is relatively small, so that the bow can be drawn only relatively slack. The tensioning device shall therefore be turned only carefully and without force. Attempts to draw the bow further by applying force, may lead to damaging the tensioning device.

General Info

Construction
The dilruba is very similar to the esraj in design and the manner in which it is played. However, it has a somewhat bigger, square resonating corpus, is generally built a little bigger and has 20 instead of 15 sympathetic strings. Its sound is therefore clearly more powerful than that of an esraj.

History
The dilruba was probably created during the Mogul era in Northeast India. It is possibly an advancement of the older taus. A more compact, lighter resonating body might have substituted the taus's heavy peacock-shaped corpus. During the 20th century, the dilruba became a little popular in Afghan music. It was and still is used, particularly by Sikh musicians, to accompany semi-classic and religious singing.

Manufacturer / Supplier

MONOJ KUMAR SARDAR & BROTHERS is a relatively large-scale manufacturer in the heart of Calcutta looking back on a rich tradition of three generations. It is run by four brothers, all of them trained craftsmen specialising in different aspects of instrument making. They mainly make sitars, tanpuras, esrajs, dilrubas, harmoniums and shrutiboxes. But the eldest brother and manager Monoj Kumar will get you every other instrument that is manufactured in India as well. Due to our long-term co-operation with Monoj Kumar Sardar since 1994, we receive instruments with a high quality level in terms of sound, workmanship and materials. Today Monoj Kumar Sardar's quality can well compete with other renowned brands like Hemen and Hiren Roy for string instruments or Pakrashi, Paul and Bina for harmoniums.

Tuning

Dilrubas are barely standardized they exist in a range of different sizes and types of stringing. The following information refers to the esrajs offered by India Instruments. The tonic sa is tuned to c the below mentioned Western tone designations refer to that. As with sitars, the tonic may be freely chosen between c and d.

Playing strings:
1. low ma - f - steel 0.40 mm
2. & 3. low Sa - c - bronze 0.40 mm
4. very low Pa - G - bronze 0.55 mm
5. low Pa - g - steel 0.30 mm
6. Sa - c' - steel 0.27 mm

Side sympathetic strings (all steel 0.22 mm):
1. low ma - f
2. low Pa - g
3. low Dha - a
4. low Ni - b
5. Sa - c'
6. Re - d'
7. Ga - e'
8. ma - f'
9. & 10. Pa - g'
11. Dha - a'
12. Ni - b'
13. high Sa - c''
14. high Re - d''
15. high Ga - e''

The double tuning of string 9 and 10 can be used alternatively for another note of importance in the chosen raga.

Long sympathetic strings (all steel 0.22 mm):
1. low ma - f
2. low Pa - g
3. low Dha - a
4. low Ni - b
5. Sa - c'

The following graph by Brian Godden shows an alternative tuning. The string gauges therein are stated in Anglo-Saxon inches. The 3rd and 5th playing strings are missing there.

Dilruba Tuning

Size

Measure: length 100 cm, width 20 cm, depth 16 cm, weight: approx. 2.5 kg
Each instrument is individually hand-crafted and might differ from our description.