Paloma 3/4
The 3/4 sitar is a considerably smaller version of a standard sized sitar. It is fully equipped and can be played more or less in the same way.
The 3/4 sitar is interesting for musicians who need a considerably higher tuning with a tonic as high as g or even a for specific recordings or concerts. However, it can also be tuned to the standard tonic of c to d and enables children to learn the sitar - according to body size it is suitable for age 6 to 12 approximately.
Sound sample played on one of our 3/4 sitar.
Stained medium or dark brown toon wood, mirror-finished shellac surfaces, 7 playing strings (tonal range of four octaves), 11 sympathetic strings, inlay work of celluloid with stained brown engravings, base of neck decorated with simple carvings, no upper sound box (tumba), horn bridges.
The angle at which the bridge surface (jowari) has been sanded down has great influence on the sound of every sitar. If the curvature of the surface permits strong partial vibrations of the string on the bridge, a buzzing sound rich in overtones is created, which is called an open jowari. Ravi Shankar made this sound popular and Westerners often feel that this is the typical sound of a sitar.
A so-called closed jowari creates less overtones, however, its sound is more clear, concise and singing. Most Indian sitarist prefer this sound today. As a standard feature our branded sitars therefore have a somewhat closed jowari.
If played regularly and intensely, the strings dig grooves into the surface of traditional horn or bone bridges in course of time due to abrasion and thus change the relative openness or closedness of the jowaris. If sanded down later in a specific manner, the original sound can be restored or the instrument can be adjusted to a different sound. Since approximately the turn of the millennium feature modern plastic bridges as standard. Their tone quality is at least equally good as traditional horn bridges. However, they show considerably less signs of abrasion and therefore don't require legg sanded down so often.
PALOMA is the international brand name for instruments made by Haribhau Vishwanath from Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Haribhau Vishwanath was founded in 1925 as a small repair business and developed into one of the leading Indian harmonium manufacturers in the course of decades. In addition, Haribhau Vishwanath makes shrutiboxes, santoors, swarmandals and some drums. Haribhau Vishwanath is also an active musical instrument trader and supplies us with some rarely demanded instruments where a direct purchase from the manufacturer is not profitable. Thanks to his good infrastructure and long experience with instrument manufacturing, trading and international shipping, Haribhau currently supplies all common harmonium models and many other instruments constantly in a high quality regarding workmanship. In addition, he excels through attractive innovations, like e.g. the harmonium Compactina or a particular silk-mat finish. Haribhau Vishwanath is a partner of India Instruments since 2005. Today the company is run by Ashish Diwane.
Measure: length ca. 107 cm, width 31 cm, depth 29 cm, weight: ca 2 kg
Each instrument is individually hand-crafted and might differ from our description.