Calcutta Standard Male Tanpura
Our male tanpura Calcutta Standard is a beautiful beginner?s instrument for the smaller budget.
Despite of the relatively plain quality of material and workmanship it has a very carrying, full sound rich in overtones as is typical for male tanpuras. Standard tonic C - D.
sound sample plaeyd on one of our calcutta standard tanpura.
Toon wood, horn bridge, four strings, high-gloss polished shellac surfaces, stained medium to dark brown, pumpkin sound box, engraved celluloid inlays.
The string vibration on the bridge (and thus the audible overtones) depends upon the curve of the bridge and the tension, thickness and material of the strings. A thread between the string and the bridge allows subtle manipulations of the contact angle. By moving the thread position the buzz of each string can be adjusted individually.
The term CALCUTTA STANDARD is an India Instruments term for particularly low priced beginner's instruments which are perfectly playable and have a pleasant sound despite their price. The quality of material, sound and workmanship however is clearly lower than that of the more expensive brand manufacturers.
Our Calcutta Standard instruments are all built in the pulsating west-bengal metropolis, already since the 19th century one of the most important centres for music and instrument manufacturing in India. A complex network of workshops traditionally handcrafts instruments without a brand name, using the simplest means. Our partners in Calcutta are continuously keeping an eye on the local market, purchasing those anonymously built instruments if they meet our standards. Suppliers change according to the market situation.
In the 20th century, instrument manufacturers like Kanailal & Brother, Hiren Roy & Sons and Radha Krishna Sharma contributed significantly to bring the sitar in its present shape into perfection. Today Kolkata sitars are setting standards in the whole of India. And whoever knows all about sitars also builds good tanpuras. Moreover, the sarods from Kolkata are unequalled thanks to Hemen & Co. Kolkata tablas are characterized by an especially brilliant sound and skillfully finished skins. Instruments like the esraj, khol, surbahar or the modern chromatic shrutibox were developed in Kolkata.
Measure: lenght 142 cm, width 44 cm, depth 36 cm, diapason 99 cm, weight: 3.3 kg
Each instrument is individually hand-crafted and might differ from our description.