It’s hilarious to me that people still don’t know that 400 dollars in America isn’t the same as 400 dollars somewhere else. How much is milk? How much is rent? I mean come on
It honestly never occurred to me that these were made of gourds. I always thought wood like a cello. It’s amazing how much beauty is added to this instrument.
being an Indian flute player i am amazed to have never known about Miraj tanpuras, sitars and veenas are literally the instruments of the gods with unmatched beauty Thank you for making such videos !!
@@Man_fay_the_Bru eveyone is heard of harp as americanization(globalization=) mAde them forgot native inntrument n get all unnecessary info about merica n europe
Fun fact: every indian handicraft costs peanuts considering how much hardwork goes into it. This same tanpura would cost a kidney and a testicle if Japanese were making it.
I am from Miraj. These cities have always been famous in the field of musical instruments worldwide. These towns and their markets used to be crowded with music lovers, but things have changed rapidly. The youth are not interested in taking up the business of their descendants because of the low return and no profit at all. After lockdown, many sitarmakers have given up their businesses; many of them couldn't even afford to feed their families. It's sad to see their condition. Many popular singers worldwide use their instruments at a very cheap price and don't even bother giving them credit. I still remember the days when whenever I used to pass by the streets of sitarmakers, my ears were blessed by the melody of their instruments..
How much tacit knowledge will be lost that you can only learn from observing a skilled craftsman trained in a skill handed down through many generations. How much of this knowledge has already been lost around the world.
I'm from India and I wasn't aware that miraj is known for their tanpura. Amazing work but only $400 USD is very low for so much human effort and precision that goes into it.
@@sjaomsshiqkq 15 log ke aas paas ka kaam Hai 1 tanpure Mae 1 saal Mae 15 ke hisab se per person ko Kitna milega mahine ke hisab laga dekh itna human effort ke liye worth it Hai ya nhi. Yeh same cheez USA Mae 2000 USD se start hoti Hai.
@@Kathakathan11 do you anything about kuttanad no right it's common for me coz I live in kerala, not everyone is aware of art and culture of a place. Thanks to platform like these where people get to know so much about there own country
People would have to be crazy not to want these over the electronic ones. The time, effort, and craftsmanship that is placed into each one makes them so valuable in a personal way. The individuality of these instruments makes each one just as unique as the artist using them.
These are costly instruments for entry level Hindustani Classical music practitioners. Electronic ones somehow makes entry in this field easy and later on they move on to the real ones.
Far more people will get a chance to play an electric one than a handmade one. So which is better, to you, a small elite market that can afford a handmade instrument and has to spend years just learning to tune the thing or lots more people using easily affordable factory made ones ready to play?
Being a classical(to specify, Hindustani/North Indian classical)singer and player myself I must say that indeed instruments are definitely 100% better than machine and phone apps, though admittedly they are much more practical 90% of the time.
Art is never practical :) I am a classical violinist, I agree that authentic instruments are the best. electric instruments always sound so sad and lifeless..
@@CATsissta i think when electronic instruments are not trying to emulate the sounds of other instruments they are very pretty. this should be their usage. not a pale imitation of the real thing
They are the most beautiful instruments I've ever seen, and made with so much love. It's unfortunate that this entire family is being ripped off. I just googled these instruments, and similar ones, handmade are selling for over $2,800 American dollars. Considering this family takes weeks to make one, involving the entire extended family and is only getting around $400 per instrument, shows that someone, somewhere is making a lot of money off their hard work. Has anyone offered to show them how to make a website and sell their instruments on the internet directly. It's very distressing to continually see families being taken advantage of like this. The same thing goes on in Australia, with our Indigenous artists. I've met artists who get paid a couple of hundred dollars for an art work that took them weeks and then seeing their art for sale in an art gallery in a city for literary thousands of dollars. This is a horrible stain on so-called Western democracy that hasn't changed since colonisation, and to see this practice continue today is criminal.
Cool it cowboy. Leaving aside the fact that cost of living is lower in India and pakistan, I assure you that 400 bucks covers a decent entry model but not the real fancy ones- and they sell plenty of those. Moreover it may take a week or two on the calendar to make one of these things but that doesn't mean it takes 40-80 hours. You just need to make more friends with luthiers.
Getting them over here in good working order is nontrivial. Moreover, delicate musical instruments aren't that self stable, and don't necessarily store well without maintenance, especially if string tension is holding the set up together. As well, American costumers for this sort of thing are high maintenance and prone to returns.
these are works of art it seems almost criminal to sell them for $400. And when she was playing it I instantly felt more soothed and the sound was so beautiful. I think the actual instrument made from all natural products creates a deeper spiritual connection.
The people who play this instrument mostly live in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where 400$ is alot. It can be the monthly salary of a lower-middle class person in my country Bangladesh.
$400 is very low considering the fact that they do not get enough orders and the materials take 1 year to be prepared before they can be worked on. Also he has 40+ years of experience. He should definitely charge extra for his skill.
@@cherrylle it may seem low according to western country standards. But if we consider the economy of south asia, the price is already very high. If they raise the price, most people won't be able to buy. If they choose to export it to developed countries, they could sell it for more than 400$ there. But $400 in indian currency is more than 20000 and in my country’s (Bangladesh) currency more than 32000 which is the average monthly salary of people here. Most people who play this instrument are from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Srilanka. All of these countries are not economically developed. This instrument is already very pricy. That's why, wehn we learn to sing, most of the time we play another instrument instead of this
Given how affordable they are and as an instrument collector I feel compelled to get one of these, Id pay more than $400 the shipping alone would probably be over half that atleast, I think these would be great fun to experiment and record with, with hand made guitars costing over 2K it seems more than reasonable.
@@sdrawkcabmiay naah , i live in the same economy and 400$ is too less for the kind of craftsmanship and time this takes. They should be charging 1.2k $ at minimum and ideally 2k. Especially given the kind of clientele. The only thing is that it's a very delicate use instrument so doesn't need to be as sturdy as others, but it also means very low rate of replacement. I guess if the adornment is largely skipped they can sell budget versions
@@ddawg3230 1.2k $ is the average salary of a middle class person in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where majority of tanpura users live. How will they afford to buy it? If they sell it more that much price, only a few people will buy it.
@@ddawg3230 be a little logical. No one in India can afford it if it's 1.2k. you realise that most Indians are middle class, right?? None of them would be able to play this after a point then. I'd say they should just charge more to international customers depending on their economy, not make it harder for Indians to buy.
@@tanie3543 No one in India can afford an item costing 1 lakh rupees? Most Indians are middle class? You realize that earning 25000 per month salary will put you in the top 10%? Majority of Indians dont buy these tanpuras anyways. As far as I know, most rural and working class musicians do not use these massive tanpuras in their genre of singing. They use various other versions that are more compact and portable and produce a sound more suitable for their genre. Literally every tanpura player you see will be from a classical singer family who can definitely afford to spend a lakh on a fully embelished - stage ready tanpura. Even most singing teachers, musicians etc use an electric tanpura sound maker 90% of the time, so whoever is buying these high end tanpuras are already those who fancy them and can afford them.
Today by bringing out this episode for hnadmade sitars & tanpura from miraaj india,you guys have touched a lot ....salute to the team insiders....you have really crowlled INDSIDE...this was needed to show people . ORIGINAL MATTERS. Everything can't be shortened it need it time to cherish in its womb,than only it's healthy and delivered healthy. You can't deliver a premature baby unless it's emergencies...SO THE TEAM...YOU ARE GROWING Truly GUYS. Hats off team INSIDERS.
I know, right? Decent machine-made unfinished Electric guitars made in Indonesia cost $1000 and you can get a fully handcrafted sitar for less than half that!
It's only worth what people will pay for it... maybe in the west that amount seems low for that amount of work and knowledge but it's probably different in India. Price of living is lower there
This is actually called Calabash not pumpkin. Calabash is used for making utensils and musical instruments. In Africa it's Korra whereas in India Tanpura and Sitar is made from Calabash.
Can't help but wonder, as a guitar player mainly and musician, could one like the artisan featured here, possibly use the gourd for the tonpura following the process for guitar making, applying his experience making stringed guitar-like instruments for so long, and manage to create an all new kind of guitar that is basically all made according to the industry standard blueprints but using the pumpkin material, infusing if you will the soul of the tonpura and classical indian music and hundreds or thousands of years of instrumental engineering with the (imo) more "technically sound" design of the western style guitar. If so, I think it could seriously open up a pathway into new sonic territory, and offer something that has become less and less common, new unique and genuinely unexplored guitar sound and spirit that does not require or stem from the use of an effects pedal, soundboard or engineer, synthesizer, filter, or digital manipulation.
Something similar went through my head watching this too. My kid wants to be a luthier, so I hear all day about guitar-making. Maybe I should show my kid this video and see if they want to try growing giant bottle gourds as an experiment.
This sounds great. I'm not opposed to the ideology as things must progress …. but as much I do love the idea I'm writing to convey that it may not be the best course of action I hope you understand the instrument has a very rich cultural significance. Many including myself would consider it sacrilege. That said , would encourage anyone experimenting within their own confines... but it is wise to realize tanpura and sitar are perfect by themselves ; regardless of the fact that they go mainstream worldwide or not. If they do go mainstream I and all of those who practice would love it if it did so, with integrity and while representing the culture behind it and not because it was merged with another instrument while piggybacking for fame with only the story of it being altered left to tell the world. its got 100s of years behind this , it would be a shame.
This is exactly how civilisations, timelines collide to create exotic inventions. Lovely idea! But some knowledgeable individuals need to take initiatives. As human beings, I hope we don’t stop being experimental and innovative.
The problem would still remain though, that any new innovative instrument that gained any popularity comparable to a guitar or Tanpura, would be sampled and synthesized, produced in electronic versions within a very short time and again threaten the survival of the craft. The market for Indian trad instruments is ginormous, but being replaced with electronic versions for tangible reasons. Cost, mobility, simplicity etc. I hope these traditional artisan skills and authentic instruments won't become scarce or forgotten. I'm only commenting bc often people dont realize the scope of Indian culture, the amound of people it involves. Few understand that the Indian film industry is by far bigger than Hollywood, with a huge audience for example. In this case it's the digital tech that's so cheap and able to mimic any sound you program it too evolving quickly that's the threat for a slow craft like this in a country where 400 dollars is out of reach for the majority, and the pure size and sensitivity of acoustic instruments like this, or even a stand up bass, a grand piano etc in the climate and world mobility are also less practical that's the problem. And the more people get used to the sound of the lesser electronic replacements, the less likely it is they understand the difference or have experienced it at all.
😯$400 only? That is so inexpensive for such a fine craft! My bagpipes cost $1700, and that is midrange... I love the sound of real Tambura; I hope they regain their popularity. ✌️👍❤️😁
@@sdrawkcabmiay I guess that makes sense. But, certainly, I would expect to pay no less than $1200 for even the most basic model of this instrument... It always makes me sad when art is undervalued. I would feel guilty to pay only $400... Like some sort of old-fashioned colonial thief 😬!
@@giuseppelogiurato5718 yup u are so right.. in India art is extremely undervalued as Indians don’t have enough for day to day needs but the true shame is that big business buy cheap in india and sell at very high margins abroad like the leather industry, furniture, jewellery, textiles etc. this leaves the artisan with next to nothing for their art and this is killing all originals and market is flooded with imitations.
@@giuseppelogiurato5718 Thank you for your comment, I would like to point out that the piece is not undervalued by any means ; 400$ is a lot of money in India. I assure you that it is rightly valued at 400$ , for people to buy and propagate the art of playing it and is also quite the respectable price for the artisan. I would pay a bit more if you ask me as well around 500$ … might sound like I'm cheating them, in your perspective.. It might be hard to believe but I'm not. To put things to perspective 500$ is more than what most people make a WHOLE year in India More than 50% of the populace make around that much or less. That doesn't mean they are poor the money still holds a lot of purchasing power (more bang per buck you could say). I do not want to discourage you from paying what you think is right I certainly would If I could so.... please do as much as you possibly could ^^
@@samanvayasrivastava559 True the Indian market is dying and The global market is discouraging people buying artisan products artisans getting paid. As people never question who they're really paying. Very sad state of affairs
@@shashankbj3804 I disagree. If Indians can afford to pay 2-3x the price Americans pay for smart phones, they can certainly afford to spend more than 400$ on a luxury hand made work of art. Yes, the blue color workers of India may think 400$ is a lot of money but for those who drive cars, watch dish television on flat screens and eat at McDonalds, 400$ is undervaluing this work of art.
*_I'm joyously tearing because the Indian Handicrafts i.e. Tangible and the Indian Classical Music i.e. Intangible Treasures of our Nation are in safe hands_*
As a fluent harmuniam playing since my childhood and amature tabla player myself. I have deep respect for Tanpura players, those who make them. And those who play any classical instruments. These work of art live on forever.
This is actually called Calabash not pumpkin. Calabash is used for making utensils and musical instruments. In Africa it's Korra whereas in India Tanpura and Sitar is made from Calabash.
Miraj is my hometown and I'm extremely happy and thankful that it's rich heritage has been brought to light by the business insider. I just hope that this tradition lives forever. And Would like to encourage people to purchase authentic instruments from such artists.
This family should be rich by now! They invented an entire new (version of an) instrument, and they have an insane degree of craftsmanship. I know money isn't everything, but I know life can be hard in India, so I just hope they are able to benefit from all their hard work 🙏 Edit: apparently people can't read... I said an entire new VERSION of an instrument. I didn't say they invented the Tanpura, but they did invent the pumpkin-bodied ones shown in the video.
This is fascinating 👏. The incredible workmanship brings a touch of India to the world. I enjoy seeing the beautiful crafts of cultures throughout the world.
Nicki Minaj original name is Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty. Her father named ROBERT MARAJ (1956-2021) is Indian origin Trinidadian now Christian in religion. He is also a Gospel singer. We know Trinidad and Tobago does have Indian origin population due to British Raj. In India some of us do get our surnames from the occupation or the place we belong to and therefore a whole community is born.. By any chance Nicki Minaj's ancestry belongs to this place in India... and the Maraj title is from this city of MIRAJ.
The fact that the video repeatedly calls the gourds pumpkins and then calling that jointer plane a block plane 😅😂 makes me wonder what I’ve learned incorrectly from other videos
I feel humbled by human talent and ingenuity. This is something truly beautiful and unlike the electronic versions does not pollute the Earth❤ these are objects of art just as much as they are instruments of music.
The one thing I don't like about Business Insider is that they rarely; if ever, provide any links to purchase the item. While I don't play the instrument, I and probably many other viewers, would buy these items to support these legacy craftsman's. Even if it is to use just as decoration. Up your game Business Insider and put some links in
If you can't be bothered enough to find a craftsman through Google odds are you aren't serious about buying. This isn't candy it's not some cheap throwaway item buying one costs real money
@@michaelf.2449 Maybe I should have googled them, but your comment still doesn't address my point. Which mainly being, why doesn't Business Insider, who are the ones doing the mini-doco provide links at all. It's such a small thing to add a link to the businesses of the people they are actually interviewing. I'm sure these craftsman wouldn't say no to wider exposure and a global market. Not just in this video but nearly all videos with ethnic craftsmen doing traditional crafts have no links. Also with a lot of purchases people make, especially for something they don't need or is a novelty to them. There is a thing called impulse buy, 10 years in retail has taught me quite a few things purchased can fall under this category. So if I have to look it up myself and read up and make sure this is the same craftsman I want to support as the video, then that impulse is lost and interest wanes. However if there was a convenient link, then people like myself, who do a lot of impulse buys would only add to these craftsman sale numbers. Finally, while I am by no means a rich man. I do live in a part of the world (Australia) where I have a reasonable level of income that spending it on an item that cost less than a flagship Samsung or Apple phone is well within my means. You made a few assumptions in your comments.
pretty disappointed you didnt put a link to their website in the description to show them support. If you look up "BM Sitarmaker Miraj" you can find it.
Tanpura is the mother of all instruments! I also own one! It has such beautiful carvings, beautiful sound and many more❤️ it requires a lott of hard work to make these and they result too in gorgeous and meditative sound! Tanpura is heavily used in indian classical music and is the most essential instrument for us❤️Lots of love and respect❤️💙🙏🏻
May God be generous to them materialisticly, take care of their needs, and allow for them to spend their lives in their Art and Craft. We need more people like them. Kudos
@@bot42 no, banjos used to be made out of gourds. They only started using a drum-head or tamborine-head in the past 100 years or so, when the instrument became popular.
3:01 Seeing salvaged wood being used is so wonderful. I see 4 different colors of paint. That board has been around for a while. How often does stuff get painted in your home? edit: 4:25 I wish that Shelton plane could tell us the story that brought it from Connecticut, USA in the early half of the 1900's to India like 100 years later.
The fact that they took on a surname that is also their trade is a testament of passion and dedication. My deepest and sincerest respect to fellow craftspeople who, despite technological advancements and modern techniques, are working to keep culture and tradition alive.
Thats how Indian society always was. Your last name represented your family profession. And that often led to endogamy and discrimnation. But it was always about family trade. From my last name I can trace back my ancient family tradition.
Aren't those gourds not pumpkins?!?! I haven never once heard a gourd called a pumpkin. And yes of course they can make gourds into instruments super cool
Well, if you want to be technical, pumpkins are a type of gourd along with squashes like butternut squash and melons like honeydew (but not watermelon, which has more in common with a "true berry" than with a melon) and zucchinies (but those are on the other end of the spectrum). They mentioned that this was a bottle gourd, which is related to the pumpkin. However, I think that, more than anything, they're trying to be whimsical by calling it a pumpkin.
Yeah, they're all in the cucurbit family but I would not consider "pumpkin" and "gourd" to be interchangeable synonyms. I think the script editor goofed-up or didn't do their basic homework. "pumpkin" almost always refers the the edible winter squash with origins in the americas in the genus Cucurbita whereas gourds, or at least the gourds used here, are in the genus Lagenaria, are usually inedible, and originate from asia and africa. They're just not the same thing.
I still have my late grandmother's tanpura from the 60's.. it's ivory and unique..my mother played it and now it's with my sister who plays it. All children in the family used to go to sleep with the sound of this tanpura... My son has also listened to it.. and yes he too slept once to it. This is priceless.
I am a sitar player myself i started in school but didn't like it as it was very difficult at first but now i love it and have done severwl solos and orchestras i have one of these and trust me it sounds so beautiful when played than all those electrical intrusments out there.sadly classical music is not glorified enough and is a dying industry as not much people want be classical artist
Truly great luthiers. Instrument making and teaching of skills, both in production and performance, these are guilds. You want to study with the masters!
I bought one of this gentlemen's lovely tampuras. Beautiful work and sounds exquisite! FYI the camel bone bridge is called jawari and the fine threads are jiva.
👍👌👏 Simply fantastic! But 400 USD is definitely not enough for such a lot of effort and work. Every instrument is a piece of art Best regards luck and health to all involved people.
I know these people are masters of their crafts but as someone who does woodworking with children, watch people chisel towards their bare feet makes my hair stand on end…
Tanpuras are more used in Northern Indian classical( Hindustani) music and is ultimately derived from the confluence of Indian Veena( mentioned in the Natya Shastra, a Hindu treatise on Dance and singing composed between 600-800BC) and the Persian Tambura. Tanpuras are never used in the Southern purer Indian classical tradition( Carnatic), rather a violin is used or the Purer Indigenous Veena.
Tanpura are used in carnatic music also. Also, culture or art has no "purer" or "impure" form. All aspects of history and culture are formed through interaction of people's.
Only $400 for weeks of handcrafted precision? Man, that is sad. They're worth so much more than that. So very much more! What stunning instruments. Every detail is just beautiful!
The so called desh bhakth will make noise, about Indian heritage culture and what not, and when this types of things are slowly dying, they never raise voice for it, and after it completely obsolete from india, they will again make noise that MORDEN instrument killed our classical instruments 🤦🏽♂️ such hypocrisy. Thanks for showing us this legendary work. Will definitely visit Miraj to see this and spread the word.
Great to see how carefully each instrument is made. Had known Miraj only as another railway station on the Bengaluru Mumbai route. Never knew this musical industry was there. Nature produced notes can never be inferior to electronic ones.
I suspect the African ships which carried their honey in gourds, potentially also had aboard gourd instruments like the akonting and other kinds of traditional lutes made from gourds.
Beautiful art work… I am going to buy a sitar straight from a maker in Kolkata.. after seeing this I will not ask for any discount! I truly respect the workmanship and these hardworking talented craftsmen of India!
Wow!! What a beautiful process. I have started to learn sitar recently and I feel so grateful for it. I feel more connected to Indian classical music. @ Business Insider Please keep bringing us such content🤌🏻
one reason why people arnt buying these as much is 1) because there massive and take up alot more space (google sitar with case) 2) people prefer buying older instruments because generally all older instruments are better quality and 3) people just borrow from a friend or a friend of a friend
While there is a place for electronics in music, there’s nothing to the magic of hearing acoustic instruments played live by a skilled artist. Those experiences will stay with you for life.
The idea that they put that much work into it and only get 400 dollars for a “fully decorated” one is mind blowing. Each one is a work of art.
to pay ALL the employees with 8 tanpuras...
They sell in India. 400 dollars cannot be afforded by many. So it is a premium.
It’s hilarious to me that people still don’t know that 400 dollars in America isn’t the same as 400 dollars somewhere else. How much is milk? How much is rent? I mean come on
If the same instrument is exported, it costs upto 6000 dollars
@@prakharranjan6388 its still very low even for Indian standard. I expected it to cost atleast a lakh for that amount of work
It honestly never occurred to me that these were made of gourds. I always thought wood like a cello. It’s amazing how much beauty is added to this instrument.
Most of them are made out of wood. Only a few are made of pumpkins.
Only part of the instrument is made of gourd
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being an Indian flute player i am amazed to have never known about Miraj
tanpuras, sitars and veenas are literally the instruments of the gods with unmatched beauty
Thank you for making such videos !!
Take it you’ve never heard a harp
@@Man_fay_the_Bru I have, nice instrument, don’t prefer it above the mentions above though.
@@Man_fay_the_Bru he is talking about Hindu goddess
@@Man_fay_the_Bru eveyone is heard of harp as americanization(globalization=) mAde them forgot native inntrument n get all unnecessary info about merica n europe
Sarangi too. But sitar was made by mughals inspired by Veena coz they were music lovers and not for devotional purposes, as peer I know.
Fun fact: every indian handicraft costs peanuts considering how much hardwork goes into it. This same tanpura would cost a kidney and a testicle if Japanese were making it.
No, it actually cost Farrouk two testicles to work the PUMPKINS, as that PONZI CULTURE loves EUNUCHS
the japanese do infact make these and sell them in restaurants. they call them tempura!
@@d1p70 lol.. you got me for a while
It's because of PPP.
@@d1p70 very smooth...hahaha
Brought tears to my eyes. Don't lose your love for acoustic instruments people. Once the art is lost, we shall all be the worse for the lack of it...
One day I'm gunna teach myself how to make gourd instruments. It's something I've wanted to do since I was very young but never got around to.
Beautifully said
Dont worry the electrical sound like shit and will never replace the acoustic ones. Sitar is a very delicate instrument.
If electronic instruments were ever going to replace the real ones, they would have by now.
@@shiningarmor2838 Yo man looks like this specific one is under threat, did you even watch the vid?
I own a tanpura made in the same workshop, and let me assure you, it's worth the purchase. The tonal quality is unbeatable.
May I bug you for where you found one?
I am from Miraj.
These cities have always been famous in the field of musical instruments worldwide.
These towns and their markets used to be crowded with music lovers, but things have changed rapidly. The youth are not interested in taking up the business of their descendants because of the low return and no profit at all. After lockdown, many sitarmakers have given up their businesses; many of them couldn't even afford to feed their families. It's sad to see their condition. Many popular singers worldwide use their instruments at a very cheap price and don't even bother giving them credit.
I still remember the days when whenever I used to pass by the streets of sitarmakers, my ears were blessed by the melody of their instruments..
Please share details of Tanpura makers as shown in above video, I'm planning to buy one Miraj tanpura
@@RasiliSharan also there are plenty of websites on Google
How much tacit knowledge will be lost that you can only learn from observing a skilled craftsman trained in a skill handed down through many generations. How much of this knowledge has already been lost around the world.
I'm from India and I wasn't aware that miraj is known for their tanpura. Amazing work but only $400 USD is very low for so much human effort and precision that goes into it.
Are you serious man? 400usd is about 33k in INR aur wo har saal 100-150 tanpura banate hai itani to logo ki average monthly salary bhi nahi hai
@@sjaomsshiqkq 15 log ke aas paas ka kaam Hai 1 tanpure Mae 1 saal Mae 15 ke hisab se per person ko Kitna milega mahine ke hisab laga dekh itna human effort ke liye worth it Hai ya nhi. Yeh same cheez USA Mae 2000 USD se start hoti Hai.
@@sjaomsshiqkq
32K is low for a tampuru, An intermediate quality tampuru costs 50-70k in musical shops
Obviously it’s a common knowledge
@@Kathakathan11 do you anything about kuttanad no right it's common for me coz I live in kerala, not everyone is aware of art and culture of a place. Thanks to platform like these where people get to know so much about there own country
People would have to be crazy not to want these over the electronic ones. The time, effort, and craftsmanship that is placed into each one makes them so valuable in a personal way. The individuality of these instruments makes each one just as unique as the artist using them.
Yeah, but you need a whole second person to practice.
These are costly instruments for entry level Hindustani Classical music practitioners. Electronic ones somehow makes entry in this field easy and later on they move on to the real ones.
Far more people will get a chance to play an electric one than a handmade one. So which is better, to you, a small elite market that can afford a handmade instrument and has to spend years just learning to tune the thing or lots more people using easily affordable factory made ones ready to play?
I have learnt Hindustani classical music for a long time and people always prefer handmade, until only recently electronics are being used .
Being a classical(to specify, Hindustani/North Indian classical)singer and player myself I must say that indeed instruments are definitely 100% better than machine and phone apps, though admittedly they are much more practical 90% of the time.
Art is never practical :) I am a classical violinist, I agree that authentic instruments are the best. electric instruments always sound so sad and lifeless..
@@CATsissta agreed, the sound quality and tone are always so deflated and the resonance is completely gone. Sadly, we don’t really have a choice lol
@@CATsissta i think when electronic instruments are not trying to emulate the sounds of other instruments they are very pretty. this should be their usage. not a pale imitation of the real thing
So unique instrument....this making technique should be preserved, so that they doesn't get lost in history .
Can we all just agree, Business Insider is killing it lately!
They are the most beautiful instruments I've ever seen, and made with so much love.
It's unfortunate that this entire family is being ripped off.
I just googled these instruments, and similar ones, handmade are selling for over $2,800 American dollars.
Considering this family takes weeks to make one, involving the entire extended family and is only getting around $400 per instrument, shows that someone, somewhere is making a lot of money off their hard work.
Has anyone offered to show them how to make a website and sell their instruments on the internet directly.
It's very distressing to continually see families being taken advantage of like this.
The same thing goes on in Australia, with our Indigenous artists.
I've met artists who get paid a couple of hundred dollars for an art work that took them weeks and then seeing their art for sale in an art gallery in a city for literary thousands of dollars.
This is a horrible stain on so-called Western democracy that hasn't changed since colonisation, and to see this practice continue today is criminal.
I know if they sold direct, I'd be willing to pay $500 for one, not including shipping.
Cool it cowboy. Leaving aside the fact that cost of living is lower in India and pakistan, I assure you that 400 bucks covers a decent entry model but not the real fancy ones- and they sell plenty of those.
Moreover it may take a week or two on the calendar to make one of these things but that doesn't mean it takes 40-80 hours.
You just need to make more friends with luthiers.
PS they can't be that poor, the uncle could afford to make hajj after all.
@@unclejoeoakland government gives subsidies for hajj
Getting them over here in good working order is nontrivial. Moreover, delicate musical instruments aren't that self stable, and don't necessarily store well without maintenance, especially if string tension is holding the set up together. As well, American costumers for this sort of thing are high maintenance and prone to returns.
these are works of art it seems almost criminal to sell them for $400. And when she was playing it I instantly felt more soothed and the sound was so beautiful. I think the actual instrument made from all natural products creates a deeper spiritual connection.
Absolutely with you
400$ looks cheap until you realise it's whole month salary of average indian.
The people who play this instrument mostly live in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where 400$ is alot. It can be the monthly salary of a lower-middle class person in my country Bangladesh.
$400 is very low considering the fact that they do not get enough orders and the materials take 1 year to be prepared before they can be worked on. Also he has 40+ years of experience. He should definitely charge extra for his skill.
@@cherrylle it may seem low according to western country standards. But if we consider the economy of south asia, the price is already very high. If they raise the price, most people won't be able to buy. If they choose to export it to developed countries, they could sell it for more than 400$ there. But $400 in indian currency is more than 20000 and in my country’s (Bangladesh) currency more than 32000 which is the average monthly salary of people here.
Most people who play this instrument are from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Srilanka. All of these countries are not economically developed. This instrument is already very pricy. That's why, wehn we learn to sing, most of the time we play another instrument instead of this
These men who are engaged in making the tanpura are blessed. Hands that made the tanpuras keep the art alive.
Mad respect for keeping the craft alive! 💯💯💯
Given how affordable they are and as an instrument collector I feel compelled to get one of these, Id pay more than $400 the shipping alone would probably be over half that atleast, I think these would be great fun to experiment and record with, with hand made guitars costing over 2K it seems more than reasonable.
@@sdrawkcabmiay naah , i live in the same economy and 400$ is too less for the kind of craftsmanship and time this takes. They should be charging 1.2k $ at minimum and ideally 2k. Especially given the kind of clientele. The only thing is that it's a very delicate use instrument so doesn't need to be as sturdy as others, but it also means very low rate of replacement. I guess if the adornment is largely skipped they can sell budget versions
@@ddawg3230 1.2k $ is the average salary of a middle class person in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where majority of tanpura users live. How will they afford to buy it? If they sell it more that much price, only a few people will buy it.
@@ddawg3230 be a little logical. No one in India can afford it if it's 1.2k. you realise that most Indians are middle class, right?? None of them would be able to play this after a point then.
I'd say they should just charge more to international customers depending on their economy, not make it harder for Indians to buy.
@@tanie3543 No one in India can afford an item costing 1 lakh rupees?
Most Indians are middle class? You realize that earning 25000 per month salary will put you in the top 10%? Majority of Indians dont buy these tanpuras anyways.
As far as I know, most rural and working class musicians do not use these massive tanpuras in their genre of singing. They use various other versions that are more compact and portable and produce a sound more suitable for their genre.
Literally every tanpura player you see will be from a classical singer family who can definitely afford to spend a lakh on a fully embelished - stage ready tanpura.
Even most singing teachers, musicians etc use an electric tanpura sound maker 90% of the time, so whoever is buying these high end tanpuras are already those who fancy them and can afford them.
Today by bringing out this episode for hnadmade sitars & tanpura from miraaj india,you guys have touched a lot ....salute to the team insiders....you have really crowlled INDSIDE...this was needed to show people . ORIGINAL MATTERS. Everything can't be shortened it need it time to cherish in its womb,than only it's healthy and delivered healthy. You can't deliver a premature baby unless it's emergencies...SO THE TEAM...YOU ARE GROWING Truly GUYS. Hats off team INSIDERS.
The amount of work put into one instrument as well as the decades of experience of the artisan is worth more then $400 imo
I know, right? Decent machine-made unfinished Electric guitars made in Indonesia cost $1000 and you can get a fully handcrafted sitar for less than half that!
outside India, it will cost more than $1500
@@ashu8265Exactly! In India, 400$ is already high.
The worst part is they split it amongst themselves and each would get just around $50 for 2 months of work. Smh
It's only worth what people will pay for it... maybe in the west that amount seems low for that amount of work and knowledge but it's probably different in India. Price of living is lower there
This is visually mesmerizing. Pumpkins are much more than Halloween decorations. They can serve other purposes in other people's livelihoods.
exactly !!! India is the land of Muslim Mysticism
so my advice to you is - SWITCH OFF THE FUKIN TV !!
Is that what youve learned!?
What an insight Sherlock. Sheesh, without you having said that out loud, we would have never figured that part out.
That is incorrect.
This is actually called Calabash not pumpkin. Calabash is used for making utensils and musical instruments. In Africa it's Korra whereas in India Tanpura and Sitar is made from Calabash.
Can't help but wonder, as a guitar player mainly and musician, could one like the artisan featured here, possibly use the gourd for the tonpura following the process for guitar making, applying his experience making stringed guitar-like instruments for so long, and manage to create an all new kind of guitar that is basically all made according to the industry standard blueprints but using the pumpkin material, infusing if you will the soul of the tonpura and classical indian music and hundreds or thousands of years of instrumental engineering with the (imo) more "technically sound" design of the western style guitar. If so, I think it could seriously open up a pathway into new sonic territory, and offer something that has become less and less common, new unique and genuinely unexplored guitar sound and spirit that does not require or stem from the use of an effects pedal, soundboard or engineer, synthesizer, filter, or digital manipulation.
Something similar went through my head watching this too. My kid wants to be a luthier, so I hear all day about guitar-making. Maybe I should show my kid this video and see if they want to try growing giant bottle gourds as an experiment.
This sounds great. I'm not opposed to the ideology as things must progress …. but as much I do love the idea I'm writing to convey that it may not be the best course of action I hope you understand the instrument has a very rich cultural significance. Many including myself would consider it sacrilege. That said , would encourage anyone experimenting within their own confines... but it is wise to realize tanpura and sitar are perfect by themselves ; regardless of the fact that they go mainstream worldwide or not. If they do go mainstream I and all of those who practice would love it if it did so, with integrity and while representing the culture behind it and not because it was merged with another instrument while piggybacking for fame with only the story of it being altered left to tell the world. its got 100s of years behind this , it would be a shame.
This is exactly how civilisations, timelines collide to create exotic inventions. Lovely idea! But some knowledgeable individuals need to take initiatives. As human beings, I hope we don’t stop being experimental and innovative.
Yes as time progresses fusion is inevitable for the future. 🤗
The problem would still remain though, that any new innovative instrument that gained any popularity comparable to a guitar or Tanpura, would be sampled and synthesized, produced in electronic versions within a very short time and again threaten the survival of the craft. The market for Indian trad instruments is ginormous, but being replaced with electronic versions for tangible reasons. Cost, mobility, simplicity etc. I hope these traditional artisan skills and authentic instruments won't become scarce or forgotten. I'm only commenting bc often people dont realize the scope of Indian culture, the amound of people it involves. Few understand that the Indian film industry is by far bigger than Hollywood, with a huge audience for example. In this case it's the digital tech that's so cheap and able to mimic any sound you program it too evolving quickly that's the threat for a slow craft like this in a country where 400 dollars is out of reach for the majority, and the pure size and sensitivity of acoustic instruments like this, or even a stand up bass, a grand piano etc in the climate and world mobility are also less practical that's the problem. And the more people get used to the sound of the lesser electronic replacements, the less likely it is they understand the difference or have experienced it at all.
Stunning mini documentary. These artisans are truly a dying breed that we need to cherish and protect.
Well it’s our bane that were born in an economically downturned irrelevant third world country
Nice to see the video as I belong to the same family. Happy that Satarmaker are getting recognition they deserved.
😯$400 only? That is so inexpensive for such a fine craft! My bagpipes cost $1700, and that is midrange... I love the sound of real Tambura; I hope they regain their popularity. ✌️👍❤️😁
@@sdrawkcabmiay I guess that makes sense. But, certainly, I would expect to pay no less than $1200 for even the most basic model of this instrument... It always makes me sad when art is undervalued. I would feel guilty to pay only $400... Like some sort of old-fashioned colonial thief 😬!
@@giuseppelogiurato5718 yup u are so right.. in India art is extremely undervalued as Indians don’t have enough for day to day needs but the true shame is that big business buy cheap in india and sell at very high margins abroad like the leather industry, furniture, jewellery, textiles etc. this leaves the artisan with next to nothing for their art and this is killing all originals and market is flooded with imitations.
@@giuseppelogiurato5718 Thank you for your comment, I would like to point out that the piece is not undervalued by any means ; 400$ is a lot of money in India. I assure you that it is rightly valued at 400$ , for people to buy and propagate the art of playing it and is also quite the respectable price for the artisan. I would pay a bit more if you ask me as well around 500$ … might sound like I'm cheating them, in your perspective.. It might be hard to believe but I'm not. To put things to perspective 500$ is more than what most people make a WHOLE year in India More than 50% of the populace make around that much or less. That doesn't mean they are poor the money still holds a lot of purchasing power (more bang per buck you could say).
I do not want to discourage you from paying what you think is right I certainly would If I could so.... please do as much as you possibly could ^^
@@samanvayasrivastava559 True the Indian market is dying and The global market is discouraging people buying artisan products artisans getting paid. As people never question who they're really paying. Very sad state of affairs
@@shashankbj3804 I disagree. If Indians can afford to pay 2-3x the price Americans pay for smart phones, they can certainly afford to spend more than 400$ on a luxury hand made work of art. Yes, the blue color workers of India may think 400$ is a lot of money but for those who drive cars, watch dish television on flat screens and eat at McDonalds, 400$ is undervaluing this work of art.
*_I'm joyously tearing because the Indian Handicrafts i.e. Tangible and the Indian Classical Music i.e. Intangible Treasures of our Nation are in safe hands_*
Indian instruments and Indian music itself transcends universe.
May these beautiful hand crafts never be lost to time. Such amazing skills!
Epitome of art.They must be paid well and honoured for this unique art
Very enjoyable! I have a Miraj sitar and it's fantastic. The family really knows how to make a quality instrument. Thanks!
As a fluent harmuniam playing since my childhood and amature tabla player myself. I have deep respect for Tanpura players, those who make them. And those who play any classical instruments. These work of art live on forever.
You play the harmonium and don't know the spelling of it?
This is actually called Calabash not pumpkin. Calabash is used for making utensils and musical instruments. In Africa it's Korra whereas in India Tanpura and Sitar is made from Calabash.
it is also used (or was) to make banjo's
All that for only $400?! It’s beautiful!
Miraj is my hometown and I'm extremely happy and thankful that it's rich heritage has been brought to light by the business insider.
I just hope that this tradition lives forever.
And Would like to encourage people to purchase authentic instruments from such artists.
Where are you from? I am mirajkar aswell
This family should be rich by now! They invented an entire new (version of an) instrument, and they have an insane degree of craftsmanship. I know money isn't everything, but I know life can be hard in India, so I just hope they are able to benefit from all their hard work 🙏
Edit: apparently people can't read... I said an entire new VERSION of an instrument. I didn't say they invented the Tanpura, but they did invent the pumpkin-bodied ones shown in the video.
They didn't invent Tanpuras... they make it
@@snbharati1447 sitar maker family made it so they did invent pumpkin tanpuras, well from what i see from the video atleast
@Rick3y Rick3y some were even given daruwala, meaning one who sells alcohol
They in no way invented the Tanpura.
@@purvapawar8977 they might invented the "Pumpkin" variation of tanpura
$400 for this piece of art is relatively cheap compared to the effort & experience these craftsmen have in order to produce it.
I have one of these that my grandmother gave me I can't believe how crazy it is to build them
This is fascinating 👏. The incredible workmanship brings a touch of India to the world. I enjoy seeing the beautiful crafts of cultures throughout the world.
dude i never wouldv guessed those are made from pumpkins , MAKES THEM EAVEN BETTER
Me too man 😬
These are gourds, not pumpkins. They are all from the Cucurbitaceae family, yes, but they are not the same thing.
i simply can't believe that this absolutely beautifil instrument is just around 400 dollars
Such a beautiful instrument. It’s beautiful, and the sound feels so soothing and calming.
Proud being Citizen of Miraj and Friend of Atik Satarmaker❤️
Nicki Minaj original name is Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty.
Her father named ROBERT MARAJ (1956-2021) is Indian origin Trinidadian now Christian in religion. He is also a Gospel singer. We know Trinidad and Tobago does have Indian origin population due to British Raj. In India some of us do get our surnames from the occupation or the place we belong to and therefore a whole community is born.. By any chance Nicki Minaj's ancestry belongs to this place in India... and the Maraj title is from this city of MIRAJ.
Maraj is actually called maharaj in india it is sanskrit word means king
Miraj is Islamic/arabic word
Maharaj with time became Maraj in Trinidad
The fact that the video repeatedly calls the gourds pumpkins and then calling that jointer plane a block plane 😅😂 makes me wonder what I’ve learned incorrectly from other videos
I feel humbled by human talent and ingenuity. This is something truly beautiful and unlike the electronic versions does not pollute the Earth❤ these are objects of art just as much as they are instruments of music.
The one thing I don't like about Business Insider is that they rarely; if ever, provide any links to purchase the item. While I don't play the instrument, I and probably many other viewers, would buy these items to support these legacy craftsman's. Even if it is to use just as decoration. Up your game Business Insider and put some links in
If you can't be bothered enough to find a craftsman through Google odds are you aren't serious about buying. This isn't candy it's not some cheap throwaway item buying one costs real money
@@michaelf.2449 Maybe I should have googled them, but your comment still doesn't address my point.
Which mainly being, why doesn't Business Insider, who are the ones doing the mini-doco provide links at all. It's such a small thing to add a link to the businesses of the people they are actually interviewing. I'm sure these craftsman wouldn't say no to wider exposure and a global market. Not just in this video but nearly all videos with ethnic craftsmen doing traditional crafts have no links.
Also with a lot of purchases people make, especially for something they don't need or is a novelty to them. There is a thing called impulse buy, 10 years in retail has taught me quite a few things purchased can fall under this category. So if I have to look it up myself and read up and make sure this is the same craftsman I want to support as the video, then that impulse is lost and interest wanes. However if there was a convenient link, then people like myself, who do a lot of impulse buys would only add to these craftsman sale numbers.
Finally, while I am by no means a rich man. I do live in a part of the world (Australia) where I have a reasonable level of income that spending it on an item that cost less than a flagship Samsung or Apple phone is well within my means.
You made a few assumptions in your comments.
I agree completely that it would be great to be able to support these crafts directly! I wish they had that too.
The company might not have a webpage.
.
pretty disappointed you didnt put a link to their website in the description to show them support. If you look up "BM Sitarmaker Miraj" you can find it.
Omg thank you for this! 🙏🏼
Beautiful works!! So much talent!!
Tanpura is the mother of all instruments! I also own one! It has such beautiful carvings, beautiful sound and many more❤️ it requires a lott of hard work to make these and they result too in gorgeous and meditative sound! Tanpura is heavily used in indian classical music and is the most essential instrument for us❤️Lots of love and respect❤️💙🙏🏻
May God be generous to them materialisticly, take care of their needs, and allow for them to spend their lives in their Art and Craft. We need more people like them. Kudos
This is a beautiful work. Big respect for them.
As per majoritarian society people, muslims do puncture work only. They are yet to see any good side of their own society
Nothing can replace the grandeur and feel of the real instrument. Electronic can't produce sound the richness of that scale.
They aren’t really pumpkins, they’re gourds; bottle gourds to be specific.
I was thinking the same thing when she kept saying pumpkins😂😂
Beautiful- i would want one for its Sculptural perfection, and learn to play this frequency modulation at my own pace . Fantastic. 🌿👥️👥️👥️👥️👥️🌿
Thanks for making us believe that bottle gourds are pumpkin 🎃 🙌 ✨️
banjos are also made of a similar gourd
@@-jank-willson Banjos are made from a tambourine.... I think you meant Mandolin.
@@bot42 no, banjos used to be made out of gourds. They only started using a drum-head or tamborine-head in the past 100 years or so, when the instrument became popular.
@@bot42 Are you related to the Boyce Thompson of Yonkers?
I am absolutely stunned .... Modern instruments will never replaced this ..❤
3:01 Seeing salvaged wood being used is so wonderful. I see 4 different colors of paint. That board has been around for a while. How often does stuff get painted in your home?
edit: 4:25 I wish that Shelton plane could tell us the story that brought it from Connecticut, USA in the early half of the 1900's to India like 100 years later.
The fact that they took on a surname that is also their trade is a testament of passion and dedication. My deepest and sincerest respect to fellow craftspeople who, despite technological advancements and modern techniques, are working to keep culture and tradition alive.
Thats how Indian society always was. Your last name represented your family profession. And that often led to endogamy and discrimnation. But it was always about family trade. From my last name I can trace back my ancient family tradition.
Farouk Abdoulmajidsitarmaker is such a style icon!
Hoping this family comes into many fortunes. Such beautiful work.
Aren't those gourds not pumpkins?!?! I haven never once heard a gourd called a pumpkin. And yes of course they can make gourds into instruments super cool
Well, if you want to be technical, pumpkins are a type of gourd along with squashes like butternut squash and melons like honeydew (but not watermelon, which has more in common with a "true berry" than with a melon) and zucchinies (but those are on the other end of the spectrum). They mentioned that this was a bottle gourd, which is related to the pumpkin. However, I think that, more than anything, they're trying to be whimsical by calling it a pumpkin.
@@MissingRaptor cool thanks for the info 👍
Yeah, they're all in the cucurbit family but I would not consider "pumpkin" and "gourd" to be interchangeable synonyms. I think the script editor goofed-up or didn't do their basic homework. "pumpkin" almost always refers the the edible winter squash with origins in the americas in the genus Cucurbita whereas gourds, or at least the gourds used here, are in the genus Lagenaria, are usually inedible, and originate from asia and africa. They're just not the same thing.
@@neilhanson6806 gourd is eaten in south asia.
@@neilhanson6806 As an Indian i can confirm they are edible my family eats them twice a week
The sound and tune makes difference and the ability to maneuver the tune to the vical chord
Government have to support this people's who saving our Indian culture😢😢
This is divine music of the cosmos. Beauty.
It is.
Only $400 for a delicately crafted masterpiece? I don't even know how to play them, but I want one!
Please keep doing this “STILL STANDING ” series. We all Love it. This is letting us know various arts around the world.
Thank you, Insider, for bringing so much joy and interest for esoteric topics, to the attention of the masses.
Beautiful documentary. Thank you.
I still have my late grandmother's tanpura from the 60's.. it's ivory and unique..my mother played it and now it's with my sister who plays it.
All children in the family used to go to sleep with the sound of this tanpura... My son has also listened to it.. and yes he too slept once to it.
This is priceless.
I am a sitar player myself i started in school but didn't like it as it was very difficult at first but now i love it and have done severwl solos and orchestras i have one of these and trust me it sounds so beautiful when played than all those electrical intrusments out there.sadly classical music is not glorified enough and is a dying industry as not much people want be classical artist
Super cool! Man love that people keep things like this going. It's like holding a piece of history
You really need patience too create this masterpiece
Truly great luthiers. Instrument making and teaching of skills, both in production and performance, these are guilds. You want to study with the masters!
They are amazing to make them from hand. Very talented family
I bought one of this gentlemen's lovely tampuras. Beautiful work and sounds exquisite!
FYI the camel bone bridge is called jawari and the fine threads are jiva.
👍👌👏 Simply fantastic! But 400 USD is definitely not enough for such a lot of effort and work. Every instrument is a piece of art
Best regards luck and health to all involved people.
WOWWWW ARNT THEY JUST BEAUTIFUL, THESE GUYS SHOULD PIVOT TO GUITARS BECAUSE THOSE INLAY PATTERNS ARE JUST GORGOUS WORK 😀😀😊😊☺☺😁😃😄😄
ये यंत्र कला के कार्य हैं और ध्वनि बहुत सुकून देने वाली है। इस वीडियो को साझा करने के लिए धन्यवाद।
I know these people are masters of their crafts but as someone who does woodworking with children, watch people chisel towards their bare feet makes my hair stand on end…
Craftsmanship executed in total divinity. Respectful sincere salutations to the crafts family tradition. These are apostles to the Earth.
Tanpuras are more used in Northern Indian classical( Hindustani) music and is ultimately derived from the confluence of Indian Veena( mentioned in the Natya Shastra, a Hindu treatise on Dance and singing composed between 600-800BC) and the Persian Tambura. Tanpuras are never used in the Southern purer Indian classical tradition( Carnatic), rather a violin is used or the Purer Indigenous Veena.
Tanpura are used in carnatic music also. Also, culture or art has no "purer" or "impure" form. All aspects of history and culture are formed through interaction of people's.
No it is not used in carnatic music, it is used by folk singers
Only $400 for weeks of handcrafted precision? Man, that is sad. They're worth so much more than that. So very much more! What stunning instruments. Every detail is just beautiful!
I could really go for some pumpkin tempura right now.
If I ever won the lottery, this is the sort of stuff I'd buy to help traditional artists spread their craft and culture.
The so called desh bhakth will make noise, about Indian heritage culture and what not, and when this types of things are slowly dying, they never raise voice for it, and after it completely obsolete from india, they will again make noise that MORDEN instrument killed our classical instruments 🤦🏽♂️ such hypocrisy.
Thanks for showing us this legendary work. Will definitely visit Miraj to see this and spread the word.
Second you brother
Great to see how carefully each instrument is made. Had known Miraj only as another railway station on the Bengaluru Mumbai route. Never knew this musical industry was there. Nature produced notes can never be inferior to electronic ones.
I suspect the African ships which carried their honey in gourds, potentially also had aboard gourd instruments like the akonting and other kinds of traditional lutes made from gourds.
👍
Beautiful art work… I am going to buy a sitar straight from a maker in Kolkata.. after seeing this I will not ask for any discount! I truly respect the workmanship and these hardworking talented craftsmen of India!
These guys are the original "Smashing Pumpkins".
Lol
Wow!! What a beautiful process. I have started to learn sitar recently and I feel so grateful for it. I feel more connected to Indian classical music. @ Business Insider Please keep bringing us such content🤌🏻
Stupendous and proud of such great artisans 👌👌👏👏🙏we are blessed to have such creative humans🙏🪷
My mom used to play sitar when I was very young. She had a teacher too. It always looked like a pumpkin. Imagine my surprise now.
one reason why people arnt buying these as much is 1) because there massive and take up alot more space (google sitar with case) 2) people prefer buying older instruments because generally all older instruments are better quality and 3) people just borrow from a friend or a friend of a friend
While there is a place for electronics in music, there’s nothing to the magic of hearing acoustic instruments played live by a skilled artist. Those experiences will stay with you for life.
Super creative! really nice to see how they make instruments out of pumpkins!
One day I will definitely buy atleast one Tanpura from them by going there in person. Great job Business Insider team.
Miraj city of Sangali district of Maharashtra. Hats off to them for keeping the art alive!
I play sitar...my utmost namaskar to Imtiaz ji and his family members, for keeping this art alive.
This is amazing!
I build guitars and this is just remarkable to watch. I may have to buy one.
My god, I feel terrible for being careless with my tampura, and eventually breaking it.