Hi Keith. I have studied dilruba for about 40 years. I totally agree with you on the machine pegs, difference in sound between the two instruments, etc. (I never played esraj but I have a friend who is a professional player) I also play sitar and wonder why more sitar players do not adopt machine tunings (Except for ovation sitars) Thanks for your videos.
Hey thats great! Wow 40 years! I play Sitar a little bit too and wondered the exact same thing. Ireally hope a Sitar maker will make one as well. I would like to hear you play Dilruba. Do you have any videos?
@@learnesrajdilrubaonline1088 I am a 72 year old guy. I started learning Hindustani music and sitar in 1969! I used to be part of a fusion band in the 1990s. We made a few videos but none survive. I don't post things online, for privacy reasons. But I would be happy to share information with you privately, one to one via email. As I mentioned , there are many ovation or travel sitars available and nearly all have machine tuning. But very few classical sitarists use them . I don't know why. One person who may be able to shed some light on this is the maestro Purbayan Chatterjee. I may ask him. Did you study in India? Keep up the great work!
Tuning the wooden pegs is much easier if we use a tuning wrench. In my variant, it is just a piece of wood with a hole cut in a shape of peg's handle (which must be sort of flat, not a round one). I've learned to use it for my self-made Latvian folk instrument, Kokle (horizontal harp). Because Kokle has less body mass (usually made of pine wood), wooden pegs also influence sound. Metal tuning pegs (like those of modern guitar) are heavier, and thus muffle the overtones. The lighter, the better. Of course, I haven't been able to get Esraj for myself yet, so it is just an educated guess from my experience with the 4 Kokles that I have built.
Thank you for sharing that, yes I never thought of that,.. that the lack of weight can be better for resonance! Still Id have to say with 21 strings Id take a little less resonance than wrestling with wooden or plastic tuning pegs any day..
Thanks for your clear explanations.Based on your experiences, which diameter for the first playing string and which for the resonance strings (made of steel) would you recommend for an esraj In your version?
You're welcome andthank you! Go here and go to the bottom and subscribe for the ebook as I talk about that and show a diagram on sizes and where you can get good quality strings in US keithbeber.com/courses/courses-dilruba-esraj-online-courses/
Watched this and I've settled on the dilruba, as much as I love the liok of the esraj. Are the frets set out in a scale, or in semitones like a guitar? wondering if I have to accommodate with tuning somehow if I want to play alongside a guitar or something.
@@learnesrajdilrubaonline1088 cheers mate, that video covered it really well. Really glad I found this channel, because most dilruba resources are in Hindi, and my Hindi is awful 😂.
When you say Monoj, there are two, Monoj Sardar in Kolkata and Monoj Mondal in Santiniketan. Which maker is this esraj from? The other question, are you able to reach and play comfortably the lower notes on the second string? Can you do a video on that please?
Great man who is not an Indian is explaining the difference between two Indian instruments
Hi Keith. I have studied dilruba for about 40 years. I totally agree with you on the machine pegs, difference in sound between the two instruments, etc. (I never played esraj but I have a friend who is a professional player) I also play sitar and wonder why more sitar players do not adopt machine tunings (Except for ovation sitars) Thanks for your videos.
Hey thats great! Wow 40 years! I play Sitar a little bit too and wondered the exact same thing. Ireally hope a Sitar maker will make one as well. I would like to hear you play Dilruba. Do you have any videos?
@@learnesrajdilrubaonline1088 I am a 72 year old guy. I started learning Hindustani music and sitar in 1969! I used to be part of a fusion band in the 1990s. We made a few videos but none survive. I don't post things online, for privacy reasons. But I would be happy to share information with you privately, one to one via email. As I mentioned , there are many ovation or travel sitars available and nearly all have machine tuning. But very few classical sitarists use them . I don't know why. One person who may be able to shed some light on this is the maestro Purbayan Chatterjee. I may ask him. Did you study in India? Keep up the great work!
@@indetif839 Sure Id like to see your videos. My email address is: keithbeber75@gmail.com
@@indetif839 Yes I studied in India, U.K., Canada, and Thailand
@@learnesrajdilrubaonline1088 Hi Keith. I will contact you via your email. Thanks.
Very nice explanation 🎉
Thank God
😆Thank you friend 🙏
Tuning the wooden pegs is much easier if we use a tuning wrench. In my variant, it is just a piece of wood with a hole cut in a shape of peg's handle (which must be sort of flat, not a round one). I've learned to use it for my self-made Latvian folk instrument, Kokle (horizontal harp).
Because Kokle has less body mass (usually made of pine wood), wooden pegs also influence sound. Metal tuning pegs (like those of modern guitar) are heavier, and thus muffle the overtones. The lighter, the better. Of course, I haven't been able to get Esraj for myself yet, so it is just an educated guess from my experience with the 4 Kokles that I have built.
Thank you for sharing that, yes I never thought of that,.. that the lack of weight can be better for resonance! Still Id have to say with 21 strings Id take a little less resonance than wrestling with wooden or plastic tuning pegs any day..
Thanks for your clear explanations.Based on your experiences, which diameter for the first playing string
and which for the resonance strings (made of steel) would you recommend for an esraj
In your version?
You're welcome andthank you! Go here and go to the bottom and subscribe for the ebook as I talk about that and show a diagram on sizes and where you can get good quality strings in US keithbeber.com/courses/courses-dilruba-esraj-online-courses/
Watched this and I've settled on the dilruba, as much as I love the liok of the esraj. Are the frets set out in a scale, or in semitones like a guitar? wondering if I have to accommodate with tuning somehow if I want to play alongside a guitar or something.
You made a good choice with Dilruba! vua-cam.com/video/pJr1zUpUSoM/v-deo.html just look here regarding your question on tuning
@@learnesrajdilrubaonline1088 cheers mate, that video covered it really well. Really glad I found this channel, because most dilruba resources are in Hindi, and my Hindi is awful 😂.
When you say Monoj, there are two, Monoj Sardar in Kolkata and Monoj Mondal in Santiniketan. Which maker is this esraj from?
The other question, are you able to reach and play comfortably the lower notes on the second string? Can you do a video on that please?
Yes mine is from Kolkata!
@@learnesrajdilrubaonline1088 What about my other request 🙂
Thank you
You are welcome!
Where is the best place to buy esraj from?
Where do you live?
@@learnesrajdilrubaonline1088 United kingdom
Got mine from Biba, Old Delhi
Sikh online music store
@@rekhachez8211they are not good. I would reccomend Sarat sardar or Monoj Kumar in bangal. Vs music in Delhi is always good
Great
Thank you! 🙏
Where did you get the tar shehnai horn pls?
I got the Tar Shehnai made for me while I was in India in New Delhi
facebook.com/daljit.singh.5055233
from this luthier