SURSHRINGAR concert (Part 1) : Pandit Joydeep Ghosh

[elkabir123]

beautiful sound and playing please share some more

[norumba]

i played sarod for years until my tinnitus put a stop to that. I too, have been wanting to hear a sursringar in action.

cant say i like the jawari buzz on the upper playing strings, but thats just my tatse as an ex-sarodiyya! the tone on the lower stirngs are amazing, and the playing is fantastic. what a treat!

[sabrang1430]

kya baat hai!



[786GuardianAngel]

It would have been way better (5 stars ?) if we could hear what the mic on the stand was hearing. After listening to the audience I vow never ever to say kya bat again.

[Sitarfixer]

Looks like this instrument has been repegged / restrung to be more like a bass Sarod. ( 8 main pegs instead of 10). Chikari and taraf pegs are also Sarodesque. Brilliant adaptation of the instrument and a superb performance. Great to see and hear!

[Catoptricks]

@Sitarfixer

...i would also have thought that the sursringar is an ati-mandra-saptak-adapation of the sarod to provide the pleasure of the latter in droning frequencies or to simply develop an equivalent to the surbahar for the sarod et cetera... but in fact the sursringar is perceived as the parent instrument to the sarod (!) as for it initially arose from the afghan rebab which apparently was modified in 1830 and morphed with the mahati and kachhapi veenas by Jafar Khan to form the susringar

[panchamkauns]

This is also not how I expected it to be played, but the sound is gorgeous. Well, it sounds better than sarod. Why doesn't anyone make a CD with this instrument?!

[Obakedake]

hard to say that it sounds better than a sarod, but it is is very nice.

[gusheneshin]

by the way, it is raga Bageshri which is being played.

[tutmankingasher]

its beautiful, ive been waithing FOREVER to hear one of these, its so nice!

[guruji1]

Yes...Joydeep ji's way of playing is ALSO traditional which he learnt from his illustriuos Guru Pt.Bimalendu Mukherjee ( famous sitarist Budhaditya ji's father) & an exponent of Sitar/Surbahar & Surshringar & Joydeep ji also belongs to the lineage of the great Veenkar and Dhrupad singer Late Ustad Mohammed Dabir Khan of the famous Senia Gharana...

[gusheneshin]

It seems like a very strange way of playing surshingar. I have a friend who plays a larger version than this one, and with plectrums on his fingers. Not like a sarod. I don't know if Joydeep's way of playing is traditional or not.

[grzsn]

Thanks for the post! I wanted to see it live for years.

But it seems to me that he uses sarode technics, not the traditional way. The holding and plucking is different.

The instrument is different as well - originally it hasn't have tarafs (sympathetic strings).

But it's nice anyway!

[intezam]

First time to see this in action. 5 stars from me for that.Who actually developed that instrument? Was it created by baba Alauddin or is it an ancient instrument?

[grzsn]

"...One opinion is that the surshringar was first made by the late Nawab of Rampur,Syed KaIb Ali Khan Bahadur. But the more popular view seems to be that it was introduced by the famous brothers Pyar Khan, Jaffar Khan and Basit Khan who flourished in the early part of the 19th century. ... Mohamed Ali Khan, son of Basit Khan, who lived in Rampur and later in Lucknow, was a master of the surshringar and the last descendant of Tansen. ...

[grzsn]

... The surshringar is a combination of three stringed instruments, namely the ii ahati veena, the rabab and the kachchapi veena. The small gourd and the neck to which the strings are attached are features of the mahari veena; the finger-board with the metal plate is very much like the type of rabab which Tansen played; and the main body is similar to that of the kachchapi veena, popularly called the kachchapi sitar, with its flat gourd resembling the back of a tortoise. ...

[grzsn]

... There are six main strings which are placed on a flat bridge. There are two additional strings for the drone and the rhythmic accompaniment.

To play it, the instrument is placed in front of the performer and held in a slanting position so that the upper portion rests on the left shoulder. The strings are plucked with wire plectrums (mizrabs) worn on the fingers of the right hand and the notes are held with the fingers of the left hand. ...

[grzsn]

... The polished metal plate on the finger-board facilitates the sliding of the fingers thus making it easier to produce the gamakas and other graces of Indian music. The surshringar is restricted to serious types of music, mainly the Dhrupad and Dhamar styles. After playing the alap of the raga in vilambit, madhya and drut layas (slow, medium and fast tempo), the performer usually ends the recital with varieties of jhala played to the accompaniment of the pakhawaj. ...

[grzsn]

... The surshringar is a difficult instrument to practise upon and hence is not popular. However there are a few masters in the north who maintain the traditional style of playing this instrument."

[intezam]

Thank you for your explanaition, Sir.

It's somewhat similar in size and shape to the seniya rabab/dhrupad rabab, just lacking the skin and having a very differend kind of bidge. I have seen the Sursingar only in old books so far.Its really nice seeing it played here.

[CarnaticConnection]

It's actually a pretty old instrument, played before Baba's time.

[stoney68]

Thanks for this video.

I have never actually seen a Surshringar being played.

I have only heard old scratchy recordings.

It is a beautiful sound. I am surprised more Sarod players do not learn the Surshringar. It should be similar to a sitarist learning Surbahar for Alaap. The Jawari bridge certainly makes the overall sound more like a Rudra Veena than a sarod.