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Tanpura tuning to accompany "E" bansuri GENERAL DISCUSSIONS
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165 posts ahirbhairav 165 posts
ahirbhairav
pumpik wrote:
Ahir Bhairav

Indeed it does. It also tells me how much my bansuri pitch varies with time of the day/season etc. Also, previously I used to make these changes by ear, and now I realise how close or far I was.

Enjoy

P
Which is more testimonies for why iTablaPro rocks.
Next concert: Aditya Sharma (today)
Sandipan Samajpati (9/28)
Shubhendra Rao (10/19)
Rakesh & Friends (Gino Banks, the drummer, tweeted me that they'll be in Oct, so whenever they come here, if they come here.)
Zakir Hussain & company (3/23/14)
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Shaun 26 posts
Shaun
Hello all,

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but I want to buy a Tanpura to accompany a Bansuri in E (Sa=E). All the info I've found so far tells me that a male Tanpura has a key range from B to D# while the female range is F to A#. So how do you tune the stings if Sa is E and Pa is B? I'm sure it must be possible since E is the most common tonic for the concert Bansuri, but I can't figure out how you would tune the Tanpura to it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Shaun
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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Lars Senior Member 1,683 posts
Lars
I've sold a few tanpuras for 'E' but they've always been instrumental. You could try a male tanpura and use lighter gauge strings or female with heavier strings. The problem you may run into is the jawari if the instrument wasn't setup for your key so if you order one tell them it's for E.
http://www.raincitymusic.com
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Shaun 26 posts
Shaun
Lars wrote:
I've sold a few tanpuras for 'E' but they've always been instrumental. You could try a male tanpura and use lighter gauge strings or female with heavier strings. The problem you may run into is the jawari if the instrument wasn't setup for your key so if you order one tell them it's for E.
Thanks Lars, It looks like "E" is really pushing it and if it affects the sound too much it'll be defeating the purpose of getting a real Tanpura. I'm really puzzled by this since E is such a common key for the bansuri and I've heard many well-known players with a tanpura accompaniment (surely they're not all using boxes?). I've noticed there's a "travelling tanpura which is much smaller and more solidly constructed (no gourd) - would one of these be easier to tune to E?
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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Shaun 26 posts
Shaun
trippy wrote:
What about an electronic tanpura box? All the ones I've had have gone a full octave with fine tuners!!!

Nick
Hi Nick, I was about to buy a tanpura box when the idea occured to me of getting a real one instead, luckily I noticed the limited key range before I actually ordered one. If I can't find any way of tuning the real ones to E it'll have to be the box, if you've used a few maybe you could recommend a good one? I saw Rakesh Chaurasia play a few months ago and he appeared to be using a Raagini, which seems to be the most popular one. Apparently some of the cheaper ones can drift out of tune during a performance (which is worse than useless!)
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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trippy monkey 4,281 posts
trippy monkey
What about an electronic tanpura box? All the ones I've had have gone a full octave with fine tuners!!!

Nick
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trippy monkey 4,281 posts
trippy monkey
Hi again
I've tried several Tanpura boxes & found them all quite good & steady. I have a 5 string Raagini which I was thinking of putting on ebay so...

Nick
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Shaun 26 posts
Shaun
Hi Nick, I'll send you a message about the Raagini to avoid spamming the forum with potential haggling
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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pumpik 191 posts
pumpik
If you have the iTablaPro app, it has the ability to tune itself to the pitch of your bansuri. So, even if your bansuri is slightly off E, the appln will sync itself to pitch of the bansuri.
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martin spaink Senior Member 330 posts
martin spaink
Hi, I have a large male Miraj tanpura and mostly use that at a low pitch around B-flat or B. I have nevertheless used it often at a pitch of E precisely to accompany for a Bansuriplayer. What I did is I adapted a second bridge to my tanpura and did the jivari for thinner strings to sound at E. I also made a recording at E, and am certain there are many other recordings of natural tanpuras at every pitch you could want to be found on the net.
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ahirbhairav 165 posts
ahirbhairav
pumpik wrote:
If you have the iTablaPro app, it has the ability to tune itself to the pitch of your bansuri. So, even if your bansuri is slightly off E, the appln will sync itself to pitch of the bansuri.
It also works for vocal...which is a benefit since it's been very helpful in helping me realize that I've been out of pitch for the past week or so...
Next concert: Aditya Sharma (today)
Sandipan Samajpati (9/28)
Shubhendra Rao (10/19)
Rakesh & Friends (Gino Banks, the drummer, tweeted me that they'll be in Oct, so whenever they come here, if they come here.)
Zakir Hussain & company (3/23/14)
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pumpik 191 posts
pumpik
Ahir Bhairav

Indeed it does. It also tells me how much my bansuri pitch varies with time of the day/season etc. Also, previously I used to make these changes by ear, and now I realise how close or far I was.

Enjoy

P
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