KORE SOUNDPACK – North India English - Native Instruments

5.3.2 The Sitar
The sitar is a plucked instrument (a type of lute) and is considered as the main melody
instrument of North India. It is the rich sound of this instrument many people in the western
world associate with Indian music, since it was introduced to the Western world in late
60s rock music by people like George Harrison and Ravi Shankar.
The sitar is a complex instrument, both in terms of playing but also from the way it is
constructed. In the main sitar KORE SOUND “Authentic Sitar” we have tried to capture
the fascinating resonating qualities of this instrument as well as to come up with a simple
yet powerful way of performing authentic sounding performances with a 61 MIDI note
keyboard.
The sitar usually has 19 metal strings, which are subdivided into these three categories:
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the main melody string (plus one auxiliary main melody string) - on this string the
various melody tones and bends are produced.
five “accompaniment” strings - these strings are tuned to the tonic and fifth and are
accompanying the melody.
eleven resonance strings - these strings are located under the other seven strings and
are tuned to a specific scale. The resonance strings are excited by the playing of the
other seven strings.
The following is important about the sitar and its playing:
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due to the construction of the frets, bends on the melody strings can easily be performed.
This kind of ornament is very common and important in Indian music.
accompanying the melody by frequently striking the accompanying strings – especially
in the slow introductions – is a characteristic trade of sitar playing.
due to the nature of the instrument and the modal principles of Indian music, the
sitar is best played in a modal context (see below) and not in a chromatic fashion.
NORTH INDIA – 16