Sitars, tablas, harmoniums, bansuris and sound-healing instruments from India’s finest workshops — checked, strung and tuned in our Berkeley shop before they ship to you.
Sitars, sarods, tanpuras, dilrubas and surbahars
→
Tabla sets, single tablas and bayas, pakhawaj
→
Kirtan, classical, scale-change and surpetis
→
Jeff Whittier and Musician’s Mall bansuris
→
Shruti boxes, singing bowls, rain towers, tongue drums
→
Cases, strings, mizrabs, tuning tools, books
→
Hand-beaten Tibetan singing bowls, shruti boxes made for us in Kolkata, steel tongue drums and our own handcrafted rain towers — used in yoga studios, sound baths and therapy rooms across the United States.
The Bhargava family has spent more than sixty years in the instrument trade. In March 2014 we bought the Ali Akbar College of Music store in Berkeley — the shop that had served North Indian classical musicians in California since 1967 — and kept its staff and its standards.
We still work with the makers our family has known for decades: Kanai Lal & Sons and Naskar in Kolkata, Haridas Vhatkar in Mumbai, Bina and Paul & Co. for harmoniums.
WatchInside the Berkeley shop
We have been answering these questions across the counter for years. They are written down now, by the people who set the instruments up.
Ask us anythingWhat separates a student sitar from a concert instrument, and what to listen for.
Reeds, stops, drones, couplers and bellows, decoded.
Who builds what, and why the name on the instrument matters.
Head sizing, tuning, seasoning and reheading, answered.
A starting point if you have never held a pair.
The workshops we buy from
2111 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 · Tues–Sat 12:00–5:30 PST
Sunday and Monday by appointment · +1 (510) 225 9597
