Tanpuras
The tanpura — tamboura or tambura in South India — provides the drone that sits under most Indian classical music. Like a sitar it has a curved jawari bridge, and that is what gives the drone its shimmer. Most have four or five strings tuned to two or three notes.
There are three sizes. Male tanpuras, the largest, sit best between B flat and D sharp, matching a male singing voice. Female tanpuras are a little smaller and sound best a fifth higher, F to B. Instrumental tanpuras, the smallest, are built to accompany a sitar or sarod and sound an octave above a male tanpura. We carry Kanai Lal and Sons, Miraj makers and our own MM instruments, each one set up before it ships.
