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05/18/13: Finally we have some things on the India Gifts page! We moved the wood boxes and a few other things over there. Aparajita incense is there now too, it's new packaging and a smaller amount but lower price too....and....after a year of looking for the right material I've finally made the 'Jawari Guard' which solves the problem of premature bridge wear. Since sitar came around most of us have been using 35mm film which works well but there's not much of it around anymore and it wears out fast. The Jawari Guard is hopefully a good solution. Each piece will give you 3 pieces of plastic, trim to size and use it while doing normal practice and save your bridge for regular playing and performance. Check it out here.... A Kolkata shipment due next week, stay tuned.

05/02/13: Our latest instruction DVD is now shipping. Khayal and Thumri in Raga Yaman and Raga Pilu is our first DVD featuring Deobrat Mishra from Varanasi (Benares) and turned out to be a natural. A nice addition and a different flavor to our other Sitar Performance Series DVD's. Check it out here!

05/02/13: Back from India, was a very productive trip! A lot of instruments coming soon in May/June. I'm please to announce a partnership with Rajesh Sharma of Mohan Lal Sharma and also Naeem Sitarmaker. Spent a lot of time with both makers discussing designs and logisitics as well as just having a plain great time hanging out with them. Both makers incredibly dedicated to their art and good musicians as well. More from Srishti and Hiren Roy coming in a few weeks and also from Radhey Shyam Sharma. 3 more Srishti fancy scale changers due in September, we're sold out for now. Brought back some neat wooden oil boxes here.

04/06/13: Off to India to check instruments from Radhey Shyam and Mohan Lal in Varanasi and a 3 day trip to Miraj also! Will be filming Sitar Performance Series #16 featuring Deobrat Mishra who will be sharing some great Benares sitar technique for you. Indrajit will be continuing also with more releases next winter. Any requests please feel free to email me for your needs while I'm in India and all orders place while I'm gone will be shipped from the 24th of April onwards. Ok, in the meantime please enjoy the latest Srishti harmoniums which have just gone online!! REALLY excited about these, have been looking for the right people to make harmoniums for our Srishti label and finally...finally....but the results were beyond what was expected in that we have what I feel is a harmonium equal in quality to the Surokar. As many of you know we (and everyone else) have been unable to get more Surokars do to many variables beyond our control and with these new instruments I won't be worrying much. We just got in a Srishti Fancy 9 scale changer and a 3 reed collapsible standard in. And for fun we brought in 2 Sapasa no frills harmoniums which offer a great value for the price.

And.....have been asked for replacement gourds so ok, here they are in Large natural or Regular wooden style. Hey, how about some fancy hand made dowels for tabla dayans in 4 different wood types? Click here, only 9 sets available and then they're gone for good. Is there more? Well, check back in May and see!

03/26/13: All the Mohan Veenas have sold out already from the shipment last week along with most everything else. Will have another Bhabasindu deluxe and 1 Srishti/Victoria again in May and then it'll be late summer before anymore arrive. Will be in India from April 7 to 23 so will be slight delays in shipping during that time (slight meaning 2 weeks!). A LOT of things happening between now and summer, lets keep it a surprise for now but do stay tuned. Our new harmoniums have arrived and are wonderful, on par in quality with the Surokars, pics and details up soon. Just got in some copies of "Sitar and Surbahar Manufacturing ~ The tradition of Kanailal & Brother, Kolkata" by Prof. Lars Koch.

02/18/13: After a short break we have the Parampara tablas back for order, directly shipped as before. Prices will rise in a few weeks as we're waiting for updated shipping information but for now we'll keep them at the same price. Calcutta style only in regular, gandharva, or vocal.

02/16/13: Our first instrument is here from Naeem Sitarmaker, it's a very nice studio electric sitar. We are working with him to make custom designed instruments for us. These are original Miraj made instruments, as many of you might know the majority of instruments in Miraj are now brought in from Kolkata and ebay, etc. are inundated with them. Hoping to reverse this trend, Miraj instruments are unique from Kolkata sitars in the shape of the tabli and decoration and generally louder due to different wood thickness. Looking forward to more from them as they still produce a small number of locally made instruments.

02/07/13: Got a nice 30 year old Hemen Sarod here now, here's the link!

02/04/13: We have 5 of the Varanasi Market sitars here. These came from the Sitars Etc. inventory and I have spent a lot of time finishing and refitting them and they're turning out great! A nice entry level sitar. Also the first of our harmoniums from Srishti is up with 4 more coming in March. I've spent about 2 years on getting the right people together to do a great job on harmoniums and judging by the first one just received I'd say it's looking good for now. We have a studio sitar due shortly from a new maker who seems to be on the ball so stay tuned.

02/03/13: More items and pictures up on the sitar accessories page! More coming in a day or two.....

01/26/13: Most Amit Roy CD's back in stock now. We've assembled a group of good craftsmen to make harmoniums for Srishti Musical now, first one will be up shortly and 2 kirtan portable harmoniums up in a month or so. Most Srishti sitars will be back in stock then as well. Just got a 30 year old Hemen tun Sarod that has not had much playing time, pics and details soon!

01/04/13: After years of trying to get a case we've finally got the Jasmine coconut oil that Indrajit, etc. use for finger oil for sitar. Available here.....Next shipment early March, we're getting some kirtan harmoniums with 3 1/2 octave keyboard, sounds promising and will be restocking many of our Srishti and Bhabasindhu instruments which we're out of and maybe a Hiren Roy or two!

12/27/12: Now carrying Mohan Veena strings, these are specifically for Bhabasindu style (Concord) Mohan Veenas. Our Srishti Victoria guitar uses a thicker gauge which we'll make sets up soon for them also. I'd like to thank everyone for your support this past year, has been a rough one but we're on the right track still and will continue on. Wish you all a Happy and music filled New Year!

12/07/12: All DVD's now in stock and shipping. A few Hiren Roy's here also, have a deal on two of them but you have to ask....Just got "A Practical Method for Taus, Dilruba, and Esraj" book from Michael Wheeler, he did a great job and I'm happy to carry it as nothing really exists in print for these instruments.

12/03/12: Our 3 latest DVD releases are in production and will be available for shipping in approx. 7 business days! Sitar Basics (beginning sitar), Sitar Technique Volume 2 in Raga Charukeshi, and Introduction to Raga Jhinjoti. Visit our Sitar DVD page for links to the trailers and other information! A shipment of Hiren Roy's recently arrived but most are already sold. We have a nice Vilayat Khan style available and a teak full decoration along with a half decoration are getting some polish touch up and ready to go soon.

11/17/12: Winding down the year and clearing inventory! Still a few weeks off from our next 3 DVD titles, a few Hiren Roy's due this week. Sadly we have decided to not carry Parampara tablas any longer, it just got to be too expensive and not profitable. Those of you fortunate enough to have a set, enjoy!!

08/09/12: Just got a 20 year old Hemen Burmese teak surbahar owned by a collector who completely french polished it, basically never played. Also have 1 Radhey Shyam Sharma surbahar. Pictures of both up soon....

07/12/12: Srishti Surbahar now up, Hiren Roy Surbahar in stock also. Check out 2 Kanai Lal tanpuras now available. 2 new Sarangi's from Srishti now up, check out style 1 and style 2. Sarangi's all now on their own page.

07/08/12: Shipment just in! Hiren Roys, the new Srishti Surbahar, Dilrubas, Sarangi's, mohan veenas, etc. etc. Also got 10 sets of the nice Kolkata tabla straps in due to requests. Pics, etc. coming soon.

06/28/12: Made some mods to the Sitar Accessories page allowing drop down sizes, style, etc. Hope it works? New things coming soon. Our links page has started oh so slowly....am just finishing overdue programming issues with mundane stuff like spaces in filenames, etc. so if you get our custom error page then please go back to the home page and refresh your browser.

06/12/12: Just added both of Patrick Moutals latest works. One is "A comparative study of Hindustani Ragas" which is revised and back in print, and the other is a new title "Hindustani Gats-s compilation". Invaluable study aids for sitar players, please help ensure future releases from Dr. Moutal by ordering his books whether from us or through him. We've also changed to a new shipping program that hopefully will email everyone their shipment information from now on and keep rates low at the same time.

06/07/12: RA Sitarmaker 1/2 decoration sitar now up. Has been here awhile and just fitted with jawari, etc. Very nice for the price. We've also had a number of great tabla soft cases here which are finally on the site.

06/02/12: Srishti Natural wood tanpura up again and the Srishti Deluxe 5 string back in stock. 2 Kanai Lal & sons tanpuras on the way also. New narkas from Varanasi along with double mizrabs. A number of sitars now out of stock but more on the way in the fall. Look for a few CD titles and one DVD concert from Pandit Shivnath Mishra and Deobrat Mishra shortly.

05/24/12: What's coming soon you want to know? A whole bunch of things, more Hiren Roy instruments, a new take on an older design Srishti, 2 newly designed Sarangi's with fiberglass cases, and more. Have just added a lot of things our Indian instrument accessories page such as Mohan Veena accessories and a multitude of options for Sarod picks from John Pearse. Also up is a decent and affordable transducer from John Pearse for sitar and other instruments. This fall look for more from Radhey Shyam Sharma and possibly Mohan Lal Sharma, we'll be in India this Fall so be sure to email with any requests ahead of time.

03/19/12: Have started an Indian instrument accessories page that we'll be adding many things to shortly, it's in the works. For now we have professional level bows for Dilruba and Sarangi along with rosin, look for Mohan Veena accessories, etc. soon. 2 title added to our Indian classical music CD's section. One is a local Austin production called Raga Magic by Indrajit Banerjee and another is "Sound for Meditation" by Deobrat Mishra which is a blend of sitar,vocal, and drone/atmoshphere, I really like it. Sorry a lot of the other titles are now out of print, working on getting more and we'll expand our title list late this year with some relevant music. Also the long promised links page now up, nothing there yet but there will be!

03/04/12: Here are the links to the newly acquired Taal Tarang compact tabla machine and the Mridanga Talam electronic Mridanga and Manjira machine. We have a new maker and style of Mohan Veena now here. The Srishti "Kala Munda" kharaj pancham sitar just in also.

02/26/12: More Srishti standards in, also both models of Bhabasindu Mohan Veena and a new style of Mohan Veena from a collaboration between an Indian guitar maker and a sitar maker up soon. A one off prototype of a Vilayat Khan looking sitar only in Kharaj Pancham up as soon as we can get pictures. A surbahar from Kanai Lal & sons is in and at $1250 with fiberglass case it won't last. We have a lot of David Courtneys books now available too.

01/15/12: We just put up 61 pictures of artists, maker, etc. courtesy of photographer Maurizio Frullani, details are here and it doesn't cost anythng, just enjoy! Added a new style of practice mat, the colors are very nice and double padded.

01/03/12: Pakrashi scale changer harmonium now up....Happy New Year!

12/28/11: 3 new book titles now available. Music in India, Introduction to Sitar, & Sulla Strada del Raga.

12/28/11: FREE FIBERGLASS CASE WITH EVERY SITAR!! Due to acquiring the recent stock from the closed San Antonio Sitars Etc. location we are able to offer a free fiberglass sitar with EVERY sitar sold. Details are: Our choice only from a variety of different styles and colors, too many to list. Some have wheels, some don't. May have a few scratches. Top tumba case in rexine included while supplies last. A great deal!! If you want a top of the line double tumba case, etc. we will give you a $75 discount on an upgraded case in lieu of the free case. $75 discount only applies to cases, if you opt for gigbag only there is no discount, sorry.

12/19/11: RA Sitarmaker Gandhar Pancham sitar just went up, had been with the closed Sitars Etc. store, quite nice HERE....We have 4 of the Magic DX tanpura machines from Radel, previous edition which is now the ZX but pretty much the same. They're on sale at $99 each while they last. HERE Also a natural fully wood carved instrumental tanpura from RA Sitarmaker before they started outsourcing to Lucknow. And Rikhiram tanpuras are now available, also from the closed Sitars Etc. store. Only 4 of them at a price cheaper than getting them from India with shipping. Repolished with new Pyramid strings made just for this style of tanpura. We have a beautiful scale changer harmonium from Modern Music house in the harmonium section. Got a bunch of talc cases for tabla, can also be used for oil boxes for sitar.

12/03/11: Paul & Co. 11 note scale changer added here. We also have a new teak Sarod from Hemen, made by Hemen Sen before he passed away. This is in addition to the larger used Hemen teak Sarod, both wonderful instruments. Have a new RA gandhar pancham sitar up in a day or two from the Sitars Etc. inventory, made before they switched to using prefab Lucknow sitar bodies, will be priced to sell and it's ready to go.

11/21/11: The remaining inventory from Sitars Etc. in Texas is with us now, look for additions to our product lines shortly along with a sale page of single items and previous generation electronics (new). Our latest 2 DVD's are now in stock and shipping. Introduction to Pentatonic Ragas and Introduction to Raga Jog as found on our Sitar DVD lessons page. Rain City Music is also now sponsoring a 6 concert series in Austin over the next year, please click on our Facebook link above for more information. Also look for a photo gallery from Maurizio Frullani of famous artists in black & white soon for your viewing pleasure. I became acquainted with his work when I saw his book in Varanasi at a sitar shop and we look forward to combining his art work display not only on the website but in conjunction with concerts in the US next year. One Bhabasindu mohan veena is here in stock. Paul & Co. 11 scale changer, Modern Musical Scale changer harmoniums up soon along with the latest Hiren Roy sitars, Rikhi Ram (Sanjay) tanpuras and a few odds and ends. New calendars are in for 2012!

11/05/11: New shipment just in, now have the Sristhi Basic sitar in the gulab/rose style again along with the dark standards! Almost all the Srishti models are now in stock again, Hiren Roy's will be available in about 3 weeks along with 2 more DVD releases. 2012 calendars are here, free with your order of accessories but shipping is $12 minimum via priority mail flat rate box.

10/14/11: 2 more DVD's now added, Introduction to Ahir Bhairav and Introduction to Bageshwari (Bageshri) are now up on the Sitar DVD page. We can take your order but first arrivals won't be here for a week so a little late shipping to start. 2 more DVD's to be released next month, Raga Jog & Pentatonic Ragas which will bring our total to 12 so far! Also our shipment of Aparajitha finally got here.

Mohan Lal Sharma teak sitar is up as well as a vintage Hiren Roy we got directly from the shop in Kolkata.

10/13/11: Back from India now for a few weeks, sorry for no updates but our hosting methods were changed and so a lot of the page names had to be edited along with about 4000 hyperlinks! Please refresh your browsers! Mohan Lal Sharma teak sitar and an old Hiren Roy sitar direct from Baruns shop going up soon.

08/25/11: A used half decoration Hiren Roy came our way and is listed at $1275 here . No pics yet, sorry but it's just like the others basically with slight wear and great jawari. Also a new Sarangi book available now. Radhey Shyam Sharma gandhar pancham sitar is up! We have a video by Indrajit Banerjee live in concert, will be in stock and shipping after 9/21/11. Updated our customer reviews too, thanks so much to everyone for your support!

08/15/11: A few more things in the accessories page (boxes and mats). We now have a number of nice Shehnais in stock. Hard to get decent ones and even harder to play them regardless! More Radhey instrument in stock, up soon. 2 Varanasi market sitars up, we got these 5 months ago actually, inexpensive decent instruments for the money.

08/07/11: Off to India again for 3 weeks in September so please order ahead if you need anything. Schertler just had a massive price increase on their DYN-E pickup unfortunately. Radhey sitars almost sold out, more coming this week with the Surbahars.

07/29/11: A slightly used Hiren Roy colored penwork and Srishti standard mahogany now available. Cannot tell the difference from new, we took them in on a trade.

07/21/11: DMS harmoniums in traditional and scale changer models now up along with portable harmoniums.

07/17/11: Bashir studio sitar in colored penwork pictures are up, the sitar page is here and the pictures are here. Pics of the current Barun Ray (Hiren Roy) surbahar are here.

07/12/11: Two more from Bashir now up. The Angoor/Sheesham and the Hemraj . Of course more coming!

06/27/11: Radhey Shyam Sharma studio sitar now up. 06/29/11: Radhey half decoration sitar up now

06/23/11: More Pyramid string options up, Radhey Shyam Sharma Lotus teak here. Radhey tun #1 sitar here. The rest should be up in a few days, thanks for your patience!

06/18/11: Still trying to get the Radhey Shyam Sharma pics and pages up, soon.....We now have copies of "A Cricket in the Court of Akbar" by Andrew Mendelson, a very enjoyable sitar documentary. Very well done by a cool guy who loves sitar. You can purchase them here. Much more coming still.

05/15/11: 5 more titles added to the CD section which gets somewhat neglected but it's because we're picky. 3 of the titles are from Amit Roy, son of Hiren Roy and disciple of Nikhil Banerjee. Also 2 titles from Pandit Shivnath Mishra & Deobrat Mishra who have been great friends of ours for many years.

05/14/11: All the Bashir's now up here!! Some new oil boxes and 2 sizes of Nag Champa oil for fingers now here. Want to use your sitar with Midi instruments or your computer? Click here

05/13/11: Bashir Kashmiri dark sitar now back in stock. All the rest of the Bashir's will be up over the weekend.

05/09/11: Still trying to get the latest instruments up, we have new Bashir's in stock. Hiren Roy's coming, 2 types of santoor in, more accessories. Almost too much to keep up with and definitely now the largest selection of sitars in the Western hemisphere!! So please stay tuned for pictures and descriptions of everything. Happy Birthday Dad!

Check out our Sarangi here. 2 new Bashir studio electric sitars here.

04/15/11: Lots of new things coming from India soon with updates as soon as we're able! Just updated stock status on a few instruments. The shop demo Hiren Roy colored penwork sitar is now available, all Srishti VK models in stock. More Bashirs coming, Hiren Roy's, and a new maker (well we've known him for awhile but still....).

03/26/11: Updating while in India, back on April 3rd, slight delays in shipping until I return...sorry but it's necessary. Large shipment just in last week of sitars and harmoniums. Srishti Padma (Lotus) sitar here, Kanai Lal & Sons sarod in Ali Akbar style (just in) and Amjad Ali Khan style (custom order). Really nice instruments based on the Hemen design with a really good fit and finish. Starting to carry some Decent Delhi sarangi's, info coming soon. Oh, and a new style of Mohan Veena here from Bhabasindhu, a little less fancy and less expensive great sound and action. More sitars coming too soon!

02/27/11: Vintage Hemen teak sarod anyone?

02/17/11: Srishti Santoor now up! And we're well stocked on electronics with most everything in stock including the latest Nagma Electronic Lehera machine and the Radel Sunadamala ZX.

02/12/11: Pics of the new Kanai Lal & Sons #1 sitar here. The Srishti Designer sitar has been resurrected but with a completely different look. Esraj is in and very nice....and the Manoj Kumar Sardar Swarsangam is here. The US is now charging duties so all new arrivals prices are going up about 5%, sorry. Also shipping rates for domestic US have gone up, now $85 for a sitar or $95 east of the Mississippi. More instruments already here, just working on it!

02/01/11: A new Kanai Lal & Sons full decoration is here, really quite fancy. Srishti Santoor up soon, Esraj, and the Srishti Designer sitar w/ green and red penwork is here. Most everything is in stock now, more coming. Keep an eye on the updates for pictures. Kanai Lal sarodes coming March/April. Also we will be in India shortly for a few weeks so any requests let us know?

01/16/11: More Bashir new stock pictures are up. The Bashir Sitarmaker kharaj pancham studio sitar is up as is their Gandhar Pancham/Vilayat Khan style sitar. More here from Bashir in a week, it's just leaving India. We became an LR Baggs dealer about a month ago and just now have their products listed (it gets that busy, sorry). But anyway I'm very happy to carry their products, can't say a bad thing about them. Check out the Para Acoustic DI pre-amp, the Gigpro preamp (replaces the PUTW), & the uber-fantastic A-REF Acoustic amplifier. No better way to set up your sitar for transducer based amplification OR microphone. More soon!

01/11/11: A vintage Radha Krishna Sharma sitar is here now! Nice instrument in great shape at a decent price....

01/06/11: Lots coming over the next few days. The new Bashir Angur patta sitar pictures are up.....and....an alternate model of the Srishti VK style sitar pictures finally up, I completely forgot as it was buried in one of the sitar rooms! Beautiful instrument. More Bashir pics coming, L.R. Baggs electronics here just have to make the page including their wonderful acoustic amplifier perfectly paired to the McIntyre transducer. Bashir Gandhar Pancham sitar coming and another KP model about 2 weeks. A new Srishti model, Santoor, Kanai Lal full decoration custom made for us, and more coming soon. Fiberglass sitar cases on sale!! Happy New Year to everyone and thanks as always for your support of our efforts.

12/19/10: Monoj Kumar Sardar #1 kharaj pancham sitar now up!

12/12/10: Srishti Manipur tun sitar now up!

12/10/10: More instrumental tanpuras and box tanpuras (1 octave lower) than you can shake a stick at. Bhajan/Kirtan instrument section in the works for next year working with a Baul partner in W. Bengal. Lets see how it goes. We have a fancy version of the Srishti Gandhar Pancham but no pics yet, also the Manipur tun pictures and Manoj Kumar Sardar sitar pics soon.

12/09/10: Have a number of instruments not up yet as we've been quite busy. P & Brothers sitar now listed as well as the SenGupta sitar that we've been waiting for....Still to come a Manoj Kumar Sardar sitar, 2 tanpuras and probably something else I've forgotten!

11/30/10: Mahogany colored Srishti standard sitars are in! 2 blonde ones arriving early January, the last 2 Dark traditional Srishti standards are still here and are the last ones for awhile. Pics all done of the Sen Gupta, the Srishti Manipur tun, P&Brothers sitar, and Manoj Kumar Sardar #1, just don't have time to put them up yet but they're here and ready to go.....More Bashir's soon.

11/19/10: Some minor updates, new accessory boxes added. 25 instruments just left India and here next week along with more Bashir models coming in about 2 weeks & DMS harmonium. The first SenGupta sitar, P & Brothers, Manoj Kumar Sardar sitars here next week. Mahogany Srishti standards and another Bhabasindhu Mohan Veena too. Too much to list at the moment....

11/07/10: Gopal Das scale changer harmonium added!

11/06/10: New sizes of Pyramid MA strings in along with brass sitar string coils due to popular requests. Also have steel string coils in most sizes including uncommon larger sizes for those on the edge....Tabla prices have risen unfortunately due to shipping cost increase, the other instruments will probably go up also soon for the same reason and the dollar to INR value is going down but lets see. Have a few things going up over the next week as I get time and a huge shipment leaving around the 18th from India so here on the 22nd or so with new makers, etc.

11/01/10: Just minor updates, nothing major but 25 instruments are shipping in about 2 weeks so by the end of the 3rd week of November we should have them. A few changes coming in the Miraj instruments.....

10/17/10: For those of you who haven't joined us on Facebook please click on the logo at the top of the page as a lot of news, etc. is there long before the site update. It saves us from having to manage lists and possibly end up in spam filters. Some new tanpuras are in, the latest Srishti Sindh now here and beautiful as always. 3 more DVD's have been released!! Kirwani, Malkauns, and Dhuns Vol 1. All can be found with our other titles on the DVD page. 2 more books and some CD's up as soon as there's time.

10/10/10: We have the pictures of the second type of Srishti basic half decoration sitar up now. Also the latest Dilruba is just beautiful. We have some new CD's and books in and 3 more DVD titles coming by end of next week. We're now carrying the new Peterson Stroboclip tuner. This tuner has been in the works for about 10 years, the late Peter Cutchey had been working with John Norris at Peterson on getting an affordable tuner for sitar with just intonation features, etc. but the technology at the time just wasn't there to produce anything affordable. I was happy when they got a hold of me and happy to offer it here for those who are interested. Another Srishti Sindh sitar is on the way and a new gandhar pancham design along with the latest batch of standards and basics.

9/19/10: The new Srishti basic half decoration sitar is now up, a great starter sitar and fitted as well as all of our other instruments. Also the Srishti Peacock design and the new Garland are up. The Garland model has been aged for 2 years, really nice instrument. The Surokar traditional harmonium is now up. Rubber wrapped mizrabs added to the Sitar Accessories page. The inexpensive and very Indian Supreme acoustic transducer now for sale. The latest tanpura machine from the makers of the Raagini, Taal Tarang, etc. called the Swarangini is here. We have a number of Amit Roy's CD's here along with the Palm leaf design sitars to get pics of and of course the Gopal Das harmoniums are here waiting on setup as I get time. 3 more videos coming shortly, one of the titles will feature an exploration 3 different Dhun melodies with 45 minutes of Bhairavi instruction. Thanks to everyone for your support!

8/26/10: Schertler transducers now for sale and up, the sitar amplification section has it's own page now, we have everything from the cheap to the holy grail of transducers. The only thing missing is the AKG C-411 which we've tried to get for 8 years but no one seems to know how to get them and there is the issue of accessories, the mini xlr connections, etc. I like the fact that when I asked Schertler about how to become a dealer it happened in 2 days and that Pandit Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar use them. So there you have it, all the DVD's are up with corresponding links to the video trailers we've posted on Youtube. Still trying to find time to get the student sitars up and a few harmoniums that are here.

8/20/10: Bhabasindhu Mohan Veena here. New sitar DVD's are up, Bhimpalasi and Desh can't ship until next Thursday but order away if you like....You really should check out the Sitar Technique DVD, it's incredible. Yaman, Yaman 2, Bhimpalasi, & Desh are now available to order.

8/19/10: Well, obviously I've been busy and so to my few viewers here I apologize. Here's what's coming but nothing up yet: Schertler pickups for sitar (we're now a dealer), Indian transducers to compete with the K& K transducers at 1/3rd the price. 4 more videos up in a few days and we are "maybe" filming 2 more shortly. Just waiting for the first stock of the DVD's. A redesigned one of a kind Srishti Garland soon, maybe we'll make more. An alternative Srishti gandhar pancham coming along with 2 models of student sitars. The elusive Bhabasindhu Mohan Veena is here, just waiting to be able to take some pictures. Hiren Roy's all sold out already, 4 more in November, sorry....more Amit Roy CD's coming, they're here also. Give us a week or two and check back!

7/29/10: Ok, 3 Bashir sitars up now. Kashmiri dark, Kashmiri light, and Angur Patta, all in Kharaj Pancham style. I'm amazed at the quality of wood he's using and how well made they are. 2 new styles of yoga practice mats here. We have a trailer for Raga Desh up on our Facebook page . Go have a look and comment?

07/25/10: How about a Shahid Parvez sitar from Bashir? An an 8 main string ebony single gourd sitar from RA sitarmaker. We've had this for a few months and completely forgot to list it! 3 more Bashirs to be listed in a few days, they are in stock just no time to program the site at the moment. 4 new videos in August, waiting on the masters to arrive.

07/22/10: Srishti Jodhpur now online! Our first Surokar harmonium is now available, this is the scale changer model, a standard fixed scale Surokar is on the way and should be up in 2 to 3 weeks. These are the best harmoniums I have ever played. Gopal Das harmoniums also due then, one features an aluminum soundboard design for Bhajan and Kirtan oriented performance and extreme environments and we hear nothing but good things about them. Hiren Roy instrumental tanpura just added. Pictures of our Manoj Kumar Sardar male flatback tanpura now posted as well as the latest Srishti Dilruba. All fiberglass sitar cases except Srishti standards and student sitars now include a case cover. 2 Srishti student models on the way, one RA sitarmaker student model coming in a month or two. 4 other Bashir sitars are here, just waiting to take some pictures. Also have an 8 string ebony trimmed RA sitar (Nikhil Banerjee style without upper bridge) thats here, I'd actually forgotten I had it.....oops. Oh, Sruti boxes here. They're great!

06/25/10: Bashir sitars now up, one of them sold almost as soon as it got here but 4 more on the way in about 2 weeks. I've been really excited but guarded given my experience with other Miraj makers but 100% happy so far with 3 of them having arrived in the past few months. Still more updates to do, the first Surokar harmonium is here (shhhh...). The most expensive harmoniums you'll ever see but really almost flawless. We'll be expanding our harmonium section as we have full tuning, etc. capabilities and experience. Look for decent offerings from DMS soon along with Surokars as we can get them (probably only 2 or 3 a year) and also a somewhat unknown maker outside of India coming shortly with a scale changer featuring a newly invented aluminum reedpan!

06/20/10: Fighting and endless battle to keep the site updated, sorry. We now have Pyramid strings for most instruments in stock and will keep them available. There are no other online sites that carry the full line in stock and we've worked hard to ensure a constant supply every month from them. The Pyramid Gold Sitar set now in stock as we had many requests to carry them. In Kharaj Pancham or Gandhar Pancham too! Pyramid Sarod, Surbahar, Tanpura, and various singles in also. Pics of the Swarsangam & 5 string tanpura up as well as new oil boxes & other accessories.

Videos ~ 5 new titles coming around early August. They've been filmed and going into editing in early July. These will feature the conclusion of Raga Yaman instruction in a 2 DVD set, Sitar Techniques 1 & 2 which will show you how exactly everyone does these fantastic things you hear/see in different styles. Introduction to Raga Bhimpalasi coming and possilbly Introduction to Raga Desh. In contrast to our first video attempt which was a little "hurried" these have been filmed in a studio by a well known filmmaker in Kolkata. Very exciting to see these series continuing and we're nowhere close to being done, God willing.

The redesigned Srishti Jodhpur is in, hopefully up soon. Another new model coming in July and we'll call it good for awhile. Look for Bashir sitars in various models to be up soon, we have 2 here but one just sold. 3 other models coming and they've been very impressive. Hope to have Scott Hackleman tanpuras in stock soon also.

05/23/10: Not sure where to start, we've been real busy and thanks for all your support everyone. Working on pictures and updates. Have 2 wonderful sitars from Bashir in, up on the site soon. An 8 main string RA without top gourd in an ebony design. Swarsangam is in. Coming very soon are Hiren Roy instrumental tanpuras with a few more sitars from him and in July 2 new designs from Srishti Musical. The studio is booked in a week for more videos so stay tuned......

04/03/10: Hiren Roy teak sitar with colored penwork is here! Sarod string sets & Tanpura string sets in from Karuna. Also offering individual string lengths as it has been requested by a number of customers and isn't generally available anywhere else so, OK! Srishtii Jodhpur coming in April along with a new Manipura teak and Srishti Standards. Working on the high level Bashir sitars also, lets see what happens?

02/28/10: Lots of new instruments in stock! Have more wooden boxes also (not up yet). Having kind of a disconnect with our supplier for Miraj sitars so when the elusive Bashir sitars will arrive, if ever....I don't know. It seems like the level of apathy in India has increased again, really sad to see but lets hope for the best. New calendars are here, free with your sitar purchase. We're now out of the instructional DVD's for a few weeks, still hoping to film some more this year.

01/31/10: More Srishti standards here in 2 weeks along with one or 2 from Bashir of Miraj whose fitting and jawari I'm quite impressed with.

01/23/10: Pictures of the in stock RA Sitarmaker Kharaj Pancham sitar are up. When we got it I loved the deep tone but the action was too low, Scott Hackleman revoiced the jawari, fantastic! Nikhil Banerjee style of course, what can I say...I'm completely biased as far as my jawari preference. Great sitar for the price...

01/17/10: Srishti Sindh sitar pictures and order page now up. Found some cool padded mats for practice. A new CD from Indrajit Banerjee . And that's about it for this time around. Getting ready for the next large incoming shipments and trying to update Sitarsetc.com as well.

01/11/10: Just got back from Scott Hacklemans, had to take a custom pickup install up so I thought I'd fill up the car with sitars for Scott to play with. One of them is the RA Sitarmaker Kharaj Pancham which he did in full Nikhil Banerjee style. Had him do the same with the Srishti Sindh and we'll have pictures up of both in a week or so. Working on more accessories and deciding what to keep from Sitars Etc. My main focus is on instruments obviously but don't mind adding a few cool things if and when we find them. Thanks to everyone for your continued support, I'm optimistic for the future and hoping my energy holds up! Many more instruments coming within a month including the best Mysore (Saraswati) Veena you can get in India. He's been working on it for over 2 years.

01/02/10: On a roll with updating this weekend. Hemen Sen has passed away sadly today and our sole Hemen sitar will be the last as without him to oversee it is pointless....so rest in peace Hemen Babu and thanks for a life well spent! Just put up a new Srishti Fancy VK style sitar, really sounds great! New pictures of the latest arrivals from Hiren Roy, and one of the 2 new Kanai Lal sitars is up, both are exactly the same. Also pics of the box tanpura now showing, more accessories added, boxes, fret sets, etc......and a little update to the Sitar information page.....does anyone actually read these updates?

01/01/10: Happy New Year! Working hard on getting the latest arrivals up. Here's the Kashi sitar from Srishti. New pics of the Kanai Lal #1 sitars up soon, nicest wood fully carved top tumbas I've ever seen. More instruments, CD's, etc. coming.

11/29/09: Happy Holidays to everyone! Big shipment just in, the new Srishti Kashi & Sindh model, an ornate Vilayat Khan sitar and lots of accessories are here. Will take some time to get it. Also I purchased my own original site of Sitarsetc.com back from Bharat's family who had run it for a number of years. More details later!

12/05/09: Box tanpuras have arrived in 4 and 5 string models. From Delhi and the same maker that makes them for name brand Sitar makers only half the price! Great sound too....we have our first of what is hopefully many sitars from Bashir of Miraj....he has been under the radar due to the popularity of RA Sitarmaker but has made instruments for Shahid Parvez and others. I was completely impressed with this first instrument and have ordered more. Look for pictures and details soon! The 7 string (no sympathetics) Karuna strings are on sale at $7 per set since I have a ton of them, great price for those looking to try them out?

11/29/09: The Pyramid sitar set has gone up in price by quite a bit. This has been coming for about a year due to the lower value of the dollar. We now have 5 packs of MA and SA wire from Pyramid. I thought about carrying their golden, etc. sets but found out the alloys and gauges aren't so great so why bother? Still awaiting a bunch of shipments.....

11/22/09: Just got in a very nice pre-owned Hiren Roy Vilayat Khan style sitar which is as new. Just did a cleanup and restringing and I almost converted to the 'dark side' 8^) Detailed pics are now up of the Radel tabla and tanpura machines. We have 1 Kharaj Pancham sitar in stock from Ayub of RA sitarmaker, very low action @ about 7mm and beautiful. We'll probably raise the action on it unless there's that person out there that wants a purely lateral sitar with a light touch. New sitar padded cases are in also for those who like that sort of thing. The Srishti standards are due to arrive shortly along with our first offering from Bashir of Miraj. Also a huge shipment coming in a few weeks so check back for new Srishti models!

11/15/09: We are honored to be carrying Gourisankars latest tabla solo CD. He has been a friend of ours for many years and is one of the best tabla Maestros there is. Should have some more instruction DVD's in 3 to 4 months, that's the plan anyway. Lots of sitars coming in about 3 to 4 weeks. The Srishti standards are even back ordered! Hiren Roy's by the end of December is the latest news. Thanks to all our loyal customers for your support, been a busy month. Look for some exciting news shortly!

11/01/09: The Radel electronic machines are now up and available. Cheaper here than even direct from the manufacturer so it's a good thing. Their sound quality has improved and while the Raaginis seem to be more popular it's due to aliasing of the samples which makes it a little 'dirty'. The Radel machines are gaining in popularity now though, and very reliable. I like them, especially the new Digi 100 tabla machine with built in fills and tihais!

10/18/09: The new Srishti Calcutta Special has arrived, absolutely beautiful. Also a Kanai Lal & Sons Kharaj Pancham sitar is in. Also check out our fancy oil boxes with 3 different designs! Made to last forever (or at least as long as you last). A full line of Radel tanpura and tabla machines are in stock, details and pictures to be up in a week or two. If you need one in the meantime just email or call. I'm really impressed with their quality. Look for most sitars to be offered with padded gig bags (currently being made) as a cheaper alternative in the future. While we prefer you order with a case, a number of requests have been made so we're adapting. Shipping charges will increase by $10 (US only) for sitars shipped in padded bags due to extra boxes needed. Overseas orders will still require cases, sorry!

09/20/09: New pictures of 2 RA Sitarmaker gandhar pancham sitar just in. Very nice tone on them, click here for the Necklace model and here for the special GP ebony. Also have some Narkas at 1/2 off as they're a little blemished on the finish but work fine otherwise. New oil boxes made for us in Kolkata coming soon along with a wide variety of Radel electonics including their latest tabla machine which is very impressive. Also we now have a 90 day warranty (replacement or exchange only) on our electronics.

09/17/09: As requested we have an accessories box and the "Sitar Music in Calcutta" book available now. I've decided to use a Facebook page instead of a mailing list and working on it currently. I'll post the link when it's ready, should be much easier for everyone including me instead of the possibility of getting the emails in junk folders, etc. Stay tuned..... lots of instruments coming too!!

09/09/09: A few new RA's are here and one has had a price drop of $100 even! Lots more coming over the next 3 months......

08/28/09: A few more customer reviews online, tabla prices revised as they're custom order only now direct to your doorstep, some sets a lot lower in price now. Just got a great RA studio VK style sitar in with built in pickups, a great instrument for the price. A few more RA's in a week and Srishti's in 3 weeks along with a whole line of the latest electronics from Radel. Even more Srishti's in November and some surprises from Miraj coming also along with a range of harmoniums by December. Surokar harmonium on order!

08/16/09: Some new models are being made by Srishti and due around November along with a dozen or so sitars. Look for them! One will be the "Kashi" model, a Benares style Kharaj Pancham sitar with inlays rather than penwork and also a fancier Gandhar Pancham sitar coming.

08/09/09: Summer is not the greatest time to be getting shipments in from India and what few instruments have arrived are going right out the door before I can even take pictures. Gearing up for a few large shipments this fall, a new model coming from Srishti with a unique design. This will be replacing the Garland sitar. Also we're calling the Srishti "Miraj" the "Designer" now as it was in the beginning. We're still going along fine and our heartfelt thanks to many of you who have become regular customers and friends.

07/15/09: A few RA sitars have arrived (pics soon) along with the first harmonium from DMS which was quite nice but sold already..... We'll be closed from 7/22 to 7/27 so any orders placed then will ship by 7/29 or 7/30.

07/02/09: We have one RA sitarmaker Kharaj Pancham sitar arriving soon along with a studio sitar from him. The video project has run into delays, we may film the rest in India as I'm simply too busy to add to my workload at the present time. Stock is a little lower than normal since it's quite hot in India and we're gearing up for more instruments this fall. We're no longer taking new visitors here as there's no showroom and I've had too many no-shows unfortunately along with early morning calls from people who are at the mailing address wondering where the shop is! Quite entertaining really but this is mainly an internet only business which takes up a portion of our house, past friends and customers are welcome still as are new serious students but PLEASE set up a time (and show up too would be nice...). We're continuing to do well in an iffy economy and thanks to all our regular customers for your support. Google position still isn't as great as I got it to go with Sitarsetc.com but busy enough and I'm really enjoying dealing with those who have found their way here....

Enjoy your summer!

06/10/09: Not much going on this summer, shipping from India is at a minimum as Monsoon season approaches. Bad news in that we may no longer carry RA sitarmaker sitars but nothing definite yet. Have 2 repaired gourd Srishti standards under way, should be ready in about 2 weeks and good as new with a slightly different finish (better) than you see from India, more practical. Email me if interested......things are still rolling along nicely with a number of decent instruments still in stock! A few things on sale, see if you can find them?

05/14/09: More Sitar parts and accessories are now up! Video project starting soon, should have around 6 more titles of Sitar instruction by early Fall, possibly more! New Dilruba pics up, slightly cheaper price too.

04/30/09: Added a Kanai Lal & Sons VK style sitar. Really nice instrument at a great price. A few more accessories coming soon and pics of the new Dilruba also. Restocking of RA Sitarmaker instruments hopefully by the end of May. We're slowly working to carry his entire line.

04/19/09: Some more accessories have arrived, it will be a little slow on updates over the summer as our main computer gave up the ghost resulting in converting to Mac. Look for a redesign of the site next winter. Also we're still out of RA sitars, most new arrivals from RA and Srishti are going out as soon as they arrive.

03/18/09: We have the latest Srishti Calcutta Special sitar in stock with photos. This one is Nikhil Banerjee style and each one is unique, no two are alike. 1 1/2 inch longer neck resulting in better intonation on the lower strings. Won't have another one until late in the year. Awaiting the arrival of a few more RA sitarmaker sitars and Mukta Das dayans. Look for an updated tabla page shortly, more Parampara dayans arrived yesterday.

03/16/09: Hiren Roy Surbahar, Hemen #1 sitar, new pictures of in stock Srishti Garland, Hiren Roy #1 sitar and the Hiren Roy Vilayat Khan style sitar are up!

03/15/09: We now offer bulk string coils in 4 or 6 coil sets to suit either main tuning style, mix and match as you like. Also a few different tuning swans on the sitar accessories page along with a few added photos of other accessories. Pictures of the new instruments are done (what's left of them, it has been busy!) and will be up within the next few days.

03/01/09: Still trying to get pictures of the new instruments and a few more accessories coming. We'll be filming more instruction videos this summer so send your requests. The first video in the Sitar Performance series has been fairly popular so look for hopefully 15 more titles by end of summer. Kirwani, Desh, Rageshree, & more. Harmoniums from Inni Singh in 6 to 8 weeks, really nice instruments! Still waiting on the Surokar harmonium thing to happen.

02/15/09: Lots of new instruments in, hopefully pics, etc. up next week. Only one Hemen sitar, I had an option to get a teak sitar and surbahar but wasn't thrilled about them so they've gone elsewhere. We have 6 to 10 videos planned for summer release. The first has been very popular, we're going to use a slightly different format this time, stay tuned......

01/31/09: Karuna strings now available for sitar. It's a 7 main string set for Ravi Shankar setup, I'll substitute an additional MA string for the Kharaj for VK tuning if needed. The used teak Hiren Roy price has been cut by $500!! It's a consignment and the owner really wants to sell it, really a fantastic sitar and the largest HR I've ever come across. The original Hiren Roy colored penwork sitar is for sale, it was a demo model and still has fresh jawari and lowered price. The good news for this year is that prices won't go up due to a more favorable exchange rate. Look for new mizrabs soon, got in some 'natural' material sympathetic bridges with jawari already done, a wider selection of pegs coming and tanpura string sets for instrumental sized tanpura with a wound lower string. We hope to expand our selection this year with a new maker from Benares and also with Mohan Lal Sharma sitars.

01/26/09: Back from India, lots of pics of makers, etc. coming soon. Thanks to all who have waited for their orders, they're being handled currently. Spent a lot of time with Ayub (RA Sitarmaker), along with a visit to the source of Srishti instruments, Hemen (1 coming in 2 weeks) and of course Barun at Hiren Roy. Have some great mizrabs as well. A sitar is coming from Mohan Lal Sharma and hopefully in a few months we'll have the first offerings from an unknown maker in Varanasi. Went to his house and I was really impressed with his work and we're working out the export details, all of his sitars and most of the Mohan Lal sitars are without top tumbas which seems to be the prevalent style in Varanasi now. Keep checking over the next month, 10 more instruments on the way!

01/04/09: Off to India!! We cannot ship any orders from 1/7 to 1/25 during our visit to India and I appreciate your patience.... For instruments we'll be focusing on Kolkata with many coming from the Hiren Roy shop and Hemen also along with a trip to Benares and Delhi. I will try to do a blog with photos if possible.

12/28/08: Sheffield alloy replica wire now available in .012 MA (5 strings per pack) and .010 sympathetic (13 pcs per pack). I have limited quantities but enough for a little while. On the Sitar strings page or click here.

12/19/08: Well the new maker sitar was a BIG DUD and so will be refitted here and sold as a student instrument, kind of a shame but that's why I'm here is to filter out what's good and what's not. A new Jaipur sitar has arrived, one of the best I"ve seen in overall fit & finish. Click here to see the new pictures....Also our first Dilruba by Srishti, fantastic all around!! I once got a Dilruba from Sanjay Sharma made by an old man who specialized in them and this one is every bit as equal, real pleased with them. We have a half decoration Hiren Roy in stock, equal to the #3 as seen on the Ali Akbar college site, same price as there but you get an instrument that's been air shipped and a free top of the line MMC fiberglass case. Great tone and playability. A new Srishti standard to be available hopefully in a few weeks and then another in February. Lots of inventory coming!

And last but not least is a new Sanjay Rikhi Ram gandhar pancham necklace sitar. As you all know we don't carry his instruments anymore for a variety of reasons but this one was purchased by a friend of Rain City Music to be used in the development of a geared sympathetic peg. These pegs are fanatastic and I hope to carry them for installation in sitars in the future but right now it's not looking like the project is viable. You can tune up your symps in 30 seconds and they stay in tune and never need to be replaced. I knew I should have sent them my Hiren Roy, oh well....grab it while it's here!

12/07/08: Sitar strings have their own page now to make room for new additions soon. We now have fingerpicks that work great for those who don't have long little fingernails and want an easy way to strum their sympathetic strings. New shipment arriving with a sitar from a new maker. Also by the end of January we will have the largest selection of Hiren Roy and Hemen sitars outside of India! Keep checking.....

11/23/08: The NEW STOCK photo gallery is up. This is where photographs of new arrivals of each particular model that we regularly stock will appear so that you see the exact instrument that's available. When sold I'll make up a museum of sorts with all of the instruments and would like to do a photo gallery of customers too if anyone is actually reading this? Send me your pics! Lots of instruments arriving between now and the end of January, stay tuned! Sitar tuning charts added today for newbies....

11/16/08: Due to the current exchange rate being in favor of the dollar, prices on Srishti sitars have been lowered. Won't last forever (does anything?). But definitely a good time to buy ;^) We'll be in India most of January and a lot of new instruments will be arriving afterwards.

11/02/08: The RA sitarmaker studio sitar is now up as well as the RA Necklace sitar, both fantastic sounding and playing instruments! Shipping rates have been raised slightly to reflect an increase in costs although not by too much.

11/01/08: Added a few fret tying videos and a short clip of Barun Roy doing jawari on the Sitar information page, the first of much more to come. Still waiting on good weather here in Seattle (that's why it's called Rain City Music!) for the pictures of the new RA sitars just in.

10/22/08: Teak Hiren Roy sitar now up with video/sound clip. This is about 8 years old and has gone back to India for the customary reworking and jawari from Barun. If you're looking for a rare teak Hiren Roy that's broken in with a mature sound, here you go. Great action and sound and quite a large custom sitar that was owned by a friend of ours who decided to switch to a smaller mahogany instrument. Also the Sitar information article and FAQ was updated.

10/18/08: Srishti Vilayat Khan style sitar now up, the best made Gandhar Pancham sitar I've ever seen from anyone, not kidding! Also you'll notice the little icon on the URL bar, thanks to Gary Pro for that! Teak Hiren Roy, a special 'one off' student Srishti Gandhar Pancham sitar, new Jaipur pics (same as the one already up basically) coming in a few days. Also a studio sitar and Rikhi Ram necklace style sitar due in from RA sitarmaker in 2 days. Much more coming over the next 6 months for the site in the way of pictures, etc. of past instruments and trips to India. Stay tuned!

9/24/08: Added a few more gauges for our string coils, should cover most Indian instruments now. 2 more RA sitarmaker sitars arriving in about 2 weeks, a studio model and Vilayat Khan style necklace design. Pics are done for most others, pages to follow shortly.

9/14/08: Format of video clips changed to .wmv format for easier downloading after numerous complaints from folks unable to view. Hope this solves the problem! Look for a Hiren Roy teak and the latest Srishti arrival pictures in a week or two....

9/06/08: RA Sitarmaker sitars are now up!!! Click here to see them. A really great instrument at a good price, prices only guaranteed for this bunch as it all depends on the shipping rates we can get. Videos of each up shortly. Still reeling from the fantastic quality of the new Srishti Vilayat Khan style that just came in, have never seen a better one from anywhere, maybe I'll change playing style? Most sitar offerings have been modified, they now come with either a fiberboard ~ rexine type case for around $200 less or a fiberglass case. Hiren Roy sitars are the exception and ship with fiberglass cases only still.

9/05/08: 3 Srishti's arrived today! One Gandhar pancham, extremely well built with a neck capable of any meend you can manage. Also one Jaipur and one Standard. New pics of each within a week or 2. Also have the first of hopefully many sitars from RA Sitarmaker of Miraj, I'm completely impressed with the quality. The necks are a little lower profile with a flatter fret setting (maybe they were reading the forum?). Great sound, phenomenal finish and a good value for the price. Quite a bit better action and tone than ones a few years ago that you may have seen sold under different labels and we have video to prove it....Pics are done, new page up this weekend. New Raagini and Riyaz machines are in under a different company label, the hum in the power supply is gone now on the Riyaz Master (now called Riyaz Guru) with a single plug universal power supply!

8/17/08: 3 new CD's have been added to our Music CD's page. They feature Rabindra Goswami from Benares. Goswami-ji plays with what I feel is a unique style, simple and sublime. Similar to Amit Roy, it took a few months of hunting to get these CD's and many thanks to his students and well-wishers for making it happen.

8/17/08: Finally the Hansa Veena is up! We've had it for awhile but no time for the web design. I was sitting here one night when I got a phone call from Kolkatta...."Barun-da" just got a new veena, do you want his old one?" What...are you kidding? Turns out that MKS makes him new ones every so often. We have a teak Esraj shipping soon, a local custom order from Dulal.....look for it soon!

8/17/08: It has been uncertain whether Srishti sitars would continue to be made. My partner is not in India currently and so the logistics have been difficult but looks like we've found a solution. We have 3 Srishti sitars on the way within a week or two. 4 or 5 more to be ready when I take my yearly trip to Kolkata. Also I'm expanding the sitar line (who would have guessed?) to include instruments from RA sitarmaker of Miraj, India. A very decent instrument from a well known shop and should be reasonably priced. Hiren Roy sitars have continued to be popular, we have a custom surbahar to be ready in January with a rolled headstock (no animal carving) as well as 2 Kharaj Pancham sitars, one of which is sold already. We'll try to have a few more Hiren Roy sitars by Spring of 2009 before the hot season arrives in India. Also in early 2009 keep your eyes open for the first offering from a 'new' maker. He actually has been making sitars for 30 years and worked with a famous maker for 27 years. Who is it? Stay tuned......

August 2008: It's the 8th month of Rain City Music and I'm both shocked and happy at the level of popularity. Incredibly we're almost out of sitars despite low ranking in Google, etc. Word of mouth continues to be our best advertisement and I'd like to thank all of our customers (from my Sitarsetc.com days and new people) for your patronage and support.