TAMPURA – Swarmandal – Sur Tanpura

It also includes a soft case.

You can listen to the instrument by clicking on the audio file below.

In addition to the Traditional 4 Strings of the Tanpura, (often tuned G, c,c, C) The sur tanpura has 15 strings of different length which can be tuned to a simple scale, for example a pentatonic scale. Gently touching up or down across these strings with the fingers produces a beautiful arpeggio of sound. The Sur Tanpura has a tanpura bridge with the four wound strings running across, allowing for a round and powerful drone sound with a tonic around C.  and can also go as high as E. However, the much shorter diapasons (string lengths)  and the thicker wound strings result in a different tonal colour with a changed overtone spectrum from the larger Male Tampura.

MEASUREMENTS: L 89cm to 94cm x W 27cm x D 8cm