Date: 07/10/2022
ANIRBAN DASGUPTA (Sarod) is a worthy representative of the Seniya Shahjahanpur Gharana. Anirban was initiated early into the art of Sarod playing by his father and guru, Padmabhushan Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta, from whom he has received all his training and guidance. Anirban is known today for his delicate mastery of the sarod and great facility in its technique with razor sharp tans and the traditional Ameerkhani baaj. Anirban’s musical career gained recognition in 1987 with the award for first prize amongst all groups of stringed instruments at the All India Radio Music competition. He has participated in some of the most prestigious musical conferences throughout India, such as Vishnu Digambar Festival, Salt Lake Music Conference, Tansen Music Conference, and Sangeet Natak Academy to name a few. Anirban has played for National Program in All India Radio. Anirban has also performed in United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and United States. He has three solo CDs to his credit and quite a few more as an accompanying performer with his illustrious father.
MIR NAQIBUL ISLAM (Tabla): An avid student of Tabla, Mir has trained in the traditional guru-shisya style of Indian Classical music from Pt. Ashoke Paul, a disciple of the great tabla guru Pt. Jnan Prakash Ghosh. Now living and working in New York City, he performs regularly with musicians from a wide variety of other genres, bringing tabla to Jazz, Middle-Eastern music, and other contexts. By listening, learning, and playing with musicians from around the globe, Mir is developing a unique musical aesthetic bringing together the musical influences of traditional Farukhabad style tabla and 21st century New York. Mir has studied with Pt. Gopal Mishra and Pt. Suresh Talwalkar in past and continuing his talim with the great Farukhabad Mastero Pt Anindo Chatterjee.
SAROD: The conventional sarod is a 17 to 25-stringed lute-like instrument — four to five main strings used for playing the melody, one or two drone strings, two chikari strings and nine to eleven sympathetic strings. The design of this early model is generally credited to Niyamatullah Khan of the Lucknow Gharana as well as Ghulam Ali Khan of the Gwalior-Bangash Gharana. Among the contemporary sarod players, this basic design is kept intact by two streams of sarod playing. Amjad Ali Khan and his disciples play this model, as do the followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra. Both Amjad Ali Khan and Buddhadev Dasgupta have introduced minor changes to their respective instruments which have become the design templates for their followers. Both musicians use sarods made of teak wood, and a soundboard made of goat skin stretched across the face of the resonator. Buddhadev Dasgupta prefers a polished stainless steel fingerboard for the ease of maintenance while Amjad Ali Khan uses the conventional chrome or nickel-plated cast steel fingerboard. Visually, the two variants are similar, with six pegs in the main pegbox, two rounded chikari pegs and 11 (Amjad) to 15 (Buddhadev) sympathetic strings. The descendants of Niyamatullah Khan (namely Irfan Khan and Ghulfam Khan) also play similar instruments. Some of the followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra still carry the second resonator on their sarods. Amjad Ali Khan and his followers have rejected the resonator altogether. These instruments are typically tuned to B, which is the traditional setting.
Another type is that designed by Allauddin Khan and his brother Ayet Ali Khan. This instrument, referred to by David Trasoff as the 1934 Maihar Prototype, is larger and longer than the conventional instrument, though the fingerboard is identical to the traditional sarod. This instrument has 25 strings in all. These include four main strings, four jod strings (tuned to Ni or Dha, R/r, G/g and Sa respectively), two chikari strings (tuned to Sa of the upper octave) and fifteen tarab strings. The main strings are tuned to Ma (“fa”), Sa (“do”), lower Pa (“so”) and lower Sa, giving the instrument a range of three octaves. The Maihar sarod lends itself extremely well to the presentation of alap with the four jod strings providing a backdrop for the ambiance of the raga. The instrument is typically tuned to C. Sarod strings are either made of steel or phosphor bronze. The strings are plucked with a triangular plectrum made of polished coconut shell or ebony.
