Question:
Did Alauddin Khansaheb play the Surbahar? If so who were his teachers?
Answer: No.
Baba played Sarod , Sursingar, violin and several other
instruments.
Question:
It is known that Ayat Ali Khansaheb was a Surbahar player. Who were his
teachers?
Answer:
Baba took Ustad Ayat Ali Khansaheb (his brother) to my Dadaguru Ustad Wazir
Khansaheb, Rampur. Ustad Wazir
Khansaheb then taught surbahar to Ustad
Ayat Ali Khansaheb.
Question:
Did you study the instrument with Baba or Ayet Alai Khansaheb, or both?
Answer:
I studied under Baba.
Question:
Have you trained any students on the Surbahar? Can I have the names, please?
Answer:
Niloufer (Ustad Rais Khan’s sister) did learn from me for some time.
Question:
Would you care to name some of the good Surbahar players she has heard in your times? What was their background? Whose students
were they?
Answer: I hardly went out. Didn’t hear any
surbahar players.
Question:
Were you taught the 3-mizrab, 2 mizrab, or single mizrab Baj of the Surbahar?
With how many mizrabs did you perform? Did you use the little finger for the
Chikari, as on the Been?
Answer:
I have performed wearing two mizrabs as
well as single mizrab. Yes. I use the fingernail of the little finger for the chikari.
Question:
In your gharana, has Surbahar been played only for alap-jod-jhala? Or were
Dhrupad-Dhamar or Masitkhani bandishes also played on the instrument?
Answer: In our Gharana surbahar is for
alap-jod-jhala -- although occasionally we do play tar paran and Dhrupad
compositions.
Question:
Is it right to say that the Surbahar uses only Da (inward) strokes on the Baj
string? Or, are Ra (outward) strokes also used?
Answer:
Yes. As a rule, this is the Surbahar technique. However, when not
playing pure Dhrupad anga, the Ra stroke are used for playing fast passages in some
ragas.
Question:
Is it right to say that the Surbahar melodic idiom is predominantly a
"meend" idiom, with virtually no role for fretwork techniques? My
experience tells me that Surbahar notes sound lifeless on the frets.
Answer: True.
Question:
What is the correct/ most common thickness of the Baj string on the Surbahar?
Niloufer had told me Rais Khan and she used No. 6. Vilayat Khansaheb, and Imrat
Khansaheb use No. 5. What gauge did you use in youth? Is it decided by the acoustic design of
the particular instrument?
Answer:
I think it is a question of preference.
Some sitar players use no. 3 while some use no 4. For surbahar some people feel comfortable
with no. 6. I use no. 5. I do not know much about the acoustic
design but I think the person who does
the jawari needs to do it a bit differently for different gauges.
Question:
At what pitch are most Surbahars tuned for solo performance?
Answer: I tune my Saa to the tivra madhyam of the sitar
Question:
The Surbahar has survived as long as Siatrsists were willing to master two
different instruments. Can you give me your views on the future of the Surbahar?
Answer:
Andhakarmoy!
(c) Deepak S. Raja 2009
