Instruments
Sitar
The sitar, a lute-type instrument with a long neck attached to a large half-gourd, produces a sound that for many Westerners defines the classical music of northern India. That sound consists of a metallic twang shimmering among a haze of tones from drone strings and strings that vibrate sympathetically with the main strings-- there are usually five main strings, one or two drones, and a dozen or more sympathetic strings. The sitar is often played solo or accompanied by percussion only. It evolved in tandem with India's complex and highly theoretical system of classical music in the aristocratic courts of the northern Indian subcontinent, and modern exponents such as Ravi Shankar have brought it successfully into a modern realm of concert and recording presentation, popularizing the instrument in the West as well as on its home ground. The sympathetic strings help to define the mode or raga -- the collection of tones that sets the mood of a piece and carries numerous extramusical associations.