Guide to Sitar Makers

Hiren Roy and Sons.

Born in Bangladesh in 1923, Hiren Roy came to Calcutta at the age of fourteen. His dream was not to be an instrument maker but to learn the art of sitar playing. He studied with the famous musicologist Bimalakanta RoyChoudhury of the Imdadkhani gharana and later from Smt. Annapura Devi in the Senia Maihar style. In his earlier years he had imbibed some elements of the music of Lakshman Bhattacharjee who was known to be unique in many ways. One would wonder as to what could lead this young man to switch his mind towards the making of sitar. The truth was that he did not have money enough to buy his own sitar and pay for his lessons. So he took up a job in the shop of Yogesh Chandra Chakraborty and also did some odd jobs here and there to make some money and save some of it to buy wood, gourds and some tools. He started making his own sitars and found that local musicians praised his work.

So, Hiren Roy started his own business and spent his whole life researching the various aspects of sound, design and composition of a sitar. One can see how the assimilation of different styles of sitar playing enabled him to find newer avenues of improvement in terms of look and tonal quality. Here the artisan transcends his level and soars into the class of an artist. He wanted to make the sitar sound like the human voice. He made the tabli (wooden cover on top of the gourd) and the Dandi (the neck) strong enough to withstand heavier strokes and tapings on thicker strings thus making it more appropriate for meend(bending) which is an essential element of Indian music. This added to the clarity of tone and optimised the balance between the sound inside the gourd and the sound produced outside. For his lifetime achievement he was honoured in 1971 by the cultural forum called” Nikkon” in Calcutta. Sometime in the eighties he was selected by the Vishwabharati University as a member of their interview board.  A documentary film on his life and work had also been made.

Hiren Roy died in December of 1992, and didn’t do much work in the last years of his life, although he came into the shop every day. But he had three sons that he groomed to carry on his tradition. Oldest son Himangshu ran the business until his own early demise in 1997. Middle son Amit has pursued a career as a sitarist, learning from Nikhil Banerjee and Smt. Annapurna Devi, and now living and teaching in Japan. The shop is now run by youngest son Barun. Like his father, a musician and an innovator, Barun has won praise from great musicians for maintaining the family quality and and also adapting to changing times. For example, with horn for bridges becoming scarce, he has lead the way in inventing synthetic bridges that are durable and need jawari less often.

Hemen and Co.

Hemendra chandra Sen has, at age 78, seen all the great musicans come into his shop on Rash Behari Ave. in Calcutta. Early on,  he established his reputation by making instruments for the legendary Baba Allaudin Khan. In those days, Gokul Nag and Shyam Ganguly were also faithful patrons. Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar, Smt. Annapurna Devi, Bahadur Khan, Amjad Ali Khan and countless others depend or have depended on Hemen for instruments and repairs. His sarodes, sitars, tanpuras and all other stringed instruments have a qualtiy that is really priceless.

Manoj Kumar Sardar and Bros.

 This shop is run by four brothers, all musicians, all involved in crafting the instruments. The business was started by their grandfather,  Mrityunjay Sardar. Their father,  the late Khagendranath Sardar, continued it. One of the brothers, Ashok Sardar, learned Sitar from the late Aparesh Chattopadhyay. Thus he has been able to modify the sitar and keep up with changing times. Another brother, Ashim Sardar, learned violin from Jatin Pandey, and Ashis Sardar has concentrated on the art of harmonium making. They manufacture most types of instruments found in Classical Music,  such as Sitar, Tanpura, Esraj, Dilruba, Harmonium, Violin etc. They have also been pioneers in innovating such new instruments as Hansaveena and Flatback Vocal Tanpuras.

P. and Brothers 

 This business was started by Sri Gopal Karmaka. He ran a shop making musical instruments in Dhaka, then in East Bengal. After Partition, his three sons, Panchkari Karmakar, Badal Karmakar and Biswanath Karmakar made their way to West Bengal. Times were tough but they managed to get work in various music shops working for other makers. In 1953 they jointly established a shop named “P and Brothers” in Northern Calcutta. They built their reputation in the musical society of Calcutta and came to be well respected in their field. Eventually Badal Karmakar became the sole proprietor. Many famous musicians patronized his shop, for instruments and repairs. Among them were Nikhil Banerjee, Kartik Kumar, Manilal Nag, and Ali Ahmed Khan.

Now the business is run by Badal Karmakar’s son Suman, who with his father’s colleagues is carrying on the family tradition.