If you've read our little intro/bio/mission statement, you'll have probably got the idea that when we get the Earth Heart Space up and running, we hope for it to be a place of healing, connection and the arts. Of course, all those things are pretty interrelated. I've already blogged quite a bit on this page about our gardening, foraging and vegan cooking adventures and I've even briefly mentioned some of my poetry and up cycled crafting in the context of the local Dragons Craft Collective. There's an important part of our creative lives and daily rhythm that is yet to get a look in, however and that's Nik's sitar practice.

Nik says; I find it frustrating and it sometimes has a negative effect on my practice when the sitar is badly in need of attention and the sound isn’t right. I have to work much harder to produce the sounds when it’s so dull and I end up having to strip it and attempt the work myself. Normally I would take it to its maker in Delhi for a full service, but I’m having to do this work because a) I’ve not been to India to see the sitar’s maker since 2017 and b) I’ve not been able to find anyone in the UK who I trust to do this skilled and delicate work. To get the frets made to the right size is something that I’d have to really find the right person to do, which is why I normally ask the maker to do that and without a trip to India on the cards, that’s not easy. It’s not possible to order the parts; if you’ve ever had contact or dealings with anyone in India, you’ll know it’s not always straightforward to make or maintain contacts effectively; so the sooner we get out to India the better!

Sitar maintenance is not something I’m trained to do but there are certain things I know just about enough to keep on top of. Changing frets is a skill in itself and to have the frets made to a particular size is paramount as each sitar has a different size taar gehan, which is the bridge at the top of the neck. The curvature of each brass fret is different as they go up the neck. At the moment the frets are terribly worn due to the movement of meend (a particular pulling technique) and my general practice. Worn frets in turn dull the quality of the sound because the string doesn’t sit on top of the curve, it sits on the worn flat plane. So, out with the super fine to medium wire wool, (hooray) to work the metal and bring back some of the curvature of the fret.

It’s also important to keep the javari, (the bridge on the body of the instrument) well maintained as this is where the strings make contact with the body to produce the sound. Here, the ebony wood can get worn down as the strings makes small grooves in the wood over time and it needs to be sanded flat again to achieve a better contact, enabling a rich, clear sound.