Sarod: The chiken tikka of instruments

"Like chicken tikka, the sarod is a sublime product of the Moghul influence in India."
Simon Broughton for Songlines-The World Music Magazine

I witnessed the sarod played last night, by Krishnamurti Sridhar (virtuoso, played with Ravi Shankar at 12), on a dim platform at The Rubin Museum.

I have effusive notes from the 2 hour performance (to follow - sort of kooky/euphoric and not for the faint-of-stomach), but wanted to introduce his instrument first: the ellusive Sarod.

My own first impressions:
As if Picasso had tweaked not only the instrument – skewing its perspective and components, forging the strings of one instrument onto the lacquered body of another – but also the register itself. Its music is asymetrical and gives the listening experience the aspect of a journey. You can't know the mid-point, don't know the route or recognize sound-sign posts (a chorus or a riff) so it's more like an elemental journey by a gifted guide of god.

It looks like it's made of ivory and ebony, like the exquisite detail of a miniature painting made flesh.

C - sarod-besotted

(Must figure out how to get audio files on this)