“Can you not manufacture a pocket-sized electronic tambura,” the doyen M. Balamuralikrishna had asked G. Raj Narayan of Radel Electronics, the pioneer of electronic tambura, and a flautist, in the 1980s.

“Miniatures don’t serve the purpose as the size of the speaker determines the needed tonal throw and quality,” explains Mr. Raj Narayan, who first brought out electronic tamburas in 1979 and bagged several awards for his innovation.

Tambura apps are linked to fashion and the mindset of people now, Mr. Raj Narayan says, and adds that such apps cannot go beyond a point as “an external amplifier and speaker have to be connected for use on stage, which makes it cumbersome.”

There are seven variants in Radel’s electronic tamburas, catering to both the Carnatic and Hindustani genres. The price ranges from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 6,500 and “some are even shaped like a tambura,” he says

Honour for tambura artistes

Despite not many artistes using tamburas, all concerts at the Sree Ramaseva Mandali, Chamarajpet, feature the instrument. For the first time, three well-known tambura artistes V. Jagannatha Rao, Sripada Rao and Hulikal Prasad will be honoured by the mandali.

Family members of the tambura artistes cherish the days when artistes such as T. Chowdiah, Honnappa Bhagavathar, Doreswamy Iyengar, T.R. Mahalingam, Bhimsen Joshi and M.S. Subbulakshmi used to send inland letters requesting them for their tambura accompaniment. All India Radio, until the late 1970s, used to appoint tambura artistes with an underlying rule that they possess good vocal knowledge.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – April 06th, 2015