A Sound Quest

“When we play on stage,we are always on the lookout for the negatives,the minute points which have to be worked upon in order to improve the performance. Moreover,there is this desire to play a new swar,especially in the field of classical fusion,which is in need of fresh tone and tempo,” says Ghosh. Keeping this thought in mind,Ghosh picked the sarod as an inspiration and took over two years to develop Swar Ragini. The journey that aimed to get a better soundscape was a demanding one — emotionally,financially and scientifically. Ghosh made several trips to Kolkata and Assam and worked hard to get the right depth and range of sound. “Swar Ragini is made of special wood called Tul,which is sourced from Assam. We needed quite a bit of it,as a lot of it went waste in the experimental stage,” says Ghosh.

In his endeavour,he was assisted by Bhavasindhu Biswas,one of the few musical instrument developers in the country. The idea,says Ghosh,was to make it a beautiful,divine and heavenly piece. For this,he gave Swar Ragini a soft curvature and a body encrusted with colourful stonework,another signature style of Ghosh. “This reminds one of how classical music was played in the old era,and it leaves an impression on the stage too,” says the musician,adding,how such works also attract youngsters because they like experimenting.

Designed,fabricated and carved by Ghosh and Biswas,Swar Ragini has a classical and western sound and appeal.

Before Ghosh,Vishwa Mohan Bhatt created Mohan Veena. “Any kind of stringed instrument is called veena and it’s one instrument that has been improved upon a lot,” says tabla player Avirbhav,who is now working on a new and improved tabla set. It sure does seem like a sound quest.