FS : Harsh Wardhan bansuri

SylvainBarou · Post by **SylvainBarou** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:05 am

Hello,

I have just put for sale on ebay one of my bansuri flutes, I don't use this one any more, I mainly play bansuri in E, F & F#.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bansuri-indian-bamb ... dZViewItem

It's a Harsh Wardhan bansuri in G (G is when first 3 holes closed, it plays D when 6 holes closed, so it's the equivalent to a wooden flute in D) flute is in very good condition.
Harsh is one of the best bansuri makers (to my opinion he is the best...)

cheers,

Sylvain

eran · Post by **eran** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 6:34 pm

this is a beautiful instrument!

i dont know this specific one but i have visited Harsh Wardhan's home in india and played on quite a few of his flutes

they are simply the best bansuri's out there...

good luck

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 6:53 pm

SylvainBarou wrote:Hello,

.......
It's a Harsh Wardhan bansuri in G (G is when first 3 holes closed, it plays D when 6 holes closed, so it's the equivalent to a wooden flute in D) flute is in very good condition.

Yes it is = to just intonation wooden D flute but please remember that the cylindrical bore will make the tone hole stretch a tad more than on a tapered bore flute. Also the tone holes are larger than probably even large toneholed Irish flutes and this emphasises the need for "pipers' grip" with both hands if one is to play such a flute well.

Harsh is one of the best bansuri makers (to my opinion he is the best...)
.....

Harsh is a master bansuri maker in Delhi, India and to my knowledge makes flutes for Hariprasad Chaurasia. He is also a veteran disciple of the latter and runs a bansuri academy there. Classes are held using the alto B key (or so-called E tonic) bansuris. It is expected that the same technique applied to this bansuri will be adapted to larger of smaller bansuris as required.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:47 pm

It's beautiful looking, certainly.
But I can't quite imagine playing
Off to California on it.
I wonder what Sylvain b plays
on these.

Hari OM!

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 9:31 pm

jim stone wrote:It's beautiful looking, certainly.
But I can't quite imagine playing
Off to California on it.

I can. Yes, I am watching this auction.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 9:49 pm

These are wonderful instruments, no question.
I had a couple of good ones I brought back from India, key of
A, but I don't know how they do on jigs and
reels, really. They have a soft, flexible,
plaintive sound--as in Indian music.

Let me ask people, what do you play on these?

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:26 am

jim stone wrote:........

Let me ask people, what do you play on these?

Jim, how many versions of this dead rabbit do you have?
Your top hat must reek awful by now.

(I hope you don't mind my stereotypically soft, flexible and plaintiff humour).

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:17 am

I don't mind but I don't understand.

I wonder about the suitability of these (admittedly wonderful)
flutes for jig, reels and hornpipes. I've tried it and
it didn't exactly work out. They're not so crisp in
intonation; they're (considerable) strength seems to
me to lie elsewhere. But maybe I'm wrong.

Is anybody playing ITM on 'em who can put in a
good word? Especially I'd like to know what Sylvain
Barou plays.

SylvainBarou · Post by **SylvainBarou** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:54 am

I am also a disciple of Harsh Wardhan, and I also participate to several indian music projects including Olli & The Bollywood Orchestra
http://www.ollibollywood.com
But playing flute & uilleann pipes, breton & irish music, still remains my main activity

the bansuri is definitely not suitable for any jigs or reels, however you can play slow airs with an "alaap" feeling which is quite interesting to do !

cheers,

Sylvain

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:21 pm

And what about the reverse of the question? Could one play classical Indian music on a bamboo Olwell?

And while we're talking about them, what's the wait and cost for a bansuri?

JMV is also a Harsh Wardhan follower. What's going on with Bretons and bansuri? What kind of fare would you find at a fest-noz? Galettes and Gobi Aloo?

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:57 am

AaronMalcomb wrote:And what about the reverse of the question? Could one play classical Indian music on a bamboo Olwell?

.....

The dead rabbit has not had its day it seems. One can play eiither music on any variety of properly made flutes. Of course it may not meet the expectations of the tradition or the very precise tastes of a particular group. One can play blues on a flamenco guitar.

I regularly play light classical indic, folk indic and original music on my Irish flute with vocalists, sitarists and fiddlers and mixed ethnic audiiences love it. I have had Bengali graduates come to me wanting lessons only to be told that my technique is not bansuri technique if thats what they want.

I also play bansuris and other bamboo flutes for these musics as well as improvised accompaniment for jazz, blues and celtic vocal accompaniment. By celtic I mean of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland et al

Purists may not be able to handle this but some purists cannot handle Mr Manx playing indic type music on a slide guitar.

When I am pleased enough with my slow progress with Irish jigs and have the technology I will post an audio link of sometthing performed on bansuri.

I am not saying that a piece played on a particular type of flute will not sound different on another type. It will. It will be the same music with an alternative feel or timbre. Do you like it? Maybe or not. Just think. Prior to the pioneering work of Pannalal Ghosh to elevate the humble bansuri to classical concert status in the 1950's Indian classical audiences would have booed and pooh poohed bansuri solo performance on the classical circuit. This thousands of years old indigenous instrument only became accepatable and respectable for classical music in the 1950's.

Yes, any flute whether Irish or Indian will needs mastery to evoke the Muses. It has nothing much to do with cheap stereotyping and pigeonn holing of instruments drawn from another tradition.

Conservatism deserves better than to remain unchallenged.

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 4:21 am

Does anyone have this CD
with Hammy Hamilton playing bansuri

Does he play it with reels and things?
Thanks.

What about
Flook Flatfish in which Finnegan plays bansuri? What does he play on the bansuri? Anyone?

an album with Steve Gorn on bansuri accompanying celtic vocal Andd this one?

Half the time I'm talkin to myself. So many halves. I should go get these myself. Unfortunately I never do money transactions over the internet. (a bit old fashioned. Conservative if you like)

JS · Post by JS » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:34 am

There's also the "Green Fields of Rossbeigh / The New Policeman" set on Kevin Crawford's "D Flute Album," played on a C bamboo flute.

But is there a distinction to be made between a bamboo flute (as in P. Olwell's) and the bansuri (as in Jeff Whittier's)?

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:50 am

Two things, Tal, so you wont' be talking to yourself.

First, some instruments aren't well suited to some kinds of music, IMO.
So, for example, harp probably isn't going to give you the
sound you need in hard rock. Same for jazz. This isn't
a matter of purism. I have nothing against trying it, I
agree that conservativism deserves to be challenged.

Second, the question was raised, as some instruments
aren't well suited to some kinds of music, whether the bansuri is
well suited to jigs and reels. Does it have the sound and
responsiveness, how does it do with ornamentation?
It isn't a silly question, especially when people may be
contemplating buying one for that purpose. The answer
might be Yes, or No or Well, it's sounds good but not
traditional but who cares about that?, or.... Nothing the matter with these answers, nor was the question asked in a spirit of purism or
conservativism. Sylvain, who is selling the bansuri, says it is not suited to jigs and reels.

I don't see anything the matter with discussing how the
bansuri performs as an instrument for jigs, reels, hornpipes,
etc. Thanks for posting these CDs.

Aaron, I suspect the Olwell bamboo would do alright
for Indian music, but it's only my suspicion. I played lots
of bansuris in India and the Olwell compares nicely, IMO,but,
to my sorrow, never studied Indian music and so don't
really know.

You know, it's interesting how classical Indian music incorporates
instruments. The violin is used a fair amount, played very
differently from how it's played here; also the hammered
dulcimer.

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:58 am

I bought one of these especially for playing hornpipes in the bathtub. They are made in the special, hard-to-get ABS bamboo.
http://cgi.ebay.com/SHAKUHACHI-YUU-HIGH ... dZViewItem

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FS : Harsh Wardhan bansuri

FS : Harsh Wardhan bansuri

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