It took Chris 3 years to research to be able to make his Rudra Been,
and a further 3 to build it.
The instrument, often known as a rudra vina, is used for the traditional Dhrupad style and is now
somewhat rare in it's native India.
"I have had help from Pandit Chandrashekar Naringrekar the great surbahar player, Ustad Fariduddin Dagar &
Bahauddin Dagar. They also kindly allowed me to measure the rudravinas that belonged to Z.M.Dagar.
I copied one in particular, but added a few innovations of my own, as can be seen in the still photos.
I enlarged the sound chamber a bit, but in doing so I had to add a sound post. The instrument is a bit longer
than Z.M.Dagars. It works quite well without amplification in the right accoustic surroundings.
I can tune down to F if I wish even though the string length is the same as the Dagar Beens.
I have experimented quite a lot with the design of the bridge."
"My frets are like a cross between Saraswati vina & sitar, I find this more practical as you can angle the lower
frets to compensate for the distotion of Kharaj string. My bridge is stepped two ways for the same reason."
