Sitar maintenance: jawari, humidity and the buzz

A sitar is a wooden instrument with a gourd body, a hand-filed bridge and around twenty strings, and it lives or dies by a few habits. Most problems come from the same handful of causes — humidity, heat, worn strings and a jawari that needs attention — and most of them are easy to prevent.

What is jawari?

Jawari is the name of the sitar's main bridge, and also of the sound it makes. The bridge is a flat, gently curved plate of bone or horn. Instead of touching the string at one sharp point, as a guitar bridge does, it lets the vibrating string graze along a tiny curved surface. Each graze adds a halo of high overtones. That's the buzz — the shimmer that makes a sitar sound like a sitar.

Getting that graze right is a craft. A technician files the bridge's curve by hand, in tiny passes, listening to each string after each one. A more "open" jawari buzzes more and sustains longer; a "closed" one is cleaner and quieter. Players and traditions differ in what they like.

Why does my sitar buzz?

Because it's supposed to — but there's a good buzz and a bad one.

The good buzz is the jawari: a rich, even shimmer on every note, blooming as the note sustains, the same character on every fret.

A bad buzz sounds like a rattle or a fizz. Ask:

• Is it on one fret only? A fret is loose or higher than its neighbour. Frets are tied on and can shift.
• Does it follow one string everywhere? The string may be worn, or sitting badly in its groove at the nut or bridge. Try a new string.
• Is it there on open strings too? Look for something loose: a bead, a peg, the tailpiece, an ornament on the body.
• Has the shimmer gone dull or "choked"? The string has worn a groove into the jawari, and the bridge needs a touch-up.
• Did it appear suddenly? A crack, a lifting bridge, or a fret slipping in a dry spell. Get it looked at.

For reference, here are the four main strings of a healthy sitar, as Sitarpedia samples them. Listen for the bloom after each pluck:

After you play

• Wipe the main strings with a dry, soft cloth. Sweat and skin oil corrode steel strings; a ten-second wipe noticeably extends their life.
• Wipe the neck where your hand moves.
• Put it back in its case, or on a stand away from knocks if you play every day.

Humidity, heat and storage

Wood and gourd swell when the air is damp and shrink when it's dry. A slow, steady change is fine; big, fast swings are what crack gourds, loosen frets and twist necks.

• Keep it in a stable room. Not against an outside wall, a radiator, an air conditioner or a sunny window. A stable room matters more than any exact humidity number.
• Never leave it in a car. Heat softens glue and can lift the bridges.
• In very dry seasons, a case humidifier helps, especially with central heating.
• After travel, let it sit in its closed case for an hour before opening it in a warm room, so it adjusts slowly.
• Store it lying down or on a proper stand, not leaning where it can slide. The neck is long and the gourd is fragile.

What you can do yourself

• Tuning, including retuning the taraf for each raga.
• Fine-tuning with the beads (manka) on the main strings.
• Changing a string — see how to change sitar strings.
• Adjusting a fret slightly for a raga's intonation, once a teacher has shown you how. The frets are tied on so they can move.
• Chalking a slipping peg. Rubbing a little chalk on a peg's shaft gives it grip; a peg that sticks may want a touch of peg compound instead.

What needs a technician

• Filing the jawari. It isn't a beginner's job, and a mistake can ruin the bridge. Expect a touch-up every year or two if you play a lot.
• A fret that won't stay put, or frets that need levelling.
• Cracks in the gourd, neck or soundboard.
• A lifting bridge, or a peg that slips even after chalking.

Find someone who works on sitars specifically. A general guitar luthier may not know how a jawari should sound. The course's lesson on jawari and sitar setup explains what a full setup covers, so you know what to ask for.

A routine that works

When	What
Every session	Tune (how to tune a sitar); wipe strings after
Weekly	Check frets and beads haven't moved; listen for new buzzes
Every few months	Replace the main string if it's dull
Every year or two	Jawari touch-up and general setup

A sitar that's looked after this way stays playable for decades, and usually sounds better for the years of playing.