By now, we know Niladri Kumar for his explosive on-stage renditions. After the success of his latest album 'Priority', the performing musician is doing a series of concerts with his band ZitarFunk. However, not much has been known about his instrument 'Zitar'.

In an exclusive chat with radioandmusic.com's Chirag Sutar, the musician reveals the story behind Zitar and its mystifying sound – read on.

How would you define the Zitar?

By definition one can call the Zitar as a five stringed electric sitar. Unlike sitar, which works on physics of resonance created by the sympathetic strings, in Zitar there are no such sympathetic strings. To further cut the resonance I have painted the instrument. Just like an electric guitar, the pick up on the Zitar helps me amplify the sound. To make the zitar, I have used the miniature or travelling sitar and made some changes to turn it into an electric instrument.

What inspired you to make the Zitar?

Ever since I started playing with bands, I realized that as a sitar player, my sound was not audible enough. I knew it was the most important component because that's how I was going to be heard. Before this, I was experimenting with my father's old sitar with pick ups, but there was one incident which changed everything.

Which incident?

I was doing a tour in UK (Ireland) – it was about promoting Indian classical music in the British underground scene. That tour was called ZitarFunk – it was a seven day concert where I was playing with a tabla accompaniment. The concert was scheduled in a way where first DJ's played, this was followed by my performance and again the DJ's would take the stage. I used to feel sandwiched because the DJ's would play at pumping levels and when we took the stage the sound would completely drop - I had use my showmanship skills to the fullest to compensate that. So, as they say 'Necessity is the mother of all innovations' the second day we started hunting for a microphone.

OK, go on…

We went to a guy who made electric violins, however, even he couldn't help me – but he suggested me a microphone which he thought may help me increase my volume. I went to the store the next day only to find that the microphone was priced at 200 pounds - I didn't even have 30 pounds! Fortunately, the owner had seen me playing live – maybe he understood my need and gave it to me for free. What happened in the next concert was pure magic – I put on the microphone and people could only hear me. In fact, at times, it was quite hard for me to control the sound. So, the trip started from there.

A lot of R&D goes behind making any instrument. How challenging was it to device Zitar?

I kind of had a blue print of that what I wanted in my mind, so whenever I traveled abroad, I used to hunt for things I'd need for the R&D. Luckily, since I was playing for films, I had friends who were into software's who had fairly good knowledge of technology and music gear. So, those were the things that gave me ideas, like placing a pick up and using the distortion. For me, it was difficult to device it, but now if someone wants to explore, that possibility is open now- and if they take it to a different level, I'd also like to learn from them - maybe I'll get different ideas.

Tell me something about your gear?

I use a multi effect floor processor, however, I won't name any company because I keep on changing them – it allows me to experiment with different sounds. I love playing with effects like overdrive distortion, delay/echo, synth effects…

I read you plan to patent the instrument?

It's NOT true. I don't want to patent it. The person who makes the miniature sitar is already petrified because of this rumor (laughs). Well, patenting will hinder others - I don't' want that to happen. In fact, people should go and spread it, but they should also make sure that they play the right music. What I mean is - break the boundaries, but also know the guidelines.

What should a sitar aspirant learn first, Sitar or Zitar?

Learn sitar first, and then play Zitar – you 'have' to know the acoustic first. People are already buying the travelling sitar thinking of it as an alternative for the real sitar. In truth you can't replace the sitar it's a science of over 300 years.