"Possibly the most bizarre instrument we've yet seen." MAY issue of KEYBOARD MAGAZINE.
KEYTAR Keyboard Sitar 'KS2' $150.00
From India. This very portable, lightweight, 3 feet long,10-string keyboard sitar (with built in case) has 27 monophonic keys ! Of the 10 strings two are allocated as drones sympathetic strings (like on a sitar) the other 8 assigned to the keyboard. They can be tuned differently. Keytar is self-contained in a multi-colored wood cabinet. Hard to tell from photo but this has individual keys (sharps & flats) for chromatic play on it. The keys by the way are physically larger on the left side and gradually get smaller as you approach the right side of the keyboard. Very strange indeed. TO PLAY _One hand strums with provided pick (or in my case a pen) while the other hand presses a key to select pitch. It is a really cool authentic street instrument from India. Totally acoustic. Completely outrageous. Great for recording, videos, live performance, music experimentation, ethnic stuff, or simply art.
No electricity. They are all painted a little different so color style may be different from photo. They work great with a pick-up for recording or gigs.
I go through each of these instruments before I ship them out. Humidity changes from India to Minnesota sometime require light sanding of keys to prevent sticking. No big deal.
This Audio sample is me jammin. I used a ball point pen and bounced it off the strings hitting the drone notes in between phrases. Fun.
They are hand made. Sold "As Is" but they
work fine.
below is a letter sent from a past customer
Hi Steve,
I used 2 wound d'addario LE-0.18W for the drone strings...2 d'addario
LE-0.09 plain steel strings on outer strings next to drones on each
side, then 6-LE-0.08's in the inner 6 strings then tuned it [closest to
your body]drone-low-d then low-a,d,a,d,f#,a, low-f#,drone-low-d...this is
a cool variant of an open D chord and has a banjo sound and sounds
outstanding in every key and you can melody between each drone like a
2-note bass playing along!...it took a little while to get it setup BUT
you will be amazed at how much depth wound drone strings make it doubled
the volume w/quality strings...lastly when you remove strings back-turn
the friction tuning pins a turn and a half-back [flat] this gives you
more flexibility for more string to wrap on the pegs and thus stays in
tune forever!!! give it a try you'll flip-out the difference...
...hope this helps I used to be a pro-guitar
tech...peace, Fred W.
=peace/liv/luv/laf=
Polyamory Records
Bettyshead Studio
Skull Orchard
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