I know this is supposed to be a #sitarsaturday but here is something called the setar instead.
Here is a trio jamming with the setar in the middle. The oud sort of acts like the bass and I love the crazy drum setup. I love all those goat skin hand drums and udus (pot drums). The setar has the highest pitch and sort of acts like the lead improvisation instrument in this mix.
Here is an instrument that is a close relative to the setar called the tanbour. Check out the crazy finger picking style for this instrument. It almost sounds like it has a fast delay on it but instead its all those sharp nails hitting the wood of the instrument and double strings. I might have to grow out my nails and try this on my baglama saz.
Now to bring it back to the sitar. Here is the Afghan Tanbur that basically looks like a sitar and a setar had a baby. The tabla stays the same in this mix but the playing style also sounds like a mix between a sitar and a setar. As far as I can tell only the bottom pair of strings are played on the Tabur and the rest probably resonate subtly like on a sitar.
Here's another example of the Tanbur being played more like a sitar. The sympathetic strings are strummed every now and then to add a drone effect to solo over.
