Description
The Special Santur with Sharping Levers is the higher-tier build of our twelve-bridge lever santur, made in the Tapadum Strings & Percussion Workshop. A traditional santur is locked to a single diatonic tuning, and every change of key means retuning course after course by hand. A row of mandal levers runs along the bridges here, and each one lifts its course by a half-step at a touch — so the key changes while you play, not between pieces.
How the mandal system works
The principle is borrowed from the qanun, where mandals have been in use for centuries, and from the sharping levers of the Celtic harp. Each lever shortens the sounding length of its course by a fixed amount, raising that note a half-step and holding it there until it is released. Because the levers sit at the bridge end, they stay within reach mid-phrase without breaking the hand position over the striking area. The instrument’s traditional voice is untouched — the mechanism only takes the tuning key out of the equation.
The two twelve-bridge builds
We make this layout at two levels. The standard twelve-bridge model carries the same bridge count and the same mandal mechanism, and it is the sensible choice for a player coming to a lever santur for the first time. This one is built to a higher standard of workmanship, and it is aimed at the musician who plays daily, records, or performs on the instrument for a living — where the difference in finish and assembly is felt over years rather than in the first week.
Twelve bridges and the working compass
Like every Persian santur, this one carries its courses across two parallel rows of bridges (kharak), so a single course sounds two different pitches depending on which side of its bridge you strike. Twelve bridges give a wider working compass than the traditional nine-bridge layout, which matters most when a piece moves across registers or when you are voicing a line underneath a melody. The courses are struck with mezrab — light wooden mallets held between the fingers — the technique behind the santur’s rapid runs and its shimmering, overlapping decay.
Who this santur is for
This is an instrument for the player who works on it every day and changes key inside a set: performers moving between Persian, Turkish, Arabic and contemporary material, accompanists working with singers who transpose, and musicians recording where tuning stability across a session matters. If your repertoire stays inside a single dastgah, a traditional instrument from our santur collection will serve you and cost considerably less.
Repertoire and traditions
The santur sits at the centre of Persian classical dastgah and avaz playing, and the same instrument family runs through Greek santouri, Turkish and Indian practice. With the levers engaged it also carries comfortably into Mediterranean and Anatolian material, into film and ambient work, and into improvisation that would otherwise fall outside a fixed diatonic tuning.
Care and maintenance
Keep the santur in a stable environment, away from direct heat and from swings in humidity — both the soundboard and the seating of the bridges respond to moisture. Return the levers to their resting position before storing it, check the tuning regularly, and wipe the strings with a soft cloth after playing. Spare strings, mallet sets and tuning keys are in our santur accessories range, and our complete guide to the Persian santur covers tuning and mallet technique in more depth.
Ships with a gig bag, traditional mezrab mallets and a tuning key. Worldwide shipping & 15-day return.
