The Dautar
This is to intropduce you to the Dautar.
Green Kill Sessions presented Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub, Friday, December 13, featuring Sal Cataldi on Guitar , Tom “Spontaneous” Semioli on bass, Dirk Drazen and Dave Donen on drums and percussion and Dawoud “The Sufi Renegade” Kringle on and Dautar.
Some people have written to ask what a Dautar is. Please read below.
The Dautar
About three years ago I had the idea to design my own instrument. I have experience playing guitar, bass, sitar, and Indian dilruba. I wanted an instrument that blended the qualities of these instruments. I consulted a few luthiers and eventually worked with Andy Dowty and Jeff Slatnick at Limulus Musical Instruments in New York City. I purchased a rejected body from them to do my own research and experiments (this eventually became The Instrument with No Name; an experiment that continues to this day). Andy, Jeff, and I settled on a design and construction began. After 7 months, the instrument became operational on May 6th, 2023.
The following September, after practicing and developing technique, I did my first public performance with the instrument at Silvana in Harlem, NYC with Spaghetti Eastern Music. It has been the focus of my music ever since.
