I came across this instrument around 2007 when a friend of mine happened to have received one as a gift. I had never heard it before I played it with my own hands so it was quite a strong experience for me at the time. I kept it for a while and started to explore its sound on my own, adapting it to the music I was playing.

After this first stage I started to use it in musical projects I had at the time. However my natural curiosity and the need to improve my technique led me to discover the instruments original context and repertoire, persian classical music. I immediatly developed a great passion for it and this was the turning point for me as a santur player. After starting to hear the masters of the instrument and the beautiful repertoire they played I started to study it.

First on my own, then using online resources and finally having travelled to its country of origin, Iran , I continue to this day to study the instrument, as well as adapting it in my original compositions and to quite diferent musical styles than it is normally played.

The santur was invented in Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey and parts of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). This instrument was traded and traveled to different parts of the world and each country customized and designed their own versions to adapt to their musical scales and tunings. The original santur was made with tree bark, stones and stringed with goat intestines. The Mesopotamian santur is also the father of the harp, the Chinese yangqin, the harpsichord, the qanun, the cimbalom and the American and European hammered dulcimers.

The oval-shaped Mezrabs (mallets) are feather-weight and are held between the thumb, index and middle fingers. A typical Persian santur has two sets of bridges, providing a range of approximately three octaves. The right-hand strings are made of brass or copper while the left-hand strings are made of steel.Two rows of 9 bridges with a total of 18 bridges divide the santur into three positions.

Over each bridge crosses four strings tuned in unison, spanning horizontally across the right and left side of the instrument. There are three sections of nine pitches: each for the bass, middle and higher octave called behind the left bridges comprising 27 notes all together. The top "F" note is repeated 2 times, creating a total of 25 separate tones in the Santur.

The Persian santur is primarily tuned to a variety of different diatonic scales utilizing 1/4 tones which are designated into 12 modes (Dastgahs) of Persian classical music. These 12 Dastgahs are the repertory of Persian classical music known as the Radif.