Jivari, in Indian classical music culture and thought, refers to the overtone-rich "buzzing" sound characteristic of classical Indian string instruments such as the tanpura, sitar and veena. Jivari can refer to the acoustic phenomenon itself and to the meticulously curved bone or ivory bridges that support the strings on the sounding board and produce this particular effect. When cotton threads are used to shift the angle of the string over the bridge, this is called "adjusting the jivari." After a substantial time of playing, the surface directly under the string will wear out through the eroding impact of the strings. The sound will become thin and sharp and tuning also becomes a problem.Then a skilled, experienced craftsman needs to redress and polish the surface, which is called "doing the jivari".
'Jiva' translates as "soul" or "live-giving essence". The 'jivari' then 'animates' the sound of each string. The rich and very much 'alive' resonant sound requires great sensitivity and experience in the tuning process. In the actual tuning, the fundamentals are of no interest as attention is drawn to the sustained harmonics. The actual tuning is done on three levels: firstly by means of the large pegs, secondly, by carefully shifting tuning-beads for micro-tuning and thirdly, by even more careful shifting of the cotton threads that pass between the strings and the bridge, somewhat just before the zenith of its curve.
Typical of jivari is a bridge-string setup with a very flat parabolic curve supporting the strings and sloping away from under them. When a string is plucked, it will make a periodic and regular grazing contact with the bridge's surface, which will gradually shift up the sloping surface to zero as the amplitude decreases. The desired effect is that of a rainbow of sound in a single tone. In this sense, it is similar to the refraction of white light through a prism. The making of a perfectly sounding jivari requires a very high degree of skill and expertise.
To simply state that the tanpura supplies the drone in the tonic key of the performers is accurate insofar that it is an understatement: the tanpura-accompaniment is the "alpha et omega" of melody, or rather, ragas. In the hands of masters the tanpura will reveal the precise tonal shade perfectly suited for the chosen raga that will be played or sung.