iTanpura

Now Available: Version 4.5 with integrated Swar Mandal sound, and yes it sounds great! Check out the YouTube demo or the audio sample below for the fantastic new sound.

And the reviews are in:

iTanpura now featured in the culture section of Indian publication Mint - reviewed by none other than the famous classical & playback singer, the inimitable Shubha Mudgal. Shubha-ji called me from India over Skype for an interview that was certainly fascinating for me. She is an amazing and dynamic personality in the world of music, so this was certainly an honor for me. Click here for the complete article.

iTanpura was also written up in the Indian Express, which is one of India’s oldest newspapers. See here for the complete article.

Not convinced? Try iTanpura Lite for free! It has most the features of the full version, except the sound stops playing after 30 seconds. Click here to download.

About The Tanpura

The Tanpura is a musical instrument widely used to accompany Indian Classical music. It is a 4-stringed instrument with a base made from cured pumpkin gourd and a wooden stem. It is tuned to the chosen pitch or key and provides a constant background "drone" or frame of reference against which the rest of the vocal or instrumental music is performed.

The four strings of the tanpura are usually tuned in one of these three combinations:

1. •Pa-Sa-Sa-Sa (lower)
   

2. •Ma-Sa-Sa-Sa (lower)
   

3. •Ni-Sa-Sa-Sa (lower)
   

The middle two strings of the tanpura are always tuned to upper Sa, the last string to lower Sa (kharaj). The first string varies depending on the raag or scale being performed. Vocal performers frequently sing with two tanpuras tuned to the same pitch but with a different note for the first string.

Spend a long time tuning your tanpura every day? Or still using your old electronic tanpura or shruti box? Why pay upwards of $100 for a big box that doesn't sound that good when you can get a beautiful, great-sounding and compact solution for a lot less! The future of the tanpura is here!

iTanpura is an electronic Tanpura for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Combined with a set of external speakers or a speaker dock, it transforms the iPhone or iPod Touch into an unbelievably good electronic tanpura. Click here, or on the picture at the right for a sample recording. The equation is simple:

iTanpura uses stereo digital sound to simulate a set of two tanpuras each of which can be tuned with a different string combination. It uses sounds sampled from real Hemraj tanpuras to provide beautiful yet realistic sound in a pleasing design. NEW: iTanpura version 4 now includes an integrated 15-string Swar Mandal! iTanpura is ideal for everyday music practice, concerts, or even as a serene background for meditation. The sound quality has to be heard to be believed!

Features include:

1. ✓FOUR fantastic instruments in one app: includes two 4-string tanpuras, a 15-string Swar Mandal, plus (NEW!) a Sur-Peti (Shruti-Box).
   

2. ✓Uses sounds sampled from actual male & female tanpuras for realistic tanpura sound throughout the pitch range
   

3. ✓Adjust pitch by name (C#, G, etc.) using pitch up/down buttons
   

4. ✓Wide range of pitch including male & female shrutis from lower B (B2) to upper D# (D#4)
   

5. ✓NEW: Integrated 15-string Swar Mandal. The Swar Mandal is completely tunable and can be played manually or set to auto-loop.
   

6. ✓Suitable for vocal as well as instrumental music
   

7. ✓Fine-tune pitch in continuous increments using the slider. The display shows the fine-tune value as a two-decimal number to allow exact recreation of any pitch
   

8. ✓Tempo Control: use the pitch/tempo switch to change the function of the slider in the top section
   

9. ✓Play one or two simultaneous tanpuras both controlled by the master pitch controls
   

10. ✓Each tanpura's first string can be tuned to Pa, Ma or Ni, or any custom note such as Re, Ga, Dha, etc
    

11. ✓Or tune first string to any shruti in the octave using a slider
    

12. ✓Each tanpura has its own pan and volume controls to allow precise placement within the stereo image. For example you can have a tanpura with Pa on your left and one with Ni on your right
    

13. ✓Presets: Save all settings including pitch, each tanpura's individual tuning, pan & gain settings, as well as the Swar Mandal tuning as a named preset
    

14. ✓Can be used with speakers, headset, or the internal speaker. A high-quality speaker dock is recommended for maximum effect.
    

Not convinced? Try iTanpura Lite for free! It has all the features of the full version, except the sound stops playing after 30 seconds and it does not include the Swar Mandal. Click here to download.

Top Section: This is common to both tanpuras and is used to set the "base" pitch of Sa.

1. ➡The two buttons tune the pitch up or down one note at a time
   

2. ➡The slider allows fine-tuning of the pitch within a two-note range
   

3. ➡Click on the endpoints of the slider (♭ or ♯) to further fine-tune the pitch by 1/100th of a note
   

4. ➡The display in the middle shows the current note name (i.e. C#) in the center, the octave on the upper right, and the current fine-tune relative value on the upper left. The color of the text in the display indicates whether the fine-tune slider is exactly in the middle (green), to the left of center (red), or to the right of center (cyan).
   

5. ➡There are four small buttons at the corners of the top section:
   

6. ❖The button on the top left lets you adjust the global iTanpura settings
   

7. ❖The i button on the top right shows you the information page
   

8. ❖The  button on the bottom left lets you load and save presets - iTanpura ships with a few presets, but you can add your own and delete the existing ones at any time
   

9. ❖The  button on the bottom right opens the Swar Mandal configuration page
   

Tanpura 1 and 2: The middle and bottom sections are used to control the two tanpuras.

1. ➡Use the switch to choose whether the first string is tuned to Pa, Ma or Ni, or to turn off that tanpura
   

2. ➡Clicking on ... takes you to the Custom Tuning screen where you can choose a different standard note (such as Dha) or use the slider to fine-tune a custom note
   

3. ➡Use the slider at the bottom to pan the stereo image towards the Left or Right channels
   

4. ➡Use the slider on the right to increase (+) or decrease (-) the gain
   

1. ➡Clicking on the Play Once button plays the Swar Mandal once
   

2. ➡Turn the Auto Loop switch ON to auto-play the swar mandal at a set loop duration
   

3. ➡The Tuning section lets you assign notes to strings
   

4. ➡The Loop Duration section lets you choose how often the loop repeats when the Auto Loop switch is ON
   

5. ➡Use the slider on the bottom to increase (+) or decrease (-) the Swar Mandal volume
   

See the YouTube video below for a demonstration.

Recommended Usage

To get a typical two-tanpura effect (see screenshot on right)

1. ➡Men set pitch to C# (Kali Ek)
   

2. ➡Women set pitch to G# (Kali Char)
   

3. ➡Set Tanpura 1 to Pa (pan left)
   

4. ➡Set Tanpura 2 to Ni (pan right)
   

Choose Pa, Ma or Ni on the tanpuras depending on which notes are present in the raag (scale) being performed.

For best effect, use a high-quality iPhone Speaker dock such as the Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 or any other good pair of external speakers.

About The Developer

Prasad Upasani is a professional musician, teacher and performer who also happens to be a talented programmer with over 15 years in IT. He has a Master's degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor's degree (Sangeet Visharad) in Indian Classical music. He lives in Southern California.

Feedback, questions or need support? Send an Email

YouTube Demo

Click here to watch on YouTube.