KalaSudha online tanpura

A tanpura drone is the reference pitch that Indian classical singers and instrumentalists practise against, and this page plays one in the browser. The default setting is Sa on C sharp with Pa as the first string, and the page shows the frequency and cycle length (138.6 Hz and a six-second cycle at that setting). Press Start and the strings begin plucking in sequence.

You can set Sa by harmonium key or by kattai number, the pitch numbering many Indian musicians use, then fine-tune it in cents if your voice or instrument sits slightly off concert pitch.

The options go further than a fixed recording. The first string can be Pa, Ma, Ni or Sa, which helps with ragas that leave out Pa. You can play four, five or six strings, choose what the fifth and sixth strings sound, switch between a lower and higher register, and change the time between plucks. Jawari, the buzzing brightness of the strings, has its own control, as does the room sound, from dry to hall. Each string has its own volume slider, so you can bring the Sa strings forward or soften the first string.

It suits students and performers who want a drone for riyaz without installing an app or carrying a tanpura box. It runs in current versions of Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox and needs no account. The tanpura sits inside KalaSudha's larger site, which also sells courses and concert tickets, so the page carries the site's full navigation around a tool that is free to use on its own.