A US based software engineer and classical musician comes up with iTanpura—a fascinating technology for Indian classical music

It is early morning in Los Angeles and Prasad Upasani is ready for his riyaaz. He takes out his iPhone and sets it on auto-play in a loop of 30 seconds. Upasani then begins with his favourite raga Bairagi Bhairav. And for the next one hour he practices with his iTanpura, the latest application manufactured by Upasani using digitally recorded, high-fidelity samples of actual tanpura sound. The application is already being downloaded and used across the globe by the users of iPhone and iTouch. “One does not really have to lug around a cumbersome tanpura or hunt for an electrical socket for the electric tanpura every time one sits down for a session of riyaaz or while performing in an actual concert. i-Tanpura is a portable, yet great-sounding solution that can run for upto 10 hours on a single charge,” says Upasani, a software developer and an Indian classical musician, over a telephonic interview from Los Angeles.

The tanpura has always been an essential component for all the Hindustani classical musicians as it provides a basic bass drone to begin a raga. From the time when it took many hours to tune the bulky tanpura with the tumba (the hollow round bottom), the instrument has undergone several modifications, including an electronic avatar even. But the i-Tanpura is undoubtedly among the easiest to use, and it comes packed with a punch: the presence of the Swar Mandal system that creates a concert atmosphere wherein two tanpuras tuned to two sets of different notes is played, is quite remarkable. “There is a built-in 15-string Swar Mandal. One can tune each of the 15 strings to any note, and then strum the strings either manually or set it to auto-play. You don’t need two tanpuras now. Two sets of sounds from two different speakers give the impression of a tanpura jodi like it is used during concerts,” says Upasani, who is now working on a software for electronic tabla.

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