Raga

The rhythmic soul of Hindustani classical music — a pair of drums whose vocabulary of strokes, called bols, forms a complete spoken language of rhythm. Tabla captures each articulation across multiple velocity layers, with taal presets covering the most important rhythmic cycles from the 16-beat teentaal to the 7-beat rupak.

Carved from a single piece of bamboo, the bansuri is one of the oldest instruments in the world. Its power lies in what happens between the notes: the meend (glide), the gamak vibrato, and the breathy overblowing that adds wind to every phrase. Bansuri models breath pressure and bamboo resonance with microtuning for authentic raga scales.

Called "the instrument closest to the human voice" — its thick gut strings, played with the cuticles rather than fingertips, produce a sliding, singing tone. Up to 36 sympathetic strings create a shimmering halo of harmonics around every note. The word sarangi derives from "sau rangi," meaning a hundred colors.

A hammered dulcimer from the Kashmir Valley, its trapezoidal body strung with up to 100 strings struck by lightweight walnut mallets. When multiple strings are struck in rapid succession, overlapping resonances create a shimmering, harp-like wash that became the sound of sunrise in countless Bollywood scores.

The most iconic Indian stringed instrument, with its distinctive buzzing jawari bridge and up to 20 sympathetic strings creating a shimmering drone beneath every melody. The supreme voice of Hindustani raga, it crossed into Western rock in the 1960s and never left. Physical modeling captures the jawari buzz, meend bends, and gamak ornaments that define the instrument.

A large double-headed barrel drum — the rhythmic backbone of Bhangra and Punjabi folk music. The Dagga (bass head, played with a heavy curved stick) and Tilli (treble head, played with a thin stick) produce a loud, physically driving sound designed for outdoor celebration. MIDI-mapped across two octaves for independent head control, with AI percussion generation in traditional tala patterns.

A two-headed hand drum central to Qawwali, Bollywood, and North Indian folk music. Lighter and more melodic than the dhol, played with hands rather than sticks. The bass head carries masala — a buzz paste that creates a characteristic sustaining rattle. Hand position and masala buzz amount are both controllable via MIDI CC, with AI-generated patterns in Teental, Dadra, and Keherwa talas.

The primary percussion of Carnatic classical music — a precision-tuned barrel drum whose right head (Karanai) is coated with a soru paste spot that produces near-harmonic membrane modes and a metallic, bell-like tone. The most refined percussive timbre in Indian classical music. The left head (Thoppi) produces a bendable bass tone. Uses Shruti22 microtuning with the right head tuned to Sa.

A pump-bellows keyboard reed organ adopted across the Indian subcontinent for devotional music — Qawwali, bhajan, kirtan, and film song. Continuous bellows air pressure drives free metal reeds, producing a warm, reedy sustain. Fully chromatic with optional Shruti22 microtuning. A built-in drone layer adds sustained Sa+Pa (tonic+fifth) beneath the melody — the characteristic sound of temple and devotional music.

The pungi (also called been or murli) — a double-piped wind instrument traditionally played by the Sapera community of Rajasthan, consisting of a gourd reservoir with two bamboo pipes (one melody, one drone). The player uses circular breathing to produce an unbroken, hypnotic, nasal wail. Associated with the Kalbeliya community (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2010). Supports Shruti22 microtuning for Rajasthani folk scales.