Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

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arunk
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Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Dear Friends,

I am happy to introduce a soon-to-be-available app "Swarasthana", for the iPad and iPhone - a fun-to-use teaching and knowledge aid aimed at Carnatic Music beginners, as well as enthusiasts i.e. the dabblers amongst us !!

NOTE: The app has been submitted to the Apple store and so it will be available soon pending Apple approval. It will be available initially at an introductory low-price o $2.99

It has three major features:

- Sing along and practice saraḷi, jhaṇṭa, dhāṭu varisais, and alaṅkārams, not only in māyāmāḷavagauḷa, but in any of the 72 mēlās. Adjust the sruthi, and tempo according to your comfort level. Select the instrument from veena, guitar, or the flute.

- Improve upon your ability to sing swarasthanas in perfect pitch using the Sruthi Suddham feature, which features a realtime pitch tracker that tracks your pitch as you sing.

- Get better at identifying swaras using the Swara Gnyanam feature, which is in the form of a game in which the app generates an arbitrary pattern of 1 to 4 swaras, and you have to identify the swaras.

Please check out http://arunk.freepgs.com/swarasthana for video demonstrations and more information. If you like what you see, please spread the word to your friends who may find it useful. I will post an update as soon as the app is ready for sale.

Thank you
Arun

rshankar
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by rshankar »

Arun..awesome! Congratulations! I will certainly be on the lookout from the App Store.

arunk
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Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Thanks Ravi!

cmlover
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by cmlover »

Super Arun!
Can't wait to get it!
Alert me as soon as it is available.
This must be a boon for the Learners as well as Luddites like me!

mohan
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 16:52

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by mohan »

This looks great Arun.

When you reduce the main volume does the tanpura go down too? I know this is not the purpose of the app but I was thinking that by doing this it could function as a electronic tanpura and tala meter too. Maybe this can be for a future revision, and also introduce clap sounds for the tala.

The swara gnyanam and sruti suddham tools looks interesting. The various tones are also good but as any electronic instrument is devoid of gamakam.

cmlover
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by cmlover »

I thought there are no gamakams in the swaras?
Am I right?

mohan
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by mohan »

cmlover wrote:I thought there are no gamakams in the swaras?
I am of the opinion that sarali varasai, etc should be sung with gamakam (appropriate to the raga used)

arunk
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Thanks cml and mohan.

Mohan - yes the main volume controls both. Yes as you surmise it is possible in a future version to just have the tala mode.

cml/mohan - some, maybe many teachers so feel that the varisais should be learnt with gamakams, but I think there is also something to be said about knowing where the sthanams are and getting a solid handle on them particularly for beginners (should one be able to stand steady before one learns the dance moves :-)). This app certainly is not a substitute for a good teacher nor is it a complete aid - it is aimed at mainly one thing - helping people get a good handle of the swarasthanams.

While I do have some plans to introduce gamakams in son way in the future (let's just say that the plumbing for this in place albeit still not perhaps ready for prime time), at this point it's all pointedly about swarasthanama.

One more "complication" I think arises once you get into gamakams - I.e. the interpretative element of cm which leads into variations of styles and banis etc. - this *might* lead to a case where an exercise with gamakams for raga X would be most appropriate for some styles but not necessarily the most appropriate for some other teacher's style.

Arun

harimau
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by harimau »

arunk wrote:
Select the instrument from veena, guitar, or the flute.
I shall wait until other instruments so liked by the rasikas.org crowd are included in your software.

Veena, flute, nagaswaram and even the violin can be excluded as nobody goes to concerts where those instruments are featured as the main instrument for making music.

Keyboard, saxophone and mandolin would be welcome additions, in that order.

For use in the very near future, you may want to consider adding the didgeridoo, kazoo and bagpipe.

Sine this runs on the iPhone kind of device, you could consider adding software-driven instruments such as the AirPipes which are available on the iPhone. A complete list of such instruments should be available on the iTunes store. :ymparty:

vasanthakokilam
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by vasanthakokilam »

Fantastic Arun. Wow, there are a lot of features there. $2.99 sounds like a steal.

I am looking forward to playing with the real time pitch tracker ( sruthi suddham ) and the Swara Gnyanam aspects. That should be a lot of fun.

You should consider advertising in a targeted manner. I will send you my thoughts on that later.

Congratulations!

arasi
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Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arasi »

Arun,
Humor apart, even nirakshara kukshis like myself (mainly in matters of technology) can get excited about such things. I would like to try it and see if my grandsons would too. The older one can teach me how to use it too ;)

Good news!

VK,
Our posts crossed. Even GnAthAs in the field are enthused. Great!

sureshvv
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by sureshvv »

Any hope for an android version?

arunk
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Thanks vk - would love to hear those ideas!

Thanks arasi!

suresh - at this point no. Android is going to take a full rewrite and this app is also a complex one => lots of code (lot of effort) as well as lots of things happening which I don't know how to achieve using the Android API. Krithibook also was almost twice the effort but its UI is a piece of cake compared to this ;-), and I also didn't see that many people buy it to make that version as worthwhile as one would hope.

harimau - if you are willing to record samples for those instruments yourself, it is possible ;-). Kidding aside, as you may have gathered', the app is not necessarily about helping to play specific instruments (since that involves playing techniques specific to the instrument) but with even the first version, beginners could "play along" with an instrument of their choosing (the sruthi suddham part though is intended only for strictly monophonic sounds and so not sure if it can handle any kind of sound)

Arun

PUNARVASU
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by PUNARVASU »

Congratulations Arun. What a wonderful tool it will for the learners!

cmlover
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by cmlover »

Arun
could you have added 'human voice' (a few selected ones) ?
(pitchappa for example :)

arunk
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Thanks punarvasu

cml - yes :-) - theoretically possible. However, what we will find is that the eventual "melody" would sound monotonous and actually quite artificial (more so than instruments IMO), not unlike the automated voice response systems (even those that use real samples).

I think there are enough dynamics at play when humans speak/sing which are perhaps even context sensitive, which although is "theoretically" possible to model and recapture, in reality is not done so by the methods of the kind used by this app and other software. The same of course also applies to instruments (i.e. even the best of them won't sound like the real deal if you listen close enough). However, I think anomalies/short-comings in human voice reproductions can perhaps be easily discerned by most people compared to anomalies in instrument reproduction (which would stick out more to people very familiar with the respective instruments but not so for many others).

Arun

uday_shankar
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by uday_shankar »

Very nice Arun. That's a lot of bang for the buck for a music learner. I hope you find time to expand it to a pan Indian audience by having a Hindustani version (I don't know what their basic lessons are). I am sure gamakas are only a matter of time (perhaps an ability to "choose" or customize them "bani-wise" may be a way out of the bani conundrum!).

I hope your efforts blossom into a full fledged Indian Music Learning Aids company.

rajeshnat
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by rajeshnat »

Arun
It just works in either iPHone or iPad . WIthout Android support I stil cannot try. Ofcourse do understand the difficulty of rewriting in android. Two features that you can add (possibly it is already there)

1. One is to bring in very very popular film songs especialy of illayarAja and have some kind of right side synchronization of swara syllables in visuals in another side of the pane that goes with the songs. May be you can try with some song like thalayai kunniyum thamaraiyE - in reetigowlai - remember reading that in your blog some time back.

2. Other is possibly synchorizing the alapana in swara notation -possibly dwijAvanthi alapana of semmangudi in left pane with the synchonized visual notations of swara syllables in another right pane
Your daughter would atleast love it.

Without having a chance to h :(( ear i can only wish you the best.

harimau
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by harimau »

uday_shankar wrote:
I hope you find time to expand it to a pan Indian audience by having a Hindustani version (I don't know what their basic lessons are).
If you remember all the interviews given by Hindusthani musicians, their basic lesson consists of singing just 'Sa' for 6 months. That ought to be reasonably easy to reproduce. :p

The other lesson would be imitating the last gasp of the harmonium. As the song ends, the harmonium player no longer pumps the bellows but lets the air out. Vocalists and instrumentalists mimic the sound the harmonium makes at that point. This should also be easy to reproduce electronically. 8-|

Rsachi
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by Rsachi »

Arun
I checked out your demos. Quite comprehensive. Congrats.
I have a similar app on my Android, but yours sounds nicer and also does things a bit differently
/interestingly.
I don't know the reason but the hand putting the tala seemed to lag behind the sound, to me.
Also the hand graphic though well sketched seems a bit odd given the general layout. Please reconsider. You can have a blinking light for the different matra positions.

The flute sound is a bit metallic.

I intend to purchase it, but wonder if the real estate of my 9.7 inch iPad screen will be a bit wasted.
At a minimum please give the ability to play all the raga scales and phrases (pakad) for ragas listed in your other app.
Last edited by Rsachi on 25 Nov 2013, 14:24, edited 1 time in total.

rajeshnat
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by rajeshnat »

Rsachi wrote: I have a similar app on my Android, but yours sounds nicer and also does things a but differently
/interestingly.
sachi,
May i know what is the android app that you are refering?

Rsachi
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by Rsachi »

Image

SrinathK
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by SrinathK »

Can you include choice of musical tuning -- say, 12 tone ET, JI, PT or even the 22 shruti (I can give you all the frequencies and intervals in any key if needed)? For perfect pitch in Indian music (specifically with respect to plain note singing) are quite different from 12 tone ET.

Rsachi
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by Rsachi »

I second that.
I have found playing out any raga scale on a 12 key piano or anything else sounds very flat for many ragas, even to my untrained ear.

arunk
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Thanks Uday/rsachi/Srinath for the feedback.

Uday
~~~~
Yes the thought about a HM version had certainly occurred to me, and yes the same question about what the basic exercises are :-). Also whether they (at least when they start out) have anything like visually keeping tala to help to learn to keep time (but maybe its just tabla - which is possible but is a bit of effort). I do know that some styles like dhrupad do put tala (in concerts).

Regarding your suggestion for getting over the bani differences - yes again when I had mulled this, the same thought had occurred to me - of course all this requires access to the right kind of folks, and also some more improvements in the underlying plumbing, but technically possible.

rajesh
~~~~~
you do know there is one way out of your situation ;-) ? I am not saying to jump ship, but to travel in both of them ;-).

Bringing in actual movie song snippets (or actual cm snippets) is (as you can imagine) is a can of worms which in general I would like to avoid. However, the concept you ask is technically possible (a couple of ways) and something I am indeed keeping in the back of my mind. However, if you think about it, such things are useful for advanced students, who in general will not need aids like this to get knowledge. They will have way more effective real, human teachers :-). But it is still something that dabblers and enthusiasts can find educational.

rsachi
~~~~~
Thanks for the feedback.

The audio/"video" sync is a tricky one (technically) - as this isn't like a video file. I do intend watch out for this and tinker as needed. I do think particularly on later iPhones the processors are quite fast to handle this.

Same with some of the audio samples - I hope to improve upon them.

The tala images, it isn't a drawing per-say (it just looks like one). I need better hand models (Seinfeld fans may find this reference amusing ;-) ).

> wonder if the real estate of my 9.7 inch iPad screen will be a bit wasted
Can you please clarify what you mean here? On the iPad, it would still come in portrait mode, the notation area would be bigger and the tala image would be bigger. So the screens sort of expand and fill the full screen.

> At a minimum please give the ability to play all the raga scales and phrases (pakad) for ragas listed in > your other app.
Are you asking for this in KrithiBook? This had been suggested of course but there are 2 issues:
1. Playing just a flat aro/avaro is as you know can be a horrible representation of actual raga (This is not the same as when doing sarali varisas in a *mela* with the intent of practicing swarasthana). So if someone sees enduku peddala in KrithiBook and sees Raga: Sankarabharanam and a "play" button next to it, and when you play it, you hear a westernized flat Sankarabharanam - that would be a let-down wouldn't it be :-) ?
2. It is indeed possible (not right now but hopefully soon) to instead play a version of aro/avaro with gamakas (bani differences aside). That takes quite a bit of effort on my part and this would become more and more once we want to include the signature phrases. Also, if it isn't real-world snippets (which like I mention to rajesh - i didnt want to tread into), it would be electronic, and the bar for a actual cm "tune" (with gamakas) "sounding nice/acceptable" is quite high (for a electronically reproducible software).

rsachi/Srinath
~~~~~~~~~~~
Currently the app does not use ET tuning (so e.g. G3 e.g. in that demo should be where it should be). It uses a specific JT tuning. Yes of course it is possible to allow people to choose various tuning - but my feel is these get into advanced and shall I daresay arcane feature? Anyway, I will keep it in mind - to see how to include such features in a way that doesn't overcomplicate the workflow/UI for beginners.

Thanks
Arun

SrinathK
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by SrinathK »

Dear Arun,

Of course, you don't have to do it in this app. But for a long time now, I have had a desire to see the 22 srutis be put into some proper keyboard / piano app. The reason for that is not just to improve my plain note singing and tone and sruthi shuddam, but also to test an important matter I discovered in theory -- that 22 srutis are necessary to carry out graha bhedam in 12 natural positions and ensure that at least 12 tones are available from any natural position, thus providing the best mathematically possible solution for chords and intervals -- the extra 10 tones supporting the 12 primary ones. The Indian solution to the problem of key changes in 12 tone music is harmonically (in terms of consonance) superior to 12 tone ET by a long shot and is more perfect overall than anything practically attainable by a human performer. So one of my wishes therefore is to have an app that can do that -- Set the sa at any key and have the rest of the keys on the keyboard adjust automatically. And when there are chords, the app selects the best intervals out of the available set.

That will instantly appeal to Hindustani and even Western music lovers. The challenge then will be to keep it simple enough that users aren't scratching their head on how to switch between 2 values of teevra madhyamam depending on the raga... (Oh Enough already!)

Coming back to your app, right now being committed to Android (with no possibility of converting to IOS in the near future :(), I will try out the app when it comes to Android. Also I have this metronome called "Fine metronome" which is capable of rendering any tala pattern and any sub-beat pattern within a beat of a tala (making it possible to render any nadai) and it shows the number of whichever beat the metronome is on in a flasher window as well. The features are well worth it.

vasanthakokilam
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by vasanthakokilam »

Sridhar's My Thalavadyam in the background and Arun's Swarathana in the foreground can be a good combination. Ah, darn it, forgot, that is also iOS only! ;) I do feel for you, Android people!
to test an important matter I discovered in theory -- that 22 srutis are necessary to carry out graha bhedam in 12 natural positions .... -- Set the sa at any key and have the rest of the keys on the keyboard adjust automatically. And when there are chords, the app selects the best intervals out of the available set.
The first part of what you want sounds like a neat assignment for anyone who is learning to program. Any Android students out there? We promise we will be gentle beta testers ;) For such purposes, Mac or Android is better since sharing such test apps is much easier.

As an aside, we do not want to take the focus away from the Swarathana app in this thread since it looks like it is really meant for beginners. All this talk may scare away the beginners ;) May be we can do this in a parallel thread.
Srinath, start another thread for this and post the frequencies there and see if anyone takes it up.

SrinathK
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by SrinathK »

Speaking of the real time pitch tracker this could be very useful to analyse how the same note uses different gamakas in different raga or even how different singers and instrumentalists use slightly different variations of gamakas. Especially important because gamaka notes are often completely different from the positions of their plain note equivalents and the movement c a n cause a note to be sharper or flatter. For e.g Prati madhyamam in a raga like Hamsanandi is close to its plain note location. But in Varaali it is a small slide from the panchamam and as a result it is very sharp. Again a transition M2 in a madhyama kala phrase is sharper than an extended kaarvai M2 (in the latter case it will soon shift close to its plain note position unless continuous gamaka is given).

Those are a lot of fine points that can be known from a real time pitch tracking capability.

cmlover
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by cmlover »

Arun
You should be aware that all the features in your APP and more are already available in M. Subramaian's Gayaka/Rasika software
which now is pretty old, however is of sterling qualty. That also includes exercises for swara gnaana and many more features
for CM learning including complete descriptios of popular CM Ragas and phrases with gamakams!
Subramanian was a physicist who has a scientic approach to analyzing the nuancess and foundations of CM.
However your APP is cheap price-wise and am sure has better sound quality..
I can't wait to get my hands on it...

arunk
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Dear Friends,

I am happy to announce that Swarasthana is now available at the Apple App Store, at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/swarast ... 78591?mt=8.

As before, for more information on the app, please visit http://arunk.freepgs.com/swarasthana

Thanks
Arun

cmlover
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by cmlover »

Great! Just now downloaded it!
Will play with it and get back to you..

Thanks
CML

vasanthakokilam
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by vasanthakokilam »

It is a great app. I am having a lot of fun with the swarasuddham ( real time pitch tracking ). Not just fun, it is incredibly useful to get that feedback in realtime. i used to spot check my flute with Audacity but that is such a cumbersome procedure. With the 'swarasthana' app, given how easy it is, it can be almost a daily ritual. As you all know, in flute the mouth position matters with respect to how accurate the resulting sruthi (kattai) is. But with the aid of this app, I can make micro adjustments so it flat lines with the chosen sruthi. And there are other swaras with half open holes and minute changes in that opening can cause significant changes to the produced note. Here this app checks such things for accuracy.

And, I tried singing to it. My skills are hopelessly bad and this app shames me by showing that visually ;) . I found one very practical use for this. For example, there is a common mohanam gamakam which goes from G3 To P to G3. This app instantly shows if your start, middle and end points are accurate. In my first few attempts I was not quite reaching exactly to the P and in other occasions, I was not landing back at G3 cleanly. With some practice I could get it more or less under control. Such a perfect execution makes a very noticeable difference.

Arun, in the next release, for G3, can you show both P and S. I would like to sing S then P first and then G3. I would like to get the visible feedback on all three of them.

I was at a housewarming celebrating this afternoon and I demo'd the app to a few interested people. They are all quite impressed. One of them was quite taken by the real time pitch tracking. His little daughter is just beginning to learn music and he said it is going to be very useful to her.

arunk
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Thanks vk!

> My skills are hopelessly bad and this app shames me by showing that visually ;)
:-) - you just have to select the right kind of judge and this can help ;-). Actually this was part of the reason for the various levels of judging. I felt particularly that beginners (e.g. young ones) could use a less-strict judge initially and move up - so to speak.

> Arun, in the next release, for G3, can you show both P and S. I would like to sing S then P first and then G3. I would like to get
> the visible feedback on all three of them.
If the visible part of the window shows a larger range, then the resolution (cents per pixel) goes down (i.e. more cents-per-pixel) which in turn would affect the ability to show strict(er) judging. BTW, one way is to manual scroll the window up and down (after you stop "recording"), and thus see the full range (one octave).

Arun

cmlover
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by cmlover »

Unfortunately I am having difficulty with voice pitch tracking. The dots get scattered all over the screen let alone showing a straight (even if wrong) lne!
Is it showing just the fundamental or other harmonics too?

Arun
Are the instruments MIDI or based on the original sounds?

vasanthakokilam
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by vasanthakokilam »

CML, as Arun suggests above set the app to go easy on the judgement by setting it to 'Lax' and see if it makes a difference.

arunk
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

cml,

make sure you are singing loud and/or keep the iphone/ipad close to you, so that your voice is picked up clearly. It looks like perhaps that is the issue here.

Your voice should be the dominant source (which should normally be if the above is done), but if needed you can either reduce the tampura volume (in case it is being picked up as the dominant source - although i don't think thats what is happening) or have head-phone the tampura.

Arun
Last edited by arunk on 02 Dec 2013, 01:34, edited 1 time in total.

arunk
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

cmlover wrote: Are the instruments MIDI or based on the original sounds?
not MIDI.

Arun

vasanthakokilam
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by vasanthakokilam »

BTW, one way is to manual scroll the window up and down (after you stop "recording"), and thus see the full range (one octave).
Very Cool indeed. I did not realize I could do that. I also discovered that I can go left and right as well.
If the visible part of the window shows a larger range, then the resolution (cents per pixel) goes down (i.e. more cents-per-pixel) which in turn would affect the ability to show strict(er) judging.
Understood.

May be these two are possibilities.

1) It is pretty close now. If you can buy some pixels here and there, you may be able to show S, G3 and P

and/or

2) When in recognize mode, you can have a button that can expand the view to full screen. We do not need to have any of the top half controls after recognition has started. May be that is all you need, grow the pitch view up to the top while keeping the bottom controls in tact.

I also realize that I am using the pitch tracker beyond its advertised purpose, so this is all bonus features, so this is all optional.

nadhasudha
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by nadhasudha »

Very nice App!

Perhaps, it will help if you are able to select the varisais and alankarams and set it to say 3 rd speed and have them play continuously. This way after a student has gained a level of proficiency he/she is not made to select each and every varisai/alankaram to sing but still have the app guide the student towards a pitch perfect sadhakam. It would be nice to use the app as an accompaniment for akaara sadhakam this way.

arunk
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Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

thanks nadhasudha.

What you ask is already there in the app. You can choose which speeds to include, and also there is a "loop" option. So set to include third speed only and turn-on loop would achieve what you were asking.

Thanks
Arun

nri
Posts: 80
Joined: 21 Feb 2010, 11:05

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by nri »

Can't wait to get hands on! Some silly issues creeped up with my card payments and I'm waiting for that to be resolved. Curious to know if cApu talams are included in putting talams, apart from the conventional lists in alankarams.
Thanks.

arunk
Posts: 3424
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

nri wrote:Can't wait to get hands on! Some silly issues creeped up with my card payments and I'm waiting for that to be resolved. Curious to know if cApu talams are included in putting talams, apart from the conventional lists in alankarams.
Thanks.
Nope. At this point, only the ones that go with the standard alankarams, and Adi (for varisais) are there. Extending to other talas is possible - just have to identify the right "context" around which to include them - either as part of just a tala-mode or perhaps part of some lesson.

Thanks
Arun

nadhasudha
Posts: 381
Joined: 22 May 2006, 06:40

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by nadhasudha »

arunk wrote:thanks nadhasudha.

What you ask is already there in the app. You can choose which speeds to include, and also there is a "loop" option. So set to include third speed only and turn-on loop would achieve what you were asking.

Thanks
Arun
Arun,

Maybe I am missing something. :-\ The loop option loops through only 1 varisai. It will be nice to have an option where I can select a raagam and then have the app run through the 14 sarali varisais in 3 rd speed followed by all Jantai varisais, dhatu varisais and alankaarams. This feature if provided will be a very helpful addition where no user input is required to select each and every varisai and or alankaram.

Have you thought about adding Upper/Lower Sthayi varisais and Briga Sadhaka varisais as well?

Thanks!

arunk
Posts: 3424
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Ah. What you ask is not there. As indicated earlier, the app (particularly the lessons) are aimed mainly at beginners and so the challenge is how to have advanced features in a way not to overwhelm/confuse beginners.

Yes, I do plan to add other lessons over time.

Thanks
Arun

kkumar29
Posts: 46
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 20:26

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by kkumar29 »

The app occasionally throws up the lower "ma" when you are testing your swara knowledge. I found this while trying it out. Otherwise I think overall it is a good app both for beginners and interested rasikas. If you had the ability to play a note individually that also would have been useful.

Great job!
K. Kumar

arunk
Posts: 3424
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Thanks tymeworkbeats and kkumar29!

kkumar29 - not sure what you mean by lower ma comment? Too frequent or why lower ma? If it is the latter, it is intentional since it does feature in the "normal range" included in compositions (e.g. viriboni, abhogi varnam etc.). So lower (mandra) ma to upper (tara) pa is what can be conjured up by the app in the Swara Gnyanam section.

Thanks
Arun

kkumar29
Posts: 46
Joined: 04 Feb 2010, 20:26

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by kkumar29 »

Arun,

There is no key to drag the lower "ma" to fill the blank space in the question. I was not questioning the presence of the lower "ma" but just observing that there is no key to answer the question. I agree it should be there since that covers the normal voice range as you have correctly observed. I still think it is a great app:-)

K. Kumar

arunk
Posts: 3424
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

ah! oops! That would be a bug. I (now remember myself) that the intention was to NOT use lower-ma in the basic mode (well there is the question of not enough real estate for all swaras thens ;-) ), but looks like the pattern generator isnt honoring that. Sorry. Will get out a fix for that soon.

Arun

vasanthakokilam
Posts: 10956
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:01

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by vasanthakokilam »

I encountered the lower ma thing just yesterday. I thought it was a trick question to test the courage of one's swaragyayna conviction ;)

arunk
Posts: 3424
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 21:41

Re: Introducing "Swarasthana" - An app for iPad and iPhone

Post by arunk »

Lol :-) - it actually is part of the strategy that is part of the "house always wins" thing ;-)

Arun

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