Audio node
Oriental Rhythm Synth
Tabla that performs kaidas from a 196-composition corpus, plus tanpura, sitar and bansuri that improvise ragas on the same cycle -- Density, Saturation, Complexity, Tihai. Add inside an Audio Modular System.
Inputs
| Port | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| EnableTurns this instrument off without removing it. Strokes and notes already sounding finish. | bool | true |
| NotesIn Play Notes mode the stream plays the instrument: tabla strokes on bins 36…47 (na tin tun te ti tak re ne ge gin ke kat, any octave), pitches for the strings and flute. Ignored while performing. | float | — |
| InstrumentWhich instrument this instance is: Tabla (performs kaidas from the corpus), Tanpura (the four-string drone), Sitar or Bansuri (improvise the raga). Drop several instances into one system — they lock to the same cycle. | int | 0 |
| ModePerform: the instrument's own brain plays. Play Notes: the Notes stream plays it and the performance knobs fold away. | int | 0 |
| LevelOutput volume. Clamped to 0…1.5. | float | 0.8 |
| SaThe ensemble's Sa as a MIDI note (61 = C♯4): the dayan tuning, the sitar and flute root, the sympathetic strings. Clamped to 24…96. | float | 61 |
| TaalThe rhythm cycle: Any, or one taal — the corpus is filtered to it and every taal has a built-in theka. Sitar and bansuri phrase on the same cycle. | int | 0 |
| GharanaThe school the compositions come from — Delhi, Benares, Punjab, Ajrada, Farukhabad, Lucknow — or Any. Falls back to the taal alone when a school has nothing in that taal. | int | 0 |
| RagaThe melodic world the sitar and bansuri improvise in, and the tuning of the sitar's sympathetic strings and the tanpura's fifth. | int | 0 |
| Piece0 chooses by Complexity; any other number picks that composition (1-based) from the current taal/gharana list — a way to keep one kaida. | int | 0 |
| LayaSpeed as matras per transport beat: Vilambit ½, Madhya 1, Drut 2, Ati Drut 4. Changes are phase-continuous — nothing jumps. | int | 1 |
| DensityHow much of the composition sounds. Structural strokes survive first — sam, vibhag heads, beats, open strokes — filler goes first. At 0 only the sam, and not always. For the melodic instruments: how often a phrase comes; for the tanpura: the pluck rate. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.8 |
| SaturationFills the silences with rolls — te-re, tirakita, dhir-dhir — at an ever finer step, and doubles the laya near the top. At 1 the roll never stops: the helicopter. Sitar: jhala strumming; bansuri: murki grace notes. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.3 |
| Complexity0 is the taal's theka and nothing else. Rising, it picks harder compositions from the corpus (more distinct strokes, more variety, relas), plays more of their variations and moves on to new pieces. Melodic: longer phrases with more leaps. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.4 |
| TihaiThe chance a performance ends with its cadence — the composition's own tihai, or one built from its opening phrase, landing on sam. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.5 |
| HandHuman timing and velocity scatter — 0 is a machine, 1 a loose hand. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.3 |
| AccentDynamic depth: how much louder the sam and the beats are than the filler. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.5 |
| Bass TuneBayan tuning in semitones under Sa. −19 puts the bass a twelfth below the dayan. Clamped to −30…−4. | float | -19 |
| BendHow far the heel bends the bass drum's pitch — ge glides up, gin releases down; up to about four semitones at 1. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.5 |
| ToneUpper partials and the nail click of the treble drum — dull skin at 0, bright kinar at 1. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.5 |
| RingHow long the open strokes ring. 0.5 is the measured drum; clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.5 |
| JawariThe bridge buzz: how much the string grazes the jawari — the upper partials bloom after the pluck and the tone gets its edge. Clamped to 0…1; a tanpura never goes below 0.35. | float | 0.5 |
| SympathyLevel of the sympathetic strings (taraf), tuned to the raga — the halo that rings when the melody hits their pitch. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.4 |
| DecayHow long the string rings. Clamped to 0…1, 0.5 = a sitar; the tanpura keeps at least 0.7. | float | 0.5 |
| BrightMizrab colour: how bright the pluck and how strong the upper partials. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.5 |
| MeendLegato glide time. A note played while one is held does not restart — it pulls (sitar) or half-holes (bansuri) to the new pitch. 0 = every note re-plucked/tongued. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.3 |
| BreathHow much air is heard beside the tone — the dirty part of the bansuri. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.4 |
| VibratoDepth of the delayed vibrato/gamak that arrives a third of a second into a note. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.5 |
| OverblowTips the flute toward its second harmonic — hard blowing. Hard velocities add to it. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.3 |
| AnalogPer-strike scatter of tuning and damping — no two hits identical. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.3 |
| SpaceStereo width: the tabla pans its two drums apart, the others spread their voices. Clamped to 0…1. | float | 0.4 |
| SeedThe performer's identity: the same seed performs the same set — compositions, fills, phrases. | int | 0 |
| Max VoicesVoices that may sound at once. Clamped to 1…8; a tabla wants 8, a solo flute 1–2. | int | 8 |
Outputs
| Port | Type |
|---|---|
| NotesIn Play Notes mode the stream plays the instrument: tabla strokes on bins 36…47 (na tin tun te ti tak re ne ge gin ke kat, any octave), pitches for the strings and flute. Ignored while performing. | float |
| Bol | string |
| Matra | float |
| Sam | bool |
| Cycle | int |
| Playing | string |
How It Works
Four instruments in one node: Tabla (two physically-modelled drums with twelve strokes — na tin tun te ti tak re ne ge gin ke kat — bayan pitch bend, and a stroke that damps its own drum), Tanpura (four jawari strings on a slow uneven cycle), Sitar (a jawari string with sympathetic taraf lanes and meend glides) and Bansuri (a breath-driven bamboo flute with delayed gamak that breathes once per phrase).
Perform mode plays from a compiled corpus of 196 kaida / rela / peshkar compositions — 1,057 patterns, some 68,000 strokes — every bol decomposed into the strokes the DSP can actually voice. Events are scheduled sample-accurately against the container's transport.
Use Cases
- A rhythm section that improvises — Density, Saturation (helicopter at 1), Complexity and Tihai shape the performance.
- Raga bed — tanpura and bansuri under any other instrument.
- Play your own bols — Play Notes mode maps incoming notes to strokes.
Tips
- The Bol, Matra, Sam and Cycle outputs are the performance as data — drive visuals from the actual stroke.
- Sam (the cycle's first beat) is the one to sync visuals to.
Open Oriental Rhythm Synth in the interactive catalog →
Oriental Rhythm Synth is one of 381 nodes in Grafit Pro.
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