Electronic tanpura

An electronic tanpura is an electronic instrument designed to imitate the sound of the tanpura (also called tambura), a traditional Indian string instrument. Its purpose is to produce a continuous drone that supports a vocal or instrumental melody. It may also be referred to as an electronic tambura, electronic shruti box, or simply a shruti box, and it is now available as a mobile phone app.

In Indian music, the drone is a fundamental element. The development of a raga, along with any composition or song within it, depends on the constant sounding of the key note, its octave, and another note—usually the fifth or fourth. Traditionally, this drone is provided by one or more tanpura players, especially during vocal performances. The electronic tanpura was created as a practical, marketable solution for instrumentalists, whose hands are otherwise occupied, and who cannot easily find skilled tanpura players for long practice sessions. Typically, the device has one or more dials to adjust tone and volume, along with switches or buttons that allow a specific pitch and volume to be saved for later use. Its range is usually one to two octaves.

The electronic tanpura was first invented by G. Raj Narayan, an engineer and flautist from Bangalore, India, in 1979. He demonstrated it at the annual conference of the Music Academy Chennai in December of that year. The products were manufactured by his company, Radel Electronics. The earliest versions used discrete components and transistors, the technology available at the time. In the late 1990s, these were replaced by models that used sampled recordings of a traditional tanpura stored on a chip. During the 2000s, tanpura mobile apps began to appear. In 2016, a mathematical model of a tanpura was developed at the Sonic Arts Research Center of Queen’s University Belfast.

For many musicians, the electronic tanpura is a practical tool that offers a passable substitute for a live tanpura. It is easier to use and less expensive than maintaining a live player. However, some musicians consider it a poor substitute compared to a good tanpura played by an expert, because the tones it produces lack the dynamics of a live musician, resulting in a mechanical, repetitive sound.