This is neat! Where do you type in the bols ? In Obsidian, using plain text?

Thanks :)

Yes, via code blocks. So once you install the plugin, you can type something like:

  ```palta
  taal: teental
  ---
  DhiGe Dhina TiriKit Dhina
  DhaGe NaDhi GeDhi NaNa
  TiKe Tina TiriKit Tina
  DhaGe NaDhi GeDhi NaNa
  ```

and it will render it in the correct format. It uses a web component behind it, so if you wanted to use it directly to render the above, it would be:

  <palta-note taal="teental">
    DhiGe Dhina TiriKit Dhina
    DhaGe NaDhi GeDhi NaNa
    TiKe Tina TiriKit Tina
    DhaGe NaDhi GeDhi NaNa
  </palta-note>

Fwiw, there's a repository with specifications for Ragas and Talas here : https://github.com/Studio-kalavati/sargam-spec/blob/master/s...

I used Swarshala (https://www.swarclassical.com/SwarShala/), which is pretty good imo.

I used the VST version, however they have samples available as well.

Neat! You could add the lyrics below each note as well. The lyrics section is hidden by default, you could go to the gear ( ) icon and enable it.

And not just for Hindi songs, but for any song that can be imagined in Swaras. Here's Boney M's Rasputin written as a notebook https://swaranotebook.com/view/vlB9hVgb5OdKcadbhOOYyzKwvpl2/...

Thanks for the detailed feedback

| example song

I guess having a default page pre-populated with an example song is nice for a demo or a first-time user. But for someone who wants to write a new song, having to delete the pre-populated song could be irksome.

The default keyboard shows only the shuddha or regular swaras btw.

I didn't follow what you meant by "the example notebook is not reachable for the tool". You could just edit that song (https://swaranotebook.com/view/vlB9hVgb5OdKcadbhOOYyzKwvpl2/...) and save it as a new copy.

| mobile

The Swara keys (example: the "r/R" key) are used in twice in each octave, and because there are 3 octaves shown, there are 6 variations , which is difficult to input on a physical keyboard without having additional modifier keys to indicate the octave. For some keys (like the backspace), it would be straightforward. It sure is possible, just haven't worked out what would be ergonomic.

Just add a menu to add some sample pieces.

That's an interesting use-case. There are 37 buttons in the keyboard (for 12 svaras, 3 octaves, plus 1). How many might be needed for the Tabla? Is there a 'universal' set of Tabla Bols ?

I know that there has been a lot of work done in India for writing down Tabla. I am Pakistani, and I can't read hindi in devanagari script, so I am not familiar with this work. Here is my understanding.

In tabla a bol is equal to hitting one or both drums at a given moment.

The dayan (the smaller one) roughly has a set of standard 'hits'. At least 8. But the same hit can be done with different fingers, which has different effects. I am also not sure how to classify dhir dhir, which is played by striking/rubbing the palm of the hand across the surface back and forth.

The bayan is much more complicated. Technically, there are only two types of hits on it, either an open handed hit with the finger tips or a closed handed hit with the palm. But, in practice there are many more, because by pressing with the base of the hand/wrist on the surface while striking, one can change the note (frequency) being played.

Anyway, I think combining two drums, there are maybe 16 simple bols you can play. You miss out quite a lot by trying to write it down in a simple way because of the aforementioned modulation. But perhaps simple compositions or tukrai can be written down.

That's cool! I'm a big fan of Ustad Tari Khan's tabla style.

So what language would you write a composition in? Urdu, or English?

I'm somewhat familiar with the bols since I learnt the Tabla a long time ago. 16 sounds a manageable number. Of course, putting together the audio samples to play a piece and making it sound non-robotic would be another challenge.

But another question is: would you find such a tool useful? There's a similar trend with Raga music, because recording is so easy now, few seem to want to take the trouble to write down notes. Would you, as a Tabla practitioner want to write down a composition? <and do similar tools exist already?>

I would not use a written down version over a memorized version because it misses all the nuances of the piece. But a playable tool for Tabla would be useful for learning, for instance, polyrhythmic practice. As someone who started learning Tabla (and music) in my 30s, I don't even have the neurons in my brain for that kind of stuff. Just listening and playing along will be a huge aid in the absence of a live teacher.

Could you share an audio/video or written example of this? If I understood correctly, you'd like the composition to be played first in 1x speed, and later in 2x or other speed (multiple times) so that it lands on the Sam.

> If I understood correctly, you'd like the composition to be played first in 1x speed, and later in 2x or other speed (multiple times) so that it lands on the Sam.

Yes, that is correct. But doubling the speed is kind of trivial.

I need to think about this a bit more to see what's useful. I see that you have linked your github, so if you don't mind I will use that to contact you.

Sure, that works, thanks!

And also for playing with Taal, an unintended use-case is: you could write a composition in one Taal, and then change the Taal to see how sounds in another Taal. Of course since the cycle won't end on the Sam in the new Taal, it won't sound as clean.

Question: Do you think it'll be useful to record vocals along with it? That way one can vocalize Meends and other ornamental features without having to write it.

I got hooked by listening to it, here's a piece that I've quite like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfMHiTIm-zc

Hi everyone,

At dci.ai we are building Southeast Asia’s most advanced Digital Commerce Intelligence platform that enables Brands & Retailers to better understand and effectively drive their eCommerce performance.

We are expanding our (onsite) team in Singapore, which focuses on building our data platform.

Your responsibilities:

- Develop & maintain a distributed data sourcing platform that ingests data from multiple sources, including, but not limited to web scraping & search data

- Work with data science teams to capture data points relevant for product goals & clean, transform and store the data for further analysis

The ideal candidate has:

- Expertise in Clojure

- Experience (2+ years) of working with functional programming languages.

- A good understanding of trade-offs in big data or stream processing

- Working knowledge of Object stores, SQL & NoSQL databases is a plus.

- Any past work exposure to eCommerce or any commercial data engineering is a plus.

- Made contributions to open source projects in the Clojure / data ecosystem.

Apply here https://apply.workable.com/dciai/j/4CB877EA53/