Carnatic Music Tools
Metronome, Tanpura, Tuner & Raga Trainer

Help & Support

Getting started, and answers to the questions we hear most.

Setting your Sa

Almost everything starts here. The Tuner and the Raga Trainer both work relative to your Sa, so set it before you practise.

1

Open Settings

The Sa reference at the top is shared by the Tuner and the Raga Trainer.

2

Pick your pitch

Choose the note and octave, or use the kattai number your harmonium or flute uses — kattai 1 is C, and each step adds a semitone.

3

Adjust the reference A if you need to

The default is A = 440 Hz. Change it only if you are matching an instrument tuned differently.

The five tools

🥁 Metronome 🎶 Tanpura 🎯 Tuner 🎤 Raga Trainer ⚙️ Settings

Metronome

Simple mode gives you plain time signatures. Carnatic mode builds the sapta talas from their angas — pick a tala, set the jati (beats inside the laghu) and the gati or nadai (subdivisions per beat). The first beat of each cycle, the samam, is highlighted brightest. It keeps playing when you switch tabs or put the phone down.

Tanpura

A four-string drone with the standard tanpura tuning — mandra Pa, madhya Sa twice, and mandra Sa. Pick the pitch by note or kattai number and the octave; for Ma-based instruments and ragas without Pa, switch the first string from Pa to shuddha Ma. The waveform shows which string is sounding, and the drone keeps playing in the background — on its own or together with the metronome. Its volume is in Settings.

Tuner

Play or sing any note and the Tuner names the swara and shows how many cents sharp or flat you are. The Pitch history tab draws your pitch over time, with a guide line for each swara in the scale — useful for seeing whether you are settling on a note or drifting.

Raga Trainer

Choose a raga and an exercise, listen to it once, then sing it back in tala. You get live feedback while you sing and a score at the end for pitch accuracy and timing.

Frequently asked questions

The tuner is not detecting my voice
Check that you granted microphone permission, and that nothing else is using the microphone. Pitch detection needs a reasonably quiet room — fans, traffic, and background music all interfere. Sing steadily rather than very softly, and hold the note for a moment.
The notes it shows do not match what my teacher says
First check that your Sa is set correctly — if Sa is wrong, every note is wrong by the same amount. Beyond that, ragas do vary legitimately between schools and teachers. Where the app and your guru disagree, follow your guru.
Do the metronome and tanpura keep playing in the background?
Yes, both — separately or together. They share a native audio engine, so timing stays accurate with the screen off or another app open. On Android an ongoing notification appears while either is running; stopping them dismisses it.
When should I use the tanpura's Ma tuning?
The standard tanpura tunes its first string to Pa. If your raga has no Pa (Hindolam, Malkauns-style scales) or you play a Ma-based instrument, switch the first string to Ma — it drops that string to shuddha Ma in the lower octave, the traditional alternative jod tuning. The change applies live, with a smooth crossfade.
Why can I only pick some exercises for some ragas?
Sarali varisai need a full seven-note (sampoorna) scale, so they are available for the melakarta ragas. Janya ragas that skip notes still offer arohanam and avarohanam practice.
Is my singing recorded or uploaded?
No. Audio is analysed on your device as you sing and discarded immediately. Nothing is written to storage and nothing is uploaded. See the Privacy Policy.
Does it work offline?
Completely. The app makes no network requests in normal use.

Still stuck?

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Get in touch

Tell us your device, what you tried, and what happened. We read every email.

contact@lidavi.com