Tabla solos are accompanied by a cyclic melody called lahara (also called lehra or nagma). This repeating melody serves as a reference point for both the performer and the audience, providing an aural outline of the taal (rhythmic cycle). For those of you who don't have a lahara machine, or similar, TaalPulse is a great (and free) tool for your Indian music practice. I found out about this software back in 2007, when the developer, Guillaume Pothier, visited one of my tabla classes at McGill.
The software has programmable volume, tempo, and pitch for tabla, lahara, and tanpura. A large number of laharas are included. The only downside to using this app is that the software is no longer being developed, and the samples are not of great quality. So, the app is stuck as-is. Still, it's hard to beat free! (If you don't mind spending some cash, the best lahara app, hands down, is iLehra by Prasad Upasani, for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch). It is most definitely worth the investment. I'll be doing a write-up on this app in another post.)
Because the software is programmed in a programming language called Squeek, it can run on almost any platform (PC, Mac, Linux). The installation is straightforward for PCs, and slightly more involved for Mac and Linux, as you need to install the Squeek Virtual Machine, but it's not complicated.
The software has programmable volume, tempo, and pitch for tabla, lahara, and tanpura. A large number of laharas are included. The only downside to using this app is that the software is no longer being developed, and the samples are not of great quality. So, the app is stuck as-is. Still, it's hard to beat free! (If you don't mind spending some cash, the best lahara app, hands down, is iLehra by Prasad Upasani, for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch). It is most definitely worth the investment. I'll be doing a write-up on this app in another post.)
Because the software is programmed in a programming language called Squeek, it can run on almost any platform (PC, Mac, Linux). The installation is straightforward for PCs, and slightly more involved for Mac and Linux, as you need to install the Squeek Virtual Machine, but it's not complicated.
For more info and to download the software, please see this link: http://taalpulse.sourceforge.net/
Enjoy!