How to write Tabla melodies ?

Demo What is Tabla

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Lets learn to write melody

First click on the "Player" button which is available just below textarea, you can see Tabla bols in the table format

Observe textarea, you can see see [melody start] and [melody end] tags in it, it is called as Vishwamohini script

This Vishwamohini script is converted into table & you can play it, we will learn more about Vishwamohini script later

Above Table you will see a button "Edit in Excel", click on this button, you will see a excel like table

Every cell in table represents one beat and you can add your bols in cell, Vishwamohini script will get automatically created as you update excel table.

But it is important to understand Vishwamohini script as it is very important part, also you will understand how to write bols in english in the script, please read below sections carefully

Lets understand each element one by one

1. [melody start] & [melody end] : Vishwamohini Script starts with "[melody start]" & ends with "[melody end]". Whatever you write in between these two tags will be considered as part of melody & converted into table.

2. Tabla syllables/bols : Tabla has two parts(drums) Daya & Baya and each has its own syllables. Also we can create some new syllables with the combination of both drums.

Below is the table which shows possible syllables on Tabla.
Because of stroke intensity,stroke position on both drums & pressure control on Baya, we can create little variation in sound effects for each syllable, considering this fact, wherever possible, we have provided four sound variation for each syllable. Below table shows how to access those variations in Vishwamohini Script using English language (T1,t1,Ta1,ta1).

These English variations will be converted into Hindi font

Right hand ( Daya ) syllables

Left hand ( Baya ) syllables

Both hand ( Daya + Baya ) syllables

3. [D1D1|T4T8|D1D1|T3N1] : Each row, which will be considered as a cycle of taal (Avartan) will start with "[" bracket & it ends with "]" bracket. Each beat is separated by bar "|", content between two bars is shown into one cell of table & will be played in timing of one beat.

4. [lyrics] : When you want to write text or lyrics of song just put "[lyrics]" tag at the end of avartan, it will display text as it is in the table.

Below is the row with "[lyrics]" tag

[DhaDhaTiTa|DhaDhaTuNa|TaTaTiTa|DhaDhaDhinNa][lyrics]

It will display text as it is in the table, rows with lyrics tags will not be considered when you play notations/melody.

DhaDhaTiTa

DhaDhaTuNa

TaTaTiTa

DhaDhaDhinNa

5. [tabla] : When you put "[tabla]" tag at the end of row, it converts syllables into Hindi font (Blos) & puts in table. These syllables/bols are considered when you play the melody.

Below is the row with "[tabla]" tag

[D1D1|T4T8|D1D1|T3N1][tabla]

It will convert syllables tnto hindi font & this row will be considered when you play bols/melody.

6. Gap : To add gap in the notations just add "-" dash. Spaces between notations has no meaning so you can add them just to have good formatting.

 Thats it! . . . you are ready to create your first tabla melody. Have some fun with our Demo. You can edit script in this demo & check results.

You can add any number of melodies using [start melody] and [end melody] in same text area.

Advance options

Add theka or lehera

Similar to instruments, you can add 'theka' or 'lehera' tag in the script.

theka : It will play along with instruments, it will not play with tabla & symphony. This option is useful when you want to try customized taal which is not available in the list of taals

Example : [D1|D2|D2|D1|D1|D2|D2|D1|D1|T2|T2|T1|T1|D2|D2|D1][theka]

lehera : It will play along with tabla, it will not play with notations, instruments & symphony

Example : [S2|g2|S2|N1|d1|N1|S2|d1|m1|g1|S1|g1|m1|d1|N1|S2][lehera]

Options to add Laykari

Whatever number of syllables/bols you put between bars, it will play them with perfect timing in one beat.

First level Laykari

Below is the example of five notes in each beat, which is called as Khand Jati. So five notes will be played in one beat.

[melody start]
[DhaTiDhaTiTa|DhaTiDhaTiNa|TaTiTaTiTa|DhaTiDhaDhinNa][lyrics]
[D1T4D1T4T8|D1T4D1T2N2|T1T4T1T4T8|D1T4D1D2N2][tabla]
[melody end]

Second level Laykari

Some advance musicians may want full control over complex Laykari, we have taken care of them
Just put your syllables in curly brackets, it will play them in subbeat of beat with perfect timing.
in below example each beat is divided into three parts, & two syllables will be played in third part of each subbeat.

[melody start]
[DhaDhi(NaNa)|DhaTi(NaNa)][lyrics]
[D1D2(N1N1)|D1T2N1N1][tabla]
[melody end]

Options for Laykari is available till two levels only. 

Limitation : Currently there is no options to add very complex Laykari like 5 beats in 7 beats, or 7 beats in 5 beats . . .  etc we have plan to come up a simple & separate utility dedicated to such type of Laykari.

Lets play melody

In the right hand side of page, you will see a floating box which will come out or go in, as you click on it. There are options to set tempo, scale of the melody. After that observe play button just above every table, click on "Play" button to play melody.

Local playback settings : Vishwamohini script gives fexibility to add multiple melody pieces in single post. Also it is possible to set important playback settings for each melody piece. User can set Tempo, repetions, Swara scale, Tabla-Baya scale and language. Here is the syntax for putting settings in the script

Example :
[melody start]
<settings start>
[150][tempo]
[1][repetitions]
[S1][notations-scale]
[S1][tabla-scale]
[S1][baya-scale]
[devnagari][language]
<settings end>
[S1R1G1m1|P1D1N1S2|S2N1D1P1|m1G1R1S1][lyrics]
[S1R1G1m1|P1D1N1S2|S2N1D1P1|m1G1R1S1][notations]
[melody end]

Bol Dynamics, experimental feature

It is possible to control stroke intensity of each Bol

Syntax: <Bol:StrokeIntensity>.

Stroke intensity can be between 1 to 125

Example :

[D1<D1:70>|T4T8|D1<D1:70>|<T3:60><N1:90>][tabla]

Chord, experimental feature

To add Chord, write them in curly braces with colons {:S1P1:}, it can be also used with for Tabla bols

Example : [S1R1{:G1P1:}m1|P1{:D1N1:}S2|S2N1({:D1P1:})|m1G1R1S1][notations]

Example : [{:G1N1:}|{:G1D2:}|D1({:G1D2:})|D1][tabla]