Karunattu · Carnatic music studio
Pluck a vīṇā.
Bow a vāyalin.
Blow a veṇu.
Karunattu is the practice studio for Carnatic instruments. Real-time feedback on every note, 22-śruti precision, and clear coaching on gamaka. Pick yours — we'll meet you there.
No card needed to start. Cancel any time.
vīṇā · vāyalin · veṇu · mṛdaṅgam · ghaṭam
Built on the actual grammar of the tradition
Shankarābharaṇam · ārōhaṇa · 22-Śruti Live Scale
- 139
- ragas catalogued
- 22
- śrutis, not 12
- 26
- gamaka ornaments
- 175
- tāla forms
Choose your instrument
Practice studios for every Carnatic instrument.
5 practice studios live · 2 more on the way.
Each practice studio is built around the specific physics of one instrument — the bowed string feels different from the struck membrane, the breath embouchure is its own thing. Pick the one you actually want to learn. Not sure? The quiz below takes 30 seconds.
Vīṇā
IntermediateThe queen of Carnatic instruments. Plucked, fretted, deeply meditative.
Open practice →
Vāyalin
IntermediateSeated posture, Sa-Pa-Sa-Sa (tīvra) tuning. The principal melodic accompaniment.
Open practice →
Veṇu
BeginnerBamboo, breath, and seven holes. The most direct melodic voice.
Open practice →
Mṛdaṅgam
BeginnerPrimary percussion — the heartbeat of every concert.
Open practice →
Ghaṭam
IntermediateClay pot percussion, played with the whole hand.
Open practice →
Nāgasvaram
AdvancedTemple wind, double-reed, paired with tavil.
Open practice →
Tavil
AdvancedThe nagasvaram's loud, two-headed companion.
Open practice →
Never touched an instrument?
Start here. Three steps.
You don't need a guru or a ₹60,000 veena to start. The path: pick what fits, make one sound, follow a 5-minute lesson. That's it.
- 01
Pick an instrument
Vīṇā, vāyalin, veṇu, mṛdaṅgam, ghaṭam — five seconds of tapping to find what fits you.
Take the 30-second quiz → - 02
Make your first sound
No lessons, no setup. Tap one swara on a virtual veena, bow one open string, blow one flute note.
Open the free tuner → - 03
Follow a 5-minute lesson
Karunattu listens. It shows your pitch in cents and gives feedback on your gamaka's rate and depth.
See how feedback works →
For absolute beginners
Which instrument fits you?
A 30-second quiz for people who've never picked one up before.
1.How do you picture yourself playing?
2.Which sound pulls you in?
3.Are you drawn to melody or rhythm?
4.What's your starting setup?
Answer all 4 questions to see your recommendation.
The 12-vs-22 argument
Why your DAW can't play
Mōhanam the way your guru sings it.
A 12-TET keyboard has 12 equally-spaced notes per octave. Carnatic music has seven swarasthanas spread over twenty-two śruti positions. Seven of those swaras — the Prati notes — sit between the piano keys. Toggle the view to see them appear.
22 śrutis give every Prati swara a precise position.
Mōhanam, Hindōlam, Sahānā, Behāg — most ragas need them.
Built differently
A blank tuner doesn't know
that R₃ ≡ G₂.
Karunattu does.
Every other music app treats Carnatic as a folder of MIDI presets. We treat it as a system — with grammar, source citations, and tests that catch when a raga's scale gets quietly broken.
Musicology with citations
Every raga, every signature phrase, every grading note is grounded in Sambamoorthy or Subbarama Dīkṣitar's SSP. The 37 corrections we shipped each carry the inline source comment that justified them.
±5¢ pitch precision
Server-side YIN with parabolic interp. Same algorithm as studio tuners. Cross-validated against librosa.pyin on 20 harmonic-tone fixtures; the audio QA sidecar hard-gates any regression.
Carnatic-inspired instrument timbres
Explore voice, vīṇā, violin, flute, nāgasvaram, and mṛdaṅgam timbres shaped for a Carnatic practice experience.
Server-side math, always
The pitch detector, the raga grammar, the synth engines, the mastering chain — all behind `import 'server-only'`. Your browser receives audio bytes and JSON, never algorithms.
Newbie-friendly onboarding
Five first-questions, one instrument quiz, a 5-minute first lesson. The Carnatic tradition is dense; Karunattu is the on-ramp that respects your time.
One app, three tiers
Free anonymous, Plus Sādhaka, Pro Kalākar. Your teacher on your phone, your studio in your browser, your progress in your account. Sa follows you.
What's in it
Every tool a Carnatic musician needs.
Nothing a Carnatic musician doesn't.
Practice
An actual tutor in your pocket.
Real-time pitch detection with YIN. 29 gāyaka-doṣa categories. Clear feedback on kampita rate and depth.
- ·Tuner with ±5¢ cents precision
- ·Sāṅcāra practice (any raga's pakad)
- ·Gamaka Coach — rate and depth feedback
- ·Voice Coach — 29 gāyaka-doṣas
- ·Rāga ID + Self Review
- ·Metronome (8 tālas)
Compose
From phrase to performance.
Generate phrases in any of 139 ragas — guaranteed in-scale, in-grammar. Drag, branch, save.
- ·Phrase composer — 139 ragas
- ·Canvas piano roll — drag, resize, undo/redo
- ·5 Carnatic-inspired timbres
- ·Save snapshots, A/B compare any two
- ·Browse the Composers + Instruments dungeons
Produce
Studio-grade workflows.
Concert Set Generator, Pallavi RTP Builder, Lyric Singing, Broadcast Master at −14 LUFS, and a tāla engine that parses (base, jati, gati).
- ·Concert Set Generator — 8-section kacheri
- ·Pallavi RTP Builder — anuloma 2×/4× + nāḍai
- ·Lyric Singing — text → syllables → sung phrase
- ·Broadcast Master −14 LUFS / −1 dBTP
- ·Multi-track MIDI export
26 gamakas
The ornaments that make Carnatic Carnatic.
Catalogued from the Saṅgīta Ratnākara and Saṅgīta Pārijāta. Each gamaka is a named pitch gesture with a measured cents curve — not a Western vibrato. The Gamaka Lab has all 26; here are four to start with.
Kampita
kampita
A rapid shake between two pitches. The signature ornament of Lalgudi's violin style.
Āndōlan
āndōlan
A slow, wide oscillation — gentle, sustained, the vocal gamaka par excellence.
Sphurita
sphurita
A very fast, small-amplitude shake on a single pitch. Subtle ornamentation.
Jhārā
jhārā
A quick, slightly meandering glide up to the target note. Common in prayōga.
Synthetic Carnatic instrument examples
These examples are generated by Karunattu's instrument models. They illustrate timbre and are not archival recordings or replicas of named artists.
Featured
Six ragas to start with.
Every raga ships with ārōhaṇa, avarōhaṇa, signature phrase, mood and a primary-source citation. The catalogue has 133 more.
How it's built
Musicology with citations.
Engineering with tests.
Every raga's scale degrees and signature phrase reads from a single source-of-truth grounded in Sambamoorthy's South Indian Music and (where the data needs it) Subbarama Dīkṣitar's Saṅgīta Sampradāya Pradarśinī. A regression test locks the signature-phrase ↔ degree-array consistency so the kind of bug that lets you accidentally teach a wrong Mōhanam can't ship.
Pricing
One subscription.
Every practice surface.
Śiṣya is free today — no account, no card. Sādhaka and Kalākār are in final preparation; the waitlist gets the early-subscriber month when they open.
Śiṣya · Free
Free ForeverStart your Carnatic journey with authentic tuning & foundations.
$0
/ forever
No credit card required
- 22-Śruti Precision Tuner with gapless Tāmpūra drone (23 Sa keys)
- 72 Melakarta + Janya Rāga Catalog with signature pakad phrases
- Trinity Composer Encyclopedia (Tyāgarāja, Dīkṣitar, Śyāma Śāstri)
- Fundamental Śarali & Janta Drills with phase-locked metronome
- 5 Instrument Soundboards (Veena, Violin, Mridangam, Flute, Ghatam)
Sādhaka · Plus
Practice StudioThe definitive AI tutor and gamaka lab for serious riyāz.
$4.99
/month
or $24.99 / year · save 58%
- Everything in Śiṣya Free, plus:
- Voice Coach AI (29 Gāyaka-Doṣas) with continuous cents tracking
- Gamaka Lab (26 Ornaments) with 4-point Bézier envelopes
- Gamaka Coach with vibrato rate and depth feedback
- Metronome — 8 Carnatic Tālas with live Akṣara & Gati counters
- Rāga-Aware Fretboards & Bow Controls for all 5 instruments
Kalākar · Pro
Produce & LicenseComplete Carnatic DAW: compose, master, synthesize & export.
$19.99
/month
or $99.99 / year · save 58%
- Everything in Sādhaka Plus, plus:
- Classical Kriti Scaffolder (Pallavi, Anupallavi, Charaṇam, Kalpana Swara)
- 22-Śruti Svara Piano Roll with sub-semitone microtonal grid
- 175-Form Mridangam Engine with 3-fold Mōra cadence generator
- Concert Hall DSP Mastering (Presence EQ, Schroeder Reverb, Limiter)
- DAW ZIP, WAV & MIDI Export + Signed Commercial License
Feature Breakdown
Full Architectural Comparison
| Capability | Śiṣya (Free) | Sādhaka (Plus) | Kalākar (Pro) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22-Śruti Precision Tuner & Drone | ✓ (23 Sa Keys) | ✓ (23 Sa Keys) | ✓ (23 Sa Keys) |
| 72 Melakarta & Janya Rāga Catalog | ✓ (Pakad Audio) | ✓ (Complete) | ✓ (Complete + Mūrchhanā) |
| Voice Coach & 29 Gāyaka-Doṣas | — | ✓ (Live Cents Trace) | ✓ (Live Cents Trace) |
| 26-Gamaka Lab & Cubic Bézier Curves | — | ✓ (26 Ornaments) | ✓ (26 Ornaments) |
| 5 Dedicated Instrument Studios | Discovery | ✓ (Full Practice) | ✓ (Full Studio + Record) |
| Classical Kriti Section Scaffolder | — | — | ✓ (Pallavi, Anu, Charaṇam) |
| 22-Śruti Svara Piano Roll & Tāḷa Grid | — | — | ✓ (Microtonal Editor) |
| 175-Form Mridangam & Mōra Generator | — | Metronome | ✓ (Accompaniment + Mōra) |
| Concert Hall Mastering & DSP Chain | — | — | ✓ (EQ, Reverb, Tape Saturation) |
| DAW Package Export & Commercial License | — | — | ✓ (.ZIP, WAV, MIDI + HMAC) |
Universal Platform Guarantees
- Cancel any time
- iOS app included, same Apple ID
- 100% In-Engine Client DSP
- Audio never stored
FAQ
Common questions.
Can I cancel any time?
Yes. Cancel from your account page in one click. You keep access through the end of the current billing period.
What is on the free tier?
The 22-śruti tuner, the raga catalogue, the composers + instruments dungeons, and a phrase preview. Everything practice- and production-grade lives behind Plus / Pro.
Annual vs monthly on Pro?
Annual is $99.99 / year (save 58%) — best value if you're committed. Monthly is $19.99 if you prefer flexibility. Both unlock the same Pro features; cancel anytime.
Does my subscription work on the iOS app too?
Yes. Web and iOS share one codebase split by SKU flag. Sign in with the same Apple ID and your progress, snapshots, and saved Sa carry over.
Where does the pitch math actually run?
Server-side. Always. Your browser ships audio frames to the API and receives back hz / cents / chroma. The YIN code, the raga grammar, the synth engines, the LUFS mastering — none of it ever lives in your tab.
What about teacher mode?
On the Pro roadmap. Local-batch student-drift aggregation — a teacher can see where each student is consistently flat or sharp without their audio ever leaving the device.
Do you store my recordings?
No. Audio frames are processed per-request and discarded. We keep the pitch trajectories you explicitly save (snapshots), nothing else.
Refund policy?
Both editions are in final preparation — join the waitlist at support@karunattu.com and we'll email you the day billing opens. Standard 7-day refund window applies from launch.
Open the tuner.
Sing one note.
See what your morning riyāz looks like with cents-grade feedback and a real tāmpūra playing under it. The free tier is open now — no account needed.