As an avid listener of Indian music, I have been through many of the available apps, and I’m usually not impressed. Some have a very “toy” like quality, and are pretty cheesy. So I was skeptical about yet another app… but Samvada is different.
The fact that this is a free app is kind of amazing considering the depth of the raga tuning and Indian raga theory that this one app possesses. Samvada is a great teaching tool for Indian music, as well as a fine sound design tool for composers. This app was clearly a labor of love considering the care taken in the design.
Samvada has a special mode that uses the iPad mic to pitch-match its sympathetic string sounds to whatever you are playing or singing. This is similar to what an EHX Ravish Sitar pedal does, but with the added benefit of more visual output and a larger selection of modes (and less cabling).
I’ve already begun to work this app into my electro-music.com radio show, and look forward to exploring it further. Demos to come soon.
