TablaTune

The tuner built for tabla, not for guitars

TablaTune is a free iPhone tuner built specifically for tabla, made by Montreal tabla player and developer Emon Dhar. It tunes the dayan to Sa using real-time pitch detection, rather than the guitar-oriented note tables most tuners ship with.

Download on the App Store

Free · Requires iOS 18.6

Tuner screen showing a target of C#3 at 138.6 Hz against a detected 138.5 Hz, 34 cents flat, with scale presets C, C sharp, D and E flat along the bottomThe same tuner screen filled entirely green and reading Perfect, with the pitch locked on C#3Settings screen with the A4 reference set to 440 Hz and adjustable sensitivity thresholds for entering and leaving a perfect reading

What TablaTune does

  • Presets that are actually tabla tunings

    C, C#, D, Eb, E and more, one tap apart. Sa moves with the song, the singer and the ensemble, so the tuning you need changes between pieces — not between instruments.

  • A readout in cents, not a wobbling needle

    The screen names the target note and its frequency, the pitch it is actually hearing, and the distance between them in cents. Three numbers, so there is nothing to interpret.

  • Green means stop tuning

    The whole screen floods green the moment the pitch locks. It is readable from across a room, which is where your phone is while both your hands are on the drum.

  • Reference pitch you can move

    A4 defaults to 440 Hz and can be set to whatever the harmonium or the recording is using. Concert pitch is a convention, not a law, and accompanists know it.

  • Sensitivity with hysteresis

    Perfect is entered at 3 cents and held until 7, so a reading that is genuinely in tune stops flickering in and out while the drum decays. The thresholds are yours to change.

  • No ads, no subscription, no account

    It is free, it is 4.5 MB, and it opens straight onto the tuner. Nothing to dismiss before you can use it.

Specifications

Price
Free
Platform
iPhone, iOS 18.6 or later
Size
4.5 MB
Category
Music, Utilities
Pitch detection
YIN algorithm
Reference pitch
A4 = 440 Hz, adjustable
Language
English
Age rating
4+
Developer
Emon Dhar, Montreal

Frequently asked questions

What is TablaTune?

TablaTune is a free iPhone tuner for tabla, built by Montreal tabla player and developer Emon Dhar. It listens to the drum and shows how far the pitch is from your target Sa, in cents.

Is TablaTune free?

Yes. TablaTune is free on the App Store, with no ads, no subscription and no account to create.

Which tunings does TablaTune support?

TablaTune ships presets for the common tabla tunings — C, C#, D, Eb, E and more — and lets you set a custom A4 reference pitch if you are playing with instruments tuned away from 440 Hz.

How accurate is TablaTune?

TablaTune reads pitch to the cent using the YIN detection algorithm. It reports a note as perfect within 3 cents and holds that reading until the pitch drifts past 7 cents, and both thresholds are adjustable in settings.

Why not just use a guitar tuner for tabla?

Guitar tuners are built around fixed string notes and expect a thin, stable tone. A tabla dayan is tuned to Sa, which changes with the song, the singer and the ensemble, and its syahi produces a harmonic-rich strike that general-purpose tuners often read as the wrong octave. TablaTune is built around those two facts.

Does TablaTune work on Android?

Not yet. TablaTune is an iPhone app today; the Android build is next, and the testers on the beta list get it first.

What does TablaTune require to run?

TablaTune runs on iPhone with iOS 18.6 or later and is a 4.5 MB download.

Who made TablaTune?

TablaTune was made by Emon Dhar, a tabla player and software developer in Montreal, who built it after years of tuning with apps designed for guitars.