Tala generator
Every one of the 35 suladi talas is a family pattern (a list of laghu, drutam and anudrutam) combined with a jati (how long a laghu is). Choose a family and a jati and watch the structure being derived. Nothing is typed in by hand: the totals here come from the same rules that the site checks against three published tables.
Chatusra-jati Triputa
- The Triputa pattern is I O O.
- In the chatusra jati a laghu (I) is 4 beats; a drutam (O) is always 2 and an anudrutam (U) is always 1.
- So the structure is I4 O O, and the beats add up as 4 + 2 + 2 = 8 aksharas.
- How it is counted: A clap and three finger counts, a clap and a wave, a clap and a wave.
- 1 beat
- 2 2
- 3 3
- 4 4
- 5 beat
- 6 wave
- 7 beat
- 8 wave
Computed tones, evenly spaced. Real singing uses gamakas and may tune notes slightly differently.
What a nadai does to it
Each beat can be divided into 3, 4, 5, 7 or 9 parts. The number of parts in one cycle of this tala is its beats times the nadai:
| Nadai | Parts per beat | Parts per cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Tisra | 3 | 8 x 3 = 24 |
| Chatusra | 4 | 8 x 4 = 32 |
| Khanda | 5 | 8 x 5 = 40 |
| Misra | 7 | 8 x 7 = 56 |
| Sankeerna | 9 | 8 x 9 = 72 |
The jati and the nadai are separate settings. Together with the seven families they give the 175 possible talas that you may see quoted.