An online tanpura in F

F — safed chaar — is a meeting place. Group singing settles here often: high enough that the men can reach it, low enough that the women are not straining, which is why so much kirtan and bhajan-mandali music ends up in F without anyone deciding it. Solo, it belongs to deep female voices and to tenors at the top of their climb.

A drone for a room full of voices has to be steady above all, and steadiness is Sangat's whole trade: real string plucks at F, looping evenly for as long as the singing lasts, with a sleep timer in Pro that fades it out after everyone has gone home.

The tanpura itself is entirely free — 18 tunings from Kharaj Sa to high Ma, both voices, three plucking styles, no account. Open it on whatever device is nearest the group.