About Web Harmonium

Web Harmonium is a free, browser-based Indian harmonium that lets you play on supported desktop, tablet, and phone browsers. No app download, installation, or account is required. Open web-harmonium.me and start playing.

Why We Built Web Harmonium

The harmonium is widely used for bhajan, kirtan, qawwali, ghazal, and Hindustani vocal practice. A physical instrument is not always nearby when someone needs a short pitch-reference or practice session.

Web Harmonium bridges that gap. A singer preparing for a kirtan session can pull up their phone, set their Sa, and warm up their voice in seconds. A student can practice scales and ragas during a lunch break. A teacher can demonstrate melodies during an online lesson without having a physical instrument beside the computer.

Features

  • 2-octave keyboard (C3–B4, 24 keys) with sargam and Western note labels
  • QWERTY keyboard mapping for laptop input
  • Multi-touch support for mobile chord playing
  • Transpose to any key (Sa = any pitch)
  • Octave shift control
  • Multiple reed layers for richer sound
  • Reverb effect for room ambience
  • Sustain pedal mode
  • MIDI controller support
  • Guided sargam practice excerpts for six songs
  • Free tutorials for beginners

Technology

Web Harmonium is built with Astro, React, and the Web Audio API. The sound engine uses sample-based synthesis from a recorded harmonium WAV file, with pitch-shifting via the Web Audio detune parameter to cover the playable keyboard range. The pages are statically generated, while the interactive player loads as a client-side React island.

Contact

Have feedback, questions, or suggestions? Visit our contact page.