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RĀGĀKIT
Royal night · Majesty · Hindustani, late night
Darbari Kanada
Majesty, deep sorrow
MIDI files
Files are in Sa = C and loop on whole bars. Drag them onto a track in your DAW. The WAV uses the instrument you picked above. Free to use in your releases, royalty-free.
Plays the raga's ascent (aroha) and descent (avaroha), which often skip or zigzag through notes. Tap any key to hear it.
Good to know
Tradition credits Tansen, who created it for Emperor Akbar's court. "Darbar" means royal court.
Its komal Ga and komal Dha are sung with a heavy, slow sway that gives the raga its majesty.
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A 7-note raga, called sampurna in classical terms.
Its notes are the same as the natural minor scale (Aeolian).
In Carnatic music, the same seven notes form melakarta #20, Natabhairavi.
Grouped under the Asavari thaat, one of the ten parent scales of Hindustani music.
Spotted a mistake? Corrections from musicians are very welcome in the feedback box below.
Movement
Aroha (up)
SRgMPdnSC D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C
Avaroha (down)
SdnPMPgMRSC A♭ B♭ G F G E♭ F D C
Notes of Darbari Kanada
Sargam
S
R
g
M
P
d
n
S
Western
C
D
E♭
F
G
A♭
B♭
C
Solfège
do
re
me
fa
so
le
te
do
Pakad
SRg,MPdnP,nMPS,SdnPMgMRS
C D E♭ · F G A♭ B♭ G · B♭ F G C · C A♭ B♭ G F E♭ F D C
The pakad is the raga's catch-phrase: hear it and you know the raga. Use it as a hook or riff. The MIDI gives you the notes and shape; musicians add slides (meend) and ornaments between the notes, so add your own bends and feel.
Practice singing
RāgāKit sings each note in sargam (Sa, Re, Ga, Ma…), then listens while you sing it back. Turn on the Drone for a steady Sa, and use headphones if you can. Your voice is analysed on this device only: nothing is recorded or sent.
–
flat
sharp
Sing any note…
Chords that fit
Every chord uses only this raga's notes. Ragas are traditionally played over a drone, so these are for fusion, film and accompaniment. Tap a chord to hear it.
Home chords: they contain Sa, so they sit best under the melody
Other chords for movement
Why these chords fit
Darbari Kanada uses the same notes as C natural minor scale, so these are the chords that scale naturally gives you. What makes it a raga is how the melody moves through those notes.
Every chord is built only from the raga's own notes (for example Cm = Sa – komal Ga – Pa), so it won't clash with the melody.
The chord on Sa, Cm (Sa – komal Ga – Pa), is minor: a darker, more inward home.
Its altered notes are komal Ga, komal Dha and komal Ni. Chords that contain them (Ddim and E♭) carry the raga's colour: use them for mood, then return to a home chord.
Home chords contain Sa, so they agree with the tanpura drone and feel settled. The others move away from Sa and pull back toward home, which is what makes a loop feel like it's going somewhere.
A simple loop to start:Cm → Gm → B♭ → Cm
Fusion: genres that fit
Suggested from the raga's notes and mood. Start here, then break the rules.
Trap130–150 BPM (half-time)
808 on Sa, rolling hi-hats, a short raga phrase as the loop.
Cinematic / film scoreFree or 60–90 BPM
Strings or a pad on the drone, let the melody build slowly.
AmbientFree or 60–80 BPM
Long pads on Sa and Pa, lots of reverb, a few notes at a time.
Rhythms to try
Taals that suit this raga. Hear them and download the beat as MIDI.
Tell me what helped and what's missing. It goes straight to the person building this and stays private. It's anonymous: no name or email needed. Want news of new ragas and packs? Use the email sign-up at the bottom of the page.
Sa is set to C. Lowercase sargam (r g d n) means komal or flat; M' means tivra or sharp Ma. Solfège uses movable do, so do is always Sa. A dot below a note means the lower octave; a dot above means the upper octave.