Riyaz is an application for mobile phones designed to teach Hindustani music that originates from northern India, and Carnatic music, typical of the south of the country. Riyaz enables automatically evaluating whether a student learning to sing these classic musical traditions is performing a song correctly, taking a reference lesson as a point of comparison. The application is the result of research carried out by the Music Technology research group (MTG) of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC) at UPF.

The application comes from the European project CompMusic, created to promote the learning and appreciation of musical forms from India.  The application will be marketed through the spin-off MusicMuni Labs Private Limited, a business initiative that has arisen from the European proof of concept project CAMUT.

Sankalp Gulati and Gopala Krishna Koduri , doctoral students from the DTIC at UPF, together with Xavier Serra, director of the MTG at UPF, have founded the company MusicMuni Labs in Bangalore (India), to market Riyaz and at the same time develop and exploit new products.

A methodology that links artificial intelligence with music pedagogy

Riyaz is an application created for the Android operating system that makes it easy for beginners and intermediate students of these musical traditions to learn them in a personalized and efficient way. In addition to singing lessons, this innovative system of musical learning offers plenty of exercises and incorporates a personal voice coach that provides thorough feedback on learning.

The main aim of this new company linked to the University is to catalyse and scale the domains of music education and infotainment in a way that is accessible and affordable to the masses. This methodology becomes a synergy between musical pedagogy and artificial intelligence and puts particular emphasis on the commitment of the student user of this technology and automated evaluation. With a view to the future, it is planned for this application to incorporate Riyaz into other Asian musical styles such as Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood, Sandalwood, as well as other Western musical traditions.  

Further information:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiyazApp/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClVZ33Kr8_8-6MyFA_-30WQ/