Shruti box
A shruti box is a bellows-driven instrument from the Indian subcontinent that provides a continuous drone. It’s similar to a harmonium and is used to accompany other instruments and singers in Indian classical music, especially with flute. In classical singing, the shruti box helps tune the voice.
Today, electronic shruti boxes are common and are known by different names in Indian languages: shruthi pettige (Kannada), shruti petti (Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu), and sur peti (Hindi). Modern models can adjust the tuning, tempo, and sometimes offer different note options for the drone.
Historically, before the harmonium, drones came from a tambura or other reference instruments like the nadaswaram, and in some traditions the pungi was used. After the harmonium became popular, people modified it to produce a drone, and a keyless drone instrument was later created—named the shruti box.
The shruti box has seen renewed popularity in the West among traditional and contemporary musicians for various styles. In the 1990s, Irish singer Nóirín Ní Riain helped introduce it to Ireland, and more recently Scottish artists Karine Polwart and Julie Fowlis have used it. Singers find it useful as accompaniment, and instrumentalists value the drone reference it provides.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 01:31 (CET).