Violin musical styles may be translated as "filling" (or "stuffing" in the culinary sense), since multiple instruments "fill out" the sound. The Indian violin, while essentially the same instrument as that used in Western music, is different in some senses. The instrument is tuned so that the IV and III strings (G and D on a western-tuned violin) and the II and I (A and E) strings are sa-pa (do-sol) pairs and sound the same but are offset by an octave, resembling common "scordatura" or fiddle cross-tunings such as CGCG or AEAE. The tonic sa (do) is not fixed, but variably tuned to
Electric violin to an independent MIDI channel. Most recently, Keith McMillen of Keith McMillen Instruments, a founder of Zeta Music, announced the StringPort polyphonic string-to-USB 2.0 converter for the Zeta polyphonic pickup and other modern polyphonic violin systems. Whilst no other dedicated violin-to-MIDI systems have been manufactured, more generic pitch-to-MIDI systems like those from Roland, and Yamaha can be adapted to use standard electric violin output. Most systems allow only monophonic operation—only one pitch can be detected and digitised at a time—but through the use of proprietary pickups, some limited MIDI polyphony can be achieved. Some pitch to MIDI interfaces from Axon/TerraTec