About
Bridging the divide between Pakistani music and the world
A digital divide is holding Pakistani music back
Despite a wealth of talent, artists struggle to share their lyrics, making it difficult for audiences worldwide to connect deeply with the music.
Gaana Mangwao was created to solve this
By uploading an audio file, musicians, producers, and researchers can order accurate, culturally nuanced transcripts of a gaana (song) within seconds.
Transcribe in Seconds
Upload an audio file or YouTube link and receive a transcript that preserves the nuance of the original performance.
Dual scripts
Romanized script for global phonetic reading and authentic Nastaliq script for cultural fidelity.
Preservation
Any language that stops being recorded risks disappearing, and music is one of the easiest ways to keep people connected to it.
Our mission is to advocate language equality in technology, increase the accessibility of Pakistani music, and preserve the rich cultural heritage of Pakistani languages for generations to come.
This commitment means moving beyond Urdu. We have recently launched Punjabi and are actively working to extend our transcriptions to Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, and other regional languages.
The Logo
The Gaana Mangwao logo combines a music note ♪ and the Urdu letter گا
It draws its inspiration from the feather-like calligraphic strokes found on the album artwork for Ustad Noor Baksh Jingul, which is a beautiful visual identity designed by Abeera Kamran.
Since this is a platform for music, it was natural that the logo was inspired by the local music community which is continuing to evolve.
Laila Dodhy
Designer & Engineer
Laila designs technology for diverse audiences and writes about the sociocultural context of Pakistani music for prominent magazines like Hamnawa, Aurora and beehype.
As a creative technologist, she shares her audiovisual experiments with 3D animations, VR, and computer vision on Instagram: @somewhatmajnoon. Her work routinely investigates the friction and beauty at the intersection of modern code and South Asian heritage.
More About Laila
This project is rooted in community
Gaana Mangwao was made possible by the foundational work and generous guidance of Dr. Rua Williams (Purdue University), Zeerak Ahmed (founder of Matnsaz and Hamnawa), Sheikh Ahmed (Musixmatch), Usama Bin Shafqat (Google), and the many talented musicians who shared their time, trust, and irreplaceable insights.