The small plucked instrument (Tamil yal or yazh) was presented for the first time to a discerning global audience at the ISME 2012 World Conference of Music Education. The three South Indian classical vocal concerts by “Yoga” Manickam Yogeswaran were accompanied by Ludwig Pesch playing a bamboo tambura newly designed by Klangwerkstatt in Berlin in collaboration with Norbert Klippstein and Yogendra Jens Eckert. It was noted as much for its visual appeal as a perfectly balanced sound rarely, if ever achieved by other compact instruments that found their way into Indian music.