Variability of intervals in Indian music (and related topics)

Hi Folks,

Before I get to far into this, here's a translation table of a couple of
terms:

American: raga, Hindustani: raag, Carnatic: raaga or raagam
-- taken as a set, ragas occupy a wide stretch of territory along the
continuum between a scale and a song

American: tala, Hindustani: taal, Carnatic: taala or taalam
-- a rhythmic cycle

In the Hindustani and Carnatic terms above, the "aa" sounds like the
"aah" sound you make for the doctor or dentist. The "a" sounds like the
"u" in "gum". So, "raagam" sounds like "raah-gum" -- as if you were
cheering on your chewing gum. :-) I use these variations on the terms
somewhat interchangeably, as you'll notice below.

As the spouse of a Hindustani classical vocalist from northern India and
the friend of several Indian Hindustani classical and Carnatic classical
musicians, I feel obligated to make a few clarifications about Indian
music and tuning after reading some of the posts here that seem to imply
that Indian music is one big homogeneous system with a consistent set of
ragas, talas, tunings, etc.

Indian classical music is *NOT* one big homogeneous system with a
consistent set of ragas, talas, tunings, etc.

From northern India comes system of classical music called Hindustani.
From southern India comes a system of classical music called Carnatic.
They are not the same. Yes, some Hindustani raags and taals are
similar to some Carnatic raagams and taalams, but for most cases, they
are different. Even their forms of composition and performance differ.

Within either system, there are differences in interpretation of raga,
tala, and tuning all the way down to the individual performer and even
to individual performances of the same performer.

Ethnomusicologists such as Nazir Jairazbhoy have done studies which
showed that, even for common ragas, there is a lot of variability in the
intervals used, even if restricting the comparisons to performances by a
single master performer. Jairazbhoy and his students have written for
the "Journal of Ethnomusicology", and Jairazbhoy also has a book out
called "The Rags of North Indian Music : Their Structure and Evolution"
which, if I remember correctly, does get into this subject. (My copy is
at home and I'm [physically] at work, hence my uncertainty.)

Here are some more references regarding the variability of intervals in
Indian music that a friend sent during an earlier email exchange I had
with a couple of my south Indian Carnatic musician friends (whilst we
were trying to work out suitable fret positions for the other party's
Carnatic vina):

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Levy, Mark, 1946-
Intonation in North Indian music : a select comparison of theories
with contemporary practice / Mark Levy.
New Delhi : Biblia Impex, 1982.

Powers, Harold Stone, 1928-
The background of the South Indian Raga-system.
[Ann Arbor, University Microfilms, 1960]

Vidya Shankar.
The art and science of carnatic music / Vidya Shankar. 1st ed.
Madras : Music Academy Madras, 1983.

The Jairazhbhoy and Stone study on intonation in contemporary
Hindustani music -- particularly relating to the G2 in Yaman -- is
from the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. The
exact reference should be in the first book listed above... and in
fact the book above may even carry the entire details from that
study.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Also: I believe Dr. Can Akkoc has written about the variability of
intervals in the Turkish classical music system, though I am afraid I do
not have any of his writings. I remember reading some posts by him on
this list some time ago. I suspect that the sort of variable interval
phenomenon he observes in Turkish music may be similar to what goes on
in Indian music.

Dr. Akkoc, are you still on this list? I would love to get an update on
your research (and reprint[s] of your paper[s]). Thanks!

Cheers,
Christopher

> Variability of intervals in Indian music (and related topics)

Ah! Thank you! Something interesting & non-mathematical about MUSIC on the Tuning List... ;-)

(Personal aside... I listen to a lot of both Hindustani & Carnatic music... Right now I'm imbibing Shobha Gurtu... In the SF Bay area where there is a really active Indian classical music community. Non-stop concerts all year round. Hurray...)

> even for common ragas, there is a lot of variability in the
> intervals used, even if restricting the comparisons to performances
> by a single master performer

One thing that continues to boggle my mind in this whole arena is how on earth these Hindustani vocalists reconcile the subtleties of the vocal intonation with the (presumably) 12-tone equal-tempered harmonium that enjoys such widespread use... Any light you can shed on the vocalist's perceptions?

Rick

--- In tuning@egroups.com, Rick McGowan <rmcgowan@a...> wrote:

> One thing that continues to boggle my mind in this whole arena is
>how on earth these Hindustani vocalists reconcile the subtleties of
>the vocal intonation with the (presumably) 12-tone equal-tempered
>harmonium that enjoys such widespread use... Any light you can shed
>on the vocalist's perceptions?

Well, my perception as a listener is that the conflict is very
painful and I can't understand why a refined Hindustani singer would
want that harmonium around . . . I guess I'm just echoing your
sentiments, Rick . . . I'd also like to know what the vocalists
themselves have to say about this.