Re: [tuning] Indian music (and related topics)

Wonderful clarifications Christopher
may i also recommend
A comparative Study of selected Hindustani Ragas by
Patrick Moutal.
I also use Ali Akbar Khans first year study book
(available from the college store)

cheers
Pat P

"Christopher J. Chapman" wrote:

> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Free Conference Calling with Firetalk!
> Click Here!
> http://click.egroups.com/1/5480/1/_/239029/_/961105720/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> You do not need web access to participate. You may subscribe through
> email. Send an empty email to one of these addresses:
> tuning-subscribe@egroups.com - join the tuning group.
> tuning-unsubscribe@egroups.com - unsubscribe from the tuning group.
> tuning-nomail@egroups.com - put your email message delivery on hold for the tuning group.
> tuning-digest@egroups.com - change your subscription to daily digest mode.
> tuning-normal@egroups.com - change your subscription to individual emails.