Shruti Researching

There appears to be a rather large number of opinions and
interpretations surrounding the shruti concept. Since the ancient
Indian sage-musicians did not use any ratios and cents when they
wrote on the topic of shruti, we find their writings ambiguous and
difficult to interpret.

The following is one more attempt to seek some light, perhaps even
throw some light, on our undertanding of the working of shruti-s.

Assumptions. We have reasonably assumed that
(1) 9 shruti-s = the fourth = 4/3
(2) 13 shruti-s = the fifth = 3/2
(3) The shruti scale is octave, 2:1
(4) The skhima, 32805/32768 (1.95 cents),
is traditionally
considered "insignificant".

Methodology of investigation. Aesthetics and theory go hand in
hand, though seldom simultaneously and concurrently. Should a
conflict between them arise, aesthetics would prevail over theory.
In such cases, theory, eventually, finds out a reasonable
interpretation of the conflict, and resolves it.

Extended Reference. Whether, and to what extent, the hypothesis of
extended reference is applicable to improvisations of a raga, needs
to be investigated seriously, especially if we feel that, by doing
so, the aesthetic value of shruti applications may be enhanced.
Should the results of the preliminary exploration demand, we should
even consider "inducing" extended reference to the raga-s.

Shruti System. Shruti system is not a a system whose time evolution
can be predicted exactly. So, it has a non-deterministic tone
structure.

For the sake of observation and investigation, a shruti system may be
construed as discrete, fixed points along a pitch axis. However, we
agree that shruti system is not a static set of pitches. So, on the
one hand, which shruti(s) should be used to achieve a certain
aesthetic atmosphere in a raga is fairly predictable by practice, on
the other, it is the range of shruti-s, rather than one specific
shruti, that matters.

To put it differently, the stage and the laboratory go hand in hand.
The shruti applications during a performance, however ecstatic and
esoteric, can be measured in a sound laboratory. This helps in
relating, to whatever extent, the use of shruti-s during a
performance, to the aesthetics of the resultant delight. At least
some generalisations can be proposed for further investigations.

Shruti -- The Dynamic Micro-intonation. The shruti is dynamic
intonation, not a mere entity measured in frequency (though
measurABLE in terms of frequency ratios). Though any number of
shruti-s may fall outside the nominal scale steps, yet the number of
musically useful shruti-s does not exceed 22 in any given scale
octave.

Designing the methodology. In a nutshell, the recording of a stage
performance by a well-known singer shold be examined in the
laboratory for shruti applications. This, then, can be repeated with
different well-known singers, to hopefully arrive at some
generalisations.

Comments, please.
Haresh.