Re: [tuning] Middle Eastern tuning

The musicians i mentioned are Palestinian and Egyptian. Touma book also support my these tunings
and includes all the areas you mentioned.
They might be academics but they are paid alot less then their western counterparts that promote
the ugliest of music.

Paul Erlich wrote:

> Hi Kraig -- I'm surprised to see you leaning on Western academia for
> support of your contentions! How odd!
>
> --- In tuning@y..., Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@a...> wrote:
>
> > Rod Poole also has
> > quite a bit of writings by
> > persians blasting 24 ET .
>
> Persian music is a whole other animal. Their intervals are clearly
> very far from 24-tET. Why did you change the subject line to "Persian
> tuning", you canniving little devil! But in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria,
> Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula, the maqamat that are used are
> _roughly_ subsets of 24-tET. Note that I say _roughly_. The 17-tone
> medieval Arabic tuning, however, fits none of these cultures at the
> present time (not sure if you were saying they do with your
> references to Western academic institutions -- you weren't clear).
>
>
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-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria island
http://www.anaphoria.com

The Wandering Medicine Show
Wed. 8-9 KXLU 88.9 fm

--- In tuning@y..., Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@a...> wrote:

> The musicians i mentioned are Palestinian and Egyptian. Touma book
also support my these tunings
> and includes all the areas you mentioned.

Here's a snip from a review of Touma's book:

http://www.turath.org/Articles/BookRev.html

'Music of the Arabs, however, would not serve as a good introduction
to readers not already familiar with the subject; in fact, it could
be misleading. Throughout the book, Touma emphasizes regional folk
music and rejects commonly accepted other musical forms of the Arab
world due to possible western influence on them. While I completely
endorse his viewpoint of trying to maintain the purity of Arabic
music, I feel it is unrealistic to completely dismiss what the Arab
people consider their primary musical experience simply because of
the author's particular taste.'

More:

'The book mostly reflects Touma's own research in the folk music of
North Africa and the Gulf states. While he addresses these two
regions in great detail he chooses not to approach other regions of
the Arab world or other musical styles with satisfying consistency
within the covers of the same book. Such a book title, however,
implies coverage of all music of all the Arabs, and as such, the
pretension to be comprehensive does not meet expectations. A better
title would have been "Regional Arabic Folk Music." Touma stresses
his dislike of western influence on Arabic music; a good point pushed
to its limit. The reader is left with the impression that all non-
folk musical productions are dismissed as illegitimate Arabic music
including the works of greats like Mohammed Abdelwahab. In fact, this
includes anybody who sang or performed with an Arab orchestra since,
according to Touma, the traditional Arabic takht is the
only "acceptable" ensemble. While composers and singers like Sayyid
Darwish, Abdelwahab, and Um Kulthoum get mentioned in the book only
in passing, Touma spends several paragraphs (and a picture) in praise
of Munir Bashir. Although the latter is an excellent Iraqi 'ud player
by any standard, it is still a puzzling presentation of the big
picture of the music of the Arabs. For a different perspective, see
Sahab's book "The Seven Greats of Arabic Music," for example.'