CONNECTION OF RAGAS WITH JATIS - R K Das

Abstract

Jatis in Indian Classical music are the oldest form of melodies that basically consist of a chain of notes. The jatis are highly pleasing, sophisticated, systematic and structured melodic entities. Ragas are the prominent melodies of contemporary Indian music that classically developed later. They have undergone many structural and tonal changes with the times. Nowadays, musicians perform ragas and folk tunes called dhuns (melodies with limited scope for elaboration). There is a notion that these melodies developed on the foundation of either jatis or gram ragas. It is sure that varieties of melodies existed before and after the artificial formation of the jatis. Thus, there had been a lot of exchange and inter-communication among the dhun, raga, jati and gram. My aim is to find out the connection between the present ragas and the prehistoric jatis (especially shadji and others) explained by authorites like Bharat, Matanga and Sharangdev.


CAPTURING THE AESTHETIC: RADIAL MAPPINGS FOR CELLULAR AUTOMATA MUSIC - Alexis Kirke and Eduardo Reck Miranda

Abstract

We introduce and demonstrate a new mapping for generating music from the 2D Cellular Automata “Game of Life” (GL). The core of this mapping is based on a polar co-ordinate system with origin at the GL grid centre. Such a polar approach is designed to better capture the radial symmetry inherent in the rule set for GL. The radial symmetry of the GL rule set is key to the visual experience of observing the GL, and therefore we have argued that polar coordinate system captures this key aesthetic element of much of GL more precisely.


A METHODOLOGY FOR AUTOMATIC EXTRACTION OF ‘MEEND’ FROM THE PERFORMANCES IN HINDUSTANI VOCAL MUSIC - A K Datta, R Sengupta, N Dey and D Nag

Abstract

The paper describes an algorithm to extract meends from pitch profiles of performed songs. 116 songs in raga Bhairav, Todi, Darbari Kannada and Mian-ki-Malhar sung by 41 eminent singers of Hindustani music are processed. Only the aalap portions are used in the present experiment. Reasonable efficiency has been achieved in the extraction of meends. For identification of meends two measures have been used. The first is the ratio of path length to chord length of the pitch sequence. The second measure relates to the closeness of fitting of the sequence to a second-degree equation. R-square values are used for the purpose.


INFLUENCE OF TAPPA ON MARATHI NATYA- SANGEET - Chaitanya Kunte

Abstract

This paper tries to shed some light on the influence of Tappa genre on the music of Maharashtra, especially Marathi Natya-Sangeet (Stage Music). During the reign of the Peshwas (1761 to 1848), there was a regular musical transaction between northern India and Maharashtra. The documents from the Peshwa court make clear to us that there were regular appointments of court musicians right from the early Peshwas; and the princely states followed the same tradition. As truly stated by Dr. Ashok Da. Ranade, the regional Marathi art form ‘Baithakichi Lawani’ can be affirmed as a direct response to Tappa and Thumri genre of North Hindustani music. (Ranade Ashok Da, 1998). One can state that the development of Thumri and Tappa in northern India and Baithakichi Lawani in Maharashtra was a simultaneous and contemporary process of growth. Baithakichi Lawani is observed to have incorporated Bol-Baat from Thumri and Taan-Phirat from Tappa. Here, the “Lawani-ang” can be seen having the typical Chhoot-Taan, very similar to Tappa. So, along with the regional music of Maharashtra, the music from the north, that is, Ragadari Sangeet was slowly percolating into the land of Maharashtra with different forms and dimensions.


MACHINE-EMBODIED KNOWLEDGE FOR MUSIC EXPRESSION UNDERSTANDING - Luca Mion and Giovanni De Poli

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the physical and perceptual similarities of affective and sensorial expressive intentions in music performance. Machine learning techniques were employed to select and validate the most relevant low level features and an interpretation of the clustered organization based on action and physical analogy is proposed. We show that higher recognition ratings are achieved by using a set of four features, which can be specifically related to qualitative descriptions of the sound by physical metaphors. These audio features can be used to retrieve expressive content on audio data, and to design the next generation of search engines for applications in the field of Music Information Retrieval and Human Computer Interaction.


AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: THE DIDJERIDU, THE BULLROARER AND THE GUMLEAF - Neville H. Fletcher

Abstract

The Australian Aboriginal people developed three musical instruments – the didjeridu, the bullroarer, and the gum-leaf. Most well known is the didjeridu, a simple wooden tube blown with the lips like a trumpet, which gains its sonic flexibility from controllable resonances of the player’s vocal tract. The bull-roarer is a simple wooden slat whirled in a circle on the end of a cord so that it rotates about its axis and produces a pulsating low-pitched roar. The gum-leaf, as the name suggests, is a tree leaf, held against the lips and blown so as to act as a vibrating valve. Originally intended to imitate bird-calls, the gum-leaf can also be used to play tunes.


THE MAJOR PENTATONIC (BHUPALI/MOHANA) AND ITS DERIVATIVE SCALES IN THE FOLK MUSIC OF CHINA, INDONESIA AND INDIA - Monik Dorna, Slovakia

Abstract

Pentatonic scales formed the basis of ancient musical traditions and they still occupy an important place in many music systems today. Their two basic varieties are anhemitonic, i.e. non-semitonal, and hemitonic, i.e. semitonal. The most universal of the pentatonic scales is the major pentatonic, known in India as the scale of Bhupali or Mohana, due to the consonance of the perfect fifth and perfect fourth interval structures existing between its note pairs. By a model shift of tonic, four other anhemitonic pentatonic scales can be derived from it. These five scales form a crucial part of the folk music system of several nations throughout the world. The paper examines their use, as well as a wider context of the concept of the pentatonic in the folk songs of China, Indonesia and India.

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