Analytical Approaches to World Musics
ISSN 2158-5296
2017, Volume 6, No. 1
AAWM JOURNAL Volume 6, No. 1 (2017)
Volume 6, No. 1 (2017)
The Microtones of Bharata’s Natyashastra
John Stephens
The Microtones of Bharata’s Natyashastra explores the rationale behind defining the twenty-two sruti microtonal system of Gandharva music, a precursor to Hindustani and Carnatic music, using the principles of five-limit just intonation. Other key theories of intonation, including 3-limit, 11-limit, and 22-TET interpretations, are compared with this approach. Each possibility is analyzed for its capacity to satisfy Bharata’s conditions and rules, while being applied practically on the vina, the ancient seven-stringed bow-harp to which he was referring. Ultimately, five-limit tuning procedures are determined to be the most probable explanation for the tuning system of the Natyashastra, and sequences are suggested for tuning bow-harps and the modern sitar to suggested frequencies of the ancient sruti-s.
Francesca Lawson and Shawn Nissen
This paper demonstrates the value of an acoustical approach to recordings of vocal renditions from two schools of Chinese narrative singing that were differentiated by gender during the first half of the twentieth century: The “male” or Liu school after Liu Baoquan 刘宝全 (1869-1942), and the “female” or Luo style after Luo Yusheng 骆玉笙 (1914-2002). The musicological analysis is based on transcriptions of recordings representing singers from the two schools (one singer for each school), comparing melody, rhythm, ornamentation, and tonality. The acoustic analysis compares pitch and duration at the phrase and syllable level for four different recordings (two recordings for each school of singing) using Praat acoustic analysis software. In addition to the automated voice extraction provided by the Praat analysis software, a visual analysis of the sound wavform is used to calculate the duration of each phrase, syllable, and sound segment to the nearest millisecond. While the original goal of the research was to ascertain subtle differences between male and female vocal performances, the data demonstrate that the desire of performers to create an individual acoustic signature far outweighs any stated obligation to strictly maintain the vocal traditions of one’s teacher—an obligation that is one of the recognized hallmarks of the Chinese narrative arts. This research concludes that looking into the kinds of nuances detectable through acoustic software enables researchers (1) to discover hidden aspects of performance unattainable through traditional ethnomusicological methods and (2) to underscore the significance of producing a signature voice pattern for professional female singers.
Discovering Flamenco Metric Matrices through a Pulse-Level Analysis
Bernat Jiménez de Cisneros Puig
Recent flamencology has made significant strides in demonstrating the sophisticated and rigorous musical language of flamenco, which is based on its own particular grammar and syntax. However, the analysis of such language, regulated by codes and guidelines that are not usually made explicit, requires an insider’s knowledge. This article first presents the results of combining a pulse-level analysis according to the model developed by Lerdahl and Jackendoff (1983) with explicit and implicit criteria from flamenco performers themselves. This mixed approach, systematically applied to each genre or palo, leads to a holistic classification of pulsed flamenco, arranged into five metric groups according to the presence of metrical tension. Then, in light of the metrical and syntactic homologies within these groups and between them, two metric matrices of flamenco are featured, both of which include hemiolic features that may support the idea of flamenco as being entirely Hispano-American. In offering a blended musical analysis as the guide to both the essential traits and the roots of flamenco (instead of overstating the relevance of non-musical items such as the name, the lyrics or the emotional character of each palo), this paper also aims to provide an alternative departure point in phylogenetic studies of flamenco.
Experimentations with Timelines: A Strategy of Rhythmic Complication in Afro-Bahian Jazz
Juan Diego Diaz
Timelines are well known temporal organizers in various types of African diasporic groove-based musics. But what happens when they are deliberately cut, rotated, or staggered? This article explores some compositional techniques used by Orkestra Rumpilezz, a big band from Bahia, Brazil, that combines jazz with Afro-Bahian carnival and sacred music and that bases its compositions on traditional and modified timelines. The paper offers metric interpretations of the orchestra’s timeline experimentations and relates them to their stated goal to “dignify and demonstrate the high level of rhythmic complexity of Afro-Bahian music.” The main demonstration is that the composer’s experimentations with timelines are a technique to increase rhythmic complexity and to elevate the status of Afro-Bahian music. Additionally, I propose a way to expand existing timeline models to account for more subtle and implicit relationships of timeline alignment found in Brazil. The main goal is to discover how the orchestra’s claimed rhythmic complexity is expressed through arrangement. This is achieved by combining music theory, analysis, and ethnographic work in Bahia.