DOCSLIB.ORG

Research Article Special Issue

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Research Article Special Issue Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences Research Article ISSN 1112-9867 Special Issue Available online at http://www.jfas.info CALCULATION OF PITCH FOR THE IRANIAN TRADITIONAL MUSIC GENRE CLASSIFICATION STUDIED ON TWO STRINGED INSTRUMENTS THE TAR AND THE SETAR S. Firouzfar1,*, M. A. Layegh2 and S. Haghipour3 1Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Faculty of Information Technology 2Department of Electrical Engineering, Urmia University, Urmia, West Azarbaijan Province, Iran 3Department Of Biomedical Engineering,Tabriz Branch,Islamic Azad University Published online: 15 February 2016 ABSTRACT Audio signal classification system analyzes the input audio signal and creates a label that describes the signal at the output. These are used to characterize both music and speech signals. The categorization can be done on the basis of pitch, music content, music tempo and rhythm. A musical sound is said to have four perceptual attributes: pitch, loudness, duration and timbre. These four attributes make it possible for a listener to distinguish musical sounds from each other. Pitch is a perceptual and subjective attribute of sound and plays an important role in the human understanding of sound. Although the pitch estimation of monophonic sound is well resolved, the polyphonic pitch estimation has been proved to be a very difficult task. Here, the main purpose is to calculate pitch for classification of The Radif of Mirzâ Ábdollâh which has been played by two famous stringed instruments the Tar and the Setar . Keywords: Pitch; Radif; Tmbre; Monophonic Author Correspondence, e-mail: [email protected] doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jfas.v8i2s.454 Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Libraries Resource Directory. We are listed under Research Associations category. S.Firouzfar et al. J Fundam Appl Sci. 2016, 8(2S), 1986-2001 1987 1. INTRODUCTION Musical genre is an important description that can be used to classify and characterize music from different sources. For human beings, it is not difficult to classify music into different genres. Although letting computers understand and classify musical genre is a big challenge, there are still perceptual criteria related to the melody, tempo, texture, instrumentation and rhythmic structure that can be used to characterize and discriminate different musical genres.[1] Automatic musical genre classification can potentially automate the process of structuring music content and thus it can provide an important component for a complete music information retrieval system for audio signals. Furthermore, it provides a framework for developing and evaluating features for describing musical content .Such features can be used for similarity retrieval, classification segmentation and audio thum nailing and form the foundation of the most proposed audio analysis for music. In order to verify the discriminating abilities of each feature, researches have used different techniques such as cluster analysis, distance measures, entropy analysis and other related methods [2]. Audio samples have been selected from our novel database to extract the features. The database contains 250 gushe of the repertoire played separately by five most famous Iranian masters using two long-necked lutes tar and Setar. In other words, the database totally contains 1500 gushe. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 2.1. Persian traditional music The radif is the principal emblem and the heart of Persian music, a form of art as quintessentially Persian as that nation's fine carpet and exquisite miniature (Nettl, 1987). The radif indeed, is not only the musical masterpiece of Iranian genius, but also the artifact which distinguishes its music from all other forms (except the Azerbaijani tradition which has developed its own radif on the same basis).The radif is made up essentially of non-measured pieces («free rhythm») which provide a generative model or pattern for the creation of new compositions, mainly measured, as well as for free improvisation. The radif is a musical treasure of exceptional richness, the study of which can be approached from different angles S.Firouzfar et al. J Fundam Appl Sci. 2016, 8(2S), 1986-2001 1988 such as theory, practice pedagogy and cultural sociology. In formal terms, it can be defined in the following way: «Radif (which means rank, random, series) actually signifies the order in which the gushe are played; this word also means the totality of the twelve âvâz [and dastgâh], as each is played by such and such a master. Thus, the same âvâz can have several radif, each composed or arranged by a different master. The name of radif is best used before the name of a master who arranged it, and sometimes composed junctions between the gushe .In broad terms, radif is a collection of pieces, generally non-measured, classified according to model affinities into 12 modal systems, and supposed to be played in a certain order. It is also a teaching model which permits one to learn: a) The repertoire of melodic types (gushe and certain almost fixed canonical pieces such as reng or certain gushe): b) The classification of modes and modulations, their structure, their typical features: c) The instrumental techniques, the classical style, the aesthetic principles, the implicit rules of composition and improvisation. [3] 2.2. Mirzâ Ábdollâh's radif Theoretically, the repertoire is divided into 12 modal systems (dastgâh and âvâz), but in practice Bayât-e Kord can be separated from Shur (like in Mirzâ Ábdollâh's radif), and shushtari can be separated from Homâyun giving us a possible 14 modal systems or even more. This classification into 12 modes could have been extended to 15 or 16 as well by detaching great gushe such as Mokhâlef-Segah, Shahnâz, Árâq or Hejâz.But the number 12 has a very strong symbolic connotation. It ought to be made clear that the number of gushe may lose their name when integrated with other gushe. This happens often in Mirzâ Ábdollâh's version like for instance in Esfahan, or Razavi or Shur. While drawing a short survey of the modal structures of the different dastgâh and âvâz, we shall draw some parallels with other versions. [3] 2.2.1.Dastgâh-e Shur Dastgah-shur is played in the following scale in which the fifth is variable. Mirzâ Ábdollâh's version given is quite complete; it does not display important changes of pitch but rather metabol or shifting of the tonic. One of the characteristics of the âvâz of Shur is that they S.Firouzfar et al. J Fundam Appl Sci. 2016, 8(2S), 1986-2001 1989 always start in the high register and in the low, on the tonic G (or sometimes leading tone, F) of Shur. In this radif, the âvâz are always played on the upper octave of Shur, but nowadays, on the târ or setâr, they are often played a fourth below. (Shur on D). The melodic formation in Šur is conceived within the modal structure shown below for Šur D in Figure 1. Fig.1. Dastgâh-e Shur 2.2.1.1.Âvâz-e Abu Átâ Âvâz-e Abu Átâ is played on the scale of Shur (with a natural fifth), fourth being polarized as can be seen in Figure 1a. It is introduced hereby the gushe Râmkeli preceding the darâmad, which can also be performed at the end of Abu Átâ. The gushe Gilaki is generally incorporated into Dashti rather than Abu Átâ the second part (Hejâz and Gilaki) on the fifth. Fig.1.a. Âvâz-e Abu Áta 2.2.1.2. Âvâz-e Bayât-e Tork Avaz-e Bayat-e Tork uses the same scale but polarizing the third Bb as can be seen in Figure 1b . The gushe Qatâr and Qarâ'i, played here lend themselves equally well to Bayât-e Tork. The version below carries a number of gushe belonging to Mâhur (Feyli, Khosravani, Shekaste), which are not found in Hoseyn-Goli's radif. The name Bayât is probably a reference to the ancient mode Bayât which is very common in the Turkish and Arabic world and is similar to Shur, with a perfect fifth. Fig.1.b. Âvâz-e Bayât-e Tork S.Firouzfar et al. J Fundam Appl Sci. 2016, 8(2S), 1986-2001 1990 2.2.1.3.Âvâz-e Afshâri Avaz-e Afshari follows the scale of Shur with a variable fifth this version is very short if compared with Hoseyn-Qoli's and especially Ma'rufi's, but it is possible to extend it with gushe borrowed from other dastgâh, such as Mâhur and Navâ.The scale of Avaz-e Afshari is shown in Figure 1c as the following: Fig.1.c.Âvâz-e Afshâri 2.2.1.4..Âvâz-e Dashti Avaz-e Dashti follows the same scale but centered on the variable fifth. Here too it is reduced to a small number of gushe. The scale of Avaz-e Dashti is shown in Figure 1d as the following: Fig.1.d.Âvâz-e Dashti 2.2.1.5. Âvâz-e Bayât-e Kord Avaz-e Bayat- e Kord is often incorporated with Shur. The following version is very close to the one of Hâji Aqâ Mohammad Irâni with whom Borumand studied. The scale of Avaz-e Bayât-e Kord is shown in Figure 1e as the following: Fig.1.e.Âvâz-e Bayât-e Kord 2.2.2. Dastgâh-e Segâh Dastgah-e- Segah can be completed by the great gushe Hesâr borrowed from Chahârgâh, with an adaption of the basic scale; G, A, Bp (tonic), C, D. Most of the gushe of Segâh are also S.Firouzfar et al. J Fundam Appl Sci. 2016, 8(2S), 1986-2001 1991 found in Chahârgâh and are probably borrowed from that mode. Nowadays, the gushe Rohâb, Masihi ,Takht-e Tâgdis and Shâh Khatâ'i are rarely performed.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Musical Structure, Musical Nation, C. 1800–1950
    6 Musical Structure, Musical Nation, c. 1800–1950 While the Qajar Dynasty would eventually reunite most Safavid territory under their control by the very end of the eighteenth century, the first writings about Qajar music apparently come somewhat later, in the mid-nineteenth century. And even the earliest of these writings document new concepts of musical structure that would ultimately underpin the emergence of the radif-dastgah tradition. Early writings about music associated with the Qajar court describe idiosyncratic models of procedural musical structure. They alternately referred to twelve dast- gah or four shadd, which might also be called dastgah. But in both cases writ- ings described a unique, separate procedure of musical development that defined each shadd or dastgah.1 There was not one shared superstructure unifying the organization of all dastgah: each one required a separate explanation of how it worked, from the beginning of a performance to the very end. While authors ini- tially described varying numbers and terminology for these performance-based structures, seven dastgah eventually become a common framework for this pro- cedural concept of musical structure. Descriptions of seven dastgah suggest the musical procedures of each dastgah could relate specifically to how instruments were played. Following this logic, a text dated 1912 from an observer named Mirza Shafi Khan described the melodic progression of seven different dastgah in terms of different tunings for strings and changing hand positions over the duration of a performance. This referred to how the music could be played on the tar (tār), a specific long-necked, fretted lute.2 However many dastgah there were in the early to mid-nineteenth century, musicians took the seven dastgah of the late nineteenth century and made changes to this particular tradition in the twentieth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Iranian Music And
    index ʿAbbasid Caliphate, 6, 25, 35, 42, 98; ancient ʿAlizadeh, Hossein, 210–11 Iranian music and, 171; Graeco-Arabic writ- ʿamal [ʿamal] (practice), 34, 35, 50, 59, 63; musica ings on music, 29; patronage of musicians, practica and, 17; poetry and, 186 36; slow decline of, 36 Amir Khan Gorgi, 32, 45, 88, 99, 187; Ramal ʿabd Allah Qutb Shah, 45 rhythmic cycles according to, 33; song ʿAbdullah, Mirza, 113–14, 124, 126, 133, 143, 178; collection of, 95–98 authentic Iranian tradition and, 180, 181; Amuli, Muhammad ibn Mahmud Shams al-Din, instrumental radifs and, 189; radif-dastgah 40, 49 tradition and, 179, 209; Saba as student of, 183 Anatolia, 25, 38 Abd al-shāmel melody, 149 al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), medieval, 13 Abu-ʿAta (abū ʿaṭāʾ) avaz-dastgah, 107, 136, 148; Anglo-Persian (later, Anglo-Iranian) modal interpretations of, 107–8; tonic of, 109 Oil Company, 117, 122 Abu Bakr (companion of Muhammad), 68, 69 animal vocalizations, 56, 85 Abūl melody, 140 anthropology, 13, 18, 219 Achaemenid Empire, 1, 171, 203 Āqādeh melody, 148 acoustics, 143 Arabic language, 8, 11, 53, 59, 187; ʿaruz (ʿaruż) adwar [adwār] (theory of scale creation), 27, 28, poetic meter and, 31; decline of standing in 30, 44, 143, 146 Safavid Empire, 35; documentation of twelve- Afghan invasion (1722), 86, 88, 101, 116 maqam system in, 26; ghazal genre and, 185; Afshari (afshārī) avaz-dastgah, 107, 138, 141; as Islam and, 37, 65; medieval writing on music, matin, 150; modal interpretations of, 107–8; 10; on morality of instruments, 70; music new music of Iran and, 161;
    [Show full text]
  • Music of a Thousand Years a New History of Persian Musical Traditions
    Music of a Thousand A NEW HISTORY OF PERSIAN Years MUSICAL TRADITIONS ANN E. LUCAS Luminos is the Open Access monograph publishing program from UC Press. Luminos provides a framework for preserving and reinvigorating monograph publishing for the future and increases the reach and visibility of important scholarly work. Titles published in the UC Press Luminos model are published with the same high standards for selection, peer review, production, and marketing as those in our traditional program. www.luminosoa.org The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature. Music of a Thousand Years Music of a Thousand Years A New History of Persian Musical Traditions Ann E. Lucas UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2019 by Ann E. Lucas This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC license. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses. Suggested citation: Lucas, A. E. Music of a Thousand Years A New History of Persian Musical Traditions. Oakland: University of California Press, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.78 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Lucas, Ann E., 1978- author.
    [Show full text]
  • Hossein-Hadisi-Phd-Commentary
    UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF LAW, ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES Portfolio of compositions and commentary by Mohammad Hossein Karim Hadisi Portfolio of compositions and commentary for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2012 Portfolio of Compositions and Commentary Hossein Hadisi Preface The spiritual journey of many greatly influential figures throughout history has been subject to physical journeys. The enlightening visions and experiences that prophets, poets and thinkers have witnessed have given birth to new intellectual horizons that might not have been achieved, but for the challenges and adventures entwined with the nature of migration. The musical journey of my life, too, has been affected by the physical and spiritual journey I have made by leaving Iran. The nature of Persian music, also, takes one on a mystical journey of self-analysis and awareness. Inevitably, my music is the product of the culture I was raised in and the ones I have had the privilege of living in. My interpretation of these cultures, hermeneutics of humanities and understanding of music, is also strongly influenced by my personality and psychological characteristics. As a composer, I have always refrained from commenting on my own music. I find the experience somewhat challenging, yet amusing, non-musical, yet poetic and unnecessary, yet fruitful. In writing this commentary, I have re-visited some of the most intimate compositional experiences I have had and I am grateful for the depth of insight provided by this experience. 2 Portfolio of Compositions and Commentary Hossein Hadisi Table of Contents PREFACE ........................................................................................................................................ 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... 3 LIST OF TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS .........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Processes of Creation and Recreation in Persian Classical Music
    The Processes of Creation and Recreation in Persian Classical Music Volume One Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD Laudan Nooshin Goldsmiths' College University of London March 1996 Abstract This thesis presents a critical examination of the processes of creativity in the performance of Persian classical music. Using current literature, information from musicians, and detailed musical analyses, the thesis endeavours to reach an understanding of what creativity means in the Persian context, and to examine the ways in which creativity takes place and the factors which affect it. A consideration of the nature of human creativity in general is followed by a critique of the concepts and terminology of creativity used within (ethno)musicology. Several areas are subsequently explored for their potential contribution to an understanding of creative musical processes. There is a consideration of possible parallels between musical and linguistic creativity, as well as an exploration of theories about the psycho-physiological determinants of musical creativity. With specific reference to Persian classical music, various aspects of the basic canonic repertoire, the radif, are examined, and this is followed by a discussion of the processes by which the radif is learnt, this being a crucial stage in laying the foundations of musical creativity. There is also a consideration of the concepts of creativity in this musical tradition, as well as changes to such concepts in recent years. The musical analyses focus on a number of performances and versions of the radif, primarily from dastgah Segah. There is an examination of the sectional organisation of both performances and radzfs, as well as of compositional procedures, typical melodic patterns, and including specific focus on the ways in which material from the radif is treated in performance.
    [Show full text]
  • Naqmey-E Sahar (The Melody of Dawn) a Piece for Solo Violin, Woodwinds, Percussions and Strings
    Naqmey-e Sahar (The Melody of Dawn) A Piece for solo violin, woodwinds, percussions and strings by Ali Montazerighahjaverestani, B.S., M.A. A Doctoral Project in Composition Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts Approved Dr. Mei-Fang Lin Chair of Committee Dr. Peter Fischer Dr. David Forrest Dr. Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School December 2016 Copyright 2016, Ali Montazerighahjaverestani Texas Tech University, Ali Montazerighahjaverestani, December 2016 Acknowledgments I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Mei-Fang Lin for all her kindness, time and encouragement. Dr. Lin taught me many things about composition and contemporary musical styles. Completing this dissertation would not have been possible without the support of Dr. Peter Fischer who offered his expertise both in composition and in pedagogy. Additionally, Dr. Michael Stoune was particularly generous with his consideration and instructions about the process of graduation. I owe a great debt to Dr. David Forrest for agreeing to be one of my committee members. I also want to thank all my friends and classmates from whom I learned a lot. This piece is dedicated to my parents, who supported me all my life, especially after I left my homeland in 2011. ii Texas Tech University, Ali Montazerighahjaverestani, December 2016 Table of Contents Acknowledgments……………………………………………………..………………….ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………...iv Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………1
    [Show full text]
  • Singing the Nation Words of the People, Music for Iran
    9 Singing the Nation Words of the People, Music for Iran For all of the distinctions of structure and performance between the music of the radif-dastgah tradition and the twelve-maqam system, the sung texts were ini- tially similar in many respects. While the role of systematic modality appeared in early documentation largely as an imposition upon the initial dastgah practice, this modality was imposed on top of music structured around long-form poetry recitation. In the earliest documentation of the system, poetry stood at the heart of the practice, and the poetry that structured the dastgah tradition relied heav- ily on pre-seventeenth-century Persian poetry, mainly the genre of poetry known as ghazal.1 Whatever approach to pitch organization the seven dastgah originally had, it related to how music was used to present sequences of poetry as a single, continuous musical performance. While not composed specifically for musical performance, ghazal poetry appears to have a long history in the music performance of Central and South Asia. Ghazal appear in Maraghi’s song text collections and he did mention it as a genre with its own song form.2 Yet ghazal poetry had a much longer polyglot history. It began as an Arabic genre of poetry, and was eventually adopted by poets writing in many other languages. But the form thrived in Persian, where it took on some new structural features. The Persian form of ghazal became the basis for Urdu ghazal, and these two languages would ultimately define many of its various uses in music over centuries.
    [Show full text]