Middle-Eastern music: Difference between revisions

Along with the [[Indian]] tradition, the family of musical traditions of the Middle and Near East (Arabic, Turkish, and Persian) is one of the most widely practiced, best documented and most influential of microtonal music traditions.

A central concept in the modern theory is "maqam" (pl. maqamat), which corresponds somewhat (but not exactly) to the Western "mode". An introduction to maqam theory can be found on [http://www.maqamworld.com/ Maqam World]. The Arabic and Turkish systems differ to some degree from the related Persian system of [[wikipedia: Dastgah|dastgah]].

The use of microtones in these systems can be extremely subtle, as is demonstrated in a [https://shumays.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=177745 podcast] by Arabic violin player [[Sami Abu Shumays]]: by his count, there could be 12 different notes within a semitone.

{{Expert needed|Middle Eastern musicology|reason=Verify the various claims about approximations by temperaments}}

There have been various endeavors, also in recent history, to establish a common tuning standard. A few of these are described in a [https://www.academia.edu/2351299/Search_For_A_Theoretical_Model_Conforming_To_Turkish_Maqam_Music_Practice_A_Selection_Of_Fixed-Pitch_Settings_From_34-tone_Equal_Temperament_To_The_ paper by Ozan Yarman]. However, none of these have been really successful (at least not as successful as 12edo in Western music). The extremely extensive level of detail in Middle Eastern music makes this task very difficult, if not impossible.

The absolute minimum requirements that a tuning system must be able to do in order to support maqamat could be summarized as follows:

* There must be perfect fourths and fifths.  

* There must also be minor and major seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths. Along with the fourths and fifths, these would preferably be organized in a "sort-of Pythagorean" structure.

* Additionally, at least one type of neutral second and neutral third is necessary.

The smallest EDOs that fulfill these conditions are [[17edo]] and [[24edo]], which are indeed both used for maqam music in both theory and practice. 24edo, although not universal, is particularly common since it is a small multiple of [[12edo]], making it easy to produce instruments with a Western reference frame.

The [[mohaha]] temperament reflects this concept in the framework of [[regular temperaments]]. Mohaha can be realized in any equal temperament that [[support]]s 2.3.5.11 just intonation [[subgroup]], including 17c (the important non-patent val for [[17edo]]), [[24edo]], [[31edo]], and [[55edo]].

Systems that just fulfill level 1 are still generally considered significant compromises. For more accuracy, one would have a smaller neutral second for the [[Bayati]] tetrachord and a larger one for the Rast tetrachord. Moreover, the major second would preferably be a "major" wholetone, while the minor second should be a "small" semitone—as a consequence, the whole tone is to be divided into a smaller semitone and a larger one. Or, in other words, semitones will be available in two varieties as well.

Important EDOs that meet these requirements are [[53edo]] and [[72edo]]. Both of these have found a certain dissemination in Middle Eastern music.

For Turkish music, Ozan Yarman also proposes [[34edo]], [[41edo]], and [[46edo]], within limits also [[29edo]], as acceptable compromises. 29edo has submajor and supraminor seconds and thirds, whereas 34edo and 41edo have exact neutral seconds and thirds as well as submajor and supraminor ones. In 34edo and 41edo, the submajor second has a character close to a minor wholetone, and, playing the Rast maqam with it, the third note is less a neutral third than a 5/4-style major third. This matches the Turkish variant of Rast which indeed has such a third—the Arabic variant, however, is closer to the exact neutral one. 34edo and 41edo thus are versatile systems for both Turkish music and for Arabic music.

And here we see another nemesis of the tentatives to establish a common tuning standard: there is not one Middle-Eastern system but many. There are not just differences between Arabic and Turkish systems, but there is also significant regional variations within each musical culture.

Even [[53edo]] and [[72edo]], although already containing much more pitches than the vast majority of Western musicians can imagine, still do not cover all details. For these. there are some other, still larger subdivisions that have been investigated.

A system that meets the tuning needs to a satisfactory degree is proposed in [http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/doctorate_thesis.pdf Ozan Yarman's dissertation] (also summarized in the mentioned [https://www.academia.edu/2351299/Search_For_A_Theoretical_Model_Conforming_To_Turkish_Maqam_Music_Practice_A_Selection_Of_Fixed-Pitch_Settings_From_34-tone_Equal_Temperament_To_The_ paper] ): a 79-tone [[MOSScales|MOS]] subset of [[159edo]]. A short description (quoting a post to the tuning list) is also in [[79MOS 159edo]].

== Unequal temperaments for maqamat ==

In equal temperaments, as seen above, there is always a tradeoff between the diverging requirements of high pitch accuracy and a manageable pitch count. One possible way out of this dilemma is use of unequal temperaments. These allow for playing of multiple maqamat with comparatively few notes, though this comes at the cost of being more restricted in the ability to modulate (at least from a fixed Arabic or Turkish perspective) between keys or maqamat.

A paper by [[Erv Wilson]], describing a variety of layouts of Middle Eastern tunings on generalized keyboards, can be found here: [http://anaphoria.com/RAST.PDF http://anaphoria.com/RAST.PDF].

[[Ozan Yarman]] has developed a number of such temperaments, e.g. Yarman24 (24 notes), [http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/tuning/message/78631 Yarman29] (29 notes) and [http://www.ozanyarman.com/yarman36.html Yarman36] (36 notes).

 

All these and more are available in the [http://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/downloads.html scala file archive].

 

Unequal temperaments for maqamat were also developed by [[Margo Schulter]] , e.g. [http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/JustIntonation/message/1005 Bamm] (20 or 24 notes) and [http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/tuning/message/100839 Turquoise17] (17 notes).

 

If high pitch accuracy and possibilities to modulate are emphasized and the number of pitches matters less, we get systems as developed by [[Julien Jalaleddine Weiss]], going beyond 100 different pitches per octave. See [[tuning_systems_for_qanun|tuning systems for the qanun]], or [http://stefanpohlit.com/dissertation.engl..htm Stefan Pohlit's dissertation].

 

[[Tsaharuk]] is a 77-note-per-octave linear or planar temperament proposed by [[Jacques Dudon]] based on [[Julien Jalaleddine Weiss]] qanun tunings.

 

''See also'':

* [[Turkish maqam music temperaments]]

 

== External links ==

=== Arabic ===

* [http://www.maqamworld.com Arabic Maqam World] (Johnny Farraj, Sami Abu Shumays ''et al'')

* [https://taqs.im/scales/ Taqs.im Guide to Middle-Eastern Modal Music] – descriptions of a number of common maqams/makams, both Arabic and Turkish.

* [http://www.classicalarabicmusic.com/Learning%20Arabic%20Music.htm Classical Arabic Music]

* [http://www.oud.eclipse.co.uk The Oud] – David Parfitt, discusses both Arabic and Turkish ''maqâm'' theory.

* [http://www.alsiadi.com ALSIADI.com] – focuses on Halabi/Aleppo traditional music; describes ''maq''''â''''m''''â''''t'' in terms of 53-tone Pythagorean tuning)

* [http://foredofico.org/CERMAA/ CERMAA] – academic research for Arabic and related music, namely various articles by [[Amine Beyhom]]

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalMusicTheory/wiki/arabicmusictheory/ r/GlobalMusicTheory Arabic music reading list]

 

=== Turkish ===

* [http://www.hinesmusic.com/What_Are_Makams.html Tetrachords and Makams of Turkey] – another theory site

* [http://ericederer.com/book/book.html Eric Ederer: Makam and Beyond]

* [http://www.turkishmusicportal.org http://www.turkishmusicportal.org] – listening

* [http://www.turkishmusic.org/index.html http://www.turkishmusic.org] – listening

* [http://www.turkishmusic.org/index18.html http://www.turkishmusic.org/index18.html] – listening

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalMusicTheory/wiki/turkishmusictheory/ r/GlobalMusicTheory Turkish music reading list]

 

=== Persian ===

* [http://240edo.googlepages.com/persianmusic http://240edo.googlepages.com/persianmusic]{{dead link}} – a list of links related to Persian music, maintained by [[Shaahin Mohajeri]]

* [http://www.dejkam.com/music/iran_traditional/ http://www.dejkam.com/music/iran_traditional/]{{dead link}} – various informations about traditional iranian music, including [http://www.dejkam.com/music/iran_traditional/instruments/ informations on instruments], a [http://www.dejkam.com/music/iran_traditional/about/ complete list of Dastgahs], [http://www.dejkam.com/music/iran_traditional/books_cds/ books and CDs].

* [http://www.oudforguitarists.com/arabic-and-persian-music-maqam-dastgah-comparison/ http://www.oudforguitarists.com/arabic-and-persian-music-maqam-dastgah-comparison/] – comparison between arabic maqamat and persian dastgahs.

* [http://www.iranicaonline.org/ Encyclopaedia Iranica] – Encyclopedia about iranian culture, including music.