Middle-Eastern music

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The music of the Middle Eastern (Arabic, Turkish, and Persian) cultural area is one of the important microtonal music traditions (along with the [[Indian]] tradition).

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

The use of microtones in Middle Eastern music can be extremely subtle, as is demonstrated in a [[http://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 half step.

There have been various endeavors, also in recent history, to establish a common tuning standard. A few of these are described in a [[http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/34%27ten_79%27a.pdf|paper by Ozan Yarman]]. However, none of these have been really successful (at least not as successful as 12edo in Western music). [[24edo]] has found a certain dissemination, especially in the Arabic world, though many consider it a bad compromise. Other equal temperaments that have been used are [[53edo]] and [[72edo]], but even those (apart from impracticality due to their high number of pitches!) do not cover all details.

A system that covers many details to a satisfactory degree is proposed in [[@http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/doctorate_thesis.pdf|Ozan Yarman's dissertation]] (also summarized in the mentioned [[@http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/34ten79a.pdf|paper]] ): a 79-tone [[MOSScales|MOS]] subset of [[159edo]]. A short description (quote of a posting on the yahoo tuning list) is also [[79MOS 159edo|here]].

For practical purposes (from the point of number of notes), Ozan Yarman proposes [[34edo]] and [[41edo]] as acceptable compromises.

==More external links== 

===Arabic=== 
[[http://www.maqamworld.com|Arabic Maqam World]] (Johnny Farraj, Sami Abu Shumays //et al//)
[[http://www.classicalarabicmusic.com/scales.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)

===Turkish=== 
[[http://www.hinesmusic.com/What_Are_Makams.html|Tetrachords and Makams of Turkey]] - another theory site
http://www.turkishmusicportal.org - listening
[[http://www.turkishmusic.org/index.html|http://www.turkishmusic.org]] - listening
http://www.turkishmusic.org/index18.html - listening

===Persian=== 
http://240edo.googlepages.com/persianmusic - a list of links related to Persian music, maintained by Shaahin Mohajeri

Original HTML content:

<html><head><title>Arabic, Turkish, Persian</title></head><body>The music of the Middle Eastern (Arabic, Turkish, and Persian) cultural area is one of the important microtonal music traditions (along with the <a class="wiki_link" href="/Indian">Indian</a> tradition).<br />
<br />
A central concept is &quot;maqam&quot;, which corresponds somewhat (but not exactly) to the Western &quot;mode&quot;. An introduction to maqam theory can be found on <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.maqamworld.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.maqamworld.com</a>. The Arabic maqam and Turkish makam systems differ to some degree from the related Persian system of dastgah.<br />
<br />
The use of microtones in Middle Eastern music can be extremely subtle, as is demonstrated in a <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://shumays.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=177745" rel="nofollow">podcast</a> by Arabic violin player Sami Abu Shumays: by his count, there could be 12 different notes within a half step.<br />
<br />
There have been various endeavors, also in recent history, to establish a common tuning standard. A few of these are described in a <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/34%27ten_79%27a.pdf" rel="nofollow">paper by Ozan Yarman</a>. However, none of these have been really successful (at least not as successful as 12edo in Western music). <a class="wiki_link" href="/24edo">24edo</a> has found a certain dissemination, especially in the Arabic world, though many consider it a bad compromise. Other equal temperaments that have been used are <a class="wiki_link" href="/53edo">53edo</a> and <a class="wiki_link" href="/72edo">72edo</a>, but even those (apart from impracticality due to their high number of pitches!) do not cover all details.<br />
<br />
A system that covers many details to a satisfactory degree is proposed in <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/doctorate_thesis.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ozan Yarman's dissertation</a> (also summarized in the mentioned <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.ozanyarman.com/files/34ten79a.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">paper</a> ): a 79-tone <a class="wiki_link" href="/MOSScales">MOS</a> subset of <a class="wiki_link" href="/159edo">159edo</a>. A short description (quote of a posting on the yahoo tuning list) is also <a class="wiki_link" href="/79MOS%20159edo">here</a>.<br />
<br />
For practical purposes (from the point of number of notes), Ozan Yarman proposes <a class="wiki_link" href="/34edo">34edo</a> and <a class="wiki_link" href="/41edo">41edo</a> as acceptable compromises.<br />
<br />
<!-- ws:start:WikiTextHeadingRule:0:&lt;h2&gt; --><h2 id="toc0"><a name="x-More external links"></a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextHeadingRule:0 -->More external links</h2>
 <br />
<!-- ws:start:WikiTextHeadingRule:2:&lt;h3&gt; --><h3 id="toc1"><a name="x-More external links-Arabic"></a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextHeadingRule:2 -->Arabic</h3>
 <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.maqamworld.com" rel="nofollow">Arabic Maqam World</a> (Johnny Farraj, Sami Abu Shumays <em>et al</em>)<br />
<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.classicalarabicmusic.com/scales.htm" rel="nofollow">Classical Arabic Music</a><br />
<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.oud.eclipse.co.uk" rel="nofollow">The Oud</a> (David Parfitt, discusses both Arabic and Turkish <em>maqâm</em> theory)<br />
<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.alsiadi.com" rel="nofollow">ALSIADI.com</a> (focuses on Halabi/Aleppo traditional music; describes <em>maq</em><em>â</em><em>m</em><em>â</em><em>t</em> in terms of 53-tone Pythagorean tuning)<br />
<br />
<!-- ws:start:WikiTextHeadingRule:4:&lt;h3&gt; --><h3 id="toc2"><a name="x-More external links-Turkish"></a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextHeadingRule:4 -->Turkish</h3>
 <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.hinesmusic.com/What_Are_Makams.html" rel="nofollow">Tetrachords and Makams of Turkey</a> - another theory site<br />
<!-- ws:start:WikiTextUrlRule:51:http://www.turkishmusicportal.org --><a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.turkishmusicportal.org" rel="nofollow">http://www.turkishmusicportal.org</a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextUrlRule:51 --> - listening<br />
<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.turkishmusic.org/index.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.turkishmusic.org</a> - listening<br />
<!-- ws:start:WikiTextUrlRule:52:http://www.turkishmusic.org/index18.html --><a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.turkishmusic.org/index18.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.turkishmusic.org/index18.html</a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextUrlRule:52 --> - listening<br />
<br />
<!-- ws:start:WikiTextHeadingRule:6:&lt;h3&gt; --><h3 id="toc3"><a name="x-More external links-Persian"></a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextHeadingRule:6 -->Persian</h3>
 <!-- ws:start:WikiTextUrlRule:53:http://240edo.googlepages.com/persianmusic --><a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://240edo.googlepages.com/persianmusic" rel="nofollow">http://240edo.googlepages.com/persianmusic</a><!-- ws:end:WikiTextUrlRule:53 --> - a list of links related to Persian music, maintained by Shaahin Mohajeri</body></html>