Emergence of an Ecumene: Transnational Encounters in South Indian Carnatic Music

Rajeswari Ranganathan

doi:10.1353/amu.2021.0000

Perception of Modulations in South Indian Classical (Carnātic) Music by Student and Teacher Musicians

Music Perception An Interdisciplinary Journal ◽

10.1525/mp.2017.34.4.424 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 34 (4) ◽

pp. 424-437 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rachna Raman ◽

W. Jay Dowling

Keyword(s):

Response Time ◽

False Alarm ◽

Western Music ◽

Specific Information ◽

Music Training ◽

Surface Level ◽

Carnatic Music ◽

South Indian ◽

Hit Rates ◽

A Minor

Modulation, a shift in mode (rĀgam), is important in South Indian classical (Carnātic) music. Here we investigate the sensitivity of Carnātic and Western listeners to such shifts. Carnātic music has two kinds of shifts: rāgamālikā (retaining tonal center, resembling a shift from C major to C minor in Western music) and grahabēdham (shifting tonal center, resembling a shift from C major to A minor). Listeners heard modulating pieces of music and indicated the point of modulation, and were measured for accuracy and latency. Indians were more accurate than Westerners with both types of modulation but Westerners were faster with grahabēdhams. Cues could explain performance differences between nationalities: Indians were more familiar with rāgamālikā-type modulations whereas Westerners’ culture made them more familiar with grahabēdham-type modulations. Increased caution toward the less familiar grahabēdhams for Indians could explain their slower response time compared to rāgamālikās. With grahabēdhams, hit rates for both groups were comparably high, but Westerners’ lower level of accuracy was due to higher false-alarm rates to lures that were superficially similar to actual modulations. This indicated their dependence on surface-level cues in the absence of familiarity and culture-specific information. Music training helped teachers in both groups make fewer errors when compared to students. Older listeners’ performance was comparable to that of younger listeners.

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How to Read Carnatic Music on Violin

Shanlax International Journal of Tamil Research ◽

10.34293/tamil.v6i2.4349 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 70-75

Author(s):

Sujatha Niranjan

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

18Th Century ◽

Present Form ◽

16Th Century ◽

Musical Performances ◽

Carnatic Music ◽

South Indian ◽

Stringed Instrument ◽

Indian Music ◽

Main Instrument

The violin is a major stringed instrument in South Indian music. It is played as the main instrument in Carnatic music and as an accompaniment to musical performances such as vocals. This is not the heritage instrument of India. Today there is no concert without Carnatic music. Thus it plays an important role in Carnatic music.The present form of this violin was composed in 16th century Italy. The violin, a folk instrument, was first used in South Indian music in the 18th century. It is also more important than any other instrument. It also plays an important role in major concerts. There are many reasons why it is played as the main instrument in Carnatic music more than any other instrument. It has developed to the point where it can be read more than any other instrument in the 20th century for various performances such as vocals, other instrumental events, orchestras, and dance performances. It is also found that Carnatic musicians (male/female) can adjust their pitch to suit their convenience. Since its introduction to Carnatic music, many great scholars have read and succeeded in Carnatic music. In addition, it plays a very important role in Palliya music and has a wide place in Carnatic music.

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Real-Time Probing of Modulations in South Indian Classical (Carnātic) Music by Indian and Western Musicians

Music Perception An Interdisciplinary Journal ◽

10.1525/mp.2016.33.3.367 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 367-393 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Rachna Raman ◽

W. Jay Dowling

Keyword(s):

Classical Music ◽

Probe Tone ◽

Carnatic Music ◽

South Indian ◽

Reverse Pattern ◽

Tonal Hierarchy ◽

Indian Classical Music ◽

Response Profiles ◽

A Minor ◽

Schematic Knowledge

We used Toiviainen and Krumhansl’s (2003) concurrent probe-tone technique to track Indian and Western musicians’ tonal-hierarchy profiles through modulations in Carnātic (South Indian classical) music. Changes of mode (rāgam) are particularly interesting in Carnātic music because of the large number of modes (more than 300) in its tonal system. We first had musicians generate profiles to establish a baseline for each of four rāgams in isolation. Then we obtained dynamic profiles of two modulating excerpts, each of which incorporated two of the four baseline rāgams. The two excerpts used the two techniques of modulation in Carnātic music: grahabēdham (analogous to a Western shift from C major to A minor), and rāgamālikā (analogous to a shift from C major to C minor). We assessed listeners’ tracking of the modulations by plotting the correlations of their response profiles with the baseline profiles. In general, the correlation to the original rāgam declined and the correlation to the new rāgam increased with the modulation, and then followed the reverse pattern when the original rāgam returned. Westerners’ responses matched those of the Indians on rāgams with structures similar to Western scales, but differed when rāgams were less familiar, and surprisingly, they registered the shifts more strongly than Indian musicians. These findings converged with previous research in identifying three types of cues: 1) culture-specific cues—schematic and veridical knowledge—employed by Indians, 2) tone-distribution cues—duration and frequency of note occurrence—employed by both Indians and Westerners, and 3) transference of schematic knowledge of Western music by Western participants.

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