Klarinet Archive - Posting 000654.txt from 2003/03

From: Peter Jaques <clarinet@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Key signatures
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 17:07:27 -0500

On 16 Mar 03, 12:27PM, B. Rite wrote:
> <><> Peter Jaques wrote:
> Bb, Ab, & Db (for C hicaz) <snip> Of course there are also three
> kinds of half flats & three kinds of half sharps too
>
> Peter, if you're willing to type a bit more.......
>
> I assume that (similar to 'major' and 'minor' in Western key names)
> "hicaz" is an adjective in several Eastern key names that begin with the
> same letter? Are there just two of these 'adjectives' in Eastern
> music, or are there many of them?

Basically. There are many. Hicaz, beyati, and rast are probably the most
common. Each of these modes (called makams) is more specific than a
western scale, in that they imply fairly specific modulations &
characteristic phrases, as well as "dominant" note(s) (notes which receive
lots of emphasis, not usually the 5th of the scale). Many makams can share
the same basic scale, but due to different dominants, modulations, &
general "shapes" (ascending, descending, ascending quickly to the octave
then descending slowly to the tonic, etc) they'll be considered totally
different.

> Do the three kinds of half flat or sharp divide the quarter-tone into
> fixed pitches, or do they indicate unidirectional smears across a small
> range, or perhaps they indicate 'vibratos' within a quarter-tone, or
> something else entirely?

They're conceived of as fixed pitches, though in practice they tend to move
slightly. The E-half-flat in D beyati tends to be sharper in ascending
phrases, for example, and occasionally a performer will smear a note a bit,
as an ornament. But they're not like those notes in Indian ragas which (as
i understand) have fixed ornaments required as part of the articulation of
the note. Turkish/Arabic half flats are almost as stable & "straight" as
the chromatic notes (though clarinetists have to get used to some tricky
embouchure manipulation).

The different kinds of half-flat (& half-sharp) are actually in degree of
flatness (or sharpness). In Arabic music, only one symbol is used for
half-flat & the theory generally conceives of the half-flat as halfway
between the chromatic notes, though in practice it's often not. The
E-half-flat of C rast is almost always played sharper than the E-half-flat
of D beyati, for example.

In Turkish music there are different symbols denoting how flat the note is,
one each for 1 koma (around 15 cents flat), 4 komas (slightly sharp of a
western full flat), and 5 komas (slightly flatter than a western flat; one
whole step=9 komas). Even these are somewhat mutable, and a 1-koma flat
might be played as 2 or even 3 komas flat depending on the ensemble's
agreement, melodic shape, and/or soloist's mood. Fights have broken out
over this, and I know an oud player in Istanbul that refuses to ever play
with a certain ney player because of a roughly .5 koma disagreement in
makam rast.

(All the above also refers to half-sharps.)

I'm happy to go on about this stuff if anyone wants more.

take care
peter jaques
oakland, ca

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