EXPANDED PH.D. THESIS: 79-TONE TUNING & THEORY FOR TURKISH MAQAM MUSIC As A Solution To The Non-Conformance Between Current Model And Practice (original) (raw)

The long-standing conflict between the “Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek” System and Turkish Maqam Music practice has been established through computer analyses of audio recordings by master musicians such as Neyzen Niyazi Sayın and Tanburi Necdet Yaşar. Results incontrovertibly manifest the delibarate employment of multifarious middle second intervals peculiar to the genre, yet evaded by the current model. These middle seconds are roughly expressible as 2/3, 3/4, and 4/5 tones, and often referred to by the protagonists of the Music Reformation in Türkiye during the early 20th century as “quarter-tones”. While the frequency ratios of the Pythagorean theory in effect are naturally limited by prime 3, the middle seconds observed in performance and dubbed “mücenneb bölgesi” (the mujannab zone) by Yalçın Tura require the employment of superparticular simple-integer ratios whose numerators or denominators are mathematically constrained by as high a prime as 13. Here, prime-limit denotes the mathematical constraint by the highest prime in the factorization of both the numerator and denominator of a given frequency ratio for any set of intervals in a Just Intonation system. It is maintained that non-conformance arose because the 24-tone Pythagorean theory in effect was specifically engendered by what may properly be named the ‘Yekta-Arel-Ezgi School’ to ward off these “quarter-tones” which allegedly affliated the Maqam Music heritage to Byzantine & Arabs. It may be said that the ‘Yekta-Arel-Ezgi School’ condoned alienating theory to practice in an effort to save the genre from the disfavour of the new regime. The author debunks the current model for falling short of accomodating played intervals, and shows that, the 24 tone Pythagorean tuning used in notation and music education embodies only five 2/3 tones and two 3/4 tones between uncommon, hence unrecognized tone pairs – that is to say, at untraversed and inconvenient locations – rendering it a model far from representing actual practice. The author predicates, furthermore, that historical and contemporary alternatives such as the 17-tone Abjad Scale, late-Ottoman Phonetic Notations like Kantemir, Osman Dede, Harutin and Hamparsum, Arabic 24-tone Scales, Oransay’s 29-tone Tuning, and Karadeniz’s 41-tone subset out of 106 equal divisions of the octave – although most of them settle into a global 106-tone equal temperament grid – cannot favourably reflect the plethora of microtones observed in performance either. Detailed analysis for each of these options is presented herein. The fact that metallic levers on qanuns called “mandals” – which are manipulated by the executant on the fly to alter the lengths of the courses – are affixed by qanun-makers on these instruments in such a way as to yield 72 equal divisions of the octave due to the common usage of standard electronic tuners imported from overseas, is proof that the widespread “53 equal commas to the octave” methodology is most likely confined to paper, and that, a higher resolution is demanded by performers of Turkish Maqam Music. Since 53-tone equal temperament does not appear to be applied to qanuns, and dividing the octave into 72 parts is none other than the sixfold elaboration of “twelve equal steps per octave” methodology of Western Music, it henceforth becomes a necessity to devise a tuning which is more compatible with Turkish Maqam Music tradition. On these grounds, a novel 79-tone tuning has been developed and implemented on a unique custom-made qanun by the author. This one-of-a-kind Turkish qanun was manufactured by Ejder Güleç in 2005, a renown instrument maker in Izmir, and acclaimed by music circles at various occasions. The 79-tone tuning, which has been derived from a subset of 159 equal divisions of the octave, is minutely explained in this work and defended as a solution to overcome persisting issues regarding the accurate representation and consistent understanding of maqamat. A complementary Sagittal Notation® has been adapted to the 79-tone tuning and explained in this dissertation. With the employment of only three microtonal accidentals in addition to ordinary sharps and flats, it becomes possible to express subtle nuances of pitch in Maqam Music. Also, Sagittal Notation® may serve as a gateway to future maqam polyphony. As a preliminary approach to 79-tone maqam theory, some main and composite maqams have been notated to demonstrate the capabilities of the 79-tone tuning. Categorizing and redefining maqams as main and composite, as opposed to their division into simple and composite/transposed in “Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek” theory, is an innovation by the author in this thesis. Problematic maqams such as Hüzzam and Saba are consistently notated with the pitches of the 79-tone tuning. Compared to other approaches to maqam theory, the 79-tone tuning appears to be most suitable for the notation, transposition, and harmonization of complex 13-limit scales.