Mike's Oud Forums

Need information on maqam Isba'ayn

Lysander - 10-17-2020 at 03:06 AM

Hi everyone,

I am looking for information on Isba'ayn maqam. It's a Tunisian maqam. I am trying to find anything about this maqam on the internet, but I can hardly find anything about it.

The only thing I've found is on this page:

https://www.maqamworld.com/en/jins/hijaz_murassaa.php

Can anyone link me to pieces in this maqam, the Arabic spelling, the scale, anything?

Lysander - 10-17-2020 at 05:14 AM

OK, I have found some information on this. The biggest problem is locating a commonly-accepted English spelling, but the most helpful one seems to be "Asba'ayn", but there is also "Asbahan" and "Asbaiin" and "Asbu Ayn".

It seems to be mostly used in Malouf music, there's an example here [Rashidya Orchestra]:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHraZDsnols


And Wikipedia is also really useful in describing the nuba in some kind of detail and, thankfully mentions the Rashidiya Orchstra too in the above youtube link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Tunisia#History


More here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20050325204236/http://www.worldmusiccent...


There's also an oud samai in the maqam here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h0M0hfXWE0


Structurally, it's still kind of hard to find anything on it, apart from that fact that it's related to Hijaz. Maybe hijaz but with a flattened fifth.

Brian Prunka - 10-17-2020 at 08:40 AM

The Tunisian maqamat have different names than the Ottoman/Arabic ones.
Like mazmoum seems to be very similar to 'ajam, asba'ayn seems to be very similar to hijaz.

The best thing I think you can do to understand it is to learn repertoire in the maqam by ear.
As far as I can determine it is structurally the same as hijaz, however the sayr seems a little different, with more emphasis on rast 4 and nahawand 4. The intonation in Tunisian practice is a little different than the Egyptian or Syrian traditions as well.

I did transcribe the Bashraf Sama'i if anyone wants it.

Lysander - 10-17-2020 at 08:59 AM

Would love to see that transcription, Brian. Mind if I cite it in an article I'm writing? With full credit to yourself, of course.

Jody Stecher - 10-17-2020 at 09:52 AM

Looking through the book "Ma'Luf, Reflections on the Arab Andalusian Music of Tunisia" by Ruth Davis, I see that Asba'ayn and Asbahan are two different maqamat. In the latter Hijaz does not have a strong presence. It is an alternative to Rast in the second tetrachord.

Asba'ayn on the other hand is very Hijaz-y.

On page 14 she shows via a diagram that according to Salah el Mahdi, Asba'ayn follows this pathway:
First tetrachord is Hijaz in both ascent and descent. Second tetrachord is Rast with the first three tones of Hijaz as an alternative in both ascent and descent. Another descending alternative in this second tetrachord is Nahawand. Third tetrachord ascends and descends as Hijaz but Nahawand may be a substitute. There are a few other subtleties where each jins I have named are sometimes pentachords or trichords. It's easily seen in the diagram but I don't have the means of reproducing it here. So I can summarize by saying that Asba-ayn is mostly Hijaz with frequent colors of Rast and Nahawand, bearing in mind that the microtonal pitches will be those of Tunisia.

Brian Prunka - 10-17-2020 at 10:29 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Lysander  
Would love to see that transcription, Brian. Mind if I cite it in an article I'm writing? With full credit to yourself, of course.


sure thing, here you go:


Attachment: Samai_Asbayin.pdf (63kB)
This file has been downloaded 216 times

Brian Prunka - 10-17-2020 at 10:39 AM

Also from "Le répertoire musical de la confrérie religieuse al-Karrâriyya de Sfax (Tunisie)" (Nabil Fakhfakh, 2007)

(google translate from French):
Quote:

3.8 - Içbaʻayn (or açb`în): "Açbʻin is the Tunisian pronunciation of the Arabic word (asbuʻayn) which means: two fingers. Only Tunisian musicians use such a name to designate a mode The so-called mode is generally known under the name "Hijazi" in the Arab countries of the East, and under that of "Zaydan" in the other Maghreb countries.

The name of Asbʻayn seems to result from the technique of playing the Tunisian lute. The tuning of this instrument is designed in such a way that only two fingers are generally needed to touch the strings, namely: index and ring fingers. However, to play in the asbʻayn mode, we separate these two fingers as far as possible, which highlights them "(147).


Original relevant pages attached (with musical path example)


Attachment: Music of Tunisia-Asbayan.pdf (103kB)
This file has been downloaded 201 times

Brian Prunka - 10-17-2020 at 10:43 AM

A further note is that, like Iraqi maqam, Tunisian classical repertoire is very codified into specific pieces of music and the best and simplest way to learn the maqam is to learn the nouba associated with it. In a way, the repertoire is the maqam. This is arguably true in other traditions as well, but it's more directly evident in such a codified tradition.

Lysander - 10-18-2020 at 02:14 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Jody Stecher  
Looking through the book "Ma'Luf, Reflections on the Arab Andalusian Music of Tunisia" by Ruth Davis, I see that Asba'ayn and Asbahan are two different maqamat. In the latter Hijaz does not have a strong presence. It is an alternative to Rast in the second tetrachord.

Asba'ayn on the other hand is very Hijaz-y.

On page 14 she shows via a diagram that according to Salah el Mahdi, Asba'ayn follows this pathway:
First tetrachord is Hijaz in both ascent and descent. Second tetrachord is Rast with the first three tones of Hijaz as an alternative in both ascent and descent. Another descending alternative in this second tetrachord is Nahawand. Third tetrachord ascends and descends as Hijaz but Nahawand may be a substitute. There are a few other subtleties where each jins I have named are sometimes pentachords or trichords. It's easily seen in the diagram but I don't have the means of reproducing it here. So I can summarize by saying that Asba-ayn is mostly Hijaz with frequent colors of Rast and Nahawand, bearing in mind that the microtonal pitches will be those of Tunisia.


Jody, thank you for clarifying that they are two different maqamat. You prevented me from presenting a potentially disastrous deduction! And also giving some structure to the maqam is immensely helpful.

Quote: Originally posted by Brian Prunka  
Quote: Originally posted by Lysander  
Would love to see that transcription, Brian. Mind if I cite it in an article I'm writing? With full credit to yourself, of course.


sure thing, here you go:


Great that's excellent, thank you so much. Brian - it's interesting that the maqam has subtle differences depending on the piece. This thread has yielded more interesting information than I anticipated. I suppose there could be considered some canon pieces - and I would imagine that the Rashidya Orchestra one linked above in the second post could well fall into these.

Khalil_Oud - 10-18-2020 at 09:22 AM

Hi Lysander,
I've read the discussion about the al-Usbu3ayn... Juste to let you notice that in the andalusian music theory, we speak about Tab3 (pls of Tubu3). The Ruth Davis's book (good reference) should give you this notions.
If you are writing a scientific article, I know that the maqam word might not be accepted in the peer review proccess...
Good luck !
Regards,

Khalil

Lysander - 10-20-2020 at 12:17 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Jody Stecher  
Looking through the book "Ma'Luf, Reflections on the Arab Andalusian Music of Tunisia" by Ruth Davis, I see that Asba'ayn and Asbahan are two different maqamat. In the latter Hijaz does not have a strong presence. It is an alternative to Rast in the second tetrachord.

Asba'ayn on the other hand is very Hijaz-y.

On page 14 she shows via a diagram that according to Salah el Mahdi, Asba'ayn follows this pathway:


Jody, would it be at all possible for you to photograph p.14 and upload it? Or, if this breaks copyright, to provide a small version yourself? Unfortunately the Google Books preview of pages 13 and 14 are left out, and the book isn't in my institution's repository. It would be very helpful indeed to visualise the maqam as it is in the book, by the sound of things.

Jody Stecher - 10-20-2020 at 12:28 PM

I've sent you a U2U
Quote: Originally posted by Lysander  
Quote: Originally posted by Jody Stecher  
Looking through the book "Ma'Luf, Reflections on the Arab Andalusian Music of Tunisia" by Ruth Davis, I see that Asba'ayn and Asbahan are two different maqamat. In the latter Hijaz does not have a strong presence. It is an alternative to Rast in the second tetrachord.

Asba'ayn on the other hand is very Hijaz-y.

On page 14 she shows via a diagram that according to Salah el Mahdi, Asba'ayn follows this pathway:


Jody, would it be at all possible for you to photograph p.14 and upload it? Or, if this breaks copyright, to provide a small version yourself? Unfortunately the Google Books preview of pages 13 and 14 are left out, and the book isn't in my institution's repository. It would be very helpful indeed to visualise the maqam as it is in the book, by the sound of things.