em.20
Oud Maniac
Posts: 74
Registered: 8-27-2011
Location: Germany
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Microtones in Turkish music?
Hello,
I am the child of Turkish migrants living in Germany. I listen to a lot of Turkish music, whether pop, folk or classical Turkish music.
My ears got used to European music or let's say pop music. But I've noticed one thing, especially in classical Turkish music. That music sounds quite
familiar to my ears concerning the tonal system allthough of course Turkish music has a very different character and style compared to European
music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU0Uvy9g8Kk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg-sd3GCvyk&feature=related
For example if I listen to Yurdal Tokcan I cannot make up any microtones. Whereas if I listen to Arabic oud taksim I can clearly hear the microtones,
because it sounds a quite strange to my ears.
Can someone explain why?
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Danielo
Oud Junkie
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Location: Paris
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Hi,
it may be because Turkish microtones are 'milder' than their Arabic counterparts.
For instance, the segah degree, which is an essential feature of many important makams (Rast,....) is, in Turkish music, only slightly below B
natural, usually by one comma (=1/9th of a tone).
In contrast, the Arabic analogue (sikah) is, depending on context, between 2 and 3 commas below E natural.
To my European ears also, microtones are less prominent in Turkish than in Arabic music.
Dan
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em.20
Oud Maniac
Posts: 74
Registered: 8-27-2011
Location: Germany
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Yes, that could be the explaining. What is exactly the segah degree? Is it a tone interval just like a Minor third or an octave?
So that means in the "worst case" Turkish makam differs only 1/9th of a tone from a European tone scale?
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Ararat66
Oud Junkie
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Location: Portsmouth, UK
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I think there is something else at work also and that is the flow and timing and fluidity of 'Turkish' music so the context of the microtones is
somewhat more fluid. There is also phrasing and 'ornament' which often puts the microtonal spectrum into a very different soundscape - think of the
carpma in all its expression, and the sliding and the whispered notes.
... I have to choose my words carefully here as they are meant to be descriptive rather than judgemental - I love all the styles and I am just trying
to make an observation.
Actually I have found that the opposite is true and that to a lot of European ears that I know, Turkish music is quite difficult to listen to in
comparison to some Arabic music partly because there is not quite the same recognisable equivalent for them in European music in Turkish style as
there is with say Flamenco and North Africa (Rebetika for example seems to be generally less familiar here in the UK).
Leon
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