kampanas
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 6-14-2020
Location: London, United Kingdom
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The Greek conversion from microtones to 12TET
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BQ3O14T-gM
Listening to Vasilis Kostas' opening taksim here on the laouto and I'm intrigued by how this is a very text-book set of Ussak melodies and
modulations, albeit starting on concert Re (ottomal Sol).
I hear Ussak --> Huseyni --> Hicaz (or even Nikriz flavour?) before eventually moving into neva (I think?) and then back to Ussak.
My curiosity is how and when the translation of microtones to 12 tone equal temperament happened.
The second degree of Ussak here is dropped to a semitone above the tonic (which makes sense, as in practice that pitch is c. 3 koma lower than what's
written on the page). In the huseyni passage, that same (written) interval is raised to a whole tone above the huseyni note. Even in the lower octave,
the acem asiran note is raised to a semitone below rast, further separating it from the ussak flavour.
What this says to me is that the melodic movements of makam have effectively been preserved but in a 12-tone system, and are obviously being passed
down to today's players.
Does anyone have any information on this and when it started to happen?
Could it be the case that Greek folk could have sounded quite different in character no more than 2-4 generations ago? Is there any link between this
music and what is preserved in the orthodox chant tradition and its melodies?
It's remarkable from an oud player's perspective, especially when you study the microtonal system and then start playing with rebetiko bouzouki
players, that you hear the direction of familiar makam melodies but then get stuck having to make a decision about which microtones to make semitones
in the middle of a solo...
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Ralf Krueger
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Well observed – I completely agree!
In my opinion, exactly this conversion of the eastern makam system, adapted to tempered scales and merging with other features of western music, makes
it so fascinating – Greek music in general, but the Rembetiko style in particular. In would rather call it a melting pot of eastern and western
music.
Besides your well-described details, you will find more. For instance, if you listen to talented bouzouki players, you will notice that they tend to
use tremolo, ornamentation or even chromatic runs exactly at those scale positions, which are related to non-western intervals in the original makam,
e.g. 2nd in Ussak or 6th in Hijaz. It seems that all these techniques emerged to resemble the original, non-tempered scales and to conserve the main
aspect of the corresponding makam in a non-microtonal environment.
You will even find both together: fretted instrument or accordion playing western, tempered scales; while singers, clarino or fretless-instruments
(like oud) using microtonal scales - in the same piece, at the same time, simultaneously. One may think this does not match, but it is daily practice.
Another aspect: The use of (western) harmonies. Microtonal music is usually linear, with focus on melody, rhythm, ornamentation, but usually no
chords. In contrast, you find all kind of harmonies in Rembetiko: 2nd (and 3rd voices), and chords even with makam-based scales (dhromi). The result
is a fascinating mixture of east and west, makam-based plus harmony-based. (You see me a bit enthusiastic, still.  )
But why and when did this happen? Probably western influence (especially Italian) was as common as eastern during the Ottoman empire. However, one
major historic gamechanger was obviously the population exchange after the Turkish-Greek war in 1922. Millions of refugees, including musicians,
bringing their eastern music tradition with them, meeting other Greek musicians with European background. A melting pot, and the birth of Rembetiko.
And this tradition is still very much alive, is becoming even more popular.
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
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Some years ago I heard from a Greek-American from Nebraska who I think was born no earlier than the 1950s that she remembers when the singing in her
local Greek Orthodox church was microtonal. Later a change was made to major and minor scales.
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maraoud108
Oud Maniac
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Registered: 2-3-2021
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Quote: Originally posted by Ralf Krueger  | Well observed – I completely agree!
In my opinion, exactly this conversion of the eastern makam system, adapted to tempered scales and merging with other features of western music, makes
it so fascinating – Greek music in general, but the Rembetiko style in particular. In would rather call it a melting pot of eastern and western
music.
Besides your well-described details, you will find more. For instance, if you listen to talented bouzouki players, you will notice that they tend to
use tremolo, ornamentation or even chromatic runs exactly at those scale positions, which are related to non-western intervals in the original makam,
e.g. 2nd in Ussak or 6th in Hijaz. It seems that all these techniques emerged to resemble the original, non-tempered scales and to conserve the main
aspect of the corresponding makam in a non-microtonal environment.
You will even find both together: fretted instrument or accordion playing western, tempered scales; while singers, clarino or fretless-instruments
(like oud) using microtonal scales - in the same piece, at the same time, simultaneously. One may think this does not match, but it is daily practice.
Another aspect: The use of (western) harmonies. Microtonal music is usually linear, with focus on melody, rhythm, ornamentation, but usually no
chords. In contrast, you find all kind of harmonies in Rembetiko: 2nd (and 3rd voices), and chords even with makam-based scales (dhromi). The result
is a fascinating mixture of east and west, makam-based plus harmony-based. (You see me a bit enthusiastic, still. )
But why and when did this happen? Probably western influence (especially Italian) was as common as eastern during the Ottoman empire. However, one
major historic gamechanger was obviously the population exchange after the Turkish-Greek war in 1922. Millions of refugees, including musicians,
bringing their eastern music tradition with them, meeting other Greek musicians with European background. A melting pot, and the birth of Rembetiko.
And this tradition is still very much alive, is becoming even more popular. |
This is exactly it.
A couple of things. Eleni Kallimopoulou's book "Paradosiaká: Music, Meanin and Identity in Modern Greece" and Panaoyotis League's Echoes of the Great
Catastrophe: Re-Sounding Anatolian Greekness in Diaspora both talk about these things in great detail.
If you are in the UK and can make a trip to Crete I also suggest taking a class with Avgerini Gatsi.
https://labyrinthmusic.gr/en/seminars/teachers/746-avgerini-gatsi
Even if you don't speak Greek, singing the songs will help you hear the microtones. We sang songs in all sorts of maqams, often times with Avgerini
playing accordion to accompany.
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