AEM1225_EasternMusicII_AA1766

1.
I. According to the legends, the founder of music in China was ‘Ling Lun’. the founder of
chinese music is said to have created bamboo flutes which made the sound of many
birds including the mythical bird phoenix. He is said to have invented the famous chinese
5 tonal system(gong(doh), shang(re), jiao(mi), zhi(soh), yu(la))
And after the creation of the flutes, chinese music developed into a vast world with many
instruments in different categories. These categories were categorized according to “ba
yin”(the eight sounds). They represented how the instruments were created. the
classifications of chinese musical instruments are as follows
● Silk - most of the string instruments in china have been categorized as silk
instruments since the string of those instruments are all made out of silk. And not
metal. It gives out a sweet timbre which is pleasant to the ear because of the silk
strings.
● Bamboo- the infamous bamboo flutes are a part of this category. This category is
considered to be the oldest among each other because the first instrument
created for music of china was the flute which brought out the “yellow bell pitch”
● Wood- the percussive instruments which are made of wood belong to the wood
category. One instrument in this category can be the clapper. Since it is made of
wood, we can classify it as so.
● Stone- these are instruments which were made out of stone. The Bianqing is an
instrument of this category. It is a gong like instrument which is sounded when
struck like a gong. It is shaped like a “L” and is used in temples.
● Metal- instruments made out of meta. Bianzhong is one of these instruments.
They are a set of bronze bells which are suspended from a frame and they are
played melodically.
● Clay - instruments made of clay. Typically in the woodwind section. The Xun
instrument is one that belongs to this category. The Xun is made out of clay and
is played by blowing. The clay is made and then baked.
● Gourd- there is one very ancient instrument which belongs to the gourd category
and it is a mouth organ called the sheng mouth organ. There are 17 reedless
bamboo pipes which are set in a gourd.
● Skin- most of the drums in the chinese musical world belong to the skin category
because the drum heads are all covered with some sort of skin.
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II. the silk category

The Sanxian
● This instrument is an important string instrument in the chinese musical arsenal.
This instrument has three strings and this instrument is played by plucking those
strings. The board is fretless. The sanxian neck is very long and the boat is made
out of snake skin which is stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator.
● The northern version of the sanxian is larger(about 122cm) in length hile the
southern sanxian is about 95cm in length.
● This instrument may have been present in China since the Qin Dynasty which
was followed by the Zhou Dynasty.
● This instrument is considered to be of a form of a spike lute.
● This instrument has a dry and percussive sound. It has a bold tone somewhat
like the Banjo. The larger sizes have a bigger octave range(3 octaves). This
instrument is not usually played as a lead instrument but is primarily used as an
accompanying instrument. But in some musical pieces, the sanxian is known to
have played solo parts of a song.
● Traditionally this instrument is plucked using a pluck made from an animal horn,
but players today use a plastic alternative such as a guitar pick.
● There are huge tuning knobs on the top of the instrument. According to the
number of strings(3 typically, but latest instruments have 4 strings)

The GuzHeng
● This instrument is also a stringed instrument. This instrument is
usually(traditionally) tuned to a major pentatonic scale and players play
this instrument by plucking.
● This instrument has a large resonating soundboard which has been made
from 7-17 types of wood from several plants
● The Guzheng became prominent in the Qin Dynasty and when the tang
dynasty had arrived, it was considered to be the most prominent
instrument in all of china.
● During the Qin Dynasty, strings were originally made from silk and noe,
they are made from metal with silicon coats to make the time of the
instrument better
● There are various numbers of strings ranging from 24 strings to 27
strings. But during the Qin Dynasty, the Guzheng had been played ith
only 13 strings on the board. But still the sound of the Guzheng is
amazing and is really soothing to the ear. When it is played, it is as if the
elements of the world come together and it shows perfect balance in the
world(represents yin and yang)
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2.
Before the 13th century, Indian Classical Music had only one style to it. But after the 13
century, During medieval times, Indian classical music was divided into 2 major
traditions. They are known as Hindustani and Carntic music. Carnantic music prevailed
in the south part of India and Hindustani Music became prominent in the Northern part of
India. In the north part of india persian and mughal influence created something in the
north part of India. The most respected and influential of the north indian style is known
to be Amir Khushrow. And in the southern part of India, carnatic music reigned. The
founder of this style is known to be Purandar Das. Both these influential people gave so
much in order for Indian Music to be what it is today. And they are respected for that.

Differences in Hindustani and Carnatic Styles

Areas of difference Carnatic Hindustani

Instruments Veena, Mridangam and Tabla, Sarang, Sitar and

Mandolin Santoor

Ragas 72 Ragas 6 major ragas with many

other sub ragas

Sub-Styles Only one presubscribed Several sub-styles

style of singing

Freedom Freedom to improvise the Scope to do variations and

structure improvise

Vocals and Instruments Both have the same Vocals have more
importance importance

Practice Mostly practiced in Mostly practiced in

Southern parts of India Northern parts of India
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3.
● Rabindra Sangeet is also known as Tagore songs.
● They are songs composed by the Bengali Polymath Rabindranath Tagore. He
was the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 and was the first indian or
asian to get such recognition for his work. He was a composer having around
2,232 compositions in his name.
● Rabindra sangeet was known for the full expressions of romanticism and many
ornaments such as meend and murki have been used in the songs.
● The music is mostly based on Hindustani Classical music, Carnatic Classical
Music and Western tunes. Also the folk Music of Bengal was used as inspiration
for this music.
● The lyrical and musical importance of rabindra sangeet is held at the utmost
importance.
● The creator of rabindra sangeet(tagore) had created 6 new taats inspired by
Carnatic music.
● These songs were merged fluidly into Tagore’s Literature. Most of which were
poems or parts of novels, stories or plays which were lyricised.
● The songs were influenced by the Thumri style of Hindustani Music.
● These songs ran the entire process of human emotion, running from devotional
hymns to quasi-erotic compositions.
● These compositions emulated the tonal qualities of classical ragas to various
extents.
● Some songs mimicked the assigned ragas melody and rhythm faithfully while the
others did not. But the others newly blended and emulated the elements of ragas
in different and exciting ways.
● Tagore drew influence from various sources for his music. That's what made
them stand out and so unique. The inspirations were so powerful and he could
translate them into masterpieces of his own. It is said that his literature rivaled
the work of Shakespeare and his language world.
● Since the poet gave voice to all rich and poor alike, all of his songs were socially
dependable and respected. This resulted in the composition's success and
formidability.
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II.
● Rabindra Sangeet was influenced by Hindustani Classical Music, Carnatic
Classical Music and Western Tunes. This is how Rabinranaath Tagore was able
to influence sitar maestro Vilayat Khan sorovigas Buddadhev Dasgupta and
amilad Ali Khan. That is why his songs were widely popular.
● Tagore drew influence from sources that were diverse as traditional Hindustani
Thumri(‘O Miya Bejenewale’) to scottish ballads(‘ Purano Shei Diner Kotha’ from ‘
auld lang syne’)
● The mentioned above influenced Rabindra sangeet and gave its unique value to
them.
● The main influencer was Hindustani Thumri style and because of the inspirations
of the british culture and arts, tagore created something that was unparalleled
and is still unparalleled.

4. Gamelan music is known to be traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese

and Balinese people of Indonesia. This style was made predominantly for percussion
instruments.

I. HISTORY
Gamelan Music predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture which dominated in Indonesia. So
we can see how precious this indigenous art form is. While India influenced many other
art forms of Indonesia, they only influenced the javanese style of singing in the musical
area.
According to javanese legend, the gamelan was created by Sang Hyang Guru. who was
considered as a god who ruled as the king of all Java. it is said that he needed a way to
contact the other gods. So he created the Gong. and for more complex messages he
created two other Gongs. Thus inventing the first Gamelan set.
The earliest image of an ensemble was in the 8th century Buddhist movement of
Borobudur.
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II. NOTES AND INSTRUMENTS

KEPATIHAN is a type of cipher used as musical notation devised for notation of the
Indonesian Gamelan. This cipher system was devised in the 1900s by the Grand Vizier’s
Compound, Kepathian. This cipher is based on the Paris-Cheve system which was
imported in the 19th Century by Christian Missionaries to allow the notation of their
church Hymns.
The pitches of the seven tone system are designated by the number 1-7 while the five
tone pitches are shown as 12,3,5 and 6 and also the dot above a note indicates that it
should be played an octave above and vise versa.( Similar to the dot system in
Hindustani Classical notation)
Some Instruments in Gamelan music are
● Kempul
● Gong
● Kenong
● Banang
● Demung
● Saren
● peking

III. PERFORMANCE
There are various gamelan music for various scenarios and the instruments used in
various gamelans are different and also the numbers of instruments differ from scenario
to scenario.

In the court of Java, the oldest Gamelan is known to have been Gamelan Manggang and
Gamelan Ngorek.they are from the 12th century and they form a certain type of loud
style of Music. They are also the heirlooms of the Javanese courts. Both these types of
Gamelans are sacred and will only be sounded in the Javanese court’s ritual ceremonies
such as the coronation ceremony of the Sultan, welcoming highly respected guests at
the palace and royal weddings etc. and this gamelan is only owned by the court. The
public cannot have this gamelan set.

In Lamangan east Java, an early ensemble from the 15th century called gamelan singo
Menkok. This was used to broadcast the islamic religion in persian and lamongan
languages.
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5. As a musician I think it is very important to study various musical traditions of other

countries and various cultures with a rich history. It helps one musician to understand
how other cultures perceive music and how other cultures value their music. It helps us
to identify various styles of performing and note structures needed to get that sound out
in a performance. If we are required to perform according to a certain tradition in another
country we will be equipped to do so. This will help us grow our musicality and our
musical knowledge. Nor only that, if we get jobs in the future to mimic certain countries
traditions and make music, we will be prepared to do so.
Music is enjoyable when it is diverse and interesting. If every musical piece we hear
sounds the same it will become boring after a while. So it is best to know and create
various genres of music while incorporating everything we know into the. So learning
about other traditional and non-traditional music of other lands will be immensely helpful.
Music will have no meaning if not for the history of it. Each musical tradition we hear and
know has a rich history. And through that history, we can hear the emotion of every note
played and every drum hit. So it is necessary to know how these masterpieces were
created in order to feel the music of each tradition
As a musician I think these musical qualities will come in handy in many ways. When
producing a song, when performing live, when creating soundtracks for movies, when
creating advertisements, when analysing music.
To analyse music, we need to have all the cards on the table, which means to have
everything we know ready. So it will not hurt to add more information about music into
our minds and use them to analyse musical characteristics in a song.
Various traditions have given us various understanding about the musical world we live
in. so i think it is best to know about every instrument. Maybe learn to play different types
of instruments over time. To be fully equipped as a musician to face the world we live in.