A Statistical Analysis of Gamakas in Carnatic Music

Carnatic Music, a form of classical music prevalent in South India, has a central concept called rāgas, defined as melodic scales and/or a set of characteristic melodic phrases. These definitions also account for the continuous pitch movement in gamakas and micro-tonal adjustments to pitch values. In this paper, we present several statistics of gamakas to arrive at a model of Carnatic music. We draw upon the two-component model of Carnatic Music, which splits it into a slowly varying ‘stage’ and a detail, called ‘dance’. Based on the statistics, we propose slightly altered definitions of two similar components called constant-pitch notes and transients. An automated implementation of these definitions is used in collecting statistics from 84 concert renditions. We then suggest that the constant-pitch notes and transients can be considered as context and detail respectively of the rāga, but add that both are necessary for defining the rāga. This is verified by performing listening tests on only the constant-pitch notes and transients independently.

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