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Contemporary World Music

By Kutay Derin Kugay

 

First I would like to express my gratitude and happiness towards a very special person that I had the good fortune of working with: Michael Santoro. Without his overwhelming dedication and sacrifice this festival would probably not take place.

World music is at a crossroads. Vernacular music is being pulled away from its centuries old roots. Traditional music forms are not being used in new compositions. Regional instruments are being replaced with European instruments. Playing methods are being altered. Despite all the attempts, at this juncture of time, world music is not a specific genre of music, academically speaking. It may be more correct to call it "music of the world or "music from the world". In other words there is not a typical sound, instrumentation or vocalization of this music. It comes from all over the world. From its inception until it reaches our ear it totally belongs to the people and the culture it comes from. There are ongoing efforts to create a peculiar vacuous electronic sound with a few indigenous acoustic instruments thrown in and audio effects that would find a niche in the vast plethora of music. So far these efforts have been dismal failures, with very few exceptions (like the legendary Shakti group). These attempts have focused on creating an Euro-American sound that would be more palatable to supposedly Euro-American tastes.

Another attempt was focused on "collaborations" of Euro-American musicians with indigenous musicians playing indigenous instruments, thus forming a so-called "fusion". This overused term for most of its existence meant a superficial overlay of European tonal music with non-European modal music with disappointing results. Oftentimes this sort of effort leaves much to be desired. Either the level of musicianship is lacking parity and sincerity, or more often the dominance factor of the Euro-American musicians and instruments are but too obvious. In general modernization and technology have not been beneficent to the arts and music.

This brings us to the fact that the playing field of the world music scene is not at all level. Certain presumptions are taken for granted; like there's such a reality as a "western ear", and whatever this ear is, it is not accustomed to listening to, for instance Korean or Persian classical music. It may be partially this presumption that prevents commercial radio-television, print media, even internet to present music from around the world in its authentic form to American audiences.

Yet there may be more sinister commercial interests at play to prevent the free flow of music in our earth. Market forces share the responsibility of manipulating the type of music being distributed, aired on the radio and television. Control of the commodification of music ultimately benefits the corporate interests.

However, contrary to above situations, I know first hand that when great music is presented in a respectful manner audiences in this country respond very positively and enthusiastically to the most obscure musical traditions. Musical instruments in Asia, Africa, Latin America as well as Europe are disappearing through disuse, and musical forms such as ragas, maqamat, and dastgahs are threatened with neglect. This is humanity's tragedy. Electric guitars, keyboards, computerized music are invading the sacred grounds of our collective heritage. 21st century sound does not mean abandoning 3000-year-old traditions. It is history's process and filtering that teaches us what's left for us from our ancestors is a precious musical gift that got passed from generation to generation and it proved itself through people's celebrations, weddings, laments, spirituals.

It must be a law of nature that music does not stay static as long as it has a supportive audience. With vibrant listeners music thrives in the hearts and minds of the people: but without the appreciative audience music stagnates, repeats itself, becomes lifeless.

I am not proposing musical puritanism. I would like to see respectful joint work between sensitive equals. On our horizon there are tremendous collaborative possibilities among master musicians of our times to create fresh contemporary musical traditions. There are few precious performers like Zakir Hussain, Shujaat Khan, Keyhan Kalhor, Yildiz Ibrahimova, Parisa, Erkan Ogur, Ali Akbar Khan, late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and composers like Hossein Alizadeh who have produced memorable new music that many future generations will enjoy. Wishing joyous music for your heart.


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Kutay Derin Kugay is owner of 7/8 Music Productions, host of KPFA’s “Music of the World, (on Mondays 10am-12 noon) & Associate Producer of the SF World Music Festival. This article was commissioned by the San Francisco World Music Festival and first published in the Program in May of 2000.
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Todd Mundt Show:

March 26, 2002

The term "world music" labels a type of style, but it also indicates the indigenous music of the peoples of the world. Kutay Kugay joins Todd to talk about preserving world music, who's following it, and the San Francisco World Music Festival. Kugay hosts a weekly program of world music on KPFA in Berkeley, California.

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Music of the Turkic Peoples

This article deals with the seemingly ambiguous term "Turkic" which became better known since the collapse of Soviet Union and the formation of new Central Asian countries, such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan. Simply put it refers to peoples of Central Asia that speak a language related to Turkish. Yet most of the people of Central Asia, with the exception of Azerbaijan, had a very different historical and cultural development in the past 1000 years than that of Anatolian Turks. So, studying Turkic peoples as a single group is in itself quite problematic because of the divergent characteristics of these peoples within the various expansive regions.

However, in this brief introduction to the music of the Turkic peoples we will not have a homogenizing approach but an eclectic overview of a demographically focused, geographical point of view. In each region, naturally there's sharing of musical influences among the various neighboring ethnic groups.

This article basically deals with the traditional music of each region.

The geographical areas mentioned in this article are: Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang) Uyghur, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Tatar, Bashkir, Azerbaijan, Caucasus, Turkey and the Balkans.

What is a makam? (Various spellings of the same word: maqam, muqam, mugam, mugham)

The word makam literally means a place, a situation from the Arabic word maqam.

Most of the traditional and classical music of Turkic people is modal and use non-tempered intervals. There are unequally distanced microtones within the makam system that do not exist in the modern European music.

Most of the Asian Turkic music is neither based on harmony nor use large orchestras. Usually an individual musician or a small group of 2-5 musicians perform the music.

According to Walter Feldman "Unlike the predetermined melody in" European "music, a makam consisted of a general melodic progression, a melodic idea as it were, usually in a 4 or 5 note unit (tetrachord or pentachord), with specific musical rules-- concerning, for example, the upward or downward direction of melody or which notes within a scale were prominent and which were considered starting or stopping points." Most of the traditional instruments were developed to play the unequal, untempered scales. Most makams take their names from the notes they start, rest or end with such as Neva (re), Dugah (la).

Makams do not correspond to the European scales. In modal Turkish music makams are the source and structure of the music. In Ottoman music there may be over 100 modes. Each makam is a system founded on an ascending or descending mode, having "two poles of gravity" around which the melody "turns". In studying the repertoire belonging to each makam, the musician internalizes this specific structure and gradually develops his/her own style of unmeasured taksim. Taksim is the ultimate vehicle where the performer shows the depth of his/her understanding and interpretation of the makam by finding new ways and paths of expression in the form of improvisation. The taksim improvisation may also include modulations between several makams.

The use of makam system compels the music to remain monodic, only to be enriched by the multiplicity of sounds and modes as well as by the diversity of the rhythmic cycles used, called usuls. Some of these rhythmic cycles are 5/8, 6/8, 9/8,10/8,14/8. Since the second half of the 16th century, Ottoman music was arranged as a suite known as fasil. Fasils begin with an instrumental peshrev, include several improvisations (taksims), vocal compositions, and end with instrumental piece known as saz semai.

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Eastern Turkestan in China (Xinjiang): Uyghurs

Uyghurs use the term muqam to mean a "suite of compositions" or in some cases to mean "classical music". Even if there is modal coherency between different pieces in each suite, modulations occur as the suite unfolds completely obscuring the initial mode, so that it is often impossible to identify certain sections of a muqam from their single mode. For the Uyghur, the term muqam implies that it has a muqam heading (bash), and a suite of pieces whose structure correspond to certain modal and rhythmical requirements, which must follow the introduction.

The most well known are the twelve mugams of Kashgaria. There are also Dolan muqams.

Instruments:

  • Chang (14 quadruple strings, hammered dulcimer)

  • Ghijak (2 melody several sympathetic strings, bowed parchment covered)

  • Tanbur (5 metallic stringed lute)

  • Dap (small frame drum, donkey skin)

  • Dutar (2 silk stringed mulberry lute)

  • Kashgar rawap (parchment membrane sound board, 1 melody 6 sympathetic stringed lute)

  • Dolan rawap (skin covered carved body, 3 melody 14 sympathetic strings)

  • Qalun (plucked zither of 16 double strings)

  • Satar (bowed 10-12 strings)

  • Ajek

  • Dombura (2 stringed lute)

  • Tash (stones)

  • Qashuq (spoons)

  • Sapay (rattles)

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Kyrgyzstan

Epic of Manas sung a capella (ir). Instrumental music is called kuu. song are based on diatonic scale. Solo instrumental playing being more traditional; ensemble playing is a recent development of the past 50 years.

Instruments:

  • Komuz (3 stringed fretless lute)
  • Ooz komuz (mouth harp)
  • Temir ooz komuz (metal mouth harp)
  • Kil kiyak (2 stringed bowed)
  • Choor (wooden flute)
  • Chogoyno choor (long flute)
  • Chopo choor (clay flute)
  • Sornai (shawmn)

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Kazakhstan

Traditional vocal music of the Kazakh is called Zhir, an or Oren. Instrumental songs are called kyui. Outstanding musicians are called akyn.

Instruments:

  • Dombra (2 strings, plucked lute)

  • Kobyz (2 strings, bowed)

  • Sigizbi end blown flute

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Uzbekistan

Classical Uzbek music is based on maqam repertoire. Three maqam traditions are Bukhara tradition named shash maqam, Khiva tradition called alti yarim maqam, and in Khokand chahar maqam. Uzbek music shares much of its repertoire with Tajik and Afghan classical music.

Folk song styles are bakhshy and akyn, a bard tradition.

Instruments:

  • Tar (cow's heart membrane covered, 6 courses, 11 strings)
  • Rubab (fish skin covered plucked lute)
  • Gijak (fish or goat skin covered, 4 strings bowed)
  • Sato (3 strings bowed)
  • Setar (hallow neck, 3 double strings plucked)
  • Dotar (2 strings long lute)
  • Kushnai (double piped clarinet)
  • Surnai (shawm)
  • Karnai (long brass trumpet)
  • Tash kairak (2 hallow long stones)
  • Nai (bamboo flute)
  • Doira (41 cm frame drum with rings)

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Turkmenistan

Distinctive vocal tradition of the bakhshy accompanying himself/herself on the dutar is the identifying characteristic of the Turkmen music. There are 5 distinctive geographical areas of vocal styles of bakhshy singing.

Instruments:

  • Dutar (2 strings, plucked)
  • Gidjak (4 strings, bowed, covered with lamb skin)
  • Garghy tuyduk (long end blown flute)
  • Dilli tuyduk (shepherd's single reed flute)
  • Qopuz (Jaw harp)

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Tatar

Most Tatar music is monophonic and pentatonic.

Instruments:

  • Kuray (long copper flute)
  • Kubiz (Jaw harp)
  • Violin

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Bashkir

Instruments:

  • Kuray long wooden, end blown flute
  • Kubyz jaw harp
  • Dumbyra plucked lute
  • Bayan accordion
  • Mandolin

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Tuva

The premier throat singers of Asia come from Tuva. Singing two to four notes or musical lines at the same time by one person is called khoomei. There are several styles of throat singing in Tuva (also called overtone singing) khoomei, sygyt, kargyraa, borbangnadyr, ezenggiteer, and chylandyk.

Instruments:

  • Igil (two strings, bowed)
  • Xomuz (jaw harp)
  • Doshpuluur (plucked lute)
  • Tuyug
  • Xapchyk
  • Dunggur (drum)
  • Marinhuur
  • Dazhaanning khavy (rattle made from bull's scrotum and sheep kneebones)
  • Amarga (deer horn)
  • Chanzy (zither)
  • Guitar

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Khalas, Altai, Yakut

Altai

Instruments:

  • Olonkhosut (bard singing)
  • Khomus (jaw harp)

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Azerbaijan

Traditional Azerbaijani music shares with Persian, Arabic and Turkish music the concept and practice of muqam, and also its propensity for improvisation of a mode (taksim, radif) on a solo instrument. There are 12 principal, ten secondary modes besides a number of short muqams. Historically, classical Persian, Arabic, Georgian, Armenian, Turkish and other Caucasus nationalities have influenced Azerbaijani musical culture. Nevertheless it has a very definite specific character both in song and dance.

Instruments:

  • Tar (eleven strings, moveable frets, plucked, covered with skin)

  • Daf (frame drum, fish skin, with rings in the inside)

  • Kemancha (spike fiddle, covered with fish skin, cylindrical neck, 4 strings)

  • Balaban (double reed wooden flute)

  • Nagara (double sided lap drum)

  • Gosha nagara (two small kettle drums played with sticks)

  • Ney (reed flute, end blown)

  • Karaney (clarinet)

  • Garmon (Azeri accordion)

  • piano

Caucasus (Karakalpak, Meshkit, Nogay, Karachay)

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Turkey

Turkish music derives its roots from Central Asian, ancient Anatolian (Byzantium, Armenian, Pontic, Greek, Kurdish, Laz, Mesopotamian, Assyrian, Circassian, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Arabic, Zoroastrian, Yezidi, Rom) Balkan (Greek, Rom, Rumanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian) and Ottoman traditions.

There are primarily three genres of music: Ottoman (instrumental, vocal and military), folk (dance, Alevi/Bektashi ashik, bard-singing), urban folk (sarki and arabesk). All of these traditional music types use the makam system.

Instruments:

  • Saz (Generic name for musical instrument, but more often used for long necked lute with moveable frets)

  • Cura (smallest of the saz family)

  • Baglama (most common saz size, set of 3 double strings, plus a bam string))

  • Divan sazi (large saz, favored by ashiks)

  • Meydan sazi (largest of the saz family)

  • Tanbur (classical Turkish music lute very long neck)

  • Kanun (zither, played with picks attached to index fingers, usually 72 strings with moveable mandals)

  • Ud (classical lute)

  • Yayli tanbur (bowed tanbur with a metal body and skin covered face)

  • Klasik kemence (bowed classical lute, 3 strings)

  • Cumbus (urban lute, metal body, skin covered, with or without frets)

  • Karadeniz kemencesi (favored bowed lute of the Eastern Blacksea)

  • Tar (Azerbaijani fretted, skin covered lute, used in folk music)

  • Kabak kemane (bowed lute made from gourd)

  • Keman (violin)

  • Rebap (bowed lute)

  • Akordiyon (accordion)

  • Tulum (guda) (bag pipes, goat skin, Eastern Blacksea folk instrument)

  • Ney (transverse, end blown reed flute, used in sufi music)

  • Sipsi (very small reed flute)

  • Mey (double-reed, carved wood flute)

  • Kaval (wooden flute with a mouth piece)

  • Dilsiz kaval (long wooden flute without a mouth piece, end blown)

  • Zurna (double-reed shawm)

  • Asma davul (large double sided frame drum, played hung over the shoulder)

  • Kasik (carved wooden spoons)

  • Bendir (large single sided frame drum of the Sufis)

  • Daire (large frame drum)

  • Def (frame drum with snares)

  • Kudum (two side by side drums played with sticks)

  • Nakkare (higher pitched drum played with sticks)

  • Darbuka (goblet shaped lap drum, used for dances)

 

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Balkans

In the Balkans there are communities of Turkish speaking people in Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Albania. Some of their music is accessible.

Elsewhere

There are also communities of Turkic people in Iraq (Turkmens) and in Iran (Azeris, Kashgai, Avshar, Turkmen).

Discography:

1. Turkestan ChinoisXinjiang, OcoraC559092-93,
2. Asie Centrale, OcoraC560035-36,
3. Kazakhstan,King RecordsKICC5166,
4. Kyrgyzstan, King RecordsKICC5210,
5. Musiques du Kirghizstan, Buda92631,
6. Uzbekistan, King RecordsKICC5108,
7. Ouzbekistan, OcoraC560060,
8. Ural-Traditional Music of Bashkortostan,Pan2018CD
9. Chirgilchin, Pure Nature MusicPNMCD001
10. Musiques De La Toundra et de La Taiga,IneditW260019
11. Turkmenistan,VDECD-651
12. Turkmen Epic Singing, UnescoD8213,
13. Music of Bards from Iran, Kereshmeh KCD-106
14. Haidar Begichev, SALO11096,
15. Azerbaijan, Le Chant du MondeLDX274901,
16. Rahman Asadollahi, 7/8Music110006,
17. Azerbaijan Land of Flames,Pan2012CD,
18. Azerbaijan,UnescoD8045,
19. Azerbaijan-Alim Qasimov,OcoraC560013,
20. Muharrem Ertas,KalanCD112.
21. Tanburi Cemil Bey, Traditional Crossroads CD4264,
22. Erkan Oğur-Gülün Kokusu Vardı, KalanCD086,
23. Yildiz Ibrahimova, RaksMuzik

Kutay Derin Kuğay

May 2001

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