Assessing the tuning of sung indian classical music

Abstract

The issue of tuning in Indian classical music has been, historically,/na matter of theoretical debate. In this paper, we/nstudy its contemporary practice in sung performances of Carnatic/nand Hindustani music following an empiric and quantitative/napproach. To do so, we select stable fundamental frequencies,/nestimated via a standard algorithm, and construct/ninterval histograms from a pool of recordings. We then compare/nsuch histograms against the ones obtained for different/nmusic sources and against the theoretical values derived/nfrom 12-note just intonation and equal temperament. Our/nresults evidence that the tunings in Carnatic and Hindustani/nmusic differ, the former tending to a just intonation system/nand the latter having much equal-tempered influences. Carnatic/nmusic also presents signs of a more continuous distribution/nof pitches. Further subdivisions of the octave are/npartially investigated, finding no strong evidence of them.