An analysis of Iranian Music Intervals based on Pitch Histogram

TL;DR

This paper analyzes Iranian musical intervals using pitch histograms and dynamic time warping, providing a computational approach that is instrument-independent and offers insights into historical and contemporary tuning practices.

Contribution

It introduces a novel computational method for analyzing Iranian musical intervals from audio recordings, independent of specific instruments, and contextualizes historical tuning systems.

Findings

Historical context of Persian intervals reviewed

Pitch histogram analysis of vocal performances conducted

Method applicable to any performance regardless of instrument

Abstract

Since the early twentieth century, intervals and tuning systems have been subjects of discussion among Iranian musicians and scholars. The process of Westernization and then a cultural back to roots movement are among the reasons that motivated debates about the appropriate tuning in this musical culture. In this paper, we first review the historical context of the intervals in Perso-Arabic musical culture since Farabi in the tenth century. Then we focus on the audio histogram of the vocal performance of each piece in the repertoire (radif) of Karimi, one of the masters of the art, and use Dynamic Time Warping for alignment of pitch and MIDI notes. We collected the intervals used in the performance of each piece (gushe) in the repertoire and then analyzed the results. Unlike the traditional methods of measuring the frequency of each note played on the tar (an Iranian lute) practiced by contemporary music scholars, our computational method is independent of a given instrument and can be executed on any performance with minimum effort.