S-g-mM-n-S

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For the 366th page in the project, I offer something a little different. Instead of documenting an already-existing raga, I humbly present a fresh scale form, intended as a challenge for intrepid artists who wish to break new melodic ground. The SgmMnS sequence – as far as I can tell, untouched in Hindustani raga – has long fascinated me for its proximity to several disparate forms. I initially picked up the scale from blues guitar, where it offers a ‘spicy’ b5 modification of the famous Minor Pentatonic (essentially ‘Dhani komal Pa’) and also lies a note away from the related Blues Minor (remove the Perfect 5th: i.e. ‘Shrutivardhini no Pa’). Furthermore, it is the only ‘missing member’ of the Shivranjani murchana set (comprising Shivranjani, Bairagi, Hindol, and Shobhawari) – and also forms a subset of the ‘thaat-breaking’ Meladalan (add komal re & dha: SrgmMdnS): the least-performed Bilawal murchana due to its lack of a stable Sa-Pa axis. It is also an example of a ‘jagged‘ scale – i.e. one with no ‘adjacent repeating intervals’ (SgmMnS: jumps ‘3-2-1-4-2‘), helping to maintain a general melodic unpredictability. Strictly speaking, SgmMnS is a ‘surtar’ form (=only 4 generic swaras: Sa, Ga, Ma, Ni, with the consecutive omission of Pa and Dha) – but, as with Meladalan, the scale only truly comes to life when Ma is treated as a free-functioning swara, more like an independent ‘komal Pa’. Thus, I have chosen the slightly paradoxical title of ‘Audav Meladalan’ (‘Five Scale-Breaking Swaras’), also in keeping with its occasional ‘Locrian Pentatonic’ label in the West. While there is plenty more I could say about the scale, I’ll refrain for now – after all, the main purpose of this page is to see what imaginative artists can do with a near-blank canvas. Compare to other ‘komal Pa’ ragas such as Lalit, Deepavali, and Malti Basant – and send in your experiments!

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• Raga Masterlist (1000+) •

राग औडव मेलादालान

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• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: SgmMnS

Avroh: SnMmgS

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Pakad: undefined, e.g. nSgmMgm; mMmgnS

Chalan: (uncodified)

—(…recording to follow…)—

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• Classifiers •

Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):

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Swaras: -4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+

Sapta: Audav* | Shadav | Sampurna

Poorvang: SRGM | SRG | SRM | SGM

Uttarang: PDNS | PDS | PNS | DNS

Varjit: Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

Gaps: Anh. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row

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Aroha: Audav* | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav* | Shadav | Sampurna

Jati: Equal | Balanced | Av.+1 | Av.+2

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: (none found)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–g–mM–n–S

• Reverse: SRMPDS

• Complement: SrRGPdDNS

• Imperfect: 2 (Sa, Ma)

• Detached: 1 (Ma)

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: Shivranjani set

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• Quirks: • ‘consecutive varjits‘ (Pa & Dha are omitted) • ‘surtar‘ (*only 4 generic swaras: unless tivra Ma is counted as an independent ‘komal Pa‘) • ‘jagged‘ (no ‘adjacent interval repetitions’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: (~Jayakauns?)

S-G₂-M₁-M₂-N₂-S

• Jazz: Locrian Pentatonic

1-b3-4-b5-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-3-5-6-10-0

(3–2–1–4–2)

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o • • o • o o • • • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–ma

• Names: (Audav Meladalan)

• Transliterations: Hindi (औडव मेलादालान)

…send in your renditions…