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. 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 (…although if you like then you can listen to my electric guitar ‘proof of concept’ sketch below). Compare to other ‘komal Pa’ ragas such as Lalit, Deepavali, and Malti Basant – and don’t hesitate to send in your experiments!

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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‘)

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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…