S-r̃-g̃-m-P-ᵭ-ñ-S

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A unique experiment by vocalist Dinkar Kaikini, based on adapting an Middle Eastern melodic form known as Maqam-al-Bayati – resulting in highly unusual sruti tunings for re, ga, dha, & ni, all of which are set to ‘quarter-tonal’ shades roughly halfway between komal and shuddha (thus, only Sa, ma, & Pa are left at familiar pitches: see below for a breakdown of the original Arabic Bayati). Kaikini’s sole album rendition, set in a 5-beat tala of his own creation (‘pancham rupak’), traverses the raga’s curious sruti landscape to superb effect, offering glimpses of Bhairavi and Todi with acrobatic poorvang ornaments. The same bandish (Tu Karim Tu Rahim) has since been performed in classical and fusion formats by Kaikini’s disciple Samarth Nagakar, who sees the raga as a demonstration of his guru’s humanitarian attitudes: “The lyrics are very relevant to the world today, where emotions are running high. We [must] rise above…nationality, religion, caste, gender…The things that are universal are music, love, bonding, and spiritual unity”. Compare to a similar concept by Edward Powell on the ‘ragamaqamtar’ entitled Bayati Kanada (part of his ‘ragmakams’ series) – as well as to Kumar Gandharva’s Lagan Gandhar, the only other explicitly ‘quarter-tonal’ raga I know of. Also see other Kaikini creations such as Gagan Vihang and Gunaranjani – and for more on his life and music, read a brief bio from Baithak Foundation (“Kaikini molded the deep scholasticism of Ratanjankar-ji’s approach and the performative influence of Ustad Faiyaz Khan. He has composed on topics [including] the first moon landing, issues of hunger and starvation, and even humorously about the state of the modern music critic…”).

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• Raga Megalist (365+) •

राग बयाती

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• Hindustani Raga Index •

—Dinkar Kaikini (~1980s)—

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[motifs, e.g. 0:17] nS, S(rSrSrn), (S)n g(r)g g(rg)S g(rgS)n, n(dn) d(nSrgS), S(n) n(dn)P P(m)m, m(Pm)n (SnSn)SP, P(d)m g r(gr), g(mg) g(rgr)S S…

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• More •

Histories, melodies, mythologies, etc…

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—Origins: Maqam-al-Bayati—

‘Maqam/makam’ is the main melodic system used in Arabic and Turkish classical music. In certain respects it resembles a ‘cousin’ of Hindustani raga, sharing ancestral overlap via the cultural interchanges of the Mughal Empire period (indeed, this infusion of Islamic culture is the main reason Hindustani music diverged from the Carnatic traditions of the South). So what is it, and how does it work?

 

In the words of violinist-scholar Sami Abu Shumays, a maqam comprises “habitual melodic phrases, modulation possibilities, ornamentation techniques, and aesthetic conventions, that together form a rich melodic framework“. Each maqam is constructed from two to three ‘jins’: tetrachordal building blocks of 4-5 notes which combine to create full scale forms (somewhat akin to how jod ragas work, e.g. Nat Bhairav combines Nat’s SRGm poorvang with Bhairav’s PdNS uttarang). Most maqamat have 7 tones, although some have more, and a few do not repeat at the octave. Many take distinctive microtonal tunings, which, despite commonly being described as ‘quarter-tonal’, actually span a flexible pitch-range, with different maqamat, instruments, and regional styles requiring subtly different flavours.

 

As per Shumays’ fantastic Maqam World (a project which influenced the design of this one): “Maqam Bayati is by far one of the most popular and common maqamat in the Arabic repertory. It is also the main maqam in the Bayati family. Its scale starts with Jins Bayati on the tonic, followed by either Jins Nahawand or Jins Rast on the 4th degree”. In Hindustani parlance, this means that the lower scale takes tones Sr̃gm (‘Jins Bayati’), with ṙ lying around halfway between komal and shuddha re – and the upper scale takes either mPdnS (‘Jins Nahawand’) or mPᵭnS (‘Jins Rast’: with a mid-sruti dha). Note that ‘Maqam Bayati’ and ‘Jins Bayati’ are distinct entities, somewhat like the distinction between Raag Bhairav and the Bhairav raganga’s GrS pakad. Listen to Bayati recordings on violin, Syrian oud, and microtonal piano, and from a pan-Arabic ensemble.

 

n.b. While some sources describe Kaikini’s Bayati as being ‘adapted from a Persian scale’, this is not strictly accurate. As explained by Chris Stephens, a sitarist who has also recorded Makam Bayati on the Turkish saz: “Bayati is an Arabic maqam / Turkish makam – there is no ‘Bayati’ in Persian music, where the equivalent form is called Dastgah Shur” (for more on Persian Dastgah vs. Turkish makam, see a writeup from Salamuzik). That being said, I’m still not sure precisely which source material Kaikini drew from for his Bayati interpretation – his approach to sruti is looser than the Arabic framework described above, with all swaras except Sa, ma, and Pa taking deviant pitches (vs. only re and dha in Shumays’ writeup).

 

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—Maqam Bayati demo (Sami Abu Shumays)—

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“Bayati was the first maqam I learned, but I’ve been putting off recording it. Over the last year I’ve been rediscovering how challenging and rich it is, especially considering regional variations. Bayati is an ocean – and this is just one drop…” (Sami Abu Shumays)

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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

Double: rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

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

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

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

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

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Murchana: Bhup. | Bihag | Bilaw. | Charu.

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: Bhairavi thaat, Bhairavi, Bilaskhani Todi, Darjeeling

–Swara Geometries–

(n.b. if sruti-subtleties are ignored…)

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• Core form: S–r–g–m–P–d–n–S

• Reverse: SRGmPDNS (=Bilawal)

• Negative: 3-2-2-3-2 (e.g. Dhani)

• Imperfect: 1 (Pa)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (G—n)

• Murchanas: Bilawal set

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• Quirks: ‘maximal‘ (swaras are optimally ‘spread out’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Hanumatodi (mela #8)

S-R₁-G₂-M₁-P-D₁-N₂-S

• Jazz: Phrygian

1-b2-b3-4-5-b6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-1-3-5-7-8-10-0

(1–2–2–2–1–2–2)

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o o • o • o • o o • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa

• Names: Bayati, Bayat

• Transliterations: Hindi (बयाती)

—Samarth Nagarkar (2020)—

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“This is a raga calld Bayati, composed by my guru-ji Pandit Dinkar Kaikini. I’m singing this particular composition especially because of the lyrics, which are so beautiful – and very relevant to the times we live in today, where emotions are running high. We have to remember to rise above all the divisions which we create for ourselves: nationality, religion, caste, gender, all of these things are not universal – the things that are universal are music, love, bonding, and spiritual unity. This composition celebrates these universal aspects: we call the same god by many different names…” (Samarth Nagarkar)

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