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Exploring some of the inherent dilemmas posed by any attempt to ‘tame’ raga into formalised theoretical frameworks: spanning the practical to the metaphysical, plus plenty inbetween…

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Notation Notes: 

Definitional Dilemmas: 

Metaphysics & More:

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• Notation Notes •

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Defining a ‘quasi-standardised’ system of raga notation (used throughout the Raga Index): emphasising flexibility, readability, and text-search utility. Criticism encouraged!

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Swaras: Higher/lower forms of swara:

• UPPER: shuddha [RGDN], tivra [M], achal [SP]
• lower: komal [rgdn], shuddha [m]

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Timings: Phrases & passages:

• Spaces [n SR]: elongations & pauses (e.g. when a swara is sustained, or followed by silence) – also used as a visual separator within long taans
• Commas [mG, Pm]: phrase-end separators within a passage (akin to melodic ‘sentences’)
• Semicolons [DnS; gRS]: passage-end separators (akin to melodic ‘paragraphs’: e.g. to mark the end of a lehra, or to split the sthayi & antara)
• Underlines [SnD]: denotes the location of the ‘culminating sam’ within a passage (excepting grace notes)

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Ornaments: Melodic decorations:

• Slashes [P/D]: smoothed transitions (i.e. when both swaras are rendered with roughly equal weightings)
• Brackets [P(D)]: kanswar & subtle motions (i.e. when one swara ‘accents’ another, or when a sustained tone ends with an ornamented flurry)
• Compounds [P(/D)P, (nD)P, G/m(GRG)]: denoted in rough hierarchy of swara prominence – with ‘summarised’ groupings sometimes used for clarity (e.g. a rapid ‘P(DnDPDn)’ may become ‘P(DPn)’, or a sustained ‘G(mGmGm…)G’ andolan may be reduced to ‘G(m)G’, depending on context)

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Others: Topic-specific indicators:

• Arrows [SGmPnS<>SnPmGmgS]: reserved for ‘aroha<>avroh’ swara sets (i.e. the raga’s summarised ‘up<>down’ path).
• Short dashes [S-gG-m-P-n-S]: reserved for swara-set notations (i.e. when core form takes primacy over melodic specifics)
• Long dashes [S–G–d]: reserved for geometric features, e.g. polygons, symmetries, mirror lines, etc (i.e. when swara-structure takes primacy over temporal motions)

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–Guiding Design Principles–

• Use your ears! As always…
• …

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• Definitional Dilemmas •

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Discussing some of the inherent issues of raga ‘formalisation’…

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• Metaphysics & More •

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Defining 

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