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SUMMARY:Decoding India’s earliest notation: quantitative approaches to a
  7th-century inscription - Richard Widdess (SOAS University of London)\, M
 arcus Pearce (Queen Mary University\, London)\, Alberto Alcala Alvarez (Un
 iversidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)\, and Pablo Padilla (National Unive
 rsity of Mexico)
DTSTART:20241203T120000Z
DTEND:20241203T130000Z
UID:TALK223423@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:125293
DESCRIPTION:*Abstract*\n\nMusical notation in South Asia has historically 
 been associated with pedagogy and music theory. The earliest surviving exa
 mple is a 7th-century rock inscription at Kuḍumiyāmalai\, in South Indi
 a\, recording seven extended melodies in seven different modes. With a tot
 al of some 2\,400 musical notes\, this source is considerably more informa
 tive than any comparable musical document from ancient Greece or Mesopotam
 ia. Explicitly didactic\, the inscription is believed to comprise exercise
 s in modal composition and in instrumental playing. This unique source con
 tributes to our understanding of the musical theory and practice of the pe
 riod\, and on the dissemination of music and instruments from India to Eas
 t and South-east Asia in the 6th and 7th centuries. \n\nThe first aim of o
 ur project (in progress) is to produce a digitised text of the inscription
 \, allowing ourselves and others to interrogate the notation using quantit
 ative methods. We address three main questions: does this approach support
  the interpretation of the notation proposed by Widdess (Musica Asiatica 2
 \, 1981)? Can the notation be further understood as a fingering system for
  harp? And what light does a statistical and graph/network-theoretical app
 roach shed on the musical style\, modal structure\, and compositional prin
 ciples of the melodies? \n\n*Biographies*\n\nAlberto Alcalá Alvarez is 
 a doctoral researcher at the Institute for Applied Mathematics and lecture
 r at the Faculty of Science\, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico\, Ci
 udad de Mexico\, Mexico. \n\nMarcus Pearce is leader of the Music Cognit
 ion Lab at Queen Mary University of London\,  Honorary Professor of Neur
 oscience at Aarhus University\, Denmark\, and lead developer on the ID
 yOM project. His research interests revolve around computational modelling
  of perception especially in complex auditory domains such as music. \n\nP
 ablo Padilla is professor of mathematics at the Institute for Applied Math
 ematics (IIMAS) of the National University of Mexico (UNAM)\, where he 
  also teaches at the Faculty of Music. His research interests include no
 nlinear analysis\, mathematical modeling\, and formal methods in musicolog
 y. \n\nRichard Widdess is Emeritus Professor of Musicology at SOAS Univers
 ity of London. His research interests include the history and theory of mu
 sic in South Asia\, analysis of world music\, and cross-cultural music cog
 nition. \n\n*Zoom link*\n\nhttps://zoom.us/j/99433440421?pwd=ZWxCQXFZclRtb
 jNXa0s2K1Q2REVPZz09 (Meeting ID: 994 3344 0421\; Passcode: 714277)
LOCATION:CMS computer room\, Faculty of Music (11 West Road\, Cambridge\, 
 CB3 9DP)
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