FRART The Rajazz theory : a new system for organizing musical notes

FRART The Rajazz theory : a new system for organizing musical notes — 1. introduction

  • ref: /DOC-3999
  • tags: musique, gamme, système d’organisation des note, géométrie, mandala musical, pentatonique, musique modale, poly-modalité, combinatoire musicale, intervalles pivots, music, scale, raga, rajazz, note organization system, composition, geometry, musical mandala, pentatonic, modal music, modalité, modality, poly-modality, musical combinatorics, pivot intervals

Rajazz theory is a new way of structuring musical material. It is the result of an encounter between elements of modal and tonal music.

The rajazz group 155 pentatonic scales into 31 families of 5 modes. The musical material is fixed - as in Indian ragas - but can be transposed into different keys, thus creating "reflections of itself". In order to modulate towards one of these transpositions, a common "pivot" interval is used as a hinge.

The result is new ways of organizing musical material.

In its first phase - year 1 - the research will explore rajazz theory using 3 mathematical tools:

a) Combinatorics will be used to create resource sheets for each rajazz, formulated in different formats.

b) A geometric approach generating musical mandalas
Each pentatonic scale can be represented as a pentagon within a chromatic circle. From here, each of the potential transpositions of this rajazz can be traced. The result is a geometric diagram that allows each rajazz and its potential modulations to be visualized in a single image, in the form of a musical mandala.

c) polytopes and graphs
The rajazz give a singular impression of multi-dimensionality, and polytopes and graphs can be used to visualize all possible modulations between the 12 transpositions of a rajazz, in a single image. This avenue will be explored with the support of Joël Fine, a researcher in geometry and differential geometry at ULB.

At the end of this first phase, the results of the research will be brought together in a clear, concise and complete documentation, enabling the creativity of different generations of composers to be nurtured. A conference will be organized at the Conservatoire and the Forum de la Création Musicale to present the results of the research.

In its second phase - year 2 - a call for scores will be launched. The resulting works will be performed by Conservatoire students and presented to the public. Audio recordings will complement the theoretical documentation, and the whole will be made available in open-access and distributed as widely as possible.