Rhythm and Percussion Syllables

Many music traditions around the world have developed particular systems of syllabic mnemonics for transmission of the repertoire and the technique. Syllabic systems to define and describe rhythm and percussion are widespread across many cultures: Samul nori (Korea), Shoga (Noh theatre of Japan), Carnatic and Hindustani music of India, Turkish makam music and Javanese music, to name a few. Most often the syllables are onomatopoeic and relate to the percussion instruments used in the music culture. However, in some cases, they are used to define metrical structures, e.g. the metrical grid of usul in Turkish music are defined using vocal syllables and Hindustani music uses Tabla bol to indirectly specify the basic structure of a taal (using the thekas). These syllables are musically well grounded used extensively in music training. The benefits of using oral syllabic systems from an MIR perspective are both the cultural specificity of the approach and the accuracy of the representation of timbre, articulation and dynamics. One potential topic of discussion is to address these aspects and discuss the possible uses of syllables in MIR tasks such as percussion pattern transcription and classification, meter inference and rhythm similarity.

The breakout session discussed rhythmic syllables from a more general point of view. The aspects of the origin of syllables, their relation to language, their use in pedagogy, and non-linguistic syllables were discussed.

The rhythm syllables under consideration are different from solfege, which is another form of syllabic representation. While in solfege, the syllables are non-sensical in relation to the acoustic phenomenon they represent, the rhythm syllables are mostly tied to the acoustic phenomenon they represent. In most cases (such as Indian music and Beijing Opera), they are even onomatopoeic.

Syllables are common across many cultures, and used in different functional roles. Syllables can be used in pedagogy. One distinct use in pedagogy is to teach rhythmic patterns through grouping of syllables. They can be good for representation of rhythm and percussion patterns.

The vocal syllables are a manifestation of a language of rhythm developed in our minds. An important question that came up is if someone play drum without some form of subvocalization. What drummers express on the drum is essentially the rhythm in their minds, which can either be expressed through language, gestures such as claps, waves, movements, or on a drum (or drums). The vowels used in music to represent both melody and rhythm can in a way be interpreted as syllables!

Syllables and their role in defining Metrical hierarchy:

An interesting observation is that Turkish music has a flat metrical hierarchy. Does the definition of the usul using rhythm syllables (dum, tek, teke, etc) have something to do with the depth of metrical hierarchies created. This is an observation, and needs to be more comprehensively studied.