On the Classification of Traditional Georgian Vocal Music by Computer-Assisted Score Analysis

Year 2024, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 28 - 54, 30.06.2024

Frank Scherbaum , Simha Arom , Florent Caron Darras , Ana Lolashvili , Frank Kane

https://doi.org/10.33906/musicologist.1246886

Abstract

This paper describes a feasibility study for the computational classification of traditional three-voiced Georgian vocal music, based on characteristic chord sequences extracted from digital scores. We demonstrate that for this purpose the differences between Western 5-line staff notation and a more appropriate heptatonic system for traditional Georgian music can be adjusted for by a simple transformation. A corpus of about 500 digital scores, consisting of labeled ‘song classes’, i.e. subsets of folk songs from different regions and of liturgical songs in different styles, served as a testbed for the development of a classification procedure based on a higher-order Markov model that - in addition to the classification - yields chord progression sequences for each ‘song class’. Their capacity for interpretation was tested by one hundred cross-validation runs, in which randomly selected subsets of ¾ of the size of each song class were used to train classifiers, which were then applied to the remaining ¼ subsets. The sizes of the intersections of the successfully classified songs in all cross-validations are interpreted as direct measures of the degree of representativeness of the songs for their respective ‘song classes’. Based on a second validation experiment, in which we split up the datasets into equally sized subsets of ½ and ¼ of the original subsets, respectively, we estimate that the smallest subset size for an interpretation of the observed chord progression patterns as properties of a ‘song class’ is of the order of 50 songs. Currently, in our corpus, this requirement is only met by the subsets from Svaneti and Shemokmedi.

Keywords

Traditional Georgian Vocal Music, Classification, Computational Ethnomusicology

References

• Akhobadze, Vladimer. (1957). Collection of Georgian (Svan) Folk Songs. Tbilisi: Shroma da Teknika.
• Arom, Simha; Vallejo, Pollo. (2008). “Towards a Theory of the Chord Syntax of Georgian Polyphony.” [The Fourth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony] Eds. Rusudan Tsurtsumia and Joseph Jordania: pp. 321–335. Tbilisi: International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony of Tbilisi State Conservatoire (in Georgian and English).
• Arom, Simha; Vallejo, Pollo. (2010). “Outline of a Syntax of Chords in Some Songs from Samegrelo.” [The Fifth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony] Eds. Rusudan Tsurtsumia and Joseph Jordania: pp. 266–277. Tbilisi: International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony of Tbilisi State Conservatoire (in Georgian and English).
• Bernard, Etienne. (2021). Introduction to Machine Learning. Champaign, Illinois: Wolfram Media, Inc.
• Center of Church Chants of the Patriarchate. (2006a). Georgian Church Chant, Gelati School, The Hymns of Immovable Celebrations and Twelve Celebrations of Our Lord. Vol. Volume 2. Tbilisi.
• Center of Church Chants of the Patriarchate. (2006b). Georgian Church Chant, Gelati School, Vespers-Matins-Liturgy. Vol. Volume 1. Tbilisi.
• Center of Church Chants of the Patriarchate. (2008). Georgian Church Chant, Eastern School (Karbelashvili Mode), Vespers-Matins-Liturgy. Vol. Volume 3. 2nd edition. Tbilisi.
• Chokhonelidze, Evsevi. (2003). Georgian Folk Music: Samegrelo. Tbilisi: International Center for Georgian Folk Song, Tbilisi State Conservatoire International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony.
• Folklore state Centre of Georgia, Georgian Chanting Foundation. (2018a). Georgian Chant Anthology, The Chanting Tradition of Western Georgia, The Divine Liturgies of Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Basil the Great, and the Presanctified Gifts Paschal Hymns Festal Hymns of the Liturgy Festal Communion Verses. Vol. Volume 5. Tbilisi.
• Folklore state Centre of Georgia, Georgian Chanting Foundation. (2018b). Georgian Chant Anthology, The Chanting Traditions of Eastern Georgia, Chants for the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Part I). Vol. Volume 2. Tbilisi.
• Folklore state Centre of Georgia, Georgian Chanting Foundation. (2018c). Georgian Chant Anthology, The Chanting Traditions of Eastern Georgia, Chants for the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Part II). Vol. Volume 3. Tbilisi.
• Folklore state Centre of Georgia, Georgian Chanting Foundation. (2020a). Georgian Chant Anthology, Chants of the Triodion and Pentecostarion, Chant for Matins. Vol. Volume 16. Tbilisi.
• Folklore state Centre of Georgia, Georgian Chanting Foundation. (2020b). Georgian Chant Anthology, Chants of the Triodion and Pentecostarion, Chant for Matins. Vol. Volume 15. Tbilisi.
• Folklore state Centre of Georgia, Georgian Chanting Foundation. (2020c). Georgian Chant Anthology, Feast Day Troparia, Chants of the Triodion and Pentecostarion, Supplicatory Paracleses for the Most Holy Theotokos and Our Sweet Lord Jesus. Vol. Volume 13. Tbilisi.
• Folklore state Centre of Georgia, Georgian Chanting Foundation. (2020d). Georgian Chant Anthology, The Chanting Tradition of Western Georgia, Chants of Vespers. Vol. Volume 12. Tbilisi.
• Jordania, Joseph. (2004). 99 Georgian Songs: A Collection of Traditional Folk, Church and Urban Songs from Georgia. (Ed.) J. Mills. Wales-UK: Black Mountain Press.
• Jordania, Joseph. (2022). “Continuing Discussions on Scale Systems in Georgian Traditional Music.” Anzor Erkomaishvili and Contemporary Trends in the Performance and study of Georgian traditional and sacred music, Eds, J. Jordania and R. Tsutstumia: pp. 116-146. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
• Patarava, Dimitri. 2003. Georgian Church and Salkhino Hymns, Guruli Mode. Tbilisi.
• Scherbaum, Frank, Nana Mzhavanadze, Simha Arom, Sebastian Rosenzweig, and Meinard Müller. (2020). Tonal Organization of the Erkomaishvili Dataset: Pitches, Scales, Melodies and Harmonies. Potsdam: Universitätsverlag Potsdam.
• Scherbaum, Frank, Nana Mzhavanadze, Sebastian Rosenzweig, and Meinard Müller. (2022). “Tuning Systems of Traditional Georgian Singing Determined From a New Corpus of Field Recordings.” Musicologist 6(2):142–68. doi: 10.33906/musicologist.1068947.
• Shugliashvili, Davit. (2014). Georgian Church Hymns, Shemokmedi School. Tbilisi: Georgian Chanting Foundation & Tbilisi State Conservatory.
• Tarkhnishvili, Maro. (2008). Monument Protection and Sports of Georgia. Tbilisi: The Folklore State Centre of Georgia, Ministry of Culture.
• Tbilisi State Conservatoire. (2005). Georgian Folk Musical Creativity. Tbilisi.
• Tsereteli, Zaal; Levan Veshapidze. (2014). “On the Georgian Traditional Scale.” [The Seventh International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony] Eds. Rusudan Tsurtsumia and Joseph Jordania: pp. 288–295. Tbilisi: International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony of Tbilisi State Conservatoire (in Georgian and English).
• Tsereteli, Zaal; Levan Veshapidze. (2015). “Video of the Presentation ‘The Empirical Research of a Georgian Sound Scale.’” 2015 IAML/IMS Congress. New York City, USA.
• Veshapidze, Levan. (2006). Gurian Folk Songs. Tbilisi.
• Veshapidze, Levan; Sopho Kotrikadze. (2016). Folk Songs of Ajara. Tbilisi: Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Ajara Autonomous Republic, Folklore State Centre of Georgia.
• Wolfram Research, Inc. (2020). Mathematica. Version 12. Champaign, Illinois: Wolfram Research, Inc.