Mazzika  Maqam Control

 

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Contents of This Page
Overview
Maqam Selection
Maqam Hot Keys
Maqam-Control Menu

Overview
For the purpose of using Mazzika, a maqam is considered a mode in the Arabic musical scale. That is, it is a sequence of musical intervals covering an octave and repeating. Consequently, maqams are transposable. One can then think of each transposition of a maqam as a set of notes and a starting note called tonic (or "qarar", in Arabic).

Usually, each maqam has a typical (default) tonic. For example, if no tonic is mentioned, maqam Bayaty is considered to have tonic D ("Re"). When transposed to G, we call it Bayaty on G. In practice, each maqam is usually transposed only to a handful of non-default tonics. However, in theory, it can be transposed to any tonic.

In some maqams, the notes of the maqam depend on whether the musical movement in the melody is ascending or descending. For example, maqam Hegaz consists of the notes (D E F# G A B C) in the way up. In the way down, B is used instead of B.

Mazzika allows the user to control the above-mentioned aspects of maqams through the simple Maqam Control frame in the program's main window.

Maqam-Control Frame

Maqam Selection
The maqam-control frame has 2 drop-down lists; the first lists the available maqams and the second lists the possible tonic keys. When a maqam is selected from the maqam list, two things happen:

  1. The default tonic of the maqam is automatically selected in the Tonic list.
  2. The piano keys are shaped to reflect the selected maqam on the default tonic.

The user still has the option to pick a different tonic for the selected maqam. If the user selects another tonic, the piano keys will be re-shaped to reflect the maqam on the new tonic. The following figure shows the piano keys after selecting maqam Bayaty and tonic G ("Sol").

Keyboard shape forr maqam Bayaty on G

In addition to the pre-defined maqams, the maqam list includes an entry "--None--". Upon selecting this entry, no maqam will be in effect, and the piano keys will restore their normal non-maqam shape.

Important Note
The tonic drop-down list has piano keys, not musical notes (this should be obvious from the fact that the list does not include 1/4 tones). This might raise a question about the maqams whose tonics typically involve 1/4 tones, like Huzam, Iraq, and Sikah. In Mazzika, the 1/4-tone shifts in the notes of a maqam are already in the maqam definition. For example, the definition of maqam Huzam already has a 1/4-note shift up for the first note in the maqam. Accordingly, by selecting the piano key E as a tonic key, the 1/4-note shift up is automatically applied causing the tonic note to be correctly E.

Maqam Hot Keys
Many Arab-music pieces involve modulation; that is, maqam changes within the piece. Sometimes it is inconvenient for the user to interrupt his music playing for a moment in order to select a different maqam from the maqam-control frame. Assigning maqam hot keys allows the user to switch to particular maqams quickly using the function keys of the keyboard (F5 to F12). Selecting "Assign maqam hot keys" from the maqam-control frame brings up a form that allows the user to assign hot keys to maqams.

Maqam-Control Menu
The maqam-control frame has a menu button. When this menu button is clicked, it shows a pop-up menu related to maqams. Following is a description of the command items in the maqam-control menu.

Maqam-Control Frame

Disable off-maqam keys
This allows the user to enable/disable the keys which do not belong to the selected maqam.

When a maqam is selected, those piano keys not belonging to the maqam are dimmed but they are still active. When they are played using the keyboard, these keys still produce their corresponding sounds. This is quite reasonable because a melody may have a few notes off the maqam. However, it is also conceivable that there can be situations where it is desired that the off-maqam keys be totally disabled.

Use directional tuning
For the maqams whose notes depend on whether the musical movement in the melody is ascending or descending, this menu item controls whether to follow this bi-directionality, or to use the same notes in both directions.

Disable auto maqam
This allows the user to enable/disable automatic maqam changes during replay.

Mazzika can replay a MIDI file, and while it is being replayed, the piano keys are automatically animated as if the music is being played using them. Further, if the MIDI file was originally produced and saved using Mazzika, it will contain information about maqam changes within the saved music. This enables Mazzika to automatically reflect maqam changes on the piano keys during replay. This feature is valuable for educational and training purposes. In some rare cases, however, the user might want to replay a MIDI file without showing the maqam changes during replay (e.g., in a music exam setting). Selecting "Disable auto maqam" prevents Mazzika from showing maqam changes during replay.

Assign maqam hot keys
This brings up a form that enables the user to assign hot keys to maqams (refer to "Maqam Hot Keys").