Challenges to computational rhythm analysis of traditional makam music in Turkey
The interplay between rhythm as a pattern of durations on the musical surface and the meter as the cognitive construct is governed by rhythmic classes referred to as usul in traditional makam music in Turkey (TMMT). We will first give an introduction into how it occurs in free improvisation, how it occurs in the presence of meter and how its related to melodic phrasing. We will then present how note onsets and durations are related to the usul, and compare the findings to research results in eurogenetic music. While this shows that usul impose a structure on compositions that is not so different than the influence of meter to euro-genetic music, we will report on the accuracy of state-of-the-art in rhythm analysis of Turkish music recordings. The results clearly show that the structural differences between a hypothetical meter in Turkish music and current models pose some complex research questions.