Parataxis: A Framework of Structure Analysis for Instrumental Folk Music

Background in Ethnomusicology. By comparing the instrumental music of the Balkans with the music of the Aegean, one can point out a common ground regarding structure, which we shall call ‘the technique of parataxis’: the act of improvising by re-arranging a series of melodic units, hence creating form. Little research has been done regarding this technique. Koglin (2003) depicts the musical structure through special graphs, Theodosopoulou (2005) codifies such repertoire from Crete, while Sarris (2007a) uses tables for analyzing Thracian repertoire. Background in Computing. Computing is regarded as part of musical scholarship (Parncutt 2007). Knowledge representation of musical data by using tags and metadata has appeared to be of great significance in recent studies (Chryssochoidis, Delviniotis, & Kouroupetroglou, 2007). Data mining and knowledge discovery in databases have attracted a significant amount of attention lately(Fayyad, Piatetsky-Shapiro, & Smyth, 1996). However, a few studies have focused on folk instrumental music by combining annotation based on acoustic analysis and native musicians. Aims. In this study, we propose a methodological framework for analyzing folk instrumental repertoire that follows the technique of parataxis, which can easily be used by scholars as well as by amateur researchers and folk musicians. Main contribution. A selected piece is annotated with tags. Segmentation and parameter value set are performed under two different perspectives: from the perspective of an ethnomusicologist using tools of systematic musicological analysis and from the perspective of native informants, who are asked to find parts in the piece that are distinctive and who comment on them, thus producing another group of metadata. The method for the manipulation of the data includes the modeling, designing and developing of a relational Database, based on the entityrelation model that will be produced. Implications. Our research can hopefully provide a useful tool for the ethnomusicologist in order to analyze and understand instrumental folk music. Folk musicians, teachers, and students can also use it in order to code information transmitted through oral tradition. With all that data lying side by side, research can be more fruitful, thanks to modern computer tools.