A Scheme for Systematic Classification of the Singing Voice in Indian Music by R. Sathyanarayana

article published in "Gav®Àa¸¡" Vol. xi, no. 1, July 1995, Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta

A Scheme for Systematic Classification of the Singing Voice in Indian Music

R. Sathyanarayana

1. Introduction

Sa´g¢ta is traditionally held in India as comprising singng, instrumental music and dancing.1 Singing is accorded the pride of place in this trilogy.2 Except a few forms of instrumental music, most of Indian music is modelled on vocal music. This has been so for some three thousand years and is true even today. Yet, it is amazing that the history of Indian music reveals little or no systematic investigation carried out into the nature and scope of the singing voice, except perhaps incidentally in the early Pr¡ti¿¡khya-s and áikÀ¡-s. 3 Some treatises on Indian music such as Mata´ga's B¤hadd®¿¢ (c. 7th. cent. A.D.), N¡nyad®va's Sarasvat¢h¤day¡la´k¡rah¡ra (11th. cent. A.D.), P¡r¿vad®va's Sa´g¢tasamayas¡ra (betw. 1160 and 1330 A.D. but probably c. 1200 A.D.) and á¡r´gad®va's Sa´g¢taratn¡kara (c. 1230 A.D.) 4 have recorded interesting and important observations on classification of the singing voice. Unfortunately, this interest and investigation were not sustained in the following centuries; however some interesting and useful, empirical formulae of herbal recipes, called K¡À¶hauÀadhi are given in some early works on phonetics and music in India. The present writer has carried out some qualitative investigation on some of these formulae and has found them moderately promising, but systematic investigation on these is still a desideratum.

Studies in Indian music today are preponderantly addressed to historical or descriptive issues or the so-called 'practical' or pragmatic issues relating to the content and form in performed music. Little work has been done in India on the singing voice in the interdisciplinary areas of physiology, psychoacoustics, aesthetics and musicology. In fact even the acoustic or psychoacoustic parameters of a good singing voice yet remain to be established through experimental procedures. Thus the occurrence of a good singing voice is still a matter of chance or freak in Indian music. There is little, if any at all, systematic effort in the traditional gurukula system and even less so in modern, institutionalised music teaching to determine objectively the merits and demerits of the voice of an aspirant to vocal music and still less effort to adopt or adapt procedure to enrich the merits and remedy the defects in the voice. Another serious and urgent need is voice therapy; this could - and should - benefit thousands of singers in adolescence, senascence and pathology. Such therapy would greatly alleviate pathalogical disorders of the voice. Rehabilitation of

such singers in the musical world as also the prolongation of their successful musical activity is an important socio-cultural need. There is at least a nominal recognition of the need for voice training in art music - especially Hindustani music but none at all in Karnataka music. And there is not even a vestige of such effort in the vast field of light classical and film music in which a pseudo-sweet voice generally parades as good singing voice. Again, there is the need for extending the scope of such work to objectively determine, evaluate and engineer the parameters for optimal excellence in different styles of singing (g¡yak¢) in Hindustani music which is related to specific musical forms such as dhrupad, khy¡la, ¶humr¢ etc. Methodologically, there are two aspects to any work as outlined above: First of these is to develop a theoretical model which is consistent with i. the foundational and formative concepts which characterise Indian music i.e. with the general frame of its parent culture and ii. the specific form and content which this music has assumed when emerging from such frame. The second is to analyse the Indian singing voice quality so as to be consistent with the realities and special problems which are peculiar to Indian music. A convenient methodological approach is to enunciate one or more uniform criteria on which available, desirable or desired voices may be classified, so that techniques and procedures may be developed to engineer the available voice, within the parameter of its inherent resources and limitations to a more desirable or desired voice. The aim of this presentation is to show that a systematic attempt to classify singing voice on objective criteria already exists in early texts on Indian music. This theoretical model will be presented here in an augmented form. Aspects related to this such as requirements of a good singing voice (acoustical, technical, musicological), voice pathology, corrective or ameliorative procedures etc. have been described by me elsewhere. 5

2. Conceptual and Empirical Foundation (a.) Trid°Àa According to S°m®¿vara the singing voice, ¿¡r¢ra, is so called because it is coeval with ¿ar¢ra, body. Its excellence lies in snigdhat¡ (glossiness, unctuousness) and is inherent to it as is fragrance in flower, lustre in pearl and sweetness in sugarcane. Vocal excellence accrues only by virtue acquired in previous births, through jµ¡na-y°ga or by worshipping God, but never by mere practice. 6 So, the qualities of the singing voice must be sought in the constitution of the human body. Equally expert in the sciences of music and medicine, á¡r´gad®va is the* first authority in Indian music to correlate singing voice quality with trid°Àa, a postulate which is both foundational and formative in the science of Ëyurv®da.

The constitution of the human being is physical, being made up of air, fire and water according to an ancient (anonymous authority quoted by Su¿ruta. 7 These three factors are called pitta, v¡ta (v¡yu) and kapha (¿l®Àman) in Ëyurv®da, characterised by the three gu¸a-s sattva, rajas and tamas respectively. These 'd°Àa-s' are responsible for all the functionings of the organism and play a dual role : When normal, they support the body-mind complex and are hence called dh¡tu-s; when excited or out of balance, they are pathogenic and are therefore called 'd°Àa-s'. In Ëyurv®da the term 'dh¡tu' denotes collectively seven structural aspects of this complex viz. plasma tissue or chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and sperm. Dh¡tu-s must be distinguished from d°Àa-s; the former are structural in nature and are body constituents while d°Àa-s are functional and behavioural processes. The terms v¡ta, pitta and ¿l®Àman do not refer to the gross, physical materials wind, bile and phlegm but are more or less abstractions and should be regarded rather as referring to the windy aspect, fiery mechanism and watery network of the organism. The n¡·¢-s, cakra-s and granthi-s postulated in y°ga-¿¡stra are analogous. In the course of its evolution the concept of trid°Àa has oscillated between 'constituent' and 'potentially morbid'. Su¿ruta regards them as factors which form the body while Caraka and V¡gbha¶a incline to the latter view. The body is verily the product of food : 'd®h° hi ¡h¡ra-sambhavaÅ'. 8 Body means the totality of the transformation of five forms of matter, a totality that becomes the substratum of consciousness : '¿ar¢raÆ n¡ma c®tan¡dhiÀ¶h¡nabh£taÆ paµca-mah¡bh£ta-vik¡ra-samud¡y¡tmakam.'9 'Food which is made up of five-fold matter (paµca-bh£ta) is fully transformed in the body which is (also) made up of the (self-same) five-fold matter : and its five-fold properties go to add (to the corresponding properties in the body)' : Paµca-bh£t¡tmak® d®h® hi ¡h¡raÅ paµcabhautikaÅ l Vip¡kaÅ paµcadh¡ samyag gu¸¡n sv¡nabhivardhay®t ll10 In order to explain the transformation of food that is natural matter into body matter, Caraka makes the following postulates 11: (i) The microcosm is the miniature of the macrocosm. (ii) Both are composed of the self-same five elements, earth, water etc. (iii) Fire abides in each element of the body-microcosm; it cooks the corresponding element in the food into the body element. (iv) The food so cooked is transformed into two kinds of substances : a. Nourishing or nutrient substance (pras¡da) called rasa (vital sap): b. Waste products or impurities (mala) called kitta (excrement).

(v) Pras¡da dh¡tu becomes individuated into rasa, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen. It produces the five kinds of substances which form the sense organs, body-joints, ligaments, mucus etc. Kitta similarly individuates itself into sweat, urine, faeces and other similar impurities which are excreted through the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair follicles, genital organs, hair, nails etc. Its main products are pitta, v¡ta and ¿l®Àman which remain in the body unexcreted. (vi) The dh¡tu-s and the mala-s maintain an optimum balance in proportion which is consistent with the size and age of the body. The excretable mala-s such as urine, sweat and faeces must be promptly eliminated from the body; otherwise they disturb the balance. In the process of such dichotomic division of transformed food into pras¡da dh¡tu and mala dh¡tu, the d°¿a-s are affixed to pras¡da dh¡tu if they are optimally in their most propitious qualitative and quantitative proportion (svan¡ma); they thus result in health. If they are not so, such imbalance results in disease. That is, the dh¡tu (sap, blood etc.) is in itself neutral; it becomes pras¡da or mala depending upon whether the trid°¿a-s are balanced or not. The trid°¿a-s are essentially emergent and functional. Each d°Àa is associated with its own specific body region and with its own physiological functions, its own diurnal and seasonal variation etc. Each has its own caya (arousal in its own specific body region), prak°pa (excitation and consequent overflow into other regions), pra¿amana (normalisation or tranquilisation, resulting in its return to normal region). Optimal caya results in health, prak°pa in disease and pra¿amana is treatment. Each d°Àa is a complex of processes and phases. But all three function collectively with a common focus and towards a common goal - health or disease. Body constitution derived from the excess of a single d°Àa, such as pure v¡ta prak¤ti is but rarely encountered. Constitutions determined by a pair of d°Àa-s viz. V¡ta-pitta, V¡ta-¿l®Àman, Pitta-¿l®Àman are more common and are called dvandvaja. Admixture of all three is called sannip¡ta or mi¿ra. It is true that the trid°Àa-s are largely abstractions or postulates; but they are based on firm, empirical, systematically observed, statistical behavioural patterns of the body-mind complex. This has made systematic typology possible in Ëyurv®da. Two such classificatory criteria may be briefly discussed here because they would enable relating voice typology at an empirical level; these are psychophysical traits or the body-mind complex and the n¡·¢ phenomenon.

(b.) Traits and Temperament Thus v¡ta prak¤ti may be diagnosed by such traits as scanty hair, lean and fragile figure, high body temperature, dry skin, dark complexion and low voice. Such a person has a weak constitution and a weak digestion. He has low resistence and immunity and is therefore frequently sick. Ailments are mostly of the nervous system; he is very intelligent, imaginative and highly receptive. He is likely to be nervous, timid, suspicious, jealous, fickle-minded, loquacious and quick in likes and dislikes. He is a light sleeper and when he dreams, he soars in the sky.12 According to Trivikrama-pa¸·ita, V¡taprak¤ti is characterised by windiness, grey complexion, dislike of cold, fickleness in courage, intelligence, humourous foppishness, love of music and humour, quarrelsomeness, liking for sweet, pungent, sour and hot food, suspicious of women, limited progeny, etc. besides the above traits. 13 According to Su¿ruta, the constitution dominated by v¡ta produces a person who is ugly, jealous, brutal, timid, unstable (in friendship), ungrateful and disturbed in sleep. He keeps awake at night, loves music, has dry skin, dry hair, protruding veins. He is given to wandering, biting of teeth and nails, prattling and rapid walking; he is disturbed in sleep; his mind is confused and gaze unsteady. He has neither much property, nor many friends nor much money. The habits of such persons resemble those of goats, camels, frogs, dogs, vultures, crows, asses etc. 14 Constitution dominated by pitta produces a person who has a good appetite, good digestion, unsteady muscles, loose joints, glowing complexion and premature greying. The body tends to be soft and odorous. He is intellignet, imaginative, irritable, impatient, proud, haughty, boastful. He has burning sensations in parts of his body, disturbed sleep, poor perseverance, unstable moods, good stamina. His urine is high-coloured and eyes are yellow-tinged. He is susceptible to digestive disorders. 15 Su¿ruta observes the following temperament and traits: the pitta dominated person is talented, inventive, energetic. He emits sweat and foul odour; his colour is yellowish, limbs are loose, his nails, eyes, palate, tongue, lips and soles of the feet are red. His head is bald, face is ugly and body is wrinkled. He is always disgruntled, overeaten, irritable, easily appeased, avoids hot things. He is moderately strong and has average (middling) life span. He is a good orator, irresistible in combat. In dreams he sees gold, fire, lightning, meteors and plants such as pal¡¿a and kar¸ik¡ra. He is prone to diseases of the mouth; shows no compassion to refractory adversaries but is mild and full of concession to those who yield; in nature such a person resembles serpent, owl, cat, monkey, tiger, bear, mongoose, gandharva or yakÀa. 16 According to V¢rar¡j®ndra, the following additional traits characterise the pitta-prak¤ti person: intense hunger and thirst, red hair, little body hair, liking for garlands, perfumes, sweetmeats, astringent, bitter, bilious foods, drinks; sweaty, malodorous, loquacious, lustful, angry; small, tawny eyes which redden when intoxicated or in the sun; ferocious with adversaries; sees the hill lotus tree (kar¸ik¡ra) and bastard teak (butea frondusa) in bloom, sun, lightning, meteors and fire in dreams. 17

A person produced by constitution determined by dominant ¿l®Àman has a well-integrated body mechanism, a robust physique, a well-proportioned but heavily built body. Such person is the healthiest of the lot. He is prone to obesity, vigorous sex activities, sluggish habits; he is strong, courageous, free from envy and greed; he has a great endurance power, firm gait, even steps, heavy undisturbed sleep. He does not sweat much; his digestion is weak. He is prone to ailments of respiratory and lymphatic systems. He sees watery stretches e.g. lakes and rivers in dreams. 18 Su¿ruta describes the phlegmatic person as follows : his skin complexion is like d£rv¡ grass, blue lotus, green, sword-blade. He is handsome and attractive. He is courageous, grateful, hardy, unaddicted to pleasures, robust. He likes sweetmeats; he has retentive memory and does not forget a wrong done to him. His eyes are clear and white; his hair is firm, curled, jet black; he is rich. His voice is resonant like thunderclap, m¤da´ga or lion. The corners of his eyes are rosy; his limbs are very proportionate; his complexion, bright and smooth. His tendencies are lofty and noble. He vever feels tired of work and respects elders. He is given to the study of science. He is steady in friendship and acquisition of wealth. He studies carefully the pros and cons before taking any action, he readily gives large sums of money; his words are replete with wisdom and judgement. He reveres learned men. In dreams, he sees lotuses, swans, cakrav¡ka-s and charming pools of water. In temperament and trait, he resembles Brahm¡, Indra and Varu¸a among gods and lion, elephant, horse, bull, among animals and eagle or swan in birds. 19 V¢rar¡j®ndra further adds : a complexion of lotus, gold, g°r°cana or pearl-shell, soft skin, influential, dharm¡tm¡, hides his antipathies, clever, polite: not easily tired, generous, scholarly, courageous, self-sacrificing, venerable, tolerant. He sees in his dreams lakes lined with birds and lotuses, thunderclouds, Brahm¡, Rudra, Varu¸a, Indra, falcon, cow, elephant in rut, horse, lion or bull. 20 Su¿ruta asserts that these natural tendencies will never suffer extreme change except at death; many temperaments are blends of two or even three constitutions.21 It may be recalled that the d°Àa-s are related to gu¸a-s. Drawing upon Caraka22, á¡r´gad®va offers an analogical typology based on gu¸a-s23; there are seven kinds of s¡ttvika bodies, six of rajasa and three of t¡masika. I have discussed these elsewhere. 24 (c.) N¡·¢ N¡·¢, also called sn¡yu, vas¡, hiÆsr¡, dhaman¢, dhar¡, tantuk¢, j¢vitajµ¡ and sir¡ in Ëyurv®da is loosely and inaccurately translated as pulse. N¡·¢ is much more than pulse. The following is a brief account based eclectically on diverse sources. 25 There are in the human body, 35.5 million n¡·¢-s, thick or thin, each terminating in a body hair. They meet near the navel in a bunch called the canda equina. They radiate upward, downward and front and back. The substrate of all this is the vital air

which pervades them in the form of pr¡¸a etc. The n¡·¢-s succour and sustain the body through the juices of food and drink which flows through them. Those that carry the qualities of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch are the more important among the n¡·¢-s. The body is held together tautly by seven hundred n¡·¢-s. Twenty-four among these are prominent which pervade the body from head to foot and of these, the foremost lies along the right hand and right foot in men and along the left hand and left foot in women. The ten 'winds' pr¡¸a, ap¡na, sam¡na, ud¡na, vy¡na, n¡ga, k£rma, k¤kara, d®vadatta and dhanaµjaya flow along all the n¡·¢-s; the n¡·¢-s which enter the eyes, ears, nostrils, tongue and skin serve as agents for the perception of (visual) form, sound, smell, taste and touch respectively. Sleep results when the mind merges or dissolves into the n¡·¢ called pur¢tat¢. The n¡·¢ Vi¿v°dar¢ extends 32 cubits in length. One cubit of this lies in the neck region, 10 cubits in the ¡m¡¿aya, ten in pacyam¡n¡¿aya and another ten in the pakv¡¿aya. The remaining one cubit lies in the rectum in the form of a whorl. The juice of the digested food enters in the n¡·¢ at the navel and is impelled by wind to flow throughout the body. From the tortoise-like navel radiate eight large n¡·¢-s, four of which lie in the thorax and four in the back. The latter proceed upward to the head, each branching out into two; one of these splits into five n¡·¢-s one of which reach the eyes, one the nostrils and one, the tongue. One reaches the nostrils and the other the upper and lower lip. Besides these, each of two n¡·¢-s splits, in the hands, into five and extends into the fingers; these are responsible for manual acts such as stretching, flexing etc. Again, two downward n¡·¢-s extend to the feet, each splitting to be sought under ring-finger and forefinger, pitta-¿l®Àman excess is perceived under midfinger and ringfinger. Excess of all three, called sannip¡ta manifests in the (equally) dominant n¡·¢ beat beneath all three fingers. If the n¡·¢ beat is in slow (or dull), middle or fast tempo, discrepancy in v¡ta, pitta and ¿l®Àman should be inferred respectively. In v¡ta-pitta discrepancy the n¡·¢ beat is crooked (irregular) and leaping; in v¡ta-¿l®Àman discrepancy it is crooked and slow; in pitta-¿l®Àman discrepancy it is slow and leaping. D°Àa in v¡ta, pitta and ¿l®Àman results in a n¡·¢ beat which resembles the gait respectively of a snake, quail (perdix chinensis) and swan. If all three are discrepant, the gait of the n¡·¢ beat resembles the gaits of the quail, partridge and the vartaka variety of the quail. The pitta n¡·¢ is warm, the ¿l®Àman n¡·¢ is cold and v¡ta n¡·¢ is in between; they are unctuous, hot, fast and dull respectively in the morning, noon, afternoon and night. The v¡ta n¡·¢ is felt by the forefinger, pitta n¡·¢ by the midfinger and the ¿l®Àman n¡·¢ by the ring finger of the physician. Similarly, if the n¡·¢ beat is very fast at the (physician's) forefinger, midfinger and ring finger, it indicates respectively pitta, v¡ta and ¿l®Àman n¡·¢. According to another authority n¡·¢ beat is crooked in excessive v¡ta, unstable in excessive pitta and stable in excessive ¿l®Àman. Its gait resembles that of a snake in

v¡ta-pitta excess, leaping in v¡ta-pitta (?) excess. In a healthy person the n¡·¢ is strong and stable like that of an elephant or swan. Such n¡·¢ is unctuous in the morning, hot in the afternoon and fast in the night. Again, in disorders of v¡ta, the n¡·¢ beat follows the pattern of the movement of snake or leech; in disorders of pitta it is like the gait of a crow, the t¡vaka bird (francoline partridge) or frog; in disorders of ¿l®Àman, it resembles the movement of the king swan, peacock, turtle, dove, spotty-necked pigeon or the hen, in v¡ta-pitta diseases it is frequently winding like that of snake and into five branches which lie in the toes. A ninth n¡·¢, called li´ga n¡·¢ enters the genital organ; here it splits into two; one of these serves as agent for excretion while the other is a vehicle for semen in men. Ëyurv®da teaches of eight positions in the body in which the n¡·¢-s may be clearly perceived and examined : one in each hand, one in each foot, one on each side of the neck, one beneath each nostril. The one in the hand lies for three (Indian) inches at the end of the forearm, in the wrist. The one in the foot lies for three (Indian) inches below the ankle. The n¡·¢ in the neck extends for two (Indian) inches below the root of the neck; those beneath the nostrils extend for one (Indian) inch. Pr¡¸a abides in these positions. Its state is determined by the proportion of the trid°Àa-s viz. v¡ta, pitta and ¿l®Àman i.e., health by their optimal balance and ill-health by imbalance, resulting from the excessiveness of one or more of these. The physician squeezes the right (in women, the left) forearm of the patient and places his left middle three fingers on the n¡·¢ beating under the thumb. Conditions for n¡·¢ examination such as the states of the physician and patient are laid down. The phases of the trid°Àa at different parts of the day and in different seasons are described. The equilibrium or excessiveness of the trid°Àa-s is inferred from two parameters of the n¡·¢ beats viz. position and temporal pattern. Thus v¡ta excess is manifested in the n¡·¢ beat under the thumb, while the pitta and ¿l®Àman excesses are manifested if the n¡·¢ beat is prominent under the midfinger and ring-finger respectively. Dual excess is manifested in both the regions or in between; v¡ta-pitta excess is observed between forefinger and midfinger; v¡ta-¿l®Àman excess should be recurringly like a frog's leap; in v¡ta-¿l®Àman diseases, it is like the king swan or snake (!); in pitta-¿l®Àman excess, it is like the leap of frog or the walking of peacock. The sannip¡ta (i.e. mixed) n¡·¢ is like the (mixed) movements of francoline partridge, common partridge (tittir¢) and quail; or like the rapid and (then) slow pecking of a woodpecker. Ëyurv®da also describes the effect of food and drink of various tastes and qualities on the n¡·¢ as, of also diurnal and seasonal variations.

3. Theoretical Model (a.) Trid°Àa-s and Voice Quality Harip¡lad®va (c.1175 A.D.) is the earliest known authority to classify the singing voice*. He describes four kinds : kh¡hula (lit. sweet), b°mbala (lit. bamboo), n¡r¡¶a and mi¿ra (mixed). Kh¡hula (called k¡vula in early Kannada epic poetry) is ranged in all three registers, firm, bold and sweet to the ear like honey. Bambala (called b°mbaka by other authorities and bambala, lit. heavy in early Kannada epic poetry) is deep, powerful, audible at a distance but somewhat lacking in appeal. N¡r¡¶a (lit. fluid?) can touch the three registers, very appealing to both ear and mind and partakes of female tone quality. Mi¿ra is a mixture of the above qualities, rapidly and intensely mobile in the high register, deep, full of appeal and audible at a distance. 26 P¡r¿vad®va (1160-1330 A.D.) defines dhvani as sound which shines in clear articulation gradually ascending the three registers. He also classifies dhvani into k¡bula, bambala, n¡r¡¶a and mi¿ra. Of these, k¡bula is abundant in the low register and has the quality of 'sweetness'. Bambala (mentioned by other authorities as b°mbaka) is hollow (without kernel) like the stem of the castor plant (ricinus communis) and is abundant in the middle register. N¡r¡¶a is sans sweetness, abundant in the high register; mi¿ra is an admixture of these three. Mi¿ra may be n¡ra¶a-k¡bula, k¡bula-bambala, n¡r¡¶a-bambala, or n¡r¡¶a-k¡bula-bambala.27 However, it is only á¡r´gad®va (c. 1230 A.D.) who relates these voice types to the trid°Àa. His treatment of the subject is the most systematic and elaborate in all the literature in Indian music. 28 Thus, kh¡hula is generated by ¿l®Àman, is unctuous, sweet and delicate; it is called ¡·illa if it is confined to the low and middle registers only. N¡r¡¶a is the result of pitta; it is deep, blending and dense in all three registers. B°mbaka is generated by v¡ta; it is hollow,rough, high-pitched like the braying of a donkey,heavy, hard. The mi¿ra type of voice is born of sannip¡ta and is a mixture of the qualities of the above three types. á¡r´gad®va then proceeds to analyse the mi¿ra type into subvarieties by a process of permutation and combination. He lays down that compatibility of quality is a necessary and sufficient condition in combining the qualities. For example, sweetness and heaviness are imcompatible mutually; so are denseness and hollowness. So they should not be, or are not found in nature, mixed. His words in this connection29 admit of an inference of deliberate mixing i.e. voice type or voice quality engineering, though his commentator SiÆhabh£p¡la interprets the passage to mean occurrence in nature. 30 There are three binary combinations viz. kh¡hula-n¡r¡¶a, n¡r¡¶a-b°mbala and kh¡hula-b°mbala and one tertiary combination viz. kh¡hula-n¡r¡¶a-b°mbala. The last, minus hollowness and roughness is regarded as the most excellent singing voice type. Kh¡hula-n¡r¡¶a type is superior. Kh¡hula-b°mbala is middling, while b°mbala-

n¡r¡¶a is inferior. A combination of hollowness and roughness results in the worst voice. The binary combinations altogether yield some 22 kinds of the singing voice. These may be listed here in terms of qualities. The singing voice is eclectically analysed into some fourteen elements, specific combinations of which yield a particular voice quality. These elements are snigdhat¡ (glossy, unctuous) tristh¡na-vy¡pti (range of three registers), m¡dhurya (sweetness, appeal), niÅs¡ra (hollow), ghana (dense, compact), gambh¢ra (deep, resonant), uccatara (high pitched, shrill), r£kÀa (rough, dry, parched), sth£la (heavy, thick), k°mala (tender), sukum¡ra (delicate), l¢na (blending, concealed, melting), paruÀa (hard, harsh, sharp, rugged, stiff, brittle) and m¤du (soft). A. Binary Combinations I. Kh¡hula-N¡r¡¶a 1. Ûadhura-snigdha-k°mala 2. K°mala-snigdha-ghana 3. Madhura-m¤du-tristh¡navy¡pta 4. Gambh¢ra-m¤du-tristh¡navy¡pta 5. Snigdha-m¤du-tristh¡navy¡pta-ghana 6. Madhura-m¤du-tristh¡navy¡pta-ghana 7. Madhura-snigdha-m¤du-tristh¡navy¡pta 8. Madhura-snigdha-gambh¢ra-ghana-tristh¡navy¡pta 9. Snigdha-k°mala-gambh¢ra-ghana-tristh¡navy¡pta-l¢na 10. Snigdha-k°mala-madhura-s¡ndra (ghana)-l¢na-tristh¡navy¡pta-

gambh¢ra II. Kh¡hula-B°mbaka 1. Snigdha-k°mala-niÅs¡ra 2. Madhura-m¤du-r£kÀa 3. M¤du-snigdha-niÅs¡ra-uccatara 4. K°mala-snigdha-niÅs¡ra-sth£la 5. Snigdha-k°mala-niÅs¡ra-uccatara-sth£la 6. Madhura-k°mala-r£kÀa-niÅs¡ra-sth£la III. N¡r¡¶a-B°mbaka 1. Ghana-tristh¡navy¡pta-r£kÀa 2. Ghana-gambh¢ra-r£kÀa 3. L¢na-sth£la-niÅs¡-r£kÀa 4. L¢na-ghana-uccatara-sth£la 5. Tristh¡navy¡pta-ghana-gambh¢ra-l¢na-r£kÀa

6. Tristh¡navy¡pta-l¢na-niÅs¡ra-r£kÀa-sth£la

B. Tertiary Combinations Sannip¡ta (mixture of v¡ta, pitta and ¿l®Àman) 1. Snigdha-tristh¡navy¡pta-niÅs¡ra 2. M¤du-madhura-ghana-gambh¢ra-uccatara-r£kÀa 3. Snigdha-k°mala-ghana-l¢na-sth£la-uccatara 4. Snigdha-k°mala-tristh¡navy¡pta-l¢na-ghana-niÅs¡ra-sth£la-uccatara 5. Madhura-l¢na-tristh¡navy¡pta-r£kÀa-sth£la-niÅs¡ra-uccatara 6. Madhura-snigdha-k°mala-tristh¡navy¡pta-ghana-gambh¢ra-l¢na-

uccatara 7. Madhura-m¤du-gambh¢ra-l¢na-tristh¡navy¡pta-r£kÀa-uccatara-

niÅs¡ra 8. Madhura-k°mala-ghana-l¢na-tristh¡navy¡pta-r£kÀa-uccatara-sth£la

á¡r´gad®va31 avers that notwithstanding this enumeration and description of thirty varieties, there is an endless variety of subtle distinctions which are left undescribed by him for fear of excessive length of his treatise. Thus he proposes a model based on both empirical and theoretical considerations to cover every possible variation in the quality of the singing voice. Such a model has the following merits : i. Analysis of the quality of singing voice into component elements. ii. Description or definition of component elements in common or

colloquial musical parlance. iii. Systematic permutation of these elements into desired or specific

combinations. iv. Progressive variation in permutation resulting in progressive

derivability. v. Bivalency in correlation : empirical parameters (voice quality

components) related to theoretical postulates of fundamental body constitution (trid°Àa).

vi. Enunciation of the principle of compatibility / incompatibility among components to account for merits / demerits in the singing voice.

(b.) Elements of Voice Quality In India the phoneticist and the musicologist have been aware for nearly two millennia of the role played by various elements in determining singing voice quality. They have defined these by extensive, careful analysis. The phoneticist often makes an oblique approach to the problem whereas the musicologist is direct, immediate and articulate. For example, N¡rada defines some of these elements incidental to the characterisation of the ten merits of song (i.e. singing). 32 i. Vyakta : Clear and effective articulation of the word content in both

phonetic and grammatical structure. ii. P£r¸a : Completeness in the union of syllable, word and prosody and in filling this with svara and ¿ruti i.e. tonal content to the

optimal best. iii. Prasanna : Expression without faltering, stammering or hesitation. iv. Sukum¡ra : Delicacy in diction in soft syllabic and tone material v. Ala´k¡ra : (Uniformity of) tone in low, middle and high registers. vi. Sama : Appropriate dynamics such as crescendo and diminuendo. vii. Rakta : Coincidence of voice with the flute and v¢¸¡. viii. álakÀ¸a : Smooth, moderate; neither too fast, nor too slow, neither too low nor too high. ix. Vik¤À¶a : Pronunciation in high pitch. x. Madhura : Natural richness in charming words, syllables and quality.

á¡r´gad®va adopts these definitions with some modifications which will be

presently studied. Bharata Muni is the first known authority to deal with voice qualities in Indian music. He describes six of these qualities33 :

i. ár¡vaka is audible at distance. ii. Ghana is dense (not hollow). iii. Snigdha is dhvani which is not rough, dry, parched. iv. Madhura is pleasing to the mind. v. Avadh¡na (attention) is exact intonation, neither underpitched nor overpitched. vi. Tristh¡na¿°bh¢ is sweet tone uniformly in all the three registers. Elsewhere, he enumerates voice qualities as p£r¸asvara, vicitravar¸a,

tristh¡na¿°bh¢, trilaya, trim¡rga, rakta, sama, ¿lakÀ¸a, ala´k¤ta, sukha, prasanna (pra¿asta) and madhura. 34 Again, he describes a singer as possessed of a pure, unctuous, sweet-tone-enriched voice, expert in laya, t¡la, kal¡p¡ta, pram¡¸a, faultless, sweet, unctuous, continuous, even, appealing, auspicious voice. 35

N¡nyad®va upholds these views by quoting Bharata. 36 S°m®¿vara again, defines some of these elements : according to him dhvani is

n¡da which is similar in quality to and blends with the flute and v¢¸¡; madhuradhvani is sweet like the call of the koil; if it is pleasurable even when high pitched, it is compact and not thin, it is called ¿r¡vaka, if it has m¡dhurya and other qualities as also clearly audible from a distance or among babel of sound (in an orchestra?); tristh¡na¿°bh¢ dhvani is uniformly melodious in all three registers, even though high pitched; it is best among the best voices. 37 P¡r¿vad®va also mentions five elements of voice quality : m¡dhurya, ¿r¡vakatva, snigdhatva, ghanat¡ and sth¡naka-traya-¿°bitva. He takes note of the fact that appeal of the singing voice may lie only in one or two registers or in all three; thus voice is said to be ka·¡·a (ka·¡la means lustrous in Kannada) if it is uniformly sweet in all three registers; it is madhura if it is sweet only in the low and middle registers; if it can enlighten the r¡ga only in the high register it is defined as p®¿ala (pausala?). If it is an admixture of these, that is if it is sweet sometimes in mandra, madhya or t¡ra and sometimes in mandra and madhya

and sometimes in all three, it is said to be bahubha´g¢ (many-postured). He then proceeds to define madhura as sweet quality of the voice : snigdha is emotive voice and not rough or dry even when high-pitched; ghana voice is dense and correctly intones the notes; if it is sweet, lustrous and splendid in all three registers it is defined as tristh¡na¿°bh¢.38 á¡r´gad®va treats the subject comprehensively. He describes as many as fifteen elements of voice quality. 38 : i. M¤À¶a is pleasing to the ear (sensuous). ii. Madhura (is sweet and) remains undistorted (and without broadening) in the three registers. iii. C®h¡la is high pitched, mature (bold), neither thick nor thin, sweet,

appealing, polished and compct; it is possessed by female voices and till puberty in male voices (the difference in quality between the male, female voice was ascribed in medieval India to the development of a special bone or cartilege in the larynx in the male at adolescence which caused the voice to 'break'.

iv. Tristh¡naka is uniform in lustre etc. throughout the three registers. v. Sukh¡vaha is pleasing to the mind. vi. Pracura is heavy, thick.

vii. K°mala is tender like the voice of the koil. viii. G¡·ha is strong. ix. ár¡vaka (clearly) audible afar. x. Karu¸a illumines the listener's mind with pathos or compassion. xi. Ghana is compact, dense, audible afar. xii. Snigdha is audible afar, neither thick nor thin, not harsh or rough, is unctuous. xiii. álakÀ¸a is smooth, polished, continuous like the strand of oil. xiv. Raktiyukta is full of appeal, generates attraction. xv. Chavim¡n is faultless, lustrous. Further, á¡r´gad®va borrows the concepts of ten qualities of song i.e. singing, from N¡rad¡'s áikÀ¡ but modifies them or adopts them to the autonomy of music.40 i. Vyakta is clarity in articulation of syllable, word, svara and r¡ga. ii. P£r¸a is being replete with (all) organs of the song, with gamaka and

in prosodial structure. iii. Prasanna is instantaneous intelligibility of meaning. iv. Sukum¡rat¡ is tenderness of voice. v. Ala´k¤ta is extensivity in the three registers. vi. Sama is equitable distribution of registers in syllabic (? melodic phraseoloy) content and in rhythm content. vii. Surakta is complete fusion of voice with the tones of the v¢¸¡ and the flute.

viii. álakÀ¸a is smoothness in (all) the registers and (all) the tempi. ix. Vik¤À¶a is high-pitched pronunciation. x. Madhura has abundant charm and popular appeal. Demerit in a singing voice is regarded as the absence of merit. However,

á¡r´gad®va is explicit and detailed on this subject also. 41 He lists them as lacking in resonance, harshness (dryness, roughness or brittleness) lacking in appeal (i.e. in colouring the mind), hollowness, distortion in intonation (vaisvarat¡), thinness (reediness), grating (karka¿a) etc. Thus attributes or elements in good quality or bad quality in singing voice may be resolved along the psycho-physical, psycho-physiological and psycho-acoustical dimensions.

4. Suggestions

It is evident from the foregoing that medieval Indian music theory postulated a model of the singing voice based on both theoretical and empirical consideration such as - i. Enunciation of postulates of fundamental body constitution and

relating them to behavioural patterns. ii. Correlating these postulates and therefore the behavioural patterns to broad voice types. iii. Characterising each voice type in terms of quality attributes or elements. iv. Deriving a naturally occurring voice quality, a desirable / required or undesirable voice quality as a specific combination of these elements. This model may be further validated by introducing further objective

parameters and verificatory or predictive procedures. Thus each of the above attributes or elements could be related by analysis to acoustic correspondences such as spectral characteristics on the one hand and to trid°Àa regulation on the other. This would require psychoacoustic characterisation fully of specific aspects of voice quality such as brightness, dullness, heaviness, sharpness, nasality, denseness, logate etc. and would require further development of experimental procedures to modify by therapeutic or other methods, to induce desired optimal condition of trid°Àa.

This naturally leads to the concepts of voice-engineering and voice therapy : a) development of corrective procedures at physiological level by manipulating or modifying various attributes of elements of voice quality so that the latter would closely approximate to desired or required condition within limits of natural resources or endowments; b) development of therapeutic procedures, medical and surgical by a judicious integration of knowledge and technology available in Ëyurv®da, Yun¡n¢,

Homeopathy and Allopathy; c) study of the effect of herbal formulae prescribed in textual traditions in both Indian music and Ëyurv®da; d) designing of appropriate vocal (music), respiratory etc. exercises to correct defects and to augment natural endowments in the light of existing methods in Hindustani music and Karnataka music. The need for concerted and systematic endeavour in Indian music cannot be emphasized enough. I hope we would do something soon. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- References 1. á¡r´gad®va's Sa´g¢taratn¡kara, 1.1.21 2. ibid. 1.1.25 3. e.g. Îkpr¡ti¿¡khyam, 'V¡jasan®y¢ Pr¡ti¿¡khyam, Y¡jµavalkaya áikÀ¡ 4. Vide infra, section 3 5. Sathyanarayan, R; Voice Training in Indian Music in Sangeet Natak, No. 53-54, New Delhi, 1976, pp. 78-95 6. S°m®¿vara III, C¡lukya Sarvajµa, AbhilaÀit¡rtha-cint¡ma¸i, 4.16.51-53 7. Su¿ruta, Su¿ruta SaÆhit¡ 3.4.80 8. Caraka, Caraka SaÆhit¡ 1.28.41 9. ibid. 4.6.4 10. Su¿ruta, op.cit. 1.46.533 (Kashi SaÆsk¤ta Series, 1973) 11. Caraka op. cit. 1.28.4-5 12. V¢rar¡j®ndra, Kalala, SakalavaidyasaÆhit¡ S¡r¡r¸ava pt. 1, p. 16 13. Trivikrama Pa¸·ita cit. V¢rar¡j®ndra, Kalala, op.cit. p. 17 14. Su¿ruta, op.cit. áar¢ra-sth¡na 4. 64-67 15. Ramachandra Rao, S.K. (ed. tr.) Ëyurv®davalli N¡·¢vijµ¡na, p. 102

16. Su¿ruta, op.cit. lec. cit. 4.67-71 17. V¢rar¡j®ndra, Kalala, op. cit. p. 17 18. Ramachandra Rao, S.K., op. cit. pp. 103-104 19. Su¿ruta, op.cit., lec. cit., 4.72-76 20. V¢rar¡j®ndra, Kalala, op. cit. p. 18 21. Su¿ruta, op.cit. 4.77-78 22. Caraka, op.cit., 4.4.32,37,38 23. á¡r´gad®va, op. cit., 1,2,72-74 24. Sathyanarayana, R. NiÅ¿a´ka-h¤daya, omm. S¡r´gad®va, op.cit., lec. cit., pp. 99- 102 25. e.g. N¡·¢-vijµ¡na, N¡·¢jµ¡napar¢kÀak¡, N¡·¢jµ¡natantra, N¡·¢jµ¡nad¢pik¡, N¡·¢prak¡¿a, Ëyurv®da Sa´graha, Harikath¡m¤tas¡ra, S¡´gadh¡ra SaÆhit¡, Sakalavaidya SaÆhit¡ S¡r¡r¸ava etc. 26. Harip¡lad®va, Sa´g¢tasudh¡kara, ed. Sathyanarayana R. (under print) 27. P¡r¿vad®va, Sa´g¢tasamayas¡ra, 1. 10-15 28. á¡r´gad®va, op.cit., 3.39-67 29. ibid 3.43,44 30. SiÆhabh£p¡la, Sa´g¢tasudh¡kara, comm. á¡r´gad®va, op.cit. lec.cit., p. 160 31. á¡r´gad®va, op.cit. 3.67 32. N¡rada, N¡rad¢ya¿ikÀ¡ 1.3.1.11 33. Bharata Muni, N¡¶ya¿¡stram, 33.12-16 34. ibid, 32.435 35. ibid. 33.25

36. N¡nyad®va, Sarasvat¢h¤day¡la´k¡rah¡ra, 1.2. 104-114 37. S°m®¿vara op.cit. 4.16, 81-84 38. P¡r¿vad®va, op.cit. 1. 17-23 39. á¡r´gad®va, op.cit., 3.68-77 40. ibid, 4. 374-379 41. ibid, 3.84, 85 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------