Nodes
Turkish Makam nodes
Turkish art music on the Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek (AEU) system — the octave divided into 53 Holdrian commas (koma) rather than the Arabic 24-EDO quarter-tone grid. The consequence that matters: Rast's neutral 3rd (perde segâh) sits at 17 commas ≈ 385¢, markedly higher than the 350¢ the Jins family rounds to, so makam gets its own comma-accurate cells. Çeşni feed the same Maqam Assemble node as ajnas; Makam gives whole modes with their güçlü (dominant) and seyir (melodic direction); Seyir generates a characteristic contour; Usûl supplies the rhythmic cycles.
| Node | Inputs | Outputs | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Koma (AEU) | list commas (degrees from tonic, 53 = octave) | list cents number koma (¢) |
The AEU 53-comma tuning grid. Converts comma degrees into cents — one koma ≈ 22.64¢. Build any Turkish structure by hand from the accidental alphabet (bakiye 4, küçük mücennep 5, büyük mücennep 8, tanînî 9 commas). Feeds Scale Quantize or Maqam Assemble. |
| Çeşni | string preset (Rast, Buselik, Kürdî, Uşşak, Hicaz, Nikriz…) list custom-commas (optional) |
list cents number span |
A çeşni — the Turkish makam building-block cell (tetrachord/dörtlü or pentachord/beşli), tuned on the AEU comma grid. The Turkish counterpart of the Jins node. Wire two into Maqam Assemble to construct and modulate makamlar structurally. |
| Makam | string preset (Rast, Uşşak, Hüseynî, Hicaz, Nihâvend…) | list scale (cents) number güçlü (¢) string seyir |
A full Turkish makam over one octave, comma-accurate. Emits the scale (cents from the durak/tonic) plus its güçlü (dominant / reciting note) and seyir (melodic direction) — wire the latter two into the Seyir node. 12 presets from Rast to the plaintive Sabâ. |
| Seyir | list scale (cents) number tonic (mc) number güçlü (¢) string direction (çıkıcı / inici / arch) number length · seed |
midicents melody | Generate a characteristic melodic contour (seyir) — the ‘course’ a melody takes around the durak, güçlü and tiz durak that distinguishes makamlar sharing a scale. A mostly-stepwise skeleton that honours the direction and cadences on the durak. Deterministic under a seed. |
| Usûl | string preset (Nîm Sofyan, Düyek, Aksak, Curcuna…) | rhythm-tree tree list accents number beats · unit string strokes |
A Turkish rhythmic cycle (usûl) as a metric skeleton. Emits a one-bar rhythm tree from the düm/tek stroke pattern (→ Voice), an accent curve (düm heavier than tek), and the cycle's time signature. 10 cycles from Nîm Sofyan (2/4) to the limping Aksak (2+2+2+3) and Curcuna (3+2+2+3). |
Studies that use these nodes
Makam Hicaz — seyir over a drone
A Turkish makam study: Hicaz on the AEU 53-comma grid, its seyir spun over a tonic drone.
Aksak — Rast in a 9/8 usûl
The limping Aksak 9/8 usûl driving a Rast melody — Turkish rhythmic cycles in action.
Wire these nodes into a piece of your own.
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