This paper investigates the melodic structure of Ainu songs. As a result, it concludes that the various types of Ainu songs are a complex of two melodic systems. One system consists of a variation in timbre or tone-color coming from variances in the manner of phonation, while the other is mainly composed of pitches or intervals. The recent transformation of the melodic characteristics through performance and handing down of songs to subsequent generations can be determined as a matter of change in the proportion of these two systems. The elements of the former are related to the older, more traditional singing style and similar to the music of other northern, indigenous peoples. In this older style, sensory stimulation in the throat is important for singers as one of the motives for singing, and this has formed the basic concept of Ainu singing.
For this study, the author has adopted the following procedures: fieldwork, analysis of
kuttomorette (a genre of songs), investigation of both old and new music materials (including sound analysis), and comparison with the preceding studies on the singing of
katajjaq of the Canadian Inuit.;
This fieldwork has been conducted since 1990, in order to verify each singer's recognition of traditional singing style. Explanations by the singers has made the following findings clear: 1) Some embellishments or micro movements are particular to the song, but not done improvisationally or optionally by the singer. 2) There are some melodies which have relevance to manners of phonation and their tone-colors, but not to stable pitches or intervals. 3) Rapid change of vocal register (like
kobushi in Japanese) or some other sound effects produced by organs of phonation and their tone-colors are not supplementation or ornamentation for the melody, but are the basic elements to compose melodies. The author has also learned Ainu songs directly from singers to verify the singing style more concretely.
Through sound analysis of recorded materials, studies have also determined that Ainu music does not consist of a peculiar scale containing microtones. At the same time, reasons for this condition have been discovered as to why many melodies sound vague or obscure from the viewpoint of scale. In order to make timbre or intonation expressive, the following sounds are frequently employed in Ainu songs: 1) Sounds whose pitches are continually changing. 2) Voiceless sounds or sounds which are full of “non-musical” noise. Therefore, stable pitches become relatively infrequent, and this is the reason why Ainu songs have sometimes given the impression of being vague, obscure, or unstable to those accustomed to music composed of stable pitches or intervals.
There is a certain genre which is called
kuttomorette in Ainu whose meaning is “to ring inside of the throat”. This illustrates that the throat is considered a very important organ in Ainu singing.
Compared with the studies on
katajjaq of the Canadian Inuit by a research group in the University of Montreal, Ainu songs show a partial resemblance with those songs.
Furthermore, the author has examined their actual usage in singing. As a result, the author has reached the above conclusions on the basic concepts of Ainu singing and outlines of specific types of Ainu melodies.
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