MLI

Drone in Dhun

All of the harmony in Dhun comes from the sitar playing over a steady drone (which I have determined to be a D from the recording). While arguably not true polyphony (an unmoving drone with a sitar might be considered monophony), the drone does provide a textural element to the piece. The drone establishes a strong tonal centre, and having it ring out against each note creates consonance and dissonance as the sitar plays notes that must occur more or less often according to the raga. For example, in bar 8 of Dhun (0:14), Shankar begins his phrase with an E note:

Bar 8 (0:14) of Dhun

This is effectively playing a supertonic over the tonic; harmony not based on thirds, creating tension. He concludes this same phrase on a D note, harmonising in unison, releasing the tension.

Drone in Universal Mind

Universal Mind, while more polyphonic, uses similar note against tonal centre harmony. The piece is strongly established as being in C major with the arpeggios in the introduction and the motifs played on the rhythm guitar thereafter. To establish tension, the bass begins to end its phrases on the supertonic and the submediant (bars 24-32) while the rhythm guitar continues to end on the tonic, creating tension:

Rhythm guitar bb 24-32

Bass guitar bb 24-32

As such, the rhythm guitar motifs are similar to a drone.

Modality in Dhun

Dhun is composed in the Harikambhoji Raga, the Hindustani Classical equivalent of the mixolydian mode. Since the tonal centre of the piece is D, the related mode would be A mixolydian. Thus, any resolution of a phrase onto an A note could be considered evidence of this mode.

An example of this can be seen from 3:01-3:02 with a phrase that begins on a D and uses several quick glissandos to resolve to an A.

The Harikambhoji Raga - In this case, an A Major Scale with a flatted seventh

Modality in Universal Mind

Universal Mind also makes heavy use of modality. The motifs of the rhythm guitar establish a tonal centre of C—the “dark” sound of the piece is produced by the use of a “minor” mode however. This can be seen in bars 24-32 on the lead guitar:

bb 24-32

The guitar consistently resolves its phrases on an A. This along with the bass also resolving phrases on the A note in this section would point to the use of the Aeolian mode.

Improvisation in Universal Mind

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Progressive metal has roots in progressive rock and metal music— styles that feature extended improvisatory parts. Therefore it features improvisation heavily. Universal Mind follows this norm and most of the song is improvised over a pre-decided harmonic structure. The piece features a solo improvised part for guitar, starting at 02:30.

The guitar solo starts with a bar long double stop using the notes D and E. The bass plays an F#, the rhythm guitar F# and C#, and the keyboard an E—together these imply a Dmaj chord. This shows harmonic awareness on the part of the soloist, choosing to emphasise the root and the ninth, bringing out the “flavour” of the chord. The phrase continues with a sequence of descending double stops, is punctuated by a drum fill, and ends with a passage played with varying rhythmic values. The guitarist then displays his technical prowess by playing a passage of 32nd note palm muted notes. The phrase is a variation of the original; the solo is ended with a series of quick descending sequences played as a rubato.

There are key characteristics present worth noting. The quick 32nd notes show virtuosity, the rubato shows non-standard rhythm, and the phrases are variations of one another. This playing is idiomatic to progressive metal; it is a fair representation of the genre to be used for comparison with Hindustani classical music.

Improvisation in Dhun

Hindustani classical music performances are generally completely improvised. By using the framework of a raga, artists are able to create melodies using the notes and performance instructions detailed in the raga.

Dhun is typical of this style, with the player improvising throughout the piece. Due to the nature of improvisation, players will often establish a motif that they keep returning to. Such a motif is established in Dhun at 0:38:

Dhun 0:38

The motif is centered around D mixolydian (a major scale with a flatted seventh), with a minor seventh being emphasized in the glissando from the fifth note to the sixth note of the first bar. This motif is followed by a descending antecedent phrase in D major (0:42-0:46):

Dhun 0:42-0:46

The motif is then repeated at 0:46, and a consequent phrase is improvised from 0:48 - 0:50. This, to Western ears, implies a I6/4 V I cadence.

Dhun 0:48-0:50

Scalic Melody in Universal Mind

Universal Mind features multiple scalic passages, most notably played by the keyboard at 2:05. The part begins with an arch-shaped run heavily based on notes of the C Major scale, although looking at the beginnings and endings of each phrase, this passage is likely played in the Aeolian mode.

This is followed by a clear example of a scalic melody. The synthesiser plays a sixteenth note run in two octaves based on the C major pentatonic scale. This run can be broken up into four separate ascending parts (after every six notes). Together, they form a scalic sequence going up the pentatonic scale. This rapid movement up the scale creates movement in the piece, and allows the pianist to demonstrate their skills.

Universal Mind, bb 84-85

Scalic Melody in Dhun

Dhun also heavily features scalic passages. Unlike Universal Mind, however, these are not based on Western scales, but on ragas which have Western equivalents. The piece features one such passage from 2:10 - 2:14:

Dhun 2:10-2:14

The raga used in this passage is the Kalyani Raga, equivalent to D Lydian. This can be seen by the use of the sharpened four that is prominent throughout the phrase. Apart from final final note, every note in the passage comes directly before or after a note directly before or after it in the scale.