The notion of Ethos in Arabic music: computational modeling of Al-Urmawi's modes (13th Century) in Csound

The notion of ethos in Arabic music is outlined in this paper through the writings and thoughts of al-Kindi, Ziriab, Ikhwan al-Safa, Avicenna and Saffiyu al-Din alUrmawi. The approach developed by al-Urmawi in his book "The book of cycles" will be studied and the ties woven between 13th Century modes and their ethos will be underlined. A computational model of these modes will be proposed using an object library developed in a Csound environment. A computational model of Saffiyu al-Din alUrmawi's intervallic system will be performed and the twelve cycles he defined in his book will be classified according to their ethos. The modeling of some of the idioms pertaining to Arabic music, such as the homophonic aspect of musical rendition, or ornamentation, will be addressed. Intrinsic units of the object library: UDO (User Defined Opcodes), function tables, Opcodes (operation codes), loops and conditions will be explained. Finally, the possibility of studying the effect these modes create on people will be considered.