Music of Crystal Spires

Traditional music of Crystal Spires is a complex study, and often long-term bardic study is required to play it effectively, with many different kinds of rules on melody, harmony, beat, and expression. There are also many traditionally Spirean Instruments. Improvisation and composing is often a matter of advanced study, as it tends to involve more understanding of the different rules. There are a few types of native Spirean Instruments, and some instruments are also borrowed from Altean musical instruments.

Nur

The "nur" of classical Spirean music may be compared most aptly to "makam" in Turkish music or the "ragas" of music in India. Although no direct analog exists to the world of Western music, it may be prudent to suggest that one may achieve some idea of what a nur represents by considering the differences between genres of traditional music for dance. A nur may have different interval patterns between the notes of their "scales", have different expectations for how each note of the nur is to be used, and may even use slightly different tunings. Specific nur are associated with and often used to invoke specific moods.

In practice, a musical work's nur dictates how each note should be used, more specifically than a modal (major-minor) system does. Some pitches will get more emphasis than others, some will be used one way in an ascending melody and another way in a descending melody, and some will be used in certain types of ornaments; these rules differ from one nur to the next. The Nur also affects the tuning of the notes.

The result is that each Nur is a collection of melodic scales, phrases, motifs, and ornaments, that may be used together to construct music in that Nur. The number of possible nur is virtually limitless, and there are hundreds in common use. A good performer will be familiar with dozens of nur and will be able to improvise music (as traditional Spirean music is improvised) using the accepted format for any of these nur.

Thedan

Thedan is a fixed time cycle or meter, set for a particular composition, which is built from groupings of beats. Thedan have cycles of a defined number of beats and rarely change within a song. They have specific components, which in combinations can give rise to the variety to exist, allowing different compositions to have different rhythms. Bards usually keep the beat by moving their hands up and down in specified patterns, and using their fingers simultaneously to keep time

Shout Songs

This kind of song is widely popular in mountainous areas or in the fields, its music has such characters such as free rhythms, broad range, and exalted tune. They are sung without musical accompaniment, and are meant to be sang loudly and with emotion. There are no fixed lyrics, no fixed meter, and no fixed tunes, while some tunes tend to repeat themselves from the focus on Nur qualities. The entirety of the music is composed using nur and are also improvised.

Common Instruments

A Luveli is a type of Spike Fiddle similar to the Rebab and the Erhu.

A Pachalan is a Drumhead lute that can have from 12-24 strings.

A nalani is a type of flute with open holes(from 6 to 11)and intonations (different keys)

A telnalani is a transverse flute with open holes(from 6 to 11)and intonations (different keys)

A kosadni is a type of flute with a resonance membrane and number of holes (from 6 to 11) and intonations.

A telkosadni is a type of transverse flute with a resonance membrane and number of holes (from 6 to 11) and intonations.

An Anjvarne is an instrument similar to the cello, gehu, and the bass.

A Jukne is a double reed instrument similar to the Oboe, Duduk, and the guanzi.

A mevahara is a type of Harp similar to a lyre.

A Genvarne is a type of violin-like instrument played with a bow and is of various sizes.

A telmevahara is a type of Harp similar to a clàrsach side harp.

A Tleva is a type of zither similar to a hammered Dulcimer.

A Natleva is similar to a Japanese koto, Chinese zheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh.

A telgumpah is a double sided drum.

A Gumpah is a single sided drum.