This page is purely experimental. You will need to hit
"refresh/reload" several times.
Ideally, the sound clip of the gaayatrii should almost synchronize
with the animation, so a couple re-loads ought to do it.
I am experimenting with the use of visual read-outs--the "signature" of
sound--for analyzing various aspects of Vedic mantra's. In particular,
the nuances of low/anudaatta
, transitional/svarita, and high/udaatta tones in Vedic
accent can be assessed in this format. The example which will load below
was built and stripped down for ease of loading (others can be viewed by
clicking on the title icon above) with simple
programs on a MacIntosh (SoundEdit Pro [audio compression], SoundApp
[format conversion to .WAV for web sound], PICTify [screen capture of
spectral read-out], GraphicConverter [image sizing and conversion],
GifBuilder [animation]). Obviously higher-end programs (most of those
just listed were shareware!!) could do wonders. Read on while awaiting
the load-up.
We have the opportunity to apply spectral analysis on recordings of mantra
recitation from
trained RSis in modern-day India toward this purpose. With
experimentation which
both follows and contradicts the traditions of the praatishaakhya's
we can begin to
develop a new picture of the recitations of the Vedas. A major issue, for
example, are the
nuances and subtleties of Shatapatha recitation
.
I stumbled on this while preparing a use of the gaayatrii for
elsewhere at Vedavid. Thinking of the RSi/seer who would "see" the
shruti, that which is "heard,"
I couldn't help but be fascinated by the signatures of various
recitations. I am grateful to Michael Witzel
for his suggestions on this matter. Special thanks to Frederick M. Smith
for his recitation. I offer the demo above as a sample of
future possibilities.
