Knowledge base
Notation
Over the centuries the dramnyen has been written in several systems — from ancient Tibetan scales, to a seven-note scale named for animal cries, to today's numbers. They describe the same tones in different hands.
The earliest systems
Tibet developed notation for monastic and ritual instruments before lay instruments, with each Buddhist sect — and the indigenous Bön tradition — using its own signs.1 The earliest dramnyen notations, named Phothong, Mothong and Bhartong, are described as consisting of fifteen notes, and prevailed until about the 8th century before being supplanted by a Tibetan system adapted from Indian sargam.1 A characterised notation of more than fourteen notes also survived for the courtly Gharlu repertoire into the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama.1
The seven notes — named for animals
The Great Dungkar Dictionary records a beautiful seven-note scale in which each degree is named for the voice of an animal — a mnemonic and poetic naming of the solfège:2
| № | Sol-Fa | Sargam | Phu-zi | Tibetan | Animal voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Do | Sa | Rhang | Druk-kye | Cry of the peacock |
| 2 | Re | Re | Tre | Drang-song | Lowing of the bull |
| 3 | Mi | Ga | Kung | Sa-zin | Bleating of a goat |
| 4 | Fa | Ma | Phen | Bhar-ma | Call of the heron |
| 5 | So | Pa | Li'u | Nga-dhen | Call of the cuckoo |
| 6 | La | Dha | U'u | Los-sel | Neighing of the horse |
| 7 | Ti | Ni | Yee | Khor-nyen | Trumpeting of the elephant |
These are the same seven tones across systems — only the names differ, reflecting their origins in different cultures.1
Phuzi, Sol-Fa & numbers
In 1793 the musician Doring Tenzin Paljor, after studying in China, introduced the Chinese phuzi notation, which was used for Nangma-Toeshey into the early 1980s.1 It was then largely replaced by numbered notation — the Chevé (Galin-Paris-Chevé) system, read aloud in Sol-Fa syllables but written in numerals, and known to Western scholars as “Asian numbered notation.”1 The Sol-Fa method itself, today regarded by major dranyen players as the firm base of Tibetan classical music, was adapted from Indian sargam, whose seven tones were translated into Tibetan as early as the 8th century under King Trisong Detsen.1
The system used here
This archive's notation writer uses the living numbered notation: the digits 1–7 for the scale degrees, with rhythm shown by underlines (one for an eighth, two for a sixteenth) drawn as continuous beams, dashes for held notes, and 0 for a rest — the conventions of TIPA-style jianpu/numbered notation. Because the dramnyen's So (5) and La (6) are re-entrant (sounding an octave low), they carry a dot beneath the number, exactly as in the master player's hand.
Crucially, because every number maps to a known pitch, a composition can be rendered as Western staff notation and exported as MusicXML, MIDI or audio — letting a dranyen piece be read by any musician, and a simple melody be carried back onto the instrument. (These export and rendering features are currently marked experimental.)
Notes & sources
- Tashi Tenzin, Dranyen: A Study in Tibetan Identity, Tibet Policy Institute (notation history; the notation/solmization table).
- Dungkar Losang Thinley, Dungkar Tibetological Great Dictionary, China Tibetology Publishing House, 2002. See References.