E get any music connection wey dey between Rabindranath Tagore im “Jana Gana Mana” and di song of Jaffna Hindu College, one of di oldest institutions for Sri Lanka? Na study wey compare two original recordings using mathematics, artificial intelligence, and computational musicology.
Research article by: Keshavan Thiagaraja
B.Sc. (Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics)
M.Sc. (Information Technology)
E-Commerce Professional
Private AI Model Developer & AI Security Consultant
Helping SMEs and Enterprises Build Secure AI Solutions
Sydney, Australia
One hundred years of music mystery
India national anthem “Jana Gana Mana” na one great music creation wey dey show di patriotism and national identity of hundreds of millions of Indians around di world.
Dis anthem wey Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore compose get one unique position for India history and culture.
But e fit be say music similarity dey between dis anthem and di song of one famous educational institution wey dem establish for late nineteenth century for Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, very near India?
Dat institution na Jaffna Hindu College (யாழ்ப்பாணம் இந்துக் கல்லூரி).
When we compare dis college song, “Vaazhiya Yaazhnagar Hindu Kalluri”, with India national anthem, one interesting question dey come up.
Dis two songs, dem come from di same music tradition? E get any similarity wey mathematics fit measure between dia melodies? Or one of di songs na di music structure of di other one influence am?
Dem do dis study to answer dis questions, no be based on emotional opinions, but based on scientific and historical evidence.
1. Di history of India national anthem
India national anthem “Jana Gana Mana” na Rabindranath Tagore compose am for Bengali language.
Na 27 December 1911 dem first perform di song for di Indian National Congress session wey dem hold for Calcutta.
After India get independence, on 24 January 1950, di Constituent Assembly of India officially adopt “Jana Gana Mana” as India national anthem.
Di music structure of dis anthem dey connected to di Rabindra Sangeet tradition.
Tagore create many music works by combining Indian music traditions with im own unique creativity.
So to study di origin and development of im music na important part of Indian music history.
2. Di history of Jaffna Hindu College
Jaffna Hindu College na one of di famous educational institutions for Sri Lanka.
Dem establish dis institution for late nineteenth century, and e don produce generations of scientists, mathematicians, doctors, engineers, educators and experts for different fields.
According to di college official historical records, na Vidwan K. Karthigesu write im anthem.
Na Vidwan C. Arumugam compose di music.
Dis anthem wey start with di words “Vaazhiya Yaazhnagar Hindu Kalluri” don become di cultural identity of di college.
However, dis study don identify one important historical gap.
No definitive document wey dey establish di year wey dem compose di anthem original melody don dey found till today.
Even though dem establish di college before 1911, we no fit conclude say im current anthem sef na before dat year dem compose am.
Dis na important aspect wey we suppose consider when we dey examine di historical link between di two songs.
3. When dem compare di two songs with computer…
Dem use two original MPEG recordings for dis study.
Di first recording na India national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana”.
Di second recording na di Jaffna Hindu College anthem.
Dem compare di music features of dis two recordings using Python programming language, di music analysis library Librosa, and Digital Signal Processing techniques.
Di basic measurements wey dem record for di study:
| Study feature | India national anthem | Hindu College anthem |
|---|---|---|
| Recording duration | 61.73 seconds | 304.79 seconds |
| Estimated tempo | 107.7 BPM | 86.1 BPM |
| Analysis sampling rate | 11,025 Hz | 11,025 Hz |
| Pitch analysis | Done | Done |
Even though di two recordings dey different for duration and tempo, di main goal na to check whether similarities dey for dia pitch structures.
4. Di surprising mathematical result of di study
When dem compare di pitch structures of di two songs, dem find one remarkable mathematical similarity between some music segments.
According to di results wey dem get through di Harmonic Chroma Analysis method, di maximum value of average Chroma similarity between selected 20-second music segments of di two songs na 0.992 dem record am as.
For di time-series based Chroma comparison, di maximum value na 0.594.
Dem dey calculate dis values on a scale of 0 to 1.
Di 0.992 value no mean say di two songs dey share 99.2 percent of di same melody.
Dis measurement na only di similarity between di average structures of pitch classes wey dem use for di specific music segments e dey show.
Same way, di 0.594 temporal similarity value no dey prove say di melodies of di two songs dey identical.
Di two measurements dey evaluate different music features.
Na dis be di most important scientific explanation of dis study.
5. Na for which music segments dem find di similarity?
For di computational comparison, dem record strong similarity between di following music segments.
| India national anthem | Jaffna Hindu College anthem | Similarity value |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00-0:20 | 0:39-0:59 | 0.594 |
| 0:00-0:20 | 3:57-4:17 | 0.590 |
| 0:05-0:25 | 0:43-1:03 | 0.575 |
| 0:00-0:20 | 0:05-0:25 | 0.574 |
Dis results na from pitch-based computational comparison dem come.
In particular, dem find similarity between di opening music segment of India national anthem and some segments of di Jaffna Hindu College anthem.
Nevertheless, based on dis alone, we no fit claim say di main melodies wey dem dey sing for dis time segments dey completely identical.
6. Why di similarity increase with two-semitone transposition?
For musicology, e get one important concept wey dem dey call Transposition.
To change di key of a song without changing im basic melody na wetin dem dey call Transposition.
For example, dem fit sing a song for di key wey suit man voice. Dem fit arrange di same melody for different key for woman voice.
Even if di recordings of two songs dey for different keys, dia basic music structures fit get similarities.
For dis study, dem get greater similarity when dem allow two-semitone transposition.
Dis na one result wey deserve deep musicological study.
But just because similarity increase after transposition no mean say one song copy di melody of di other.
7. Artificial intelligence fit discover di history of music?
Today artificial intelligence technologies don create new possibilities for music research.
Through technologies like Music Information Retrieval, Machine Learning, Digital Signal Processing and Deep Learning, e dey possible to examine similarities between thousands of music works.
In particular, dem fit mathematically analyze di note sequences, rhythmic structures, musical intervals and melodic phrases of a music work.
Using methods like Dynamic Time Warping, we fit also evaluate di similarity between two music sequences wey dem sing at different speeds.
But e get one important limitation here.
Artificial intelligence fit detect similarities between two music works. But without historical evidence, e no fit prove say dat similarity na di result of music copying.
To know whether one music work na from di influence of another one e born, dia chronology, di original notation and historical documents dey necessary.
8. Questions wey still dey unanswered for history
For di next stage of dis study, we go need answer some important questions.
Which year Vidwan K. Karthigesu write di Jaffna Hindu College anthem?
Which year Vidwan C. Arumugam compose im music?
Dis anthem dey appear for di college early yearbooks?
Dem preserve im old music notations or original recordings?
E get evidence of historical music exchange between India national anthem and di Jaffna Hindu College anthem?
Na only after we find definitive answers to dis questions we fit evaluate di historical link between di two songs more accurately.
9. Wetin dis study don prove? Wetin dem never prove?
We suppose understand di results of dis study for three levels.
First: di mathematically detected similarity
Dem record pitch-based similarities between certain segments of di two recordings.
Second: di musical link wey dem never confirm
Dem never fully prove say di main melodies of di two songs dey share di same music structure.
Third: di unproven historical claim
Currently, no enough historical evidence dey to say India national anthem copy di melody of di Jaffna Hindu College anthem, or say di Jaffna Hindu College anthem follow di melody of India national anthem.
Moreover, dis study no separate di main melodies of di two songs individually and e no do complete notation comparison. Dem no also do statistical tests wey compare them with other unrelated songs.
Therefore, make we consider di results wey dem present here as di conclusions of one computational musicology study wey still dey for early stage.
10. Open invitation to Indian music researchers and historians
Researchers wey dey work for musicology, history, mathematics and computer science for India and Sri Lanka fit study dis question more widely.
In particular, if experts of Rabindranath Tagore music tradition, those wey dey preserve di historical documents of Jaffna Hindu College, and computational musicology researchers work together, dis study fit move forward.
To separate di main melodies of di two songs individually, create dia music notations and compare them with historical evidence na di next important step.
Di goal of dis study no be to question di national anthem of any country or di prestige of any educational institution.
Rather, im goal na to scientifically examine di historical connections wey fit dey between di rich music traditions of South Asia.
11. Final conclusion: Music similarity don dey found. But di historical truth still remain to establish.
Di comparative study between India national anthem and di Jaffna Hindu College anthem don reveal some interesting mathematical results.
Measurable similarities dey between di pitch structures for selected segments of di two recordings.
But we need more research to determine whether dis similarities na result of one common music tradition, na coincidence, or na result of historical music influence.
Di current evidence no dey prove di claim say India national anthem copy di melody of di Jaffna Hindu College anthem.
At di same time, dis study dey provide one starting point to systematically examine di music similarity between di two songs.
We no fit write history di way we like. But we fit continue to search for di truths wey dey hidden for history with di help of science, mathematics and technology.
Na dis be di foundation of dis study.
Think mathematically. Engineer intelligently. Lead strategically. Build responsibly. Scale globally. Create real business value through artificial intelligence.
#JanaGanaMana #YaalpaanamHinduCollege #NationalAnthem #Musicology #ITImpress
