{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.tala","code":"thing-q1896571","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1896571/","name":"tala","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.QTY"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"The rhythmic framework of Indian classical music, a cycle of a fixed number of beats grouped into sections and marked by claps, waves and finger counts, within which compositions and improvisations are structured, as in the Hindustani teental of sixteen beats and the Carnatic adi tala of eight; tala is one of the two foundations of the music alongside raga, is kept by percussionists on tabla or mridangam, and exists in many named forms across the two traditions.","purpose":"Let an agent explain tala as the rhythmic system of Indian classical music, describe its structure and major forms in Hindustani and Carnatic traditions with attribution, relate it to raga and performance, and distinguish it from Western metre.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Cyclic structure","Marked by gestures","Named forms","Foundation with raga"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What tala is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and structure.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is tala, and how is a cycle structured into beats and sections, as the traditions describe?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about tala, laya or Western metre?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"systems","name":"Systems","description":"Hindustani and Carnatic.","findings":[{"id":"systems-finding","name":"Systems","description":"Systems.","questions":[{"text":"How do the Hindustani and Carnatic tala systems differ, and what are the main talas in each?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific tala?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"practice","name":"Practice","description":"Performance.","layers":[{"id":"keeping","name":"Keeping","description":"Keeping tala.","findings":[{"id":"keeping-finding","name":"Keeping","description":"Keeping.","questions":[{"text":"How is tala kept by hand gestures and percussion, and how do soloists and accompanists interact?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits tabla?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"devices","name":"Devices","description":"Rhythmic devices.","findings":[{"id":"devices-finding","name":"Devices","description":"Devices.","questions":[{"text":"What rhythmic devices such as tihai and korvai are built within tala?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Learning and theory.","layers":[{"id":"pedagogy","name":"Pedagogy","description":"Pedagogy.","findings":[{"id":"pedagogy-finding","name":"Pedagogy","description":"Pedagogy.","questions":[{"text":"How is tala taught, from counting to solfege of rhythm?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits Indian music education?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"theory","name":"Theory","description":"Theory and treatises.","findings":[{"id":"theory-finding","name":"Theory","description":"Theory.","questions":[{"text":"How do classical treatises and modern musicology describe tala, with attribution?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation attributed?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"History and comparison.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did tala develop from ancient texts to the modern systems?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the history of Indian music?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"compare","name":"Compare","description":"Comparison.","findings":[{"id":"compare-finding","name":"Compare","description":"Compare.","questions":[{"text":"How does tala compare with rhythmic systems in other musical traditions?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain tala in Hindustani and Carnatic music with named cycles and sources.","Help learners count and practise tala cycles.","Attribute compositions and teaching traditions to their lineages."],"mustNot":["Equate tala with Western time signatures without saying where they differ.","Conflate Hindustani and Carnatic systems.","Present one gharana or school's practice as the only correct one.","Use the music without credit to performers, teachers or traditions."],"requiresHuman":["Publishing teaching material attributed to a guru or tradition."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Tala belongs to living musical traditions passed down through teachers.","Reducing it to Western terms erases its own concepts."],"affectedParties":["Musicians and teachers","Learners","Indian classical music communities"]},"owners":{"steward":"The public: held in common by the musical traditions that practise it.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q630649","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"meter","type":"related","note":"in registry terms, a rhythmic framework"},{"target":"Indian classical music","type":"related","note":"the tradition"},{"target":"raga","type":"related","note":"the melodic framework"},{"target":"tabla","type":"related","note":"or mridangam"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.tala","Wikidata: Q1896571 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1896571)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["teental beats: 16 count - Hindustani","adi tala beats: 8 count - Carnatic"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Cyclic rhythmic framework with beats and sections","Hindustani and Carnatic systems","Western metre is a related but simpler concept; laya is tempo","Not a visible object; heard as rhythmic cycles and seen in clap and wave gestures."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the system and structure","describe major talas in both traditions","relate to performance and raga","distinguish from Western metre"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Conflating Hindustani and Carnatic systems","Equating tala with Western time signatures","Overlooking regional and dance talas"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["No regulation; traditional pedagogy and performance conventions"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Organising rhythm in Indian classical music.","Hindustani talas such as teental, jhaptal, rupak and ektal","Carnatic talas such as adi, rupaka and misra chapu, and the suladi sapta tala system","talas in dance forms","rhythmic devices such as tihai and korvai within tala"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q1896571: tala","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1896571","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Tala (music)","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tala_%28music%29","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should Hindustani and Carnatic tala systems be separate entries?","How should musicological references be linked?","How should named talas be catalogued?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q1896571/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q1896571/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T23:41:50Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:56+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}