Just so we are very clear, there are there different aspects.
1) Are CM/HM and other music systems, for the most part, built on top of the base of the same 12 notes? The answer is Yes.
Indeed that is what enables a talented western musician to play a melody, whether it is CM, HM, Folk etc, by the ear. And the same way for a CM music an to play a western melody by the ear.
We take this similarity of 12 notes for granted these days, but that in itself is quite an amazing thing, that they are indeed similar and this close.
That is at a 1000 foot level, without considering tuning differences which bring about small but significant differences in the actual frequencies that each of those 12 notes take.
2) The point that Emani Shankara Shastry was making, as quoted by Rsachi, needs to be understood in the right context, otherwise it would not make sense if interpreted in a direct manner like Nick did. What Sri. Emani is talking about is one of natural inclination and the culture of that music. He is specifically talking about the western classical music practice. It is not that the western classical musicians lack the basic ability to reproduce a piece of music that they hear, not considering the gamakas etc. No, not at all. That will be a silly notion. The objective of the written system is to ensure that the composer's intent is preserved as closely as possible and as precisely as possible. Any dynamics and variations, if at all, are brought out by the actions of the conductor and not the performers. So, there is not much of a freedom for the performers. They can not afford that freedom. But within that constraint, the conductor can induce some changes. That is why the conductors' names are prominent and not that much the individual performers. That is the context Sri. Emani must have had in his mind and not some notion that they lack the ability to reproduce the music they hear.
In CM also, there is that desire which is captured in the phrase 'pAdAntaram'. There is an attempt to preserve each sangathi to be sung exactly the same way ( with in a particular school, at least ). But without a written notation, it does tend to deviate.
3) The third one is the question: 'Can CM be taken globally if only it can be notated with much more accuracy?'. I think it is a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition. Very accurate notation schemes using modern technologies that captures the essence of CM that is built on top of the base 12 notes are indeed to be highly encouraged and significant progress has to be made. Akellaji has done a lot of work in that regard. Performers of course need to go order of magnitude beyond that in actual performance but the notation scheme helps them get on board. So it will help in that ' on boarding' sense in the globalization context as well. ( globalization, not as in the diaspora learning CM but a much wider reach beyond the diaspora ).
That is necessary for people interested in the music to put there toes in the water. The sufficient conditions are quite numerous which need to be built on top of that. That is from the student and performer's point of view.
What about the non-diaspora audience? That is a totally different topic.
Statistics: Posted by vasanthakokilam — 07 Jun 2013 23:16