Janissary March Band | Mehter | Zurni

I stumbled upon some really good examples of "zurni" from Turkey. Called Mehter or Janissary March Band Music. These videos are great links between the existing culture in Turkey and the zurni in the Balkans. As you can see, the movements are more militarized and one can get an image of what a whole band would have looked like 400 years ago as it came marching up to a new region of conquest. Scary stuff.

Anyway, I want you to see the link between the "Balkan" Zurni and the Turkish Mehter. I think it allows people to better understand the linkages and also the hidden political tension that is caused years ago with the Communist Party.

So, without further ado . . .

Here is a great example of the historical version of Zurna:



The traditional circle formation:



And this is more local and looks amateurish. But I find its interesting to watch and compare it with the more local versions in Bulgaria. There are similarities but this is much more militaristically focused whereas in Bulgaria there is no underlying aggression with the Zurni playing.