The name may not be the clearest and the Russian may be a little daunting to non-cyrillic speakers, but NoNaMe and its world music website has some of the most eclectic world music I've seen on the Internet. The site seems to have a special love for Balkan music while still having selections from around the world.
You have to register which is just a simple login, email, password and password confirmation. To non-cyrillic speakers, you have to click the " регистрация" in order to get the registration page. Or you can just click here to register.I know, its daunting at first but all the posts are in english and its pretty easy to navigate
Here is just a quick list of the quality Balkan Music I've found on the website:
There are 92 pages of music, at roughly 15 posts each. . . makes almost 1400 entries of fully downloadable music with reviews, commentary and history of each artist. This is definitely a great resource for those wanting to learn more about Balkan Music and World Music in general.
I found this video about Kurdish Folk Dancing on-line. The type of Folk dancing is originally called Halay which is also claimed by the Turks (I seriously don't want to judge the origins of Halay, but I think its suffice to say its from the Middle East and Balkans). If you look at the responses to halay online all they do is argue about the origin of the folk dancing.
What really struck me about this particular video are the number of views (1.3 million) and the hip-hop style the young women bring to the traditional folk dancing. Frankly, it just looks cool and certainly looks transferable to the western hip-hop society
A male version of the Halay, still informal
Also another male example of the dancing.
Now I want to compare the first video to the video of Halay below. As you can see, this form of dancing has a more traditional. The first video was probably filmed at a wedding, festival or a private party outdoors informally whereas this video is filmed indoors and is an organized dance troupe. What is being highlighted in the informal dancing is just part of the organized structure of the halay dance. If you go to to the end of clip (about 70%) you see the same format used in the formal and informal halay dancing (women in a line, holding hands, indescribable leg movements in unison).
Here is an example of the Halay dance making inroad into the Hip-Hop and MTV world. The real halay is the women together dancing throughout the video. Its an example of Halay beginning the cross over to western dance and music.
What's interesting about Halay is the striking similarity to most other forms of Balkan and Middle Eastern folk dancing but with distinct evolutions in each country. This music, created by a drum, duval and zurna, is rather simplistic with an overpowering and danceable beat.
I just happened upon a gold mine of information about Balkan Music online in the form of series of blogs required by an Oberlin College music class. The class is being taught by Jennifer Fraser, an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology at the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College. The course covers a broad array of musical styles and regional genres ranging from Turkish Folk to Roma Music to Bulgarian Folk music (among others).
Here is what Jennifer Fraser has to say about the course and its blog initiative in her first blog post:
This site is dedicated to writing about and sharing our experiences interacting with these musics, along with articulating the connections between musical style and socio-cultural meanings; for example, how was music used to express sides during various Balkan wars in the 90s? How can you trace the history of socialism and roads to democratization and economic independence through musical practices in the Balkans? How do the cultural legacies of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires play out in the musical practices of today?
From my cursory browsing through the subject matter, it looks like a fascinating course that approaches Balkan music the way it should (in my opinion) be approached; through a historical, socio-cultural lens. Apparently, it just isn't me that is fascinated by the symbolic nature of Balkan music and its mixing of cultures. Regardless, I encourage those interested in Balkan music to browse through ETHN 209 and its blog posts. They the blogs are written by university students so the quality ranges between insightful to bland but it continues the conversation. These students study at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music so they are often have a much different approach to music compared to myself because they have a better understanding of the musical structure and also the historical background from other genres and styles. So, without further ado, here is the Ethnomusicology209 course for Oberlin College:
While the entries are great, I and many other international readers probably won't want to wade through all of the individual websites to browse the collection of opinions about Balkan Music. To counter that, I have created a Google Reader of the entire class which compiles all the submissions of every student in a central place. It should update automatically whenever a student has a new post. But readers can also click the title of the post to go to the individual blog as well. Here is a public RSS Feed page that you can click to view all of the post in a centralized blog format:
I've put together a Muxtape of some zurni music and also music that is associated with it. There are three traditional zurni tracks put along side some Bulgarian chalga music (its like western pop, i'll explain it later), a traditional Ottoman Janissary March Band song and some Roma Kuchek music. Before the powers that be declare the blasphemy of linking Romani Kuchek, Bulgarian Chalga and Turkish Military Music together with Zurni, please keep in mind that I'm doing this for two reasons:
We're hardcore for Balkan Music, but not that hardcore - One hour of solid listening to zurni is bound to give anyone a headache. It gave me one. It so hard explain that zurni is just better in person. I mixed up the muxtape a little bit.
Comparison Shopping - I want you to realize that Turkish/Ottoman military music is similar but not exactly the same. Additionally, you'll see the Bulgarian chalga bastardizing the traditional zurni into a pop song. And, finally, I want you to be exposed to some Bulgarian Roma Kuchek that also utilizes the zurni concept.
You need to double click the first song when it opens into a new window. It should play on its own. This is a practice round using muxtape, we'll see how it goes.
Explaination of the Playlist:
Traditional Zurni used in processions and public celebrations.
Ottoman Janissary Band Music - Mehter Ceddin Deden - This is probably the most popular Mehter song in Turkey. The songs were used like ballads to record history and to impress conquered peoples. Lyrics and English translation
Traditional Zurni, a variation on a theme
Malina - Strast ( Passion) - This Bulgarian pop folk star has "borrowed" the zurni as the theme for her song about passion, love and sex.
More Zurni, notice that its a lot simpler than the Turkish form and easy to do live (it requires three musicians, no electricity and preparation).
Kuti - Haigurski Zurna Kuchek - This is Romani Kuchek from Bulgaria, so it varies from the traditional Serbian and Romanian bands favored in the west and has more a hip-hop feel to it. It has cheesy lines at the begining where he asks "do you speak Romani?, okay we'll do it Romani style", loosely translated, and random inserted horse sounds. This song is more of a tribute to the concept of zurni except the Roma band is using a more versitle and dynamic instrament; a clarinet.
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.
For most foreigners to Bulgaria and the Balkans, their first introduction to Zurni is very much similar to what you are experiencing now--unexpectedly. The music is somewhat abrasive and you've probably turned the volume down slightly . . .
Most foreigners are introduced to zurni by happening upon a wedding procession or during festivals. In person, the zurni penetrates through your whole body and deafens the ears. Its music for dancing, varying between traditional Bulgarian folklore dances or Roma Kuchek (or in some people's eyes Turkish belly dancing). It guides the dancers in celebration and is simplistic and without lyrics.
Zurni is comprised of, in its simplest of forms, a Tupan (the drum), and an ensemble of clarinet/oboe like instruments called Zurni.
The drum is played on both sides at the same time, one side with a small stick that acts a snare and the other side with a large bass inducing stick (pictured here).
This is the high pitched zurna that creates the melody. It is muted (see the chain in at the horn) and its a reed blown instrument. The player usually moves continuously with his ever-changing notes becoming part actor, part musician. The other essential zurna is pitched much lower and plays one or two notes creating a non-stop low hum/buzz that harmonizes the higher Zurna.
Traditionally, zurni is used (probably because of its unbelievable loudness) as a way of announcing publicly a procession of some sort. This ranges from high school graduates marching through the town square to weddings as the bride and groom approach the church/municipal building. I've actually seen zurni work as a way to gather people to public event, in this particular case it was a graduation party. Everyone waited for the zurni to come by their house and they joined the entourage as it passed with everyone finishing at the banquet hall. Obviously, in larger towns this practice of zurni being a klaxon (if you will) is tapering off. But deep rooted tradition still remains.
Zurni has a marred and complicated history like a lot of music in the Balkans. It has historical traces back to the Ottoman Empire or as the Bulgarians say it, the "Turkish Yoke" as the part of the Turkish Military Bands. The word and instrument "zurna" is actually a Turkish one. Historically, the military of the Ottoman Empire were Janissaries, local conscripts from the native peoples has played Zurna music as a military processional music [Recommended Link: Janissary Music "Mehter"] In the past, whole marching bands would be playing similar music that would announce their arrival as the marched. Imagine, for a moment, 50 uniformed Janissaries all playing in time in an ear-obliterating unison. Some even claim zurna or Janissary March Music is the origination of military marching music (food for thought, I'm not ready to fully research the history of military marching bands)
The Balkans, since the removal of the Ottoman Empire, has spent a hundred years rewriting history to accommodate for the newly formed political countries; what is "Bulgarian", what is "Macedonian"and how each country has a different cultural identity than the other (because if it were the same culture, then why not the same country?). In this process of historical revival of old states, zurni was considered Turkish by the Bulgarian revisionist historians. Especially during communist times in Bulgaria, Zurni was outlawed and looked as a cultural invasion from Turkey. Somewhat understandable if it was the music used by the Ottomans while fighting the revolutionaries.
As is a common theme throughout the Balkans, the Roma in Bulgaria didn't listen to the new Great Historians and the Communist Party. They continued with their lives by ignoring the current authorities in power because playing zurni was a form of livelihood. The Roma in Bulgaria have traditionally kept the zurni tradition alive because the Bulgarian community desires it for the weddings, processions and festivals. This is just one example of the soft contradictions that happen in the Balkans. Now in the Balkans, especially in Bulgaria and Macedonia, there is a intrinsic tradition for using this old Turkish military music (distorted over hundreds of years) played by Roma musicians for Bulgarians/Macedonians. Zurni isn't Roma music, just like rap isn't black music. But is just seems that the irrevocably tied to each other.
Zurni is in the Balkans. People in the Balkans play it and love it. So, is it Balkan music? I mean, people in the Balkans like death metal but does that make death metal Balkan music? In my very unscientific method, I would have to say yes because of the proliferation throughout the region and its use during public and official cultural events (weddings, festivals, celebrations). It's historically Turkish music but so are a lot of other things in the Balkans. A 500 year imprint by the Ottomans has added to the Balkan landscape and now parts of the Ottoman Empire are part of the general culture.
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