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| Balkan brass music | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 19th century,Revolutionary Serbia andPrincipality of Serbia |
| Typical instruments | Brass instruments |
| Subgenres | |
| Booty Balkan[citation needed] | |
Balkan brass, popularly known by theSerbian nameTruba (Serbian Cyrillic:Труба, "Trumpet"), is a distinctive style of music[1] originating in the Balkan region as a fusion between military music andfolk music.[2] In recent years[when?], it has become popular in a techno-synth fusion throughout Europe, and in pop music in the Anglo-American sphere and throughout the world. Songs likeWorth It byFifth Harmony andTalk Dirty byJason Derulo have brought the style to a new audience. In traditional form, it is popular throughout theBalkans, especially inSerbia,North Macedonia,Bulgaria,Moldova, andRomania, although the turbo-folk variety attracts larger audiences. The energetic and fastbeats encourage dance and are egalitarian, often resulting in participation by the entire audience; this unpretentious relationship with audiences, highly charged energy and loud and joyful performances by highly skilled musicians has contributed to its successes. Fans of bands inspired by Balkan bands, such asGogol Bordello, often state that it is a type of music better experienced than listened to.
It is sometimes accompanied by akolo, a traditionalSouth Slavic communal dance where in its simplest forms, the two steps forward, one step backward choreography, is designed to encourage the participation of all.
Performers are calledtrubači (трубачи) in theSerbo-Croatian, or less commonly,trubari. Some of the best known examples of acclaimed music in this style are theGoran Bregović Band and theBoban Marković Orkestar. Roma have adopted this tradition and make up a large percentage of Balkan brass bands.
TheSerbian film makerEmir Kusturica has, through his films (Black Cat, White Cat), made the style popular in the international community outside the Balkans.
The biggestbrass band event in the world, theGuča Trumpet Festival, is a 5-day annual festival with 300,000 visitors, inGuča,Serbia.[3]
The music's tradition stems from theFirst Serbian Uprising[citation needed] led byKarađorđe in 1804 (Serbian revolution) whenSerbs revolted against the occupying Ottoman Empire, eventually liberating Serbia. Thetrumpet was used as a military instrument to wake and gather soldiers and announce battles, the trumpet took on the role of entertainment during downtime, as soldiers used it to transpose popular folk songs. When the war ended, the soldiers returned to the rural life; the music entered civilian life and eventually became a common musical style, accompanying births, baptisms,weddings, theslava (family patron saint day), farewell parties for those joining military service,state and church festivals, harvesting, reaping, and duringfunerals of family members in the community[citation needed]. In 1831, the first official military band was formed byPrince Miloš in Belgrade for use in theSerbian Armed Forces.Roma have since adopted the tradition.[2]
The formation of the first military bands in Serbia thus formed the basis of the Balkan brass band traditions and culture.
A brass band is primarily made up of a large number of musicians playingbrass instruments such asflugelhorns,trumpets,alto horns,helicons,euphoniums,tenor horns,tubas,baritone horns,wagner tubas, and sometimestrombones. Percussion is provided bysnare drum andbass drums, traditionallydavuls (also known astapan orgoč) carried by the performers. A few bands occasionally sportclash cymbals, or use a snare drum with asuspended cymbal attachment while most bands attach the cymbals to the bass drum.
The music is usually instrumental although sometimes accompanied with singing. Common song forms include thečoček and theKolo.
Serbian Brass music has had a major impact on the world music scene. Introduced to western audiences through the films ofEmir Kusturica featuring soundtracks byGoran Bregović, it soon spread to European dancefloors spearheaded by DJ Robert Soko's "Balkan Beats" parties in Berlin, Germany.
Traditional bands from Serbia like theBoban Marković Orkestar and from Romania asFanfare Ciocărlia garnered worldwide attention while new bands like New York-basedBalkan Beat Box or theAmsterdam Klezmer Band fused the Balkan sound with other genres likeKlezmer, electronic music, orSka. DJs and producers, most prominentlyShantel from Germany, successfully mixed Serbian Brass with electronic beats.