Balkan and Gypsy Music
Balkan music is associated with various musical traditions from SE Europe. Most of the time it’s called gypsy music. It has lots of influences such as the Greek and Ottoman music. You will find Balkan music in regions like Albania, Greece, Montenegro, Turkey, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo as well as Croatia. When it comes to the instruments used for this type of music, these include percussions, clarinet, woodwinds, trombone, tuba, acoustic guitar, double bass and even saxophones. The great thing about these is that you can combine them in various ways to create outstanding, unique music. That’s one of the things that makes Balkan music stand out, the fact that it’s focused on creating a great atmosphere and a lot of people enjoy it in the case of parties and other events. It’s a great music type with lots of local influences.
There are multiple derivatives and offshoots, such as progressive Balkan folk, Balkan soul folk, flamenco Balkan fusion or balkan beats. There are a plethora of musicians that showcase Balkan music, such as Andrea Demirović, Adrian Sina, Ivana Selakov, Corvus Corax, Molotov Jukebox and many others. This type of music is very complex, and it can easily include a wide range of other music types in there as well. That makes it very interesting, unique and at the same time super rewarding!
The combination of medieval and battle music, compared with the nuanced modern touch makes Balkan music something extremely special and distinct. The use of drums and guitars might be a bit more modern, but it does make Balkan music stand out with its unique approach and a true focus on expressing ideas and emotions. Even if there are a plethora of different ideas to explore here and the tones differ, Balkan music is exciting, warm and very friendly.