
Exotic melodic flavor in Oriental and Turkish music
The Oriental Music associated with the Belly Dancer
It is seldom that a particular kind of music conjures the same image in the minds of all listeners. To the Western ear, the unfamiliar instrumentation and exotic melodic flavor of what is generally described as Oriental music has one immediate association... The Belly Dancer. Indeed, the prime purpose of this is ancient musical form has always been to provide the mood and rhythm for dancing - but a distinctly unique and always fascinating kind of dancing. Belly Dancers have found enthusiastic favor and acclaim throughout the Western world and may have had an impact on our society second in effect to that of the Oriental numerical system.Baglama

Ancient Sound of Anatolia: the Baglama
Baglama. If a single instrument were to represent Turkish folk music it would have to be the baglama. There is no region, no village in Anatolia which is not familiar with this string instrument...
Baglama. If a single instrument were to represent Turkish folk music it would have to be the baglama. There is no region, no village in Anatolia which is not familiar with this string instrument...
Darbuka

Instruments similar to the darbuka, of various shapes and sizes, were used by civilisations in Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Central Asia in ancient times. In later periods, these changed and developed, but continued to be used in the same areas.
Zurna

Zurna (oboe) is one of the most important instruments in traditional/local music. The pipe was first made from tree bark, and later panels of copper or brass were added. In the past, the instrument was known by the names "curna", "zurr", "sarna" and "sorna", and called the "sernay" in Persian. The pipe widens towards the bottom, and a reed is placed at the mouth in order to play it.
Davul (Drum)

The davul (or screw davul) is one of the very oldest
instruments, having been used down the ages by the various
civilisations of Anatolia, and later by communities in Central Asia.
Despite some changes in form and construction technique, the percussion
instrument that has come down to the present day is actually one of the
least altered traditional Turkish musical instruments.
Daire/Tef (Tambourine)

The Daire/Tef (tambourine) percussion instrument was used in various ways by the ancient civilisations in Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Egypts, and by those that followed, as well as by the Ottomans for both religious and secular purposes. It then moved on from those regions to Europe.
Kaval

Kaval (flageolet) is a wind instrument, popularly
known as the shepherd’s instrument. It also goes by the names "guval"
and "kuval" in some areas. There is a widespread popular belief that
shepherds use the kaval to direct their flocks. The word ‘kaval’ itself
comes from "kav", meaning hollow.
Tulum - Turkish Bagpipe

Tulum (Turkish Bagpipe) is one of the wind instrument group,
it consists of three parts; the skin, "nav" and mouthpiece. Air is
stored in the skin, and when this is squeezed the air is sent on to the
nav, which is itself divided into two parts, the "analik" (main part)
and "dillik" (tongue part).
Baba Zula

With its specifically unique sound created by melding traditional Turkish musical instruments with electronic elements, BabaZula has brought a brand new dimension to Turkish Folk Music. Baba Zula's
music is basically an amalgamation of recorded natural sounds with both
traditional and modern acoustic and electronic musical instruments, a
culmination of disparate electronic effects.
Brenna MacCrimmon

When you hear that a woman from the Toronto suburbs with an Anglo name is an internationally acclaimed Turkish folk singer, an obvious question springs up. "I've been asked how this happened a million times," says Brenna MacCrimmon (BA 2003 Innis). The short answer is happenstance, stemming from a trip to a library in Burlington, Ont., during her late teens. "I came across these Turkish albums, and I was really intrigued," she says.
Brooklyn Funk Essentials

Creating a synthesis of funk, soul, jazz, reggae and hip-hop, Brooklyn Funk Essentials
scored a big number of world-wide record sales with their first album
'Cool and Steady and Easy'. With the jazz funk piece "Katibim" played
and prepared for Fuji Film World Music Days 2 in 1996, they received
great response and after this Istanbul concert, "Katibim" became the
ending piece in the concerts they have been giving all round the world.
Burhan Ocal

World-renowned Turkish multi-instrumentalist Burhan Ocal, a peerless finger drum musician. Burhan Ocal has spent his career bridging the musical cultures of East and West, ancient and modern..
Husnu Senlendirici

Husnu Senlendirici was born on 12 July 1976, in
Bergama, a small town in the Aegean region. Coming from a family deeply
rooted in musical traditions (his grandfather, Husnu Senlendirici,
used to play the clarinet and trumpet; his other grandfather, Fahrettin
Kofeci, the clarinet; and his recently deceased father, Ergun
Senlendirici, the trumpet), he immediately became fascinated by music
and started playing the clarinet when he was only five.
Laco Tayfa

Laco Tayfa represents a new synthesis within the
Turkish Roma (Gypsy) tradition. Under the leardership of clarinetist
Husnu Senlendirici, Laco Tayfa brings Turkish regional folk music into
dialogue with contemporary world music styles, fired by a driving Roma
improvisational style known as "dogaclama". The name "Laco Tayfa"
is a synthesis of Romani and Turkish: "laco" is a Romani world meaning
"good"; "tayfa" is an Arabic transplant into Turkish connoting a
combined work group, extended family and musical ensemble.
Mad Professor

Mad Professor a.k.a Neil Fraser began his musical career on the
technical side of things as a service engineer for mixing desks and
amplifiers. That skill and a good ear for "on key" music became his
asset when he began building a 4 track studio at his home in Thornton
Heath. At school Neil was christened Mad Professor by friends who were
amazed by the experiments he was carrying out.
Mercan Dede

Mercan Dede believes that when you put digital,
electronic sounds together with hand-made, human ones, you can create
universal language, capable of uniting old and young, ancient and
modern, East and West. It’s a bold claim, but the Turkish-born and Montreal-based musician/producer/DJ has the career and the music to back it up.