Romani
Music
From researching about Romanian
music, I find myself coming across lots of Romani songs. Gypsy music seems to
be entering the main stream recently, so I want to write a little background
about the music that has seeped into radio hits in the past year. The word
Romani is an unfamiliar name to most that recognise these people as Gypsies.
The Roma are a community of people that traditionally were nomadic, some still
are today and others have made homes for themselves. Originally, the Roma came
from India, and travelled through the Middle East, arriving in Eastern Europe
an estimated 1000 years ago where many of them are settled today. There are
also Romani populations in the south of France, Spain and many have also
travelled over to the Americas. Romani culture is hugely interesting because of
this migration; they have accumulated many different traditions to create their
own eclectic culture.
Romani music usually features
harmonic minor scales, which they most likely brought over hundreds of years
ago, because this scale is classically Eastern sounding. There is also a
totally different scale used which not many people know about, called the
‘Gypsy Scale’. Other names are the ‘Hungarian Minor’ or ‘Double Harmonic
Minor’. Let’s take a regular C harmonic minor scale. C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, B and
C. To convert this to a double harmonic minor, you sharpen the F. So as a rule,
in any harmonic minor scale, raise the 4th to make it a double
harmonic minor. The instruments that make up
Balkan Romani music comprise of most of the instruments I have mentioned in my
previous writings on Romanian instruments. The most common instruments featured
in a Romani Lautari band are: the cimbalom, (a hammered dulcimer) used for
harmony and driving rhythms produced from hammering technique; Voice, often
carrying the melody and can be raw and expressive; violin, viola and contra, which
are important for the melody. a contra is important in Romani music since the
flat bridge allows for the classic double stopping sound, or three note chord,
which along with vibrato or tremolo gives that emotive sound of Gypsy music; Double
bass is used to give a sense of rhythm and depth to the music; clarinet for
melody or counter melody; lots of percussion including different types of drum
including Buhay and davul; Sometimes, accordion plays a vamp to help in the
rhythm section of the music; Finally, Brass. Trombones and trumpets are used
sometimes in Gypsy music as well as sousaphone.
Lautari are a group of Romani
people from Romania who are very talented, virtuoso musicians. Lautari started
when Gypsy people were used as slaves in Romania. When this tradition ended,
the Lautari established themselves in rural communities and developed their
musical skills. Ensembles of Lautari are called Taraf. There are lots of Taraf
today, and because many are very skilled musicians, they are becoming better
known. In other parts of the Balkans, Romani bands such as the Taraf are
present. Because of the rich culture of the Roma, the different instruments and
the rhythms, people are beginning to take interest in Balkan music. There are
bands in other continents that play Gypsy style music, such as the band ‘Xenos’
from Australia, and the band ‘A Hawk and a Hacksaw’ from the USA. Because the
rhythms of Romani music are so addictive to dance to, some people set up nights
in Britain playing Balkan music, such as the club night ‘Balkanarama’ in
Edinburgh and Glasgow which I have attended and it is amazing to see British
people enjoying this style of music. Romani/Gypsy music is most commonly mixed
with either electronic music, or punk music. Bands sampling Romani music in
electronic music include ‘Balkan Beat Box’ and ‘Balkan Vision’. Mainstream
artists such as Jason Derulo have included Gypsy style music in some songs,
most notably the song ‘Talk Dirty’ which actually samples a melody used by
‘Balkan Beat Box’. When I realised this, I looked into copyright issues, but
then realised that the melody is probably a traditional one anyway! The most
recognised gypsy punk band is ‘Gogol Bordello’. This band has CD’s stocked in
HMV so is obviously popular among those whose music taste is diverse. With
Gypsy music creeping into the mainstream, I feel it is important that we know
the background, i.e where it comes from what instruments are used (in the ‘Talk
Dirty’ video I noticed trumpets being ‘played’ when it was actually a Taragot).
Because the rhythms and the melodies of Romani music are so emotive and amazing
to dance to it is refreshing to hear it in popular music; finally, something
different and inspiring. However, people need to know where Romani music
originates from. When I play gypsy songs, people don’t register that it is from
the Balkans. They assume it is from the Middle East, and I suppose in a way
they are correct. If new cross genres keep evolving then there is an exciting
diverse future ahead for Romani music.
I am currently arranging a Romani
song ‘Tutti Frutti’. This song has become slightly popular because it featured
in the film ‘Gadjo Dilo’. Films about gypsies are another way that the genre of
music has become better known. Because of a lack of traditional instruments, I
have arranged the piece for piano, guitar, bass, trumpet, vocals and drums. The
instrumentation should really be a cimbalom, accordion, vocals and double bass,
as used in the film. By arranging this Romani song, I hope to inspire my
musicians to listen to more Gypsy music.
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