DANCE HOUSE MP3s

The first set of mp3s below are snippets from Romanian style dance houses on the outskirts of Budapest. There were usually about 20 of us there -- about five of which were the band, which included bagpipes, a fiddle, guitar and flute, and a double bass. The second set are from Fono Records, the main dance house and folk music center of Hungary (also a record label). There were two bands one night, a Hungarian one and a Yugoslavian / Bulgarian one (both from Budapest, however). Two members of the second band returned the next day to play for a small lunch crowd. One played the accordion and one played the tarambuka, a Turkish-type drum that goes under your arm or, in this case, between your knees. There was also a young boy that may have been the son of the accordionist, and he played an end-blown flute. Most songs are danced to in a large circle, but a few of the Hungarian ones are danced in couples with the man doing wild leg-slapping stuff that only a video camera can describe. A bit more on that on the Hungary page.

Please note that some of these descriptions may be inaccurate and all corrections, refinements and additions are welcome.  Thank you! The files are about 1 MB per minute and times are shown in brackets. Click the times to hear the songs. Permission to record was granted.

** If the songs stutter and don't begin correctly, hit STOP and PLAY and it should be fine. Don't know why this happens. **

Romanian Dance Houses | Fono Records

Romanian

1. This is a simple 2/4 time sounding thing led by the flute and some enthusiastic dancers.  [1:32]

2. This has a mixture of Romanian trills and Hungarian chants, I think. Not too good on my mics. [1:23]

3.  This is not too different in style from the first one.  [1:00]

4.  This one sounds Turkish, which Balkan songs often can. [:50]

5.  A faster, minor key tune led by flute and fiddle that changes keys every 10 seconds.  [1:25]

6.  A bagpipe song. [1:00]

7.  Another bagpipe song. [:50]

8.  An interesting song with solos of bagpipe, fiddle, flute and guitar. The meter is 9/8, which means instead of counting 1+2+3+4 as in most music, you count  1+2  1+2  1+2+3  about as fast as you can say it. Each 1 beat is accented. It sounds a bit uneven, which is why it is called "aksak" ("limping" in turkish) or "krivo" ("crooked" in Bulgarian). [2:00]

Fono

1.  This song, possibly a Yugoslavian one with what sound like multiple tamburicas and an accordion, gets faster and faster as it goes along [3:47].

2.  A flute and accordion go a little haywire on this one. [:54]

3.  A clarinet, accordion and tarambuka drum in quick 6/8 time on an Eastern scale (called hijaz?) [1:30]

4.  A traditional Hungarian dance song, where you can hear one of the men torturing himself by slapping his ankles, thighs, calves, and anything else in reach (or out of it). The heavy strings pulsing on the bass of this song is typical of Hungarian folk songs. [:37]

5.  This is a famous Yugoslavian song, so there is more of it here, though it's still only about half. It's the small boy on flute mentioned above. [2:30]

From here on are examples of different complex rhythms used in the Balkans (and elsewhere). There are some common time signatures that have sets of "1+2" and one set of "1+2+3". For example...

7/8 can be either: 1+2  1+2  1+2+3  or  1+2+3  1+2  1+2. Both are popular.

9/8 is generally: 1+2  1+2  1+2  1+2+3

11/8:  1+2  1+2  1+2+3  1+2  1+2. This one is so fast you can barely count along.

The following songs, all just accordion and tarambuka, have various samples of those...

6. in 7/8 time [:27]

7. same thing [:29]

8.  in 9/8 time [1:20]

9.  in 11/8 time [:41]

10.  in 6/8 time (1+2+3  1+2+3). It begins very slowly [1:08] then disintegrates into madness. [:20]

11.  Ahem. This entire song (save a bit of intro) is included because it alternates between everything above, sometimes switching back and forth several times within 15-20 seconds. If you can catch them all, congratulations. The guess thus far...  [5:53].

  :00   Intro

  :31   1+2+3

2:13   9/8

2:23   7/8

2:35   9/8

2:44   7/8

2:56   9/8

2:56   9/8 (faster / different)

3:04   1+2+3

3:10   9/8 and then mayhem until...

3:17   11/8

4:14   slow and irregular

5:09   11/8

5:53   end

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