Yes, several, and if you do a search through the discussions you'll find some of them listed. Maybe some of the Australian members can help right now as my memory is fried. There was a collection put together by a musician down in, I think Sydney, with something like 40 melodies written out. Also, there have been a couple of 'Circle Dance' collections, which tend to be more of a hodge-podge collection of tunes but include some mixed meter dance melodies, and not badly transcribed despite the mix...
Try a search for my ol' mate "Miamon Miller"... A great person to get any tutelage from, but I believe he also produced a couple of collections. He used to run Balkan camps in North America. I don't know what he is up to lately, but a great character and an excellent musician and teacher.
I'll try to remember a bit more, but for now, try doing some searches. I'm sure there was a similar discussion where I added half a dozen printed collections with the details. Some, like the 'Circle Dance' collections, are mixed, coming out of general 'folk dancing', so including dances from several different countries, but some are specifically 'Balkan'...
Good luck, I will see what I can drag out of my memory so you can have more specifics...like the couple of Australian collections in print, and Miamon's work... There are those that are more difficult to get ahold of, those produced by the various folklore departments and groups in the individual Balkan countries. For a bit of depressing reality, one repository for such things, the library in Dubrovnik, was gutted during the war... It was beautiful, as is the music from the Dalmatian Coast and thereabouts ~ wonderful stuff, soiled by war and in some case bitter, hate filled, vilifying and vile lyrics...
I cringe whenever anyone drags in 'politics' into the tradition, like here recently, even in suggestion. I have seen the horror of it, there in the Balkans, elsewhere ~ and in Eire... It is ugly and smells of cordite and burning flesh...
"Miamon Miller, viola, violin: has over 30 years experience as a professional violinist and has played on numerous recordings, films, television and commercial sound tracks. With a BA in composition and an MA in Ethnomusicology (both UCLA), he has combined academic and performance interests. Although a specialist in the folk music of Eastern Europe (Fulbright grant 1976-77, Romanian research), Miamon has considerable playing experience and theoretical understanding of music in areas as diverse as the near East, Mexico and the Anglo-American tradition. From 1970-83 he was a member of Aman Folk Ensemble and held a variety of positions including Music and Artistic Director."
Your details don't say anything, like where you are, or I might be able to recommend someone closer to home. Anyway, I've done enough here, but here's the last bit, just one example each from this site and from the two categories, also, a link to someone with a passion for things Balkan, an Australian connection:
Bill Cope keeps quite a few charts, as well as recordings, on his site at http://balkantunes.org. If Macedonian songs are your thing, you could buy David Bilides' book: http://www.izvormusic.com/books/macedonian/MFS1.html.
Finally, if you want a real immersion in the genre, try one of the East European Folklife Center's Balkan music camps in North America: http://www.eefc.org. I've been three times!
Thank you to everyone who replied, particularly Ceolachan. There's a mine of information into which I can delve. It's the unfamiliar metres that interest me, such as the wittily named 'Baker's Dozen' in 13/8 that I discovered in the tunes section on this site.
For those who are trained classically: Bartók used traditional Balkan stuff for example for his 44 Duos for 2 violins. Also see Romanian Folk Dances etc. You may excerpt the pure melodies and arrange them as you like. There is more by contemporary Balkan composers like Kodaly, Szelenyi, Szigethi etc. Also listen to Balkan folk records: Warsaw village band, Taraf de Haidouks, Musicas, Fanfare Ciocarlia etc. - There is much to explore.
One of these days I arranged two of Bartóks tunes as Surfrock songs for an electric bowed strings project at the school where I work: Mückentanz and Ruthenisches Lied http://www.uli-boesking.de/surfinbela/sound.htm
You can try http://www.folkloretanznoten.de
There are loads of free scores from all over the Balkans and some links to other free folk dance music score sites too.
Balkan Tunes
Balkan Tunes
Is there a book(let) of popular Balkan tunes or other irregular metre tunes transcribed in conventional sheet music form ?
( In case anyone is thinking of answering with the tired and unhelpful " use your ears, not sheet music" type of response, please don't !)
Thanks,
Gran.
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by Gran Cassa
Re: Balkan Tunes
A Balkan music festival was submitted here recently, with a URL with info on it: http://www.thesession.org/events/display/252
maybe that will help.
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by Rudall the time
Re: Balkan Tunes
Gran, is this the kind of music you are into?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7A83jgDupw
If so, isn't that a Chinese Banjo the guy on the right is playing? ... & if so, is that usual?
Sounds a lot like those unusual tunes Andy Irvine is so keen on.
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by Ptarmigan
Re: Balkan Tunes
Yes, several, and if you do a search through the discussions you'll find some of them listed. Maybe some of the Australian members can help right now as my memory is fried. There was a collection put together by a musician down in, I think Sydney, with something like 40 melodies written out. Also, there have been a couple of 'Circle Dance' collections, which tend to be more of a hodge-podge collection of tunes but include some mixed meter dance melodies, and not badly transcribed despite the mix...
Try a search for my ol' mate "Miamon Miller"... A great person to get any tutelage from, but I believe he also produced a couple of collections. He used to run Balkan camps in North America. I don't know what he is up to lately, but a great character and an excellent musician and teacher.
I'll try to remember a bit more, but for now, try doing some searches. I'm sure there was a similar discussion where I added half a dozen printed collections with the details. Some, like the 'Circle Dance' collections, are mixed, coming out of general 'folk dancing', so including dances from several different countries, but some are specifically 'Balkan'...
Good luck, I will see what I can drag out of my memory so you can have more specifics...like the couple of Australian collections in print, and Miamon's work... There are those that are more difficult to get ahold of, those produced by the various folklore departments and groups in the individual Balkan countries. For a bit of depressing reality, one repository for such things, the library in Dubrovnik, was gutted during the war... It was beautiful, as is the music from the Dalmatian Coast and thereabouts ~ wonderful stuff, soiled by war and in some case bitter, hate filled, vilifying and vile lyrics...
I cringe whenever anyone drags in 'politics' into the tradition, like here recently, even in suggestion. I have seen the horror of it, there in the Balkans, elsewhere ~ and in Eire... It is ugly and smells of cordite and burning flesh...
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
http://www.dunav.org.il/
http://www.dunav.org.il/balkan_music_scores.html
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
"The Pinewoods International Collection" = more than 400 traditional dance tunes and songs ~
http://www.pixton.org/ ~ Tom Pixton
http://www.pixton.org/musicbook/
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
Another source ~ Richard Geisler's work:
"The Bulgarian Collection" = 35 tunes
"The Yugoslav Collections" = 40 tunes from Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia & Bosnia-Herzagovinia
"The Balkanalian Collection" = 40 tunes from Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia & Romania
"The International Collection" = 55 tunes from all over the place
Richard Geisler, (530)-477-2293, richgeis ~ at ~ jps.net
http://www.phantomranch.net/
http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/folkmusc.htm
http://www.recfd.com/wherebuy.html
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
The Australian book ~
"Macedonian Folk Music" ~ 91 tunes
http://www.csheehan.spiderweb.com.au/
http://www.csheehan.spiderweb.com.au/order.htm
Australia: $16.50, incl. GST
Elsewhere: $15.00
& there is a CD available too...
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
Miamon Miller & company ~
http://www.mmillermusic.com/
"The Balkan Folkdance Music Gig Book"
"The Balkan / European Folkdance Gig Book, Volume 2"
http://www.elderly.com/
http://www.elderly.com/books/cats/870.htm
Also available from Elderly:
"How to Play Romanian Violin" ~ Volumes 1 & 2
http://www.bravo-la.com/Miamon_Miller.htm ~
"Miamon Miller, viola, violin: has over 30 years experience as a professional violinist and has played on numerous recordings, films, television and commercial sound tracks. With a BA in composition and an MA in Ethnomusicology (both UCLA), he has combined academic and performance interests. Although a specialist in the folk music of Eastern Europe (Fulbright grant 1976-77, Romanian research), Miamon has considerable playing experience and theoretical understanding of music in areas as diverse as the near East, Mexico and the Anglo-American tradition. From 1970-83 he was a member of Aman Folk Ensemble and held a variety of positions including Music and Artistic Director."
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
& another source in North America, Andy's Front Hall:
http://www.andysfronthall.com/
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
Oh yeah, we've a handful of them here on site, check 'barndances' & 'slip jigs'...
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
Your details don't say anything, like where you are, or I might be able to recommend someone closer to home. Anyway, I've done enough here, but here's the last bit, just one example each from this site and from the two categories, also, a link to someone with a passion for things Balkan, an Australian connection:
"Kolev's Kopanitsa" (filed under 'barndances')
Submitted on June 13th 2004 by Neil Barr.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3159
"Gruncharsko Horo" (filed under 'slip jigs')
Submitted on October 11th 2003 by Neil Barr.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/2052
Neil Barr has a passion there for things Balkan, drop him a line:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/7471
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
He, also, not only has passion and knowledge, but seems a pretty decent bloke as well... GIve him my love...
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Balkan Tunes
Bill Cope keeps quite a few charts, as well as recordings, on his site at http://balkantunes.org. If Macedonian songs are your thing, you could buy David Bilides' book: http://www.izvormusic.com/books/macedonian/MFS1.html.
Finally, if you want a real immersion in the genre, try one of the East European Folklife Center's Balkan music camps in North America: http://www.eefc.org. I've been three times!
# Posted on March 14th 2007 by McBriss
Re: Balkan Tunes
Thank you to everyone who replied, particularly Ceolachan. There's a mine of information into which I can delve. It's the unfamiliar metres that interest me, such as the wittily named 'Baker's Dozen' in 13/8 that I discovered in the tunes section on this site.
In gratitude,
Yours,
Gran.
# Posted on March 15th 2007 by Gran Cassa
Re: Balkan Tunes
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/Balkan/
# Posted on March 15th 2007 by swisspiper
Re: Balkan Tunes
For those who are trained classically: Bartók used traditional Balkan stuff for example for his 44 Duos for 2 violins. Also see Romanian Folk Dances etc. You may excerpt the pure melodies and arrange them as you like. There is more by contemporary Balkan composers like Kodaly, Szelenyi, Szigethi etc. Also listen to Balkan folk records: Warsaw village band, Taraf de Haidouks, Musicas, Fanfare Ciocarlia etc. - There is much to explore.
One of these days I arranged two of Bartóks tunes as Surfrock songs for an electric bowed strings project at the school where I work: Mückentanz and Ruthenisches Lied
http://www.uli-boesking.de/surfinbela/sound.htm
# Posted on March 29th 2007 by UlisesDos
Re: Balkan Tunes
You can try
http://www.folkloretanznoten.de
There are loads of free scores from all over the Balkans and some links to other free folk dance music score sites too.
# Posted on October 16th 2009 by anju
Greek Tunes
# Posted on April 7th 2008 by muellehn
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/17309
# Posted on July 24th 2010 by ceolachan