Trip Through Istanbul's Music Scene Essay

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Crossing the Bridge

The video opens with a punctuated sound that is monophonic and seems to be a drum being hit on the rim, and a symbol being played with a brush. The video show a river and the bridge and men discussing something on board a vessel. Of course their language is foreign so all the English speaking reader can do is note the emphasis and the emotions attached to the voices. There are no subtitles. It would have been helpful to know what these men are saying.

The music in the background is traditional Turkish music, instrumental with repetition as a high-pitched instrument interacts with percussion. It sounds like the music in old movies where a snake charmer is doing his work and the snake is slowly coiling and its head is ready to strike.

The underground band Baba Zula is getting ready to perform. They are all men with long hair, beards, sunglasses, and they are performing on a boat in the river. Their band includes a lot of percussion, many drums including steel drums. A humorous man with frizzy hair plays the electric piano.

The scene shifts to Istanbul at 1:29 A.M., a disc jockey sorts through albums (LPs) and the music is softer. This video is really a documentary that was seen at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005; it shows the people of Istanbul, many of them out on the street as though they are expecting something or moving toward something. Some of the females appear to be prostitutes, and all kinds of humanity are in the streets while the background music churns along with similarity of tone and style.

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The producer of this video traveled around Istanbul with a portable recording studio and a microphone, and gathered together ensembles of music.

When the English narrator comes in, a saxophone is playing but by the 12th minute the underground band begins, with the singer yelling, symbols clanging, and as to form, structure, shape, this sounds like grunge rock with an arabesque attitude. A fast-paced and rhythmic rock sound is heard and seen being performed. Later in the video (40 minutes into the video) a group playing folk-style music outdoors on a rooftop is featured. The music appears to be improvisational and the players fascinated with the sounds created. On the rooftop a drummer playing an instrument that has a metallic sound.

The dress of the men playing the music is very informal to say the least; they are not band members in a well-coifed presentation, they appear to be very laid back and interested in discussing their music and why they play.

Fifty four minutes into the video a female voice that rises and falls and is accompanied by what seems to be a harpsichord provides background music as the video depicts collapsed buildings, slums, inner city scenes that could probably be photographed in many large cities. Ramshackle homes in dreary neighborhoods are featured. You could call this music arabesque again.

Fifty eight minutes into the video an attractive woman with long black curly hair sings and plays a guitar-like instrument. Her voice is fluid, has a rich, Middle-Eastern tone, and appears to be singing a song with sadness attached to it. She has a high vocal….....

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Latest APA Format (6th edition)

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"Trip Through Istanbul's Music Scene" (2014, November 30) Retrieved June 4, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/trip-istanbul-music-scene-2152973

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"Trip Through Istanbul's Music Scene" 30 November 2014. Web.4 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/trip-istanbul-music-scene-2152973>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

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"Trip Through Istanbul's Music Scene", 30 November 2014, Accessed.4 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/trip-istanbul-music-scene-2152973
   

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