Investigating Melodic Similarities and Instrumental Developments of Turkish and Celtic Bagpipes Based on Social Lives and Geography

Authors: Zeynep Balci

Abstract:

This article examines the historical points of connection between Celtic Bagpipes and ‘’Tulum’’, which is a type of bagpipes that is culturally played mostly in Eastern Black Sea Regions of Turkey and Georgia, and melodic similarities of the pieces composed for such instruments with respect to sociological and geographical factors. Although the cultural centers of Celtic Bagpipes and ‘’Tulum’’ are separated, they share common geographical conditions, which show similar effects on the development of the folk tunes for such instruments. Geographic living conditions and the social lives that people created under the influence of their surroundings stand out most in ethnic music, and it can be argued that separated groups of people living under similar conditions might have closeness in their social lives and, thus, their ethnic music. Hence, the aim of this research is to understand the musical deviations and unification of the two culturally separated social lives lived near similar mountains and plateaus in two different regions of the world by comparing two closely related ethnic aerophones.

Keywords: bagpipes, Celts, Black Sea, Turkish people