Week 6

In the movie Latcho Drom, it traces the migration of a nomadic people from South Asia into the Middle East. The instruments of each area can be traced with similarity of the instruments of the other regions, and also regions that we studied in the previous weeks. In the Takht performance in Istanbul, there was an instrument called the 'Ud, which was a plucked lute. In the scene where the nomads are performing under the moon, there was a similar instrument. It was sort of sitar that was strummed with one hand and fingered with another. In all three musical scenes in the movie, instruments resembling the modern day violin can be seen. In Istanbul, the ensemble had a violin playing, in Egypt, the couple was dancing to the music of a rababah, and the small boy was listening to the music and trying to imitate the melody with his own rababah. In the nomadic scene under the moon, there was an instrument that was played with a bow, that was significantly larger than the rababah. The man was tuning it during the day time. The rababah can be seen as a close relative to the Erhu of China. They are both played using bows, and have a hollow head at the bottom, with a couple thin strings stretching from the top to the bottom. The pipa also closely resembles the Ud, with their strumming and plucking style, with many strings, similar to the guitar.

The director shows how the group of "gypsies" absorb each new music they encounter by documenting the events through the eyes of children. Children, having brains like sponges, soak up new information and music very fast. Seeing these children amazed with the new music and dancing that they witness and how they try to imitate the new music serves as a parallel to the "gypsy" people. It was also very interesting to see the different location in which the movie takes place in, from the desert and nomadic dwellings, to a small town in Egypt, to a modern city of Istanbul. You can also see the features of the different people involved with the different areas change. A more Indian looking descent of people were seen in the opening scenes, and a more middle eastern and Turkish looking descent of people were seen in Istanbul.