RE-EVALUATING THE ROOTS OF ARABESK MUSIC: GRUP METRONOM

Abstract

Grup Metronom played a leading role in the development of Turkish arabesk music during the 1970s. Delineating the social and musical relationships within the group reveals a new perspective on the blending of genres, challenging the received view of the history of arabesk. Evidence of the sounds resulting from those relationships can be traced in two songs by Grup Metronom, analyzed herein. Based on in-depth interviews with prominent actors who shaped the scene and witnessed the historical process, the article attempts to illuminate how a group of musicians with diverse backgrounds-from makam (both folk and art), jazz, and Western symphonic traditions- interacted, performed, and were perceived by other musicians, in the cultivation of arabesk music. Hence, the proposed narrative challenges the assumption that arabesk music wascreated by a group of marginal musicians, who shared a common cultural ground. The argument is also supported by the musical analysis of selected works -which have been appreciated by studio musicians, arrangers, or music directors- to define musical tendencies and eclectic structures. Text analysis (e.g., lyrics, melodic contour, scale, and form), performance analysis (arrangement, orchestration, vocal and instrumental interpretation, and timbre), and other musical inputs (recording, use of decorative sounds, and mix) constitute most of the stylistic interpretations in the paper. The musical analyses are supported with transcriptions, which aim to exemplify certain points emphasized in text and display arrangements of the performances in unity to provide sources for further studies. The article also attempts to elaborate the issues related with Arabic influence on the arabesk music; and ground some of them through the stories of the actors in the case and analysis of the sonic environment in their products.