Inspiration: Elif’in Hecesi

I’m currently working on a series of posts talking about my process putting together a set for performance, beginning to end, but there are four parts (at the time of writing this) and I want to make sure it all keeps the right tone. I’ll have more meaty content again next week, no worries, and thought I would share another inspiration post in the meantime.

Today’s inspiration is a bit left field. Elif’in Hecesi is a YouTube channel. I discovered it thanks to a recommendation of a single track, then kept watching/listening to, and the more I watched, the more I loved. I would have materials for months if I was recommending each piece here, so I’ll just recommend the channel.

The concept is simple: one (or sometimes two) musicians, in a natural setting: forest, farm, or their own living rooms. One camera. Traditional instruments more often than not. Sometimes they improvise, sometimes they play their own compositions, sometimes they play music of their region. So far it seems that it’s all Turkish, mostly Anatolian music for what I can tell (I might be wrong). There’s a LOT of it, and all of it beautiful, and very different from what we tend to hear in the West… Stellamara comes close at times, but not *quite* to this level of beauty in simplicity. There’s something magical about listening to these people playing while life happens around them. Quite often the viewers have left lyric translations too.

It is worth listening to, if you feel you want to add to your Middle Eastern music appreciation past the staples. Just don’t expect catchy sing along hits. This is the kind of music you listen to when you want to soothe your soul or be reminded of the beauty of the world. I’ve left two examples below, but there’s a lot more!

Stay tuned, and in the meantime, enjoy!