Constructing pure sound through the Thracian wedding bands
Constructing pure sound through the Thracian wedding bands

Summary/Abstract: As I was researching the phenomenon of the wedding bands of the 1980s and 1990s in my home town Parvomay, using an auto ethnographical approach, I came across the notion of the ‘pure Thracian sound’ which defines the folklore music not only in the municipality but at the whole Thracian region. I was intrigued by this definition as another phenomenon connected deeply with the wedding band’s music making. Framing that notion at the time of communist nationalistic policy and the economic situation in the 1970s and 1980s in the region, seemed to me as an inseparable part of my research analysis in the field of anthropology of music. In this article I will argue, what is ‘pure music’? Why did the musicians and audiences identify themselves with the pure Thracian sound and how did the political regime affect it? Following Mary Douglas’ definition of purity as a constructive notion, I will re-connect the pure Thracian sound with the classical Bulgarian folklore and search for the roots of the construct. Using my ethnographic materials I will deconstruct the pure sound chronologically to the levels of the institutions, musicians, and audiences for the purpose of my analysis.

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