Manele

Romania · 1990s

Dancing Romantic Happy Sentimental Sad

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Description

Manele is a contemporary Romanian pop‑folk genre that blends Romani lăutărească traditions with Turkish, Greek, and Middle Eastern modalities, delivered over dance‑ready, electronic arrangements. It is characterized by melismatic vocals, ornate ornamentation, and catchy, repetitive hooks.

Typical manele productions use arranger keyboards, synths, and drum machines alongside saxophone, accordion, violin, and clarinet lines. Lyrics center on love and heartbreak, pride and social mobility, family celebrations, and nightlife, often performed at weddings and parties.

Despite periodic controversy around class and ethnic prejudice, manele remains one of Romania’s most commercially resilient and widely consumed styles, thriving on YouTube, streaming platforms, and diaspora events.

History

How to make a track in this genre

Top albums

Vol. 5 - O simplă speranță

Parshi-vee

La grande voix tsigane de Roumanie

Adrian Copilul Minune & Costi

Main artists

Top tracks

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Influenced by

Muzică Lăutărească

Muzică lăutărească is the urban, professional music of Roma (lăutari) and Romanian musicians from Wallachia and Moldavia, performed at weddings, fairs, and city salons. It crystallized in the 19th century from older courtly and folk practices, blending Romanian dance forms with Ottoman, Balkan, and Jewish elements. Typical taraful (ensemble) instrumentation features lead violin (prím), second violin or viola braccio, cobza or guitar, accordion, cimbalom (țambal), clarinet, nai (pan flute), and double bass. The style is marked by ornate melodic ornamentation, rubato improvisation (especially in doina), modal colors such as Hijaz/Phrygian-dominant, harmonic minor, and Dorian, and grooves for circle dances like hora and sârba as well as uneven Balkan meters such as 7/8. Repertoire spans exuberant dance medleys and intimate drinking songs (cântec de pahar), often with poetic, bittersweet lyrics.

Romanian Folk Music

Romanian folk music is the traditional music of Romania’s villages and small towns, shaped by pastoral life in the Carpathians, Danubian plains, and the Black Sea region. It features a wide spectrum of vocal and dance forms—from the free-rhythm, melismatic doină to propulsive circle dances such as horă and sârbă—and a performance aesthetic rooted in ornamented melody and heterophonic textures. Typical ensembles (taraf) combine fiddle (vioară), cobza (a plucked lute), nai (pan flute), ţambal (cimbalom), accordion, clarinet, and sometimes the tárogató (taragot), shepherd flutes, cimpoi (bagpipe), and tulnic (alpenhorn). Modal melodies (often Dorian, Aeolian, and Mixolydian, with occasional augmented seconds) and asymmetric meters (5/8, 7/8, 9/8) are common, especially in Dobrogea and the south. Socially, the music accompanies weddings, seasonal rituals (colinde/carols, Călușari healing/rite dance), and community gatherings, carrying themes of love, nature, heroism (haiduc ballads), humor, and laments.

Turkish Music

Turkish music is a broad umbrella encompassing the courtly classical traditions of the Ottoman era, regional folk styles of Anatolia and Thrace, Sufi devotional practices, and modern popular forms that blend local aesthetics with global genres. Its classical core is organized by makam (melodic modes) and usul (cyclical rhythms), using microtonal intervals and rich ornamentation. Instruments such as oud (ud), tanbur, ney, kanun, bağlama (saz), kemençe, and a variety of frame and goblet drums are central. Folk idioms feature asymmetrical meters (like 9/8 or 7/8), call‑and‑response vocals, and dance forms like halay and çiftetelli. Since the 20th century, Turkish music has integrated Western harmony, orchestration, and production techniques, giving rise to arabesk, Anatolian rock, Turkish pop, and hip hop while maintaining the expressive depth and modal nuance characteristic of its older traditions.

Arabic Music

Arabic music is the modal, largely non-harmonic art and folk music tradition of Arabic-speaking societies across the Middle East and North Africa. It is centered on the maqam system (a constellation of scales, characteristic melodic phrases, and modulation pathways) and the iqa'at cycle-based rhythmic system. Its sound is defined by microtonal intervals (often featuring neutral seconds and micro-inflected pitches rather than equal-tempered quarter-tones), expressive melismas, and a heterophonic ensemble texture in which multiple instruments ornament the same melody simultaneously. Core instruments include the oud, qanun, nay, violin/kamanja, riqq, and darbuka/tabla, with larger firqa (orchestral) lineups common in 20th‑century Cairo. The tradition values poetic text-setting, extended improvisation (taqsim and layali), and the affective aesthetic of tarab—intense musical ecstasy and emotional transport.

Laiko

Laïko (laïkó tragoudi) is modern Greek popular music that crystallized in the post–World War II era as rebetiko’s urban sound moved into the mainstream. It blends the expressive bouzouki-led melodies and modal color of earlier Greek urban and folk traditions with verse–chorus songcraft and production values suited to radio, records, and the nightclub culture of the “bouzoukia.” Typical laïko ranges from intensely emotive laments about love, exile, and hardship to celebratory dance numbers, all delivered with ornamented vocals, dramatic vibrato, and prominent instrumental intros (often a taximi improvisation on bouzouki).

Balkan Pop-Folk

Balkan pop-folk is a commercially oriented blend of contemporary pop and dance production with melodies, ornamentation, and rhythms drawn from the folk traditions of the Balkans. It typically features powerful, melismatic vocals, hooky choruses, and club-ready beats, while retaining modal inflections, asymmetric meters, and timbres associated with regional folk music. Across the region it appears under local banners (e.g., turbo-folk in the ex‑Yugoslav sphere, chalga in Bulgaria, and laïko‑pop varieties in Greece), but the shared aesthetic is a glossy, nightlife-facing sound that fuses East‑Mediterranean and Near‑Eastern motifs with modern pop.

Turbo-Folk

Turbo-folk is a Balkan pop-folk style that fuses contemporary pop and dance production with traditional folk melodies, ornamented vocals, and Eastern (often "oriental") modal flavors. It is characterized by punchy 4/4 club beats, catchy hooks, and melodramatic lyrical themes about love, nightlife, heartbreak, and status, while retaining Balkan vocal inflections and melodic turns. The sound ranges from glossy dance-floor anthems to sentimental ballads, often featuring synthesizers, drum machines, accordion or clarinet lines, and guitar, with frequent use of Phrygian dominant/Hijaz-like scales.

Dance-Pop

Dance-pop is a mainstream-oriented pop style built for both radio and the dancefloor. It blends hook-driven songwriting with club-ready rhythms, typically using a steady four-on-the-floor kick, bright synthesizers, and punchy, polished production. Tempos usually sit in the 110–128 BPM range, and arrangements emphasize memorable choruses, clear verses and pre-choruses, and concise structures suitable for radio edits. Compared with club genres like house or techno, dance-pop prioritizes song form, vocal presence, and accessible harmonies, while still retaining an energetic groove. The sound palette often includes layered synths, sampled or electronic drums, tight bass lines, ear-catching toplines, and modern production techniques such as sidechain compression and stacked vocal harmonies.

Romani Folk Music

Romani folk music is the diverse, diasporic musical tradition of the Romani people, whose ancestors migrated from the Indian subcontinent into the Middle East and Europe during the late medieval period. Carrying core melodic and rhythmic ideas with them, Romani musicians absorbed and reinterpreted local styles, creating a family of related yet regionally distinct musics across Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western Europe. Common features include ornate, highly expressive melodies with melismas and slides; flexible tempo practices (rubato introductions leading into faster dance sections); and modal colors such as harmonic minor and the Phrygian dominant (often called "Gypsy" or freygish in European discourse). Instrumentation varies by region—fiddles and cimbalom in the Carpathian basin; clarinet, accordion, and cimbalom in Romania and Hungary; brass bands in the Balkans; and guitar-based ensembles among Iberian Gitanos. Dance repertoires (e.g., csárdás, hora, kolo, čoček) and the Romani language often feature, alongside local tongues.

Tallava

Tallava is a lively pop‑folk style that emerged among Albanian‑speaking Roma/Ashkali communities in Kosovo and nearby North Macedonia. It is primarily wedding and party music, built around extended, dance‑driving grooves, improvisatory keyboard/clarinet/accordion lines, and highly ornamented vocals. Its melodic language draws heavily on "oriental" (Ottoman/Turkish and broader West Asian) modes and embellishments, often using Hijaz/Nahawand‑like colors, slides, and rapid melismas. Rhythmically it favors a propulsive 2/4 or 4/4 with syncopated darbuka or drum‑machine patterns, while occasionally borrowing Balkan asymmetries. Performances are social and participatory: singers exhort the crowd, instrumentalists take turns improvising, and the groove stretches or intensifies on demand. In recordings, tallava commonly blends live instruments with synths, arranger‑keyboards, drum machines, and modern pop production.

Has influenced

Romanian Popcorn

Romanian popcorn is a sleek, radio-friendly strain of Eastern European dance-pop that broke out of Romania in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It blends europop and eurodance songwriting with house/electro-house beats, minimal arrangements, and a distinctive plucky "popcorn" lead synth often colored by Balkan/Mediterranean melodic turns. Hooks are concise and highly repetitive, lyrics tend to be simple and upbeat (frequently in English), and tempos usually sit around 120–130 BPM, aiming squarely at mainstream clubs and international charts.

Romanian Etno Music

Romanian etno music (muzică etno) is a Romanian pop‑folk style that fuses traditional folk melodies, dance rhythms, and instruments with contemporary pop, dance-pop, and light electronic production. It typically borrows song forms and grooves from regional dances such as hora and sârbă, while featuring modern verse–chorus structures, catchy hooks, and radio-friendly arrangements. Vocals often use folk ornamentation (melismas, scoops, ululations/strigături), and arrangements highlight timbres like pan flute (nai), violin, accordion, clarinet, cobza or țambal alongside drum machines and synths. The style is festive and communal, often focused on love, celebration, nostalgia for village life, and seasonal or wedding themes, positioned between traditional folk (muzică populară) and mainstream pop.

Balkan Pop-Folk

Hip Hop

Hip hop is a cultural and musical movement that emerged from Black, Latino, and Caribbean communities, centering around rapping (MCing), DJing/turntablism, sampling-based production, and rhythmic speech over beats. It prioritizes groove, wordplay, and storytelling, often reflecting the social realities of urban life. Musically, hip hop is built on drum-centric rhythms (from breakbeats to 808 patterns), looped samples, and bass-forward mixes. Lyrically, it ranges from party anthems and braggadocio to political commentary and intricate poetic forms, with flow, cadence, and rhyme density as core expressive tools. Beyond music, hip hop encompasses a broader culture, historically intertwined with graffiti, b-boying/b-girling (breakdance), fashion, and street entrepreneurship, making it both an art form and a global social language.

Trap

Trap is a subgenre of hip hop that emerged from the Southern United States, defined by half-time grooves, ominous minor-key melodies, and the heavy use of 808 sub-bass. The style is characterized by rapid, syncopated hi-hat rolls, crisp rimshot/clap on the backbeat, and cinematic textures that convey tension and grit. Lyrically, it centers on street economies, survival, ambition, and introspection, with ad-libs used as percussive punctuation. Production is typically minimal but hard-hitting: layered 808s, sparse piano or bell motifs, dark pads, and occasional orchestral or choir samples. Vocals range from gravelly, staccato deliveries to melodic, Auto-Tuned flows, often using triplet cadences.

Dance-Pop

Pop

Pop is a broad, hook-driven style of popular music designed for wide appeal. It emphasizes memorable melodies, concise song structures, polished vocals, and production intended for radio, charts, and mass media. While pop continually absorbs elements from other styles, its core remains singable choruses, accessible harmonies, and rhythmic clarity. Typical forms include verse–pre-chorus–chorus, frequent use of bridges and middle-eights, and ear-catching intros and outros. Pop is not defined by a single instrumentation. It flexibly incorporates acoustic and electric instruments, drum machines, synthesizers, and increasingly digital production techniques, always in service of the song and the hook.

Mulatós

Mulatós (mulatós zene) is a contemporary Hungarian party-oriented pop-folk style that blends traditional dance rhythms with schlager-like melodies and modern, synth-driven arrangements. It is designed for weddings, name-day parties, festivals, and TV variety shows, favoring catchy refrains, simple harmonies, and lyrics about love, celebration, and everyday life. Stylistically it draws on csárdás and polka grooves, Romani-influenced ornamentation, and neighboring Balkan pop-folk currents (manele, turbo-folk), while embracing affordable electronic backing tracks, accordion leads, brass riffs, and sing-along choruses. The overall sound is upbeat, danceable, and often kitschy on purpose, balancing nostalgia for older folk and schlager traditions with the immediacy of modern dance-pop.

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