Mooncoin - Spinndrift

Sleeve Notes

We are often asked about the heritage of the songs and tunes we play and as we don’t want to bore our audiences silly and simply had no room in the sleeve of our CD’s we have decided to provide our interested readers with some background to our material.

1.   Tune:  Bucimis (or Buchimish to give its correct spelling)

We have now at last been given some information on the background to Bucimis by a Richard Unciano, and he says that basically Buchimish was the favourite dance of young people in the villages around Panagyurishte in the Sredna Gora, and which is been named after a weed widely found in Bulgaria.  So follow the Buchimish  link for more information.  Thanks Richard.

By Richard Unciano

http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/articles/boochimish_ru.htm
http://www.arabicdrum.co.uk/
Buchimish was the favourite dance of young people in the villages around Panagyurishte in the Sredna Gora, and is been named after a weed widely found in Bulgaria.
Buchimish, pronounced "boo-chee-mish," in 15/16 meter with MM * = 386 or a tempo of slightly faster than moderate to fast and a rhythm pattern of quick-quick-quick-quick-slow-quick-quick (QQQQSQQ or 2+2+2+2+3+2+2 = 15). It is from Pazardzhik county, region of Thrace, central Bulgaria, and is done in an open circle with a front belt-hold (grasping neighbors' belts with right arm under neighbor's left) called "lesa na poyas." Usually, the men are at both ends and the women are in the middle. Accompaniment varies from a solo gaida or bagpipe to a full folk band.
The dance figure or pattern moves only right and left, or side to side, and in place. The basic figure and most variations are two measures of music long. Only three variations take four measures. Styling is flat-footed, low to the ground, and small-stepped with a constant jiggle or bounce, which is really a quick knee flex.
I observed and learned Buchimish during the second of three trips to Bulgaria, and have taken additional information from "Terminologiya na Bulgasrskata Horeografiya," 1960, and "Teoriya za Stroezha na Dvizheniyata v Bulgarskata Narodna Horeografiya," 1964.

Music Definitions

Meter: The grouping in which a succession of rhythmic pulses or beats is organized into regular patterns in time, notated as measures, and indicated by a meter signature at the beginning of a work. For example,15/16.
Rhythm: The controlled movement of sounds and silences across time; the temporal quality of sound. For example, quick-quick-quick-quick-slow-quick-quick (QQQQSQQ or 2-2-2-2-3-2-2).

BUCHIMISH (Real Audio)

Note from Jerry: Buchimish (BOO-chih-meesh) is the generic name (like "waltz" or "fox-trot") for a Bulgarian dance in 15/16, subdivided 2222322. At a slower tempo, it would be felt as "7 with a long 5." But it's fast(!), felt and played as "4 with a short 3." Kind of like warped funk, and that's what make it so FUN.