Ottoman military band

Oldest variety of military marching bands in the world

Ottoman military bands were the first-recorded military marching bands. Though often known as the mehter, it refers only to a single musician in the band. In the Ottoman Empire, the band was generally known in the plural as mehterân, though those bands used in the retinue of a vizier or prince were generally known as mehterhâne. The band as a whole is often termed mehter bölüğü or mehter takımı. In Western Europe, the band's music is also often called Janissary music because the janissaries formed the core of the bands.

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