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Troysti muziki/Троїсті музики from the region of West Podolia, Ukraine. Troysti muziki refers to the Ukrainian string ensemble tradition. The string ensemble was a core part of the musical culture of western Ukraine. String ensembles would play at communal gatherings and events like weddings. Similar traditions are found in Belarus, Poland, and, more broadly, Central Europe. The name "troysti muziki" refers to the three integral instruments that make up the ensemble. The violin plays the melody; sometimes a second violinist also plays a bass melody. The cymbaly is a large instrument played with two sticks that strike the strings; it is an accompanying instrument to the main melody played on the violin. The basolya is a large bowed string instrument that plays the bass melody. Percussion in troysti muziki comes in two forms. Buben is a frame drum that is hit with a stick. A larger two-skin drum is also often used; the player hits the skin with a stick in one hand and, in the other, strikes a cymbal on the top of the drum.

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Kozioł is a bagpipe from Wielkopolska region of Poland! In northwest of Poland, mainly around Poznan area. We find surviving bagpipe traditions. The name used for these bagpipes is kozioł, meaning goat in English. Referring to the material used to make the bag. The top of the chanter is also decorated with glass beads for eyes and metal horns so that it appears like a goats head too! Other bagpipes with carved animal or human heads are found across Central Europe like the Hungarian and Slovak bagpipes. Pairing the fiddle and bagpipe is an ancient tradition of the west Slavs. In Wielkopolska the kozioł was accompanied by a small three string fiddle called “mazanki” but nowadays a high tuned violin is used instead. The fiddle and bagpipe is also played by the Sorbians of Eastern Germany, in Bohemia region of Czechia, Moravia region of Czechia and Slovakia and the Beskid mountains between Poland, Slovakia and Czechia.

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Goral music from Slovakia! The gorals are the inhabitants of the Tatra mountains. Their name literally means mountain people or highlanders. They speak west Slavic dialects closely related to Polish and Slovak. Their culture is distinct and interesting and is very “pan Carpathian”. Their wool trousers and leather jackets echoing clothing found all across the Carpathians and as far south as the Danube and up to Ukraine and Slovakia. Goral singing is intense, loud and powerful. This way of singing is also found in parts of Slovakia like Terchova. The string ensemble is a core part of Goral musical traditions. With the majority of dances being accompanied by the violin and bass. String ensembles again are common all across Central Europe from the Pannonian basin all the way to Belarus.

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Udmurt vernacular architecture

Kenos, Udmurtia, Kezi district

The structure shown here is the kenos. It is the one of the most unique buildings on the Udmurt farmstead. Kenos has a rectangular shape and almost always two floors. The ground floor is a storage space. Used to keep clothing and other goods. The top floor is a summer residence where people would sleep during the warmer months. The front facade almost always has a porch and balcony, with modest decorations in the form of carved pillars and fretwork.