Music of Bulgaria Original 1955 Recording (Nonesuch 9 72011) Early recordings of Philip Koutev and the Ensemble of the Bulgarian Republic.
Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares (Nonesuch 9 79165 in the U.S., 4AD CAD603CD in the U.K.) The Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Choir, directed by Philip Koutev and Krasimir Kyurkchiyski. This was the world hit that introduced many to Bulgarian music. It was actually a collection of recordings by various artists and groups. A group that included some of these singers (and others) toured under this name.
Village Music of Bulgaria (Elektra/Nonesuch 9 79195) Two albums of field recordings on one CD (A Harvest, a Shepherd, a Bride, and In the Shadow of the Mountain). One of the tracks, a recording of "Izlel je Delyo Hagdutin", was included by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan on the Voyager Golden Record.
Balkana The Music of Bulgaria (Hannibal HNCD 1335) Many of the songs are by Trio Bulgarka or one of its members.
The Forest is Crying (Lament for Indje Voivoda) by The Trio Bulgarka (Hannibal HNCD 1342)
Two Girls Started to Sing ... Bulgarian Village Singing (Rounder CD 1055) Field recordings

The most distinctive feature of Balkan folk dance music is its complex rhythms (compared to Western music), which are built using combinations of groups of 2 ("quick") and 3 ("slow") beats. All of the basic folk dances use a distinct combination of these rhythmic "units". Some examples are lesnoto, "the slow one,"(7 beats divided 3-2-2), kopanitsa (11 beats divided 2-2-3-2-2),rachenitsa (2-2-3), paidushko (a skipping beat of 2-3) and "pravo horo", which can either be standard 4/4 or 6/8. Some rhythms with the same number of beats can be divided in different ways: for example, 8-beat rhythms can be divided 2-3-3, 3-2-3, 3-3-2, 2-2-2-2, 2-2-4, 2-4-2, 4-2-2, or even 4-4.

Instruments Used in Bulgarian music
Bulgarian music uses a wide range of instruments. Many folk instruments are varients of traditional Turkish instruments such as the "Saz". More modern style instruments are often used in the more modern dance music that was an offshoot of traditional village music.

Folk instruments
Bulgarian bands use instruments that commonly include:

The gaida, a traditional goat-skin [[bagpipe]. There are two common types of gaida. The Thracian gaida is tuned either in D or in A. The Rhodopi gaida, called the kaba gaida, is larger, has a much deeper sound and is tuned in F.
The kaval, an end-blown flute that is very close to the Turkish kaval, as well as the Arabic "Ney."
The gadulka, a bowed string instrument perhaps descended from the [[rebec], held vertically, with melody and sympathetic strings
The tǔpan, a large frame drum worn over the shoulder by the player and hit with a beater ("kiyak") on one side and a thin stick ("osier") on the other
The tambura, a long-necked lute used for rhythmic accompaniment as well as melodic solos
The tarabuka or dumbek, an hourglass-shaped finger-drum. It is very similar to the Turkish and North African "darbooka" and the Greek "doumbeleki"
[edit]
Dance instruments (modern "Bulgarian Wedding Music")
Accordion
Clarinet
Saxophone
Drumset
Electric Bass
Electric Guitar
The new professional musicians of traditional Bulgarian instruments soon reached new heights of innovation, expanding the capacities of the gaida (Kostadin Varimezov and Nikola Atanasov), gadulka (Mihail Marinov, Atanas Vulchev) and kaval (Nikola Ganchev, Stoyan Velichkov). Other, factory-made instruments had arrived in Bulgaria in the 19th century, and included the accordion. Bulgarian accordion music was defined by Boris Karlov and later Gypsy musicians including Kosta Kolev and Ibro Lolov. In 1965, the Ministry of Culture founded the Koprivshtitsa National Music Festival, which has become an important event, held once every five years, showcasing Bulgarian music. The last festival was in August of 2005.