Mehtaran Mehtarân ( Ottoman Turkish مهتران literary " pre - eminences " ) was an Ottoman Army Band which played martial tunes during military campaigns . The mehterân was usually associated with the Janissary corps . The music of a mehtaran is called " mehter musikisi " . Origin . The documents which show that the mehter musikisi expresses the feeling of Turkish soldiers go back to very early times . Literally , mehter also means " harmonica player " , " tent maker " and " kavas " . The word " mihter " in the Persian language means also the greatest and majestic . " Mehterhane " is the name that was used for the group of players before the acceptance of the military band by the Ottomans . Mehter as Ottoman military music arose in the era of Osman Gazi and had been played in the wars and in ceremonies customarily organized for various everyday purposes . There isn ’ t , however , any definite information about this organization until the era of Fatih . With Fatih , while the establishment of the empire was developing , a radical improvement began , as well , in the organization of the mehter . Developments . Mehter tunes are found as far back as the 16th century . Nevertheless , it is known that Abdülkadir Meragi , the great Turkish music master , came to the Ottoman lands during the era of Yıldırım Beyazıd Han and composed some mehter melodies for the Turkish military . In that period , Nefiri Behram Ağa and Emir - i Hac also wrote some mehter tunes . Mehter bands played some compositions of Hasan Can and Gazi Giray Han of Kırım , as well . There was great development of Turkish music in the 17th century . In the mean time , mehters such as Zurnazenbaşı ( head of the zurna players ) İbrahim Ağa , Zurnazen Daği , Ahmed Çelebi from Edirne , Mehter Ahmed from Edirne also composed mehter tunes . Evliya Çelebi provided important data about the mehterhane and mehter musikisi in the middle of the 17th century . “ There are 300 artists in mehterhane - i Hümayun ( the mehterhane of the palace ) in Istanbul . These are quite precious and well paid people . There is additionally a mehter takımı of 40 people in Yedikule since there is a citadel . They are on duty three times a day , in other words they give three concerts , so that public listens to Turkish military music . This is a law of Fatih . Moreover , there are 1 , 000 mehter artists in addition to them in Istanbul . Their bands are in Eyüp Sultan , Kasımpaşa ( kapdan - ı Deryalık , the center of [ the ] Turkish Naval Forces ) , Galata , Tophane , Rumelihisarı , Beykoz , Anadolu Hisarı , Üsküdar and Kız Kulesi . These mehter bands are on duty ( i . e . give concerts ) twice a day , in the daybreak and sunset hour . ” Mehterhane preserved its existence , changing continuously , until the Janissary corps was abolished . According to its final form , each one was composed of nine davul s , nine zurnas , nine nakkare s , nine cymbal s and nine horns . This band was called Dokuz katlı mehterhane ( mehterhane composed of instruments , each instrument ’ s number is nine ) . Mehter had many improvements in its music and performance parallel to its organization and establishment . Furthermore , renovations in the areas of art and culture influenced the music also . The studies and compositions of the music teachers of the palace in the 17th century such as Hanende Recep Çelebi , Zurnazenbaşı İbrahim Ağa , Eyyubi Mehmet Çelebi , Solakzade Mehmed Hendemi ( who was also a very famous historian ) and Selim III , the sultan and one of the great music masters of 17th century , had influence on the renovation of the mehter musikisi and the growth of the repertoire . Western interlude . This well known and traditional organization was annulled while the radical and western types of reforms took place in the Ottoman Empire in the era of Mahmut II ( 1808 – 1839 ) . As European - style music shows became more commonplace with the impact of the reformist efforts of the palace and its environment , Mahmud II left the mehter aside and wanted a military band to be established in accordance with western precedents . Muzıka - i Humayun ( the military band of the palace ) began officially to function in 1831 and this was the beginning of an obscure period in the history of the mehter ' , which goes back at least 500 years . Instruments . Documents from ancient times to the present indicate that yurağ ( zurna ) , sıbızgı ( sipsili nefir , the horn ) , the horn of Hun ( şahnay ) , burguv ( the horn ) , kuğruv ( kös ) , tümrük ( davul ) ve çeng ( the cymbals ) were the instruments in the tuğ band of the Turks in central Asia . There were two types of zurna used by the Ottomans . One of them called the kabazurna having a low tone was played in the mehterhanes of the Ottomans and Kırım . 100 instrumentalists had played the kabazurna in the 17th century in Istanbul . The other , called the curazurna , small in size and high - pitched , was accompanied by the davul or the çifte na ’ ra . Evliya Çelebi wrote “ There are boathouses belonging to the sovereigns . If the sultan wants to go to the new - palace or somewhere else , he travels at the back of a light galley under the precious dome on the jewel throne by watching the waterside houses , vineyards and orchards and shipyards on the side of Haliç with the accompaniment of only the curazurna and the çifte na ’ ra performing “ , while he was talking about the garden of the shipyard in Istanbul . The curazurna as the small zurna was planned to be added to the military mehter takımı , which was intended to be established by Enver Paşa in 1917 . Kabazurnas were made in Istanbul in the 16th century . The musical instruments played in the mehterhane of the Ottomans could be classified as follows : Wind instruments The Kabazurna , the Cura zurna , the Horn , the Mehter pipe , the clarinet Percussion instruments The Kös , the Davul , the Nakkare , the Tabılbaz , the Def " ' The Cymbals and the Rattles " The Cymbals , the Çoğan Organization . The Mehter bands were divided structurally into squadrons having a commander called bölükbaşı . The number of these squadrons was equal to the number of the kinds of the musical instrument ; squadrons of the zurna players , of the horn players , of the nakkare players , of the cymbal players , of the davul players , of the kös players , of the çoğan players . Zurnazenler Bölüğü ( the squadron of the zurna players ) had a squadron master called the zurnazen who was also called the mehterbaşı ( head of the mehter ) . Other members of the squadron were called zurnacı or zurnazen whose rank was that of a soldier . Zurnazens were dressed in a purple quilted cap wrapped with a white destar on their head , a white robe , a sash around the waist , a red shalwar , yellow Yemeni ( light , flat heeled shoes ) and a red biniş ( cübbe ) . The zurna is the most fundamental music instrument of the mehter band . It can play all the melodies in solo . Its sound is colorful , lively , pastoral , imposing , emotional and frisky . Sliding sounds as well as short and sharp sounds can be obtained . Many masters of this musical instrument , which is the most convenient instrument for virtuoso playing among Turkish instruments , such as zurnazenbaşı İbrahim Ağa and Daği Ahmed Çelebi from Edirne , whose names are still very well known , come to mind . Moreover , there were great zurna masters among the Ottoman pashas such as zurnazen Mustafa Paşa .