In the cities, especially Bucharest, gipsy orchestras have developed a characteristic style, which is unmistakable Romanian but also distinguished from the village music in the surroundings. Influences of other ethnic cultures like Gipsy, Armenian, Turkish, Bulgarian and others – as well as jazz – are obvious. In addition, this music is in many aspects overdone compared with the village music: extravagant ornamentation, extended improvisations, sentimental lyrics, an emotional singing style etcetera.

This kind of music is often blamed by folklorists for their non-Romanian and styleless character. Nevertheless, this music is very popular both inside and outside Romania, and is therefore contained in this database. This type of music is often called “lautaresc” after the Romanian word lăutar – folk musician.