Salondan davul sesi geliyordu; biraz sonra zurna da başlayınca herkes kapıya çıktı.

Because -dan / -den is the ablative ending, which often means from.

• salon = hall / room
• salonda = in the hall
• salondan = from the hall

So Salondan davul sesi geliyordu literally means A drum sound was coming from the hall.

If you said salonda davul sesi geliyordu, that would suggest there was a drum sound in the hall, which is a slightly different perspective.

Davul sesi means the sound of a drum or drum sound.

This is a very common Turkish noun-compound pattern:

• davul = drum
• ses = sound
• davul sesi = drum sound / the sound of a drum

The -i on sesi is not the accusative here. It is the 3rd person possessive ending, which often appears in this kind of compound.

Similar examples:

• araba kapısı = car door
• ev sahibi = owner of the house / host
• çocuk odası = child’s room

So davul sesi is a fixed compound structure, not simply davul + sound placed side by side.

Geliyordu is made from:

• gel- = come
• -iyor = progressive / ongoing action
• -du = past

So geliyordu means was coming or could be heard coming.

In this sentence, it gives background action:

• Salondan davul sesi geliyordu = A drum sound was coming from the hall

This sounds natural because the sound was already ongoing before the next event happened.

Yes. Very often in Turkish, verbs like gelmek can be used in a broader, more natural way than the direct English equivalent come.

So:

• Ses geliyordu literally = sound was coming
• Natural English = a sound could be heard / there was a sound coming

In this sentence, geliyordu does not mean the sound was physically walking toward someone. It means the sound was reaching the listener.

Biraz sonra literally means a little later or after a little while.

• biraz = a little
• sonra = later / after

Together, it functions like a time expression:

• Biraz sonra = soon after / shortly afterwards

It does not need a verb or extra ending here.

Here da means also / too.

So:

• zurna da = the zurna too / the zurna also

This da is a separate word, not a suffix. It is different from the locative ending -da / -de meaning in / at / on.

Compare:

• evde = in the house
• Ali de = Ali too

In your sentence, zurna da başlayınca means when the zurna started too.

Because this da is the additive particle meaning also / too, and it is always written separately.

So:

• zurna da = the zurna too

But the locative ending is attached:

• zurnada = on/in the zurna (usually not something you would say in normal usage, but grammatically that is what it would mean)

This is a very important spelling distinction in Turkish.

Başlayınca means when (it) started, once (it) started, or sometimes as soon as (it) started, depending on context.

It comes from:

• başla- = start
• -yınca / -ince = when / once

So:

• başlayınca = when it started

In the sentence:

• biraz sonra zurna da başlayınca = a little later, when the zurna started too

This -ınca / -ince form is a very common way to connect events in Turkish.

Grammatically, the subject is zurna.

So literally it says:

• when the zurna also started

In natural English, we would usually understand this as:

• when the zurna started playing too
• when the sound of the zurna joined in

Turkish often allows this kind of shorthand. The instrument itself is treated as the thing that starts, even though in English we may prefer to say the instrument started playing or its sound began.

Because -ınca / -ince forms are subordinate verb forms, not full finite verbs.

Compare:

• başladı = it started
• başlayınca = when it started

The -ınca form connects one action to another, so it does not need the same kind of personal ending as a main verb.

The main finite verb of the whole sentence is çıktı.

This is a very common learner question, because çıkmak often gets translated as to go out / to exit.

Here the difference is:

• kapıya çıkmak = to go to the door / head for the door
• kapıdan çıkmak = to go out through the door / exit from the door

So in this sentence:

• herkes kapıya çıktı = everyone went to the door

The idea is that people moved toward the door, probably to see what was happening.

The -a / -e ending is the dative, often showing direction to / toward.

Yes. Although learners often first meet çıkmak with the meaning go out, it can also mean go up to, appear at, or move toward, depending on context.

Examples:

• sahneye çıkmak = to go onto the stage
• yola çıkmak = to set out on the road
• kapıya çıkmak = to go to the door

So çıkmak is not always just exit from something.

Because herkes is the subject of the main verb çıktı.

• herkes = everyone
• çıktı = went out / went to the door

Turkish subjects often appear with no special ending in the nominative form.

So:

• herkes kapıya çıktı = everyone went to the door

It has two linked parts:

1. Salondan davul sesi geliyordu

   • background scene: A drum sound was coming from the hall

2. biraz sonra zurna da başlayınca herkes kapıya çıktı

   • next event: a little later, when the zurna started too, everyone went to the door

So the sentence moves like this:

• first, we hear the drum
• then the zurna joins in
• as a result, everyone goes to the door

This kind of event-chaining is very typical and natural in Turkish.

The semicolon links two closely related parts of the sentence.

It shows a stronger break than a comma, but not a full separation like two completely independent sentences.

Here it works well because:

• the first part sets the scene
• the second part continues the same situation and gives the result

In Turkish writing, punctuation usage is broadly similar to English in this kind of sentence.

Yes. Turkish word order is flexible, though some versions sound more natural than others.

The original sentence is natural because it presents:

1. source of the sound
2. what was heard
3. the next development
4. the reaction

For example, Herkes kapıya çıktı is placed at the end because that is the main result, and Turkish often places the main verb at the end of the clause.

So the sentence feels very naturally organized around the final action: çıktı.