The ''ney'' ( fa, Ney/نی, ar, Al-Nāy/الناي), is an
end-blown flute
The end-blown flute (also called an edge-blown flute or rim-blown flute) is a woodwind instrument played by directing an airstream against the sharp edge of the upper end of a tube. Unlike a recorder or tin whistle, there is not a ducted flue v ...
that figures prominently in
Persian music and
Arabic music
Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also man ...
. In some of these
musical traditions, it is the only
wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitc ...
used. The ney has been played continually for 4,500–5,000 years in
ancient Egypt, making it one of the oldest musical instruments still in use.
The Egyptian ney consists of a hollow cylinder with finger-holes. Sometimes a
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
, horn, or plastic
mouthpiece is placed at the top to protect the wood from damage, and to provide a sharper and more durable edge to blow on. The ney consists of a piece of hollow cane or
giant reed with five or six finger holes and one thumb hole. Modern neys may instead be made of
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
or
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
tubing. The
pitch of the ney varies depending on the region and the finger arrangement. A highly skilled ney player, called ''neyzen'', can reach more than three
octaves, though it is more common to have several "helper" neys to cover different pitch ranges or to facilitate playing technically difficult passages in other
dastgah
Dastgāh ( fa, دستگاه) is the standard musical system in Persian art music, standardised in the 19th century following the transition of Persian music from the Maqam modal system. A consists of a collection of musical melodies, . In a son ...
s or
maqams.
In
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
, this instrument is called "fluier", the word ''nai''
nai
' in '' Dicţionarul explicativ al limbii române'', Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică "Iorgu Iordan", Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 1998. is applied to a curved
pan flute
A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...
while an end-blown flute resembling the Persian ney is referred to as caval.
caval
' in '' Dicţionarul explicativ al limbii române'', Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică "Iorgu Iordan", Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 1998.
Typology
![Ney, from a 19th-century Qajun Iran tile](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Ney%2C_from_a_19th-century_Qajun_Iran_tile.jpg)
The typical
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
ney has six holes, one of which is on the back. Egyptian and
Turkish ney
The Turkish ney is an end-blown flute made of reed, an Ottoman variation on the ancient ney. Together with the Turkish tanbur lute and Turkish kemençe fiddle are considered the most typical instruments of Classical Turkish music. The ney a ...
s normally have seven holes, six in front and one thumb-hole in the back.
The interval between the holes is a
semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...
, although
microtones
Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones— intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of t ...
(and broader pitch inflections) are achieved via partial hole-covering, changes of
embouchure
Embouchure () or lipping is the use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument. This includes shaping the lips to the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument or the mouthpiece of a brass instrument. The word is o ...
, or positioning and blowing angle.
Microtonal inflection is common and crucial to various traditions of
taqsim
''Taqsim'' ( ckb, تەقسیم, ar, تَقْسِيم / ALA-LC: ''taqsīm''; el, ταξίμι, translit=taksimi, tr, taksim) is a melodic musical improvisation that usually precedes the performance of a traditional Arabic, Kurdish, Greek, Middl ...
(improvisation in the same
scale before a piece is played).
Neys are constructed in various keys. In the
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
and
Arabic system, there are seven common ranges: the longest and lowest-pitched is the Rast which is roughly equivalent to C in the Western
equal temperament system, followed by the Dukah in D, the Busalik in E, the Jaharka in F, the Nawa in G, the Hussayni in A, and the Ajam in B (or B♭), with the Dukah Ney being the most common. Advanced players will typically own a set of several neys in various keys, although it is possible (albeit difficult) to play fully chromatically on any instrument. A slight exception to this rule is found in the extreme lowest range of the instrument, where the fingering becomes quite complex and the transition from the first
octave (
fundamental
Fundamental may refer to:
* Foundation of reality
* Fundamental frequency, as in music or phonetics, often referred to as simply a "fundamental"
* Fundamentalism, the belief in, and usually the strict adherence to, the simple or "fundamental" idea ...
pitches) to the second is rather awkward.
Kargı Düdük
Gargy-tuyduk (Karghy tuiduk) is a long
reed flute whose origin, according to legend, is connected with
Alexander of Macedonia, and a similar instrument existed in ancient
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. Kargı in Turkish means reed (''
Arundo donax
''Arundo donax'' is a tall perennial cane. It is one of several so-called reed species. It has several common names including giant cane, elephant grass, carrizo, arundo, Spanish cane, Colorado river reed, wild cane, and giant reed. ''Arundo'' a ...
'', also known as Giant reed). The sound of the gargy-tuyduk has much in common with the two-voiced kargyra. During the playing of the gargy-tuyduk the melody is clearly heard, while the lower droning sound is barely audible. The allay epic songs have been described by the
Turkologist
Turkology (or Turcology or Turkic studies) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of people speaking Turkic languages and Turkic peoples in chronological and comparative con ...
N. Baskakov who divides them into three main types:
*a) Kutilep kayla, in which the second sound is a light drone.
*b) Sygyrtzip kayla, with a second whistling sound like the sound of a flute.
*c) Kargyrlap kayla, in which the second sound can be defined as hissing. The sound of the Turkmen gargy-tuyduk is most like the Altay Kargyrkip kayla. The garg-tuyduk can have six finger holes and a length of 780 mm or five finger holes and a length of 550 mm. The range of the garg-tuyduk includes three registers:
*1) The lowest register – "non-working" – is not used during the playing of a melody.
*2) The same as on the "non-working" register but an octave higher.
*3) High register from mi of the second octave to ti.
The Pamiri Nay
The
Pamiri nay is a
transverse flute
A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played. The player blows across the embouchure hole, in a direction perpendicular to the flute's body length.
Transverse flutes include the Western concert flut ...
made of wood or, in Eastern
Badakhshan
Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...
, eagle bone. Although the name is similar to the Arabic end-blown nay, it might well be that this side-blown flute is more related to
Chinese flutes
Chinese flutes come in various types. They include
Transverse Flutes:
* Dizi (and its varieties such as the qudi and bangdi; primary transverse flutes, usually made of bamboo and distinctively has a buzzing membrane)
* Koudi (a small center-bl ...
such as the
dizi, perhaps through a
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
link. It is used for solo melodies as well as with orchestras and for vocal accompaniment. One of the main uses of the nay is for the most original form of the traditional performance ‘falaki’. These are brief melodic sessions which can express complaints against destiny, the injustice of heaven or exile to distant places, and sentiments such as the sorrow of a mother separated from her daughter, the sorrow of a lover torn from her/his beloved, etc.
Other forms with similar names
![Pastimes of Central Asians](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Pastimes_of_Central_Asians._A_Musician_Playing_a_Nai%2C_a_Flute-like_Instrument_WDL10825.png)
The ney (nej) of
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
,
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
, and
Karakalpakstan
Karakalpakstan, / officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, / is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (' / ). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of , and ...
is a
transverse flute
A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played. The player blows across the embouchure hole, in a direction perpendicular to the flute's body length.
Transverse flutes include the Western concert flut ...
that can be made of different materials, often indicated by a prefix in the name. The agach-nai is a wooden flute, the garau-nai a
bamboo flute
The bamboo flute, especially the bone flute, is one of the oldest musical instruments known. Examples of Paleolithic bone flutes have survived for more than 40,000 years, to be discovered by archaeologists. While the oldest flutes currently kn ...
, the misnai a flute made of sheet iron and the brindgzhi-nai a brass flute.
The Romanian pan flute nai consists of at least 20 to over 30 pipes closed at the bottom, which are connected to each other in a slight arc.
See also
*
Turkish ney
The Turkish ney is an end-blown flute made of reed, an Ottoman variation on the ancient ney. Together with the Turkish tanbur lute and Turkish kemençe fiddle are considered the most typical instruments of Classical Turkish music. The ney a ...
*
Classical Turkish Music
*
Tambin, a similar sounding flute used in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
.
*
Tsuur
The tsuur (Mongolian), choor (Kyrgyz) or chuur (Tuvan) is an end-blown flute of varying lengths that is common among Inner Asian pastoralists.
It is similar to the sybyzgy (Kazakh) and kurai (Bashkir). In western Mongolia it is mainly used by ...
/
Choor
The tsuur (Mongolian), choor (Kyrgyz) or chuur (Tuvan) is an end-blown flute of varying lengths that is common among Inner Asian pastoralists.
It is similar to the sybyzgy (Kazakh) and kurai (Bashkir). In western Mongolia it is mainly used by t ...
*
Kawala
The ''kāwālā'' ( ar, or ; also called ''salamiya'', ) is an end-blown cane flute used in Arabic music. It is similar to the '' ney'' but has six finger holes, while the ''ney'' has seven (including one in the back). The ''kawala'' comes in u ...
, a similar instrument used in Arabic music
*
Persian traditional music
*
Arabic Music
Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also man ...
*
Music of Iran
The music of Iran encompasses music that is produced by Iranian artists. In addition to the traditional folk and classical genres, it also includes pop and internationally celebrated styles such as jazz, rock, and hip hop.
Iranian music infl ...
*
Washint
*
Dilli Ney
References
General bibliography
*Effat, Mahmoud (2005). ''Beginner's Guide to the Nay''. Translated by Jon Friesen; originally published in Arabic in 1968. Pitchphork Music. .
*Marwan Hassan (2010). ''Kawala & Nay: Die Ur-Flöten der Menschheit: Bauen, stimmen, pflegen und spielen''.
erman: ''Explaining How to Build and Play the Kawala, Saluang, or Ghab and Ney-Flute''
External links
*
{{Authority control
Egyptian musical instruments
Arabic musical instruments
Turkish musical instruments
End-blown flutes
Persian musical instruments
Middle Eastern music
Romanian musical instruments
Moldovan musical instruments
Ancient Egyptian musical instruments
Sufi music
Iranian inventions
Bamboo flutes