![]() Persianney with six holes (one on the back) | |
Ancient | |
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Classification | End-blown |
Playing range | |
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Theney (Persian:نی), is anend-blown flute that figures prominently in traditionalPersian,Turkish,Jewish,Arab, andEgyptian music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the onlywind instrument used. The ney has been played for over 4,500 years, dating back toancient Egypt,[1] making it one of the oldest musical instruments still in use.[2]
The ney consists of a piece of hollow cane orgiant reed with five or six finger holes and one thumb hole. The Arabic ney is played without anymouthpiece. This contrasts with the Turkish ney that sometimes have abrass,horn, or plastic mouthpiece which is placed at the top to protect the wood, to produce a steeper sound, and protect it from damage, with a better edge to blow on. Modern neys may instead be made ofmetal orplastic tubing. Thepitch of the ney varies depending on the region and the finger arrangement. A highly skilled ney player, calledneyzen, can reach more than threeoctaves, though it is more common to have several "helper" neys to cover different pitch ranges or to facilitate playing technically difficult passages in otherdastgahs ormaqams.
InRomanian, this instrument is called "fluier", the wordnai[3] is applied to a curvedpan flute while an end-blown flute resembling the Persian ney is referred to as caval.[4]
The typicalPersian ney has six holes, one of which is on the back. Arabic andTurkish neys normally have seven holes, six in front and one thumb-hole in the back.
The interval between the holes ranges from asemitone to threequarter tones, althoughmicrotones (and broaderpitch inflections) are achieved via partial hole-covering, changes ofembouchure, or positioning and blowing angle.[5] Microtonal inflection is common and crucial to various traditions oftaqsim (improvisation in the samescale before a piece is played).
Neys are constructed in various keys. In theEgyptian andArabic system, there are seven common ranges: the longest and lowest-pitched is the Rast which is roughly equivalent to C in the Westernequal 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 variouskeys, 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 firstoctave (fundamental pitches) to the second is rather awkward.
Gargy-tuyduk (Karghy tuiduk) is a longreed flute whose origin, according to legend, is connected withAlexander of Macedonia, and a similar instrument existed in ancientEgypt. Kargı in Turkish means reed (Arundo donax, 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 theTurkologistN. Baskakov who divides them into three main types:
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:
ThePamiri nay is atransverse flute made of wood or, in EasternBadakhshan, 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 toChinese flutes such as thedizi, perhaps through aMongol link.[7]
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.[8]
The ney (nej) ofUzbekistan,Tajikistan, andKarakalpakstan is atransverse flute 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 abamboo flute, 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.
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