Ney

Ney

The ney (Persian: نِی,Ney/نای,Nāy‎), is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Middle Eastern music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played continually for 4,500–5,000 years, making it one of the oldest musical instruments still in use.The Arabs ney consists of a hollow cylinder with finger-holes. Sometimes a brass, 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 at. 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 be made instead of metal or plastic 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 dastgahs or maqams. In Romanian, this instrument is called "fluier", the word nai is applied to a curved pan flute while an end-blown flute resembling the Persian ney is referred to as caval.

Update this biography »
Complete biography of Ney »