Turkish ney

Turkish Shah Ney

The Turkish ney is an end-blown reed flute, 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 also plays a primary role in the music of the Mevlevi Sufi rites (semâ).

Description

A rim-blown, oblique flute made of reed, the Turkish ney has six finger-holes on the front and a high-set thumb-hole on the back. A feature that distinguishes it from similar instruments of other cultures is the flared mouthpiece or lip-rest, called a bashpare, traditionally made of water buffalo horn, ivory, or ebony, but in modern times many are plastic or similar durable material. Like most rim-blown flutes, the Turkish ney is played by blowing a narrow airstream at an angle against the interior edge. Besides the finger holes, the pitch is altered by adjusting the embouchure, angle and force of the breath, with more forceful producing the higher pitches. Compared to most fipple flutes and reed instruments, the ney is very difficult to play at first, often taking several weeks of practice to produce a proper sound at all, and even more to produce the full range of pitches. A skilled ney player can sound a two-and-a-half octave range or more.

Sizes

Ney come in many lengths, each producing a different key. Professional players usually possess a range of ney in different keys so they match to other instruments in an ensemble. In some Turkish musical circles, the "pitch" (akord) of a ney is determined differently. For example some refer to the note generated with all holes closed, meaning Davud would be in E, Bolahenk nısfiye would be in D, and Ṣah would be in F. In others, the pitch is determined using the note (perde) which matches A=440 Hz (diyapazon). This pitch is one note higher, e.g., Mansur being A/La rather than G/Sol. The lengths below are approximate, as it can vary somewhat due to the natural characteristics of the wood.

Players

One refers to a Turkish ney player using the verb üflemek (blow) although for all other instrumentalists one uses the verb çalmak (play). One might speculate that the ney's close identification with the Mevlevi Sufis might be the origin of this usage.

Noted recent ney players include Niyazi Sayın, Akagunduz Kutbay, Sadreddin Özçimi, Kudsi Erguner, Süleyman Erguner (torun) and Münip Utandı.

Related instruments

The classical Turkish ney's closest relatives in other countries, the Arab nay and the Persian ney, do not use a mouthpiece, but rather blow against the sharpened edge of the tube. In Turkish folk music, one type of ney (dilli kaval) has a fipple; the other type (dilsiz) is a rim-blown oblique flute, as is the Turkish classical ney. The Bulgarian kaval, a folk instrument, resembles the Turkish dilsiz folk ney. The Romanian nai is a panpipe rather than a flute, but may be related etymologically and morphologically.

Popular media

Ney Taksimi/Aziz İstanbul a composition by Münip Utandı is the most sampled Turkish ney song on the Internet, being sampled by several media. Ney Taksimi means improvisation at the ney instrument. The following is a table showing the songs that used the original sample.

References

• Signell, Karl. "Meetings with a remarkable man: Neyzen Akagündüz Kutbay," Festschrift for Robert Garfias (in press)
• Tammer, Anthony. "Construction of the Turkish Ney," Turkish Music Quarterly V/4-VI/1 (1993)
• Erguner, Süleyman. Ney metod Quarto, 351 pages, b/w, color illustr., 2 CDs. ISBN 975-97801-0-0

External links

• Ney/Nay Teacher and Performer
• "Construction of the Turkish Ney," by Anthony Tamer in TMQ
• "Construction of Turkish and Arabic Ney + music samples in Greece,"'
• Improvisation by Süleyman Erguner on Ṣah ney (excerpt) 00:01:58, 4.7 MB, mp3
• Turkish Music Quarterly contents
• NeyAtolye - Turkish Ney Flute Workshop, Izmir - TURKEY (English) extensive information about the Turkish Ney.
• NEYZEN, a useful resource (English)
• NEYYAPIM, also a useful resource (English)
• Neyforum, also in English (English)
• NEYDERGISI, The first journal only about NEY (Turkish)

See also

• Ney
• Kawala
• Kaval

Flutes and whistles Side- blown Bansuri Daegeum Dizi Fife Five-key flute Fue Kagurabue Komabue Nohkan Ryūteki Shinobue Yokobue Irish flute Koudi Sáo Simple system flute Venu Xindi Concert Piccolo Treble Soprano Concert Flûte d'amour Alto Bass Contra-alto Contrabass Subcontrabass Double contrabass Hyperbass End- blown Anasazi flute Danso Frilka Fue Hotchiku Shakuhachi Gudi Kaval Kōauau Ney Nose flute Kalaleng Nose whistle Pinkillu Qina Quray Sodina Sopilka Šupelka Svirel Washint Xiao Pan Kuvytsi Larchemi Nai Miskal Paixiao Siku Soinari Wot Fipple Atenteben Dentsivka Diple Dvoyanka Flabiol Flageolet Frula Fujara Hydraulophone Khloy Khlui Kuisi Low whistle Native American flute Organ pipe Salamuri Shvi Sjøfløyte Slide whistle Spilåpipa Stabule Tarka Tabor pipe Tin whistle Tonette Txistu Whistle Xirula Zuffolo Recorders Garklein Sopranino Soprano Alto Voice flute Tenor Bass Great bass Contrabass Sub-great bass Sub-contrabass Vessel Gemshorn Pifana Hun Molinukai Ocarina Xun Overtone Fujara Kalyuka Koncovka Willow flute Other Chinese folk flute music Flute repertory Tone hole Uakti Vertical flute

Turkish musical instruments String instruments Bowed instruments Karadeniz kemençe Classical kemençe Yaylı tanbur Rebab/Kabak kemane Sine kemanı Plucked instruments Kanun Çeng Tanbur Ud Cümbüş Ahenk Saz Cura Baglama Komuz Shahrud Rud Lavta Mugni Struck instruments Santur Woodwind instruments Zurna Tulum Karkm Dankiyo Gaida Düdük Çifte Ney Turkish ney Kaval Sipsi Dilli kaval Dilli ney Mey Taragot Dilli düdük Kargı Düdük Miskal Percussion instruments Auxiliary percussion Bendir Daf Davul Darbuka Naqareh Kus Kudüm Nagara Turkish crescent Zill Castanet Spoon See also Turkish musical instruments Turkish folk music Ottoman classical music Ottoman military band Music of Turkey