3- Wind Instruments

• Zurna

Zurna is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. Because of its strong sound it is generall played in tthe open air, on occasions such as village weddings, sending off the boys to military service, sport encounters, folk dances and similar ceramonial events.. It was the first melody instrument of the Mehter teams in the Ottoman period. It was also used in some traditional theater (ortaoyunu) peformances. It is generally accompanied with a drum. Because of the difficulty of its intonation and its high sound level, it is not used in musical groups. However, in the recent years it started to be used by some folk music groups.

Zurna has a sound range of nearly two octaves and has eight melody keys with seven of them on the front and one on the back. The key at the back is so located as to come between the first two notes towards the reed section at the front. The keys are generally round with 6-8mm. diameters. The length of the instrument changes between 30 - 60 cm and widens out like a funnel starting from the part the melody holes end. This section is called the kalak. At the blowing end there is a thin pipe like rod over which the reed goes. This rod is called Metem. A seperate circular piece with a hole in the middle is put over the Metem to help the breathing technique. This piece is called Avurtluk. The most common zurna playing technique is the continuous playing technique where while the air collected in the cave of the mouth is blown out from the reed, inhalinig through nostrils occurs simultaneously.

There are seven holes besides the melody keys on the kalak section which are smaller in diameter. They are called şeytan deliği (devil's hole) or cin deliği (geni's hole). They can be closed with wax or a similaar material according to the sound hunting of the player.

The instrument which changes between 60 and 30 cm. in length as we have already mentioned is divided into three types according to its sound : Kaba Zurna, Orta Kaba Zurna and Cura Zurna (Zil Zurna). They are generally made from wood of trees such as plums, apricots, walnut, saber etc.

Zurna / mp3 (583 KB)
Zurna / rm (109 KB)

• Kaval

Kaval is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. It is populary known as the instrument of the shephards. It is also called Guval and Kuval in different regions. The belief that the shepherd leads his sheep flock with his kaval is a wide spread belief among the people. The word kaval is probably a derivative from the word "kav" which means lollow on the inside.

Its sound range is about 2.5 - 3 octaves. It isa widely used instrument inthe folk music groups of today and can be used as asolo instrument within an ensemble. Kaval preserves its sound characterisitc when played together with other instruments.

As kavals are not produced to any defined standards what can be said about its dimensions has to be very general. Its lengty may vary between 30 cm and 80 cm and its diameter is approximately 1.5 cm. It has 7 melody keys on the front and one underneath. Besides these, there are also 4 other keys at the lower section of the instrument called Şeytan Deliği and Hazreti Ali.

Kavals are divided into two main types as Dilli Kaval and Dilsiz Kaval and are generally made from the wood of the plum tree.

Kaval / mp3 (673 KB)
Kaval / rm (126 KB)

• Çığırtma

Çığırtma is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. Çığıtrma is made from the wing bone of the eagle. It is known to be used mostly by the shepherds and is an almost forgotten instument today. It has a total of seven mekody keys with six onthe topand one underneath It is about 15-30 cm. long.

Çığırtma / mp3 (680 KB)
Çığırtma / rm (127 KB)

• Mey

Mey is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. It consists of three parts . Ana Gövde (main part), Kamış (reed) and Kıskaç (clip). The clipis mounted to the end of the reed and can be pushed up and down on the reedand thus enabling tuning by providing one note variation in the sound.

May which is made of wood from plum walnut, beech etc. has sound distance of about one octave. It has a total of eight melody keys with with seeven on topand one underneath.There are three types of mey : Cura Mey, Orta Mey and Ana Mey. Mey is called Balaban in Azerbeijan.

Mey / mp3 (548 KB)
Mey / rm (103 KB)

• Tulum

Tulum (bagpipe) is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. It consists of three parts with Deri Kısmı (leather section), Nav and Ağızlık (mouth piece). The air is stored in the leather section and is let into the nav section by pressing the bag under the arm. Nav is the part where the melody is played. It also has two parts called Analık and Dillik. Ağızlık is the section which sends the air to the leather bag of the pipe.

Tulum is used in Turkey at Trabzon, Rize, Erzurum, Kars, Northern and Eastern Anatolian regions and at the Thrace region. Tulum, which is generally made from lamb or kid skin, is called Gayda in Thrace .

Tulum / mp3 (430 KB)
Tulum / rm (81 KB)

• Sipsi

Sipsi which is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type is made from bone, wood or reed. The reed ones are more common. It has a second smaller part at the end which is made of reed that produces the sound. This part is completely taken into the mouth and the air is blown.

It is most widely used inthe Aegean Region the instrument has a total of six melody keys with five on the top and one underneath.

Sipsi / mp3 (451 KB)
Sipsi / rm (85 KB)

• Çifte

Çifte is a Turkish folk instrument of the wind type. It is made by tieing two reed pipes side by side. Two small reed pieces which produce the sound are added to the ends of both reeds. These two small reeds are taken into the mouth cavity andit is played by blowing the air at the same time.

There are two çifte types known as Demli Çifte and Demsiz Çifte. In demli çifte one of the reeds does not have any pitch keys and it just produces a background sound. There are melody keys onthe other red and the main melody is played through them

Çifte is also known as Argun, Argul, Kargın or Zambır at different regions.

Çifte / mp3 (427 KB)
Çifte / rm (80 KB)