Iranian Woodwind Ney Nay Sabiza Model Bamel

Persian Ney

The Persian ney (sometimes spelled as nay, or nai) is a wind instrument from Iran. It consists of a hollow cylinder with finger-holes made out of reed. Sometimes a brass or plastic mouthpiece is placed at the top to protect the wood from damage, but this plays no role in the sound production. The Persian ney is one of the oldest instruments in the world. In Persia itself there are various kinds of the ney in different regions which have different names like the ney, ney labak, shemshal, toy kik, ney labi, laleh, and others. The word “nay” in Persia has been always the reminder of all kinds of wind instruments. For example, in the old writings, we always encounter terms like sornay, karnay, marnay, donay, siyah nay, narme nay,shah nay, and….which are all considered as the members of the ney family. There are abundant documents about the instruments related to the ney family in Persia. Farabi a famouse Persian scientist in his book “Musiqi al-Kabir” discusses the different neys prevalent in his time. Some of the neys Farabi referred to had mouthpiece and some like the present ney did not. In comparison with other Persian instruments, the ney has an especial status in Persian culture.