About Ney
A Brief History of Ney
Ney: In some Turkish dialects it is called "nai", "nay", "gagri tuiduk" or "karghy tuiduk". It is a wind instrument made of reed reed.
Kaşgarlı Mahmut, in his work entitled Divân-ı Lügati't-Türk, written at the beginning of the 11th century, explaining the Turkish culture and language, stated that Ney was used in the ceremonies called "Sagu", which were organized for "Erler", and told about death, virtue and pain.
"Sagu" ceremonies are also known as "Yug" among Turks. In today's Turkish, we call the elegies of the verses called Sagut or Yağut, which are lementations sung in these ceremonies, "Ağıt". We can even say that the words "Sagut" or "Yağut" have been brought to the present day as "Avut" when we associate it with the word "Avutmak", which means consoling. Since the sound coming out of Ney is very deep and impressive, we can understand more easily why the Turks blow Ney in these ceremonies.
Ney, thanks to the Safavid Turkish dynasty and the Great Seljuk Empire, which ruled in Azerbaijan and Iran, has also spread seriously in Iran and took the name "nâ" or "nay" (reed) in Persian.
Ney, which has become widespread in Arab society with the influence of Mamluk, Ayyubi, Seljuk and Ottoman, is also named with the word "mizmâr" (meaning windpipe, vocal organ), which is used for almost all Arabic wind instruments.
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Crimea has always referred to it as Ney.
Ney spread to the Balkans with Ottoman influence; It is called "Ney" by Bosnian, Croatian, Greek, Macedonian and Albanians, "Nai" by Serbs and Bulgarians, and "Nayu" in Romania.
The most primitive form of the ney instrument was first used in history in the Sumerian society. It is thought to have been used since 5000 years. The oldest ney found is what remains from 3000-2800 BC is what is exhibited in the Philadelphia University Museum in America today. It is thought that the instrument was generally used in religious ceremonies in those times.
Today, "Ney" is known as a Turkish instrument. Translated in English as "Turkish Flute", and in German as "Türkische Flöte", the Ney is known in almost all world languages with equivalent words of "Turkish Flute".
Ney has become a symbol of Sufi music. Instead of the word "playing" used for a musical instrument, the term "blowing" is used for Ney. Blowing here has a figurative meaning. It derives from the fact that in Islam, God blew his soul into Adam while he was creating him.
Another factor that makes him affected by this metaphor is; "Tu" while playing the flute, "U" for the side flute sounds like coming out of the mouth, "Hû" sound from the mouth while blowing Ney.
Hû means "He" in Sufism and is sung by glorifying Allah.
Ney is a primitive instrument… Therefore, it is not possible to put it in a single theory like the flute, clarinet and other systematized instruments that emerged later. For this reason, Ney can be learned exactly and correctly only by working one-to-one with the Ney masters through mesk. Like all other musical instruments, Ney has evolved. Turkish Neys has been revised in the last century. Kutb-i Nayi Niyazı Sayın is currently 93 years old and he is a person who has revised the Ney instrument with the curtain scrolling system. The current Ney pitch system and measurements belong to Niyazi Sayın.
Kargı Reeds at field (Arundo Donax)
General Information
Ney is made from a kind of knotty reed cane called "Kargı". The Latin name of this reed as a species is arundo donax.
Southeast Turkey, grows in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions. In addition, Kargı reeds are collected from Egypt (around the Nile river), Syria (around the Asi river) and Cyprus (south and north).
Ney, which is in various sizes according to its chords, consists of nine knuckles. There are 7 holes in Turkish and Arabian neys, six at the top and one at the bottom. Iranian neys have only 6 holes. The spongy part inside the reed called pike is emptied with burners matching the diameter of the knuckles in the reed, and the holes are obtained by piercing with burners. In order to play the Buselik (Natural Si) pitch properly, one more hole can be drilled on the bottom side, so there are 8 holes.
Metal rings called "Parazvane" are placed on these ends in order not to damage the two ends of the reed. Silver, brass or bafon (alpaca) metals are generally preferred for these parazvanes.
An important part that facilitates blowing added to what in the last centuries is the great. Heads are made of buffalo horn, some hardwoods such as boxwood, and a type of hard plastic called delrin, which has become widespread recently, and even epoxy mixtures. However, epoxy is a carcinogenic substance and should never be used, even if it gives a nice appearance to your head. Although materials such as normal plastic and PVC are also used in the capitals of lower quality Neys, four materials are recommended for a professional.
The most important factors determining the quality of the buffalo horn head are that the horn is taken from a water buffalo that died at the end of its natural life at the age of 25, its structure is tight without cracks and fractures, and it is carefully prepared and polished in accordance with the measurements.
In order for a thing to be properly tuned, it must consist of 9 knuckles and each of these knuckles must be equal to each other, and it is very rare to find such a reed in the reed. For this reason, ney producers use a method called shifting to adjust the tuning of what at desired frequencies while opening the pitch holes. For this reason, just as two workers of the same kind will not match, the tuning of the sound depends on the thickness and diameter of the fleshy part of the reed. The ideal size of what is very expensive and very difficult to find.
What to look for in a professional quality thing; The reed is yellow and has dense fibers, it is not too thick or thin, the knuckle lengths are equal and the width of the knuckles decreases proportionally from top to bottom. What is thick or thin affects the thickest sound that it can descend, to say lowering, and the thinnest, that is to say, high pitched sounds.
Ney Types
There are 13 main types of Ney. The main harmony and intermediate harmony (mabeyn) from short to long are as in the photo below.
Ney lengths are approximate measurements. Depending on the diameter and volume of the reed, these ratios show positive or negative differences.
The longer the neys, the more difficult it is to acquire sound, control it, and move the fingers easily by reaching the curtains. For this reason, medium-upper-length Neys such as "Mansur" or "Girl" Ney are recommended for a new beginner. The person who has mastered these Neys can easily be successful in shorter Neys. Today, "Shah" Ney is used as a solo by some master neyzins, "David" Ney is used very rarely, "Temple of David-Bolahenk" and "Bolahenk" Neys are almost never used. Since classical Ottoman music performers usually perform in the harmony of "Girl", "Yıldız" and "Sipürde", the Neys in these harmonies are the most used.
Due to the development of communication and transportation in recent years, the Ney instrument has been the center of attention by westerners. The Ney, the basic instrument of the Sufi tradition, was learned by foreigners who were interested in Sufi culture. However, today, ney has taken its place in western music in modern music performances.
Use of Fingers on Ney
Ney is a rich instrument in terms of performance and technically strong. Making a healthy sound from what is the first obstacle a beginner will encounter. After choosing right or left blowing depending on personal choice, it is a skill that must be acquired at the first stage for the neyzen candidate to find the appropriate lip position and blowing angle according to his / her lip and tooth structure by trial and error and to set this position to make a smooth sound. For this reason, it should be focused on the sound of "neva" (Re / Sol), which is the easiest sound to remove, that is, the lowest sound that can be made when all fingers are open.
Later, the curtains were gradually closed and towards the peste "nim hicaz" (Do diez / Fa diez), "Çargah" (Do / Fa), "segah" (Si / Mi), "Kürdi" (Si flat / Mi flat), "dugah The sounds of "(La / Re) and" rast "(Sol / Do) should be fitted by blowing continuously, and should be made flawlessly removable in all cases. After this stage, the neyzen candidate can choose the difficult path and concentrate on the curtains called dem voices, which are called "acem aşiran" downwards, or continue to blow sound by adding high pitched curtains from "neva".
By closing the holes to a certain extent and turning the blowing angle in or out, intermediate sounds in the 9-comedic system in Turkish Art Music can be performed.
Performing a work in ney becomes meaningful after the technical difficulties that take an average of two, three or four years to overcome, depending on the skill of the person, are eliminated. Because a neyzen candidate who has not overcome technical difficulties cannot be expected to succeed in advanced points such as voice color, musicality, nuances and ney attitude. Until this process is over, some easy-to-perform works can be studied as studies.
Ney is a fretless instrument like a violin; In other words, it can produce every frequency in between with the finely tuned movements of the breath and fingers. Those who do not know with their ears which frequency to remove will have difficulty. Since it is a difficult instrument to learn, someone who does not have enough knowledge and skills in music should definitely work under the supervision of an instructor.
