Turkish Wind Instruments

Turkish Music Instruments

Turkish Wind Instruments

Turkish Wind Instruments. Zurna, Cifte, Cigirtma, Kaval, Mey, Sipsi, Tulum (Gayda). Brief information on Turkish wind instrumets.

Zurna Zurna (oboe) is one of the most important instruments in traditional/local music. The pipe was first made from tree bark, and later panels of copper or brass were added. In the past, the instrument was known by the names "curna", "zurr", "sarna" and "sorna", and called the "sernay" in Persian. The pipe widens towards the bottom, and a reed is placed at the mouth in order to play it.
Cifte Cifte is a wind instrument used in traditional/local music. It is made by tying two reed pipes together, side by side. Two small reeds are added at the end of each of these two reeds. These two small reeds are placed in the mouth and blown at the same time.
Cigirtma Cigirtma (small fife) is a wind instrument made from the bone of an eagle's wing. It is mainly used by shepherds, and is today well on the way to disappearing.
Kaval Kaval (flageolet) is a wind instrument, popularly known as the shepherd’s instrument. It also goes by the names "guval" and "kuval" in some areas. There is a widespread popular belief that shepherds use the kaval to direct their flocks. The word ‘kaval’ itself comes from "kav", meaning hollow.
Mey Mey (small oboe from eastern Anatolia) is a wind instrument, the mey consists of three parts; the main body, the reed and the grip. The latter is attached to the reed in three places, and is pushed up or down, and can by tuned to allow a change of about one tone.
Sipsi The Sipsi (sile a boatswain’s pipe) is a wind instrument made out of bone, wood or reed. The reed version is most common. A small reed at the end of the instrument produces the sound. This is taken into the mouth and air blown over it.
Tulum - Turkish Bagpipe Tulum (Turkish Bagpipe) is one of the wind instrument group, it consists of three parts; the skin, "nav" and mouthpiece. Air is stored in the skin, and when this is squeezed the air is sent on to the nav, which is itself divided into two parts, the "analik" (main part) and "dillik" (tongue part).