Online Workshop ­ Making a Wind Instrument: the nay (end-blown flute)

The purpose of this workshop is to show 8 to 12-year-olds how to make a simple wind instrument from readily available materials.

Introducing the Nay (end-blown flute)

The nay is the only wind instrument played in Arab music. It is considered to be the perfect wind instrument since its richly harmonic tone, mellow and slightly husky, more closely approximates the sound of the human voice than any other instrument. Despite its relatively simple construction, the nay's clear sound gives it a special place in the Arab-Muslim world as an orchestral and solo instrument.

The nay was introduced into Tunisia relatively recently during the 1930s by the great Syrian musician from Aleppo, Sheihk Ali Darouiche Le Halabi.

The nay is an excellent instrument for the city but it also has a country cousin that has been played since time immemorial. This instrument is known in Tunisia as the gasba or kasab. It is also an end-blown flute but it differs from the nay in its finger hole arrangement. The nay is a traverse flute with no embouchure or reed.

Steps for Making a Nay

The nay is made of a fully-grown cane stalk between 60 to 80 cm long, cut from the straight part where the internodes are more or less the same length apart and the interior diameter is uniform. The tube must always have nine internodes and its total length which may vary is thus actually determined by the distance between the internodes.

You should start by first cleaning the outside of the cane carefully using fine sandpaper. Then, with a long drill the same diameter as the interior of the cane, remove all of the membranous disks around the nodes that could obstruct the air channel except for the nodal disk at one end that has to serve as the blow or mouth hole.

A small disk is cut from the middle of this node's circular membrane, leaving a ring sticking to the inner surface of the tube that will vibrate when the musician blows into it. Cut this node, called the ³reservoir", with a bevelled outside edge. Without a ³reservoir², the notes will sound false.

The instrument has seven finger holes cut crosswise, six at the front plus a rear finger hole. The six finger holes are divided into two groups of three holes equidistant from each other. The two groups are placed so that the distance between the groups is equal to twice the length between the holes. The seventh or rear hole is placed at exactly the middle of the length of the tube. If you do not have an appropriate tool to make the holes, you can use a metal rod heated at one end.

Divide the tube into 12 sections of equal length. At exactly the third section down from the mouth hole, make the first hole for the first group of three finger holes. At the line for the fourth section, make the second hole followed by the third hole at the fifth section. The sixth section should remain intact. Make the second set of holes at the seventh, eighth and ninth sections. You should note that the ratio of the interior diameter of the tube to the crosswise holes should be about 1.5 cm to 3 to 4 mm.

The nay's reed fibre is fragile and easily worn out. To ensure that the bevelled mouth hole will always have a sharp edge to blow into, protect the tube by winding cotton thread around it about .5 cm thick. The nay is not a very difficult instrument to maintain. All it needs is light rubbing with some sweet almond oil.

Playing Technique