Nai (pan flute)

Last updated
A traditional nai Nai big.jpg
A traditional nai

The nai (archaic: muscal) is a traditional Romanian diatonic pan flute used in a lot of genres.

Contents

Structure

Gheorghe Zamfir holding a nai Gheorghe Zamfir4.JPG
Gheorghe Zamfir holding a nai

The nai has usually at least 20 pipes made of bamboo or reed. They are arranged in a curved array, allowing a greater speed of play. Generally the longer, lower pipes are on the right. The pitch of each pipe is adjusted with beeswax; usually nais are tuned in G for Romanian folk music, or in C for classical. Traditional Romanian pan flutes have tubes with varying diameters which go from wide to narrow as you go up the scale, to maintain the volume/length ratio of the tube and therefore produce the best consistent tone quality.

Famous nai players

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gheorghe Zamfir</span> Romanian pan flute musician

Gheorghe Zamfir is a Romanian nai musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan flute</span> Musical instrument, typically made from bamboo

A pan flute is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length. Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been popular as folk instruments. The pipes are typically made from bamboo, giant cane, or local reeds. Other materials include wood, plastic, metal and ivory.

<i>Ney</i> Wind instrument (type of flute)

The ney, is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Persian music, Turkish music and Arabic music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played continually for 4,500–5,000 years in ancient Egypt, making it one of the oldest musical instruments still in use.

In Greek mythology, Syrinx was a nymph who was transformed into water reeds that were then fashioned into a musical instrument by the god Pan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lăutari</span> Professional Romani musicians

The Romanian word lăutar denotes a class of musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Găești</span> Town in Dâmbovița, Romania

Găești is a town in Dâmbovița County, Muntenia, Romania with a population of 12,583 as of 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovidiu Lipan</span> Romanian drummer

Ovidiu Lipan 'Țăndărică' is a Romanian drummer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fănică Luca</span> Romani-Romanian musician (1894–1968)

Fănică Luca was a Romani-Romanian musician and a Romanin pan pipe (nai) virtuoso, who was the first to make this instrument popular outside his own country.

Marcel Cellier was a Swiss organist, ethnomusicologist and music producer, internationally known for introducing the singing of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, and the playing of Gheorghe Zamfir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">My Kingdom (song)</span> 1996 single by The Future Sound of London

"My Kingdom" is the first single from Future Sound of London's 1996 release Dead Cities. It is written in a theme and variation format on the song "My Kingdom", but Part 4 returns to the original theme. Part 5 is the radio edit.

<i>100 Greatest Romanians</i>

In 2006, Romanian Television conducted a vote to determine whom the general public considered the 100 Greatest Romanians of all time, in a version of the British TV show 100 Greatest Britons. The resulting series, Great Romanians, included individual programmes on the top ten, with viewers having further opportunities to vote after each programme. It concluded with a debate. On 21 October, TVR announced that the "greatest Romanian of all time" according to the voting was Stephen the Great.

Zamfir is both a Romanian given name and surname. Notable people with the name include:

Simion Stanciu, also known by his stage-name Syrinx, was a Romanian Pan flute player and composer, who lived and worked in Switzerland.

Mihaela Steff is a former female table tennis player from Romania. From 1998 to 2005, she has won two medals in singles, doubles, and team events in the World Table Tennis Championships, in the Table Tennis World Cup, and in the Table Tennis European Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bamboo musical instruments</span> Musical instruments, commonly flutes, made of bamboo

Bamboo's natural hollow form makes it an obvious choice for many musical instruments. In South and South East Asia, traditional uses of bamboo the instrument include various types of woodwind instruments, such as flutes, and devices like xylophones and organs, which require resonating sections. In some traditional instruments bamboo is the primary material, while others combine bamboo with other materials such as wood and leather.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariana Preda</span> Musical artist

Mariana Preda is a Romanian pan flute musician, actress and film director. She came into prominence after starring in the multi awarded short film Doina. As a musician, she is known for her album Sunrise published by the label MAP in Italy in 2013 and for having many concerts around the world.

Radu Simion was a virtuoso pan flute player and a Romanian leader of the orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 in Romania</span> List of events

Events from the year 2010 in Romania.

References