Afgan Zurna

Hello Alison!
Usually one of the tubes is a drone with the other having large equidistant holes giving on a subharmonic scales often going down to the 14 if not more. Jim French has reproduced ones in the 20's. They often have three or four reeds as opposed to two. There is one called the Zurna (oddly Greek sounding isn't it) played by the Pashai People. Although Jim French has reproduced one in the 20's. A closely related instrument is the Chanai of which there is a fine recording reissued under the title.
THE PASSION OF PAKISTAN. IQBAL JOGI AND PARTY. TRADITION TCD 1045
all the other recordings tend to be too short in these oboe like instruments to really recommend. But if one appears i will remember to notify you!
Quite a bit of the Gnawa music in Morocco uses a similar instrument

Message: 21
Date: Fri., 01 Mar 2002 08:17:16 +0000
From: Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@which.net>
Subject: Re: Re: Middle-eastern tunings: Arabic, Turkish, Saz

During the bombing of Afghanistan I watched a documentary about the lives of ordinary Afghanis.
One sequence showed a manperchet atop a boulder staring out at the Hindu Kush mountains and
playing one of those double - barreled oboes (I forget the name). It was without a doubt the
finest piece of music I've heard in years, of any genre or culture. It rose above the mindless
destruction being carried on around him. The virtuosity was stunning. It was obviously improvised,
though it sounded like an elaborate working of a vocal chant. All I can say is that it was very
"Eastern" and microtonal in the extreme.

Apart from wanting to make or find one of these instruments I'd be interested to know what scales
or modes this musician would have been playing. A poor guy in rural Afghanistan in 2002.

Regards.
-- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria island
http://www.anaphoria.com

The Wandering Medicine Show
Wed. 8-9 KXLU 88.9 fm

Kraig Grady wrote:

> Hello Alison!
> Usually one of the tubes is a drone with the other having large equidistant holes giving on a subharmonic scales often going down to the 14 if not more. Jim French has reproduced ones in the 20's. They often have three or four reeds as opposed to two. There is one called the Zurna (oddly Greek sounding isn't it) played by the Pashai People. Although Jim French has reproduced one in the 20's. A closely related instrument is the Chanai of which there is a fine recording reissued under the title.
> THE PASSION OF PAKISTAN. IQBAL JOGI AND PARTY. TRADITION TCD 1045
> all the other recordings tend to be too short in these oboe like instruments to really recommend. But if one appears i will remember to notify you!
> Quite a bit of the Gnawa music in Morocco uses a similar instrument

Thanks Kraig and to the others for helping me with this query. I look forward to seeking out some of this music and to exploring how one might build such an instrument.

Kind Regards