Turkish Mey
The Turkish mey is a double-reed wind instrument that is commonly used in folk music among the Turkish and Kurdish people in eastern Turkey.
The mey belongs to a wider family of double-reed instruments that are also prevalent in the Caucasus, including the Armenian duduk and the Azeri balaban. The former is strongly associated with Armenian national identity, and the latter is used as a solo instrument or for accompanying at the singing of the folk bard ashiq. All of them have a low, husky and haunting sound that evokes various degrees of pathos.
The mey consists of a cylindrical body made of hard wood such as plum or walnut, with a large double reed that is about one-third the size of the body, and which is the source of its deep sound. The double reed can be tuned by a clip that is fixed around it, and the clip is in turn tied to a cover that protects the reed’s mouth when not played.
