The ney (also nai, nye, nay) is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Middle Eastern music--in some of these
musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. It is a very ancient instrument, with depictions of ney players
appearing in wall paintings in the Egyptian pyramids and actual neys being found in the excavations at Ur. This
indicates that the ney has been played continuously for 4,500-5,000 year, making it one of the oldest musical
instruments still in use. It is a forerunner of the modern flute.

The ney consists of a piece of hollow cane or reed (ney is an old Persian word for reed) with five or six finger
holes. More modern neys may be made of metal. Pitch differs, depending on the region and the finger arrangement. A
highly skilled ney player can reach as many as three octaves, though it is more common to have several ney players in a
traditional orchestra to cover different ranges.

The ney is one of the simplest instrument one can get. In Persian, 'ney' means actually reed, and in the Arab world,
the nay is sometimes called qassaba, which also means piece of reed. The oldest form, shown on Egyptian tomb paintings
dates from 3000-2500 years BC. Since then, it has been the favorite instrument of the Sufis due to the deep character of
its sound.