Zournas

The zournas is a wind instrument made of apricot wood, with a double reed that gives a sharp, piercing sound. It has always been played outdoors at festive occasions such as weddings and feast days. It has eight holes on the front, seven of which are used in playing, and a thumb hole that changes the octave.

It is similar to the mizmar of Arabic music. The zournas is also played in the folk music of Iran, Armenia, Israel, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and other countries of the Caucasus, and has spread to China and Eastern Europe. In the Slavic countries of the Balkans it is usually called zurla (зурла).

The zournas is probably the direct ancestor of the European shawm, and is related to the Chinese suona, still played today at weddings, in temples and at funerals.

There are several types of zournas. All share the same reed, the "kalem", a very small, tight double reed, sometimes made from wheat leaves. The longest, and lowest in pitch, is the kaba zurna of northern Turkey and Bulgaria, while the shortest and highest is the zournas played in Messolonghi and other villages of Aitoloakarnania. As a rule, the body is conical and made of wood.