Musical culture of Azerbaijan is rich of traditions. A completely special place among all them is taken by national tradition of music performing by ensembles of wind instruments. This kind of musical art is especially popular and beloved in Shaki region.

Such traditional ensembles frequently perform tunes, accompanying various national dances and especially round dances - Yallyh. Long ago they were necessary participants of battles: their shrill sounds were inspiring warriors and bringing horror to enemies. During a battle, special "musical" camels were being placed on a separate hill, with huge Kos (big drums) between their humps, with Zurnachis (traditional flute players) sitting on camel or horseback and blowing in instrument, performing Jangi...

Even today, repertoire of such ensembles still keeps alive memoirs of a battle spirit of past times, leads the audience to the imaginary world of heroes of popular dastans - ancient legends. Many heroic tunes are related to the image of Koroglu - legendary hero of the medieval national Epics personifying independence, justice and bravery, freedom-loving spirit and poetic gift of the Azerbaijan people. Alongside with a cycle of tunes devoted to Koroglu, there are lots of others, sources of which go back to even more steep antiquity ("Galadan-galaya", "Jangi", "Gahramani", "Sabahi"). At the same time, there appear also new heroic tunes, which soon become classical ("Chirag gala").

Tutak. Click to hear the instrument

This music even today stands in the middle of many traditional ritual celebrations. Listening it, you cannot resist a special encouragement and feeling that the ambient space is filled by a sound; it seems that not the instrument but the air itself sounds, rising your energy, vivacity, optimism. Such ensemble is frequently named "Zurnachi Ensemble", because it's leading voice always is "Gara Zurna" - a wind instrument with a double tongue and a conical shaped trunk with 8 playing holes. This instrument is made of a pear, apricot or nut tree. Its ringing sound, sometimes sad and sometimes joyful, is always desirable and native same as mountains and air of a native land. Zurna is a folk instrument and necessarily sounds on weddings, crowded celebrations, mass national competitions and performances.

Technique of Zurna playing is very complex. It requires both outstanding musical skills and strong physical efforts. The musician who has taken possession of this instrument, with ease plays all varieties of tongued wind instruments including Oboe, Clarinet and Saxophone. The timbre range of Gara Zurna is strikingly wide: the instrument can sound either sharp-shrilly (on the average working register) or soft-smoothly (in the high register), being spilled in rich with overtones flageolets ("Sefil Ses").

There are several tradition schools of the Zurna playing art. Followers of different traditions differ by their styles of performance, repertoire; they differ by their Zurnachi Ensembles' structure in the meaning of both number of musicians and musical order of performing. On distribution of voices, the mandatory participants of any such ensemble are a soloist with two Zurnas ("gosha zurna"), who is "Ustad" (Maestro) and his a keeping tone partner "damkesh" (or "zuychu"), who is "shagird" (student, follower).

The local features of ensembles are determined by differences in the used combination of drums. It is a group of drums that brings bright rhythms and timbres into traditional tunes. Following kinds of drums (in different combinations) can be heard in such ensemble:

Ancient flute - balaban

Ana Kos - big kettledrum made from a wide empty stump, of the cylindrical shape with a membrane, stretched from two sides. It sounds when musician strikes the upper membrane with a special stick with strongly bent end.
Bala Kos - a kettledrum of a small size. It sounds when musician strikes the upper membrane with two special sticks with strongly bent end. Chilik Nagara - the double-sided drum, less than a middle in size. It sounds when musician strikes the upper membrane with two small sticks of different sizes: thin direct and a thicker one with the bent end.
Gosha Nagara - pair of small kettledrums, consisting from two jointed bodies (burnt clay) of different sizes. It sounds when musician strikes the upper membrane with two direct sticks.
Dumbul - double-sided drum of the middle sizes. It sounds when musician strikes the upper membrane with two long thin sticks with dumbul kept between his knees in a vertical position.
Chubuk Nagara - double-sided drum of a middle size. It sounds when musician strikes both membranes with two thick sticks.
Nagara - double-sided drum of a middle size. It sounds when musician strikes one membrane by palms and clicks of fingers.
Toy - double-sided wide kettledrum of a large size. It sounds when musician strikes both membranes - the upper one is to be stricken with a thick stick with the bent end while the lower membrane is to be stricken with a thin long direct stick.

Any Zurnachi is proud to perform different traditional heroic tunes in a classic style. At the same time, each ustad (master) wins popularity namely due to creation of his own heroic tune.