Wooden rim-blown flute of south-eastern Europe and Turkey, similar to the Ney of the Arab world. Kaval may once have referred to various Balkan duct and rim-blown flutes, accounting for the present day diversity of the term’s usage. It is generally made of boxwood, with seven finger-holes and one thumb-hole, and is primarily a pastoral instrument.
The Bulgarian kaval, once made of a single piece of wood, is now constructed of three separate sections (of cornel, plum or boxwood), with a total length of 60 to 90 cm. Bone rings cover the joints, to prevent the wood from cracking. Metal decoration is also found. The finger-holes are located in the central section, while the lower (shorter) section has four additional holes called dushnitsi or dyavolski dupki (‘devil’s holes’); these are not covered in performance. The kaval can be made in various tunings, D being the most common. Its range is almost three octaves, mostly chromatic.
In the south-west Rhodope mountains, two kavals in the same tuning (called chifte kavali) are played together, one performing the melody, the other a drone. This type of kaval is made from one piece of wood. A similar use of the kaval is also known in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo (Yugoslavia), where one kaval of the pair is ‘male’, the other ‘female’. The Albanian kavall is better known as the fyell.
In Turkey the term ‘kaval’ is used generally to refer to all shepherd’s pipes and more particularly (though not invariably) to ductless flutes. The presence or absence of a duct is sometimes specified by the addition of a qualification: dilsiz kaval (‘kaval without a tongue’), dilli kaval (‘kaval with a tongue’). Other qualifications may be added to describe materials, size or constructional features: kamiş kavalı (‘reed kaval’), çam kavalı (‘pine kaval’), madenı kavalı (‘metal kaval’); cura kavalı (‘small kaval’), çoban kavalı (‘shepherd’s kaval’, i.e. long kaval); üç parçalı kavalı (‘kaval with three parts’). The kaval can be made of wood, cane, bone or metal (usually brass) and has five or more finger-holes, one thumb-hole and sometimes additional unfingered holes like the Bulgarian instrument.
In Thraki and some of the Aegean islands the term ‘kavali’ refers to an end-blown flute of the floyera family. It has seven finger-holes and sometimes an additional thumb-hole. In northern Greece the term kavali is also used to denote the souravli.
The Romanian caval is a large duct flute. It has five finger-holes arranged in groups of two and three, counting from the distal end. Also from Romania, the caval dobrogean (‘Dobrujan caval’) or caval bulgăresc is a similar instrument to the Bulgarian kaval.
VERGILIJ ATANASSOV, R. CONWAY MORRIS, RADMILA PETROVIČ, TIBERIU ALEXANDRU