Nine-year-old A.J. Racy would often make small flutes out of the reeds growing a short distance away from his family’s home. He would cut suitable reeds from the garden and dry them, turning them from green to a light brown. Read more...
Photo: Ethnomusicology professor A.J. Racy plays and studies the nay, a reed flute popular in Arab music. To Racy, the nay’s popularity in Arab music stems from its ability to transport the listener to a state called tarab, which means musical ecstasy. Racy was exposed to music as he grew up in a small, rural village in southern Lebanon. (Anthony Tran/Daily Bruin)
