{{Short description|Musical instrument}} {{Infobox Instrument |name=Rhaita |names=Ghaita |image=Rhaita or ghaita.jpg |caption=rhaita or ghaita (Arabic: غيطة) |classification=Double reed |range= |related= *Dulzaina *Sorna *Rhaita *Suona *Sopila *Zurna }} thumb|Video of ghaita music in a wedding in the city of Salé, Morocco - November 2025 The '''''rhaita''''' or '''''ghaita''''' ({{langx|ar|غيطة|ghayṭa }}) is a double reed instrument from West North Africa, specifically Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, and occasionally Tunisia. It is nearly identical in construction to the Arabic ''mizmar'' and the Turkish ''zurna''. The distinctive name owes to a medieval Gothic-Iberian influence.<ref>Dictionnaire des musiques et danses traditionnelles de la Mediterranée, Paris, Fayard, 2005 (articles on gaita and ghayta).</ref><ref>Pierre Bec, Les instruments de musique d'origine arabe, sens et histoire de leurs désignations, Toulouse, Isatis, Conservatoire Occitan, 2005</ref> In southern Iberia, various sorts of wind instruments, including the related shawm, are known as ''gaitas,'' but in northern Iberia ''gaita'' refers only to bagpipes. The rhaita was featured in ''The Lord of the Rings'' soundtracks by Howard Shore, specifically in the Mordor theme. American composer John Corigliano calls one of the movements of his 1975 Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra "Rhaita Dance", asking the oboist to imitate a rhaita by pushing the reed further into their mouth. In 1981 while composing the soundtrack to Altered States Corigliano again called for oboists to mimic the rhaita sound during Three Hallucinations. <!-- Perhaps add a media file of Sauron's theme to demonstrate Rhaita -->
==See also== *Mizmar (instrument) *Sopila *Sorna *Suona *Zurna
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Arabic musical instruments}} {{Double reed}}
Category:Single oboes with conical bore Category:Moroccan musical instruments Category:North African musical instruments Category:Arabic musical instruments
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