What is "rhaita"

n. A shawm used as a traditional musical instrument in Morocco.

The rhaita or ghaita is a double reed instrument from north-west Africa. It is nearly identical in construction to the Arabic mizmar and the Turkish zurna. The distinctive name owes to a medieval Gothic-Iberian influence. 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 is one of the primary instruments used by the Master Musicians of Jajouka and Master Musicians of Joujouka, two traditional music ensembles from Morocco.

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 his or her mouth. In 1981 while composing the soundtrack to Altered States Corigliano again called for oboists to mimic the rhaita sound during Three Hallucinations.