Kurae

[JackCampin]

Anybody know where this thing comes from? Comments on videos are mostly in Russian with the odd remark in Azeri (which I can sort of read but there isn't much to go on).

It seems to have five holes, played left-handed with the lowest hole covered by the left thumb and forefinger. Like a Moldavian kaval but a lot more powerful and in a slightly different scale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afGh1jedcds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9z6EGglUQw

This one (smaller, used to accompany singing) seems to be Mongolian, at least the text is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml0SmD6ngP0

This seems to be the same thing tamed and Westernized:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cZdV6qizgM

And this is great fun. "We Will Rock You" on the kurae:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZXli3GdR_g

Robert Yuldashev seems to be a Bashkir.

[JackCampin]

And some more. How to make one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ft_7Og4Ga8

[Yavor]

If you look for "Quray" you may find more
Pronounced Kuray. It is a Bashkir (if I'm not mistaken). The Mongols call it "tsuur", the Tuvans call it "choor" and other Central Asian peoples have it too. As far as I know it is played similarly to the nay, yet one hums or throat-sings into it, though I guess playing styles differ. Also, some Mongolian ones have only 3 holes.
Speaking of orgin is nearly impossible, since the cultures in Central Asia are strongly related and we (or at least I) do not really have any old written sources.

edit
Btw, "kurae" is a certain grammatical case, required if the action is done on the object, so the "plays on" requires the ae ending

[Viking of Kiev]

All the vids but the Mongolian one are of Bashkir Kuray players (Bashkortostan (or Bashkiria) region in Russia). The Kuray is usually most associated with this area.
The language of some comments is Bashkirian too, not Azeri (they are both Turkic, though), it is written in Cyrillic with addition of some specific letters.