The Donskoy ryley (Russian: Донской рылей) is a stringed musical instrument from Russia. It is a type of hurdy-gurdy. Unique musical instrument. Was made by hand to order.

The Donskoy ryley (Russian: Донской рылей) is a stringed musical instrument from Russia. It is a type of hurdy-gurdy, where the strings are constantly bowed by a wheel which is turned using a crank, and the pitch of the strings changed by keys attached to sliding tangents.

A unique instrument in a single piece, made by hand

The hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument that produces sound by a hand crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents-small wedges, typically made of wood-against one or more of the strings to change their pitch. Like most other acoustic stringed instruments, it has a sound board and hollow cavity to make the vibration of the strings audible.

Most hurdy-gurdies have multiple drone strings, which give a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in a sound similar to that of bagpipes. For this reason, the hurdy-gurdy is often used interchangeably or along with bagpipes, particularly in Occitan, Catalan, Cajun French and contemporary Asturian, Cantabric, Galician, and Hungarian folk music.