The sheng is a Chinese mouth-blown polyphonic free reed instrument consisting of vertical pipes.
The khene is a Lao mouth organ whose pipes, which are usually made of bamboo, are connected with a small, hollowed-out hardwood reservoir into which air is blown. The khene is the national instrument of Laos. The khene music is an integral part of Lao life that promotes family and social cohesion and it was inscribed in 2017 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Although it is associated with the Lao people of Laos and Isan nowadays, other similar instruments date back to the Bronze Age. In Cambodia, it is used among the ethnic Lao population of the province of Stung Treng and is used in lakhon ken, a Cambodian dance drama genre that features the khene as the main instrument In Vietnam, this instrument is used among the Tai peoples and the Muong people.
A free reed aerophone is a musical instrument that produces sound as air flows past a vibrating reed in a frame. Air pressure is typically generated by breath or with a bellows. In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, it is number: 412.13. Free reed instruments are contrasted with non-free or enclosed reed instruments, where the timbre is fully or partially dependent on the shape of the instrument body, Hornbostel–Sachs number: 42.
The music of Laos includes the music of the Lao people, a Tai ethnic group, and other ethnic groups living in Laos. The traditional music of Laos has similarities with the traditional music of Thailand and Cambodia, including the names of the instruments and influences and developments. To categorize Lao music, it seems helpful to distinguish between the nonclassical folk traditions, the classical music traditions and its basic ensembles, and vocal traditions.
A mouth organ is any free reed aerophone with one or more air chambers fitted with a free reed. Though it spans many traditions, it is played universally the same way by the musician placing their lips over a chamber or holes in the instrument, and blowing or sucking air to create a sound. Many of the chambers can be played together or each individually.
A portative organ, also known during Italian Trecento as the organetto, is a small pipe organ that consists of one rank of flue pipes, sometimes arranged in two rows, to be played while strapped to the performer at a right angle. The performer manipulates the bellows with one hand and fingers the keys with the other. The portative organ lacks a reservoir to retain a supply of wind, thus it will only produce sound while the bellows are being operated. The instrument was commonly used in European secular music from the 12th to the 16th centuries.
The saenghwang is a Korean wind instrument. It is a free reed mouth organ derived from the Chinese sheng, though its tuning is different.
The Yu is a free reed wind instrument used in ancient China. It is similar to the sheng, with multiple bamboo pipes fixed in a wind chest which may be made out of bamboo, wood, or a gourd. Each pipe contains a free reed, which is also made of bamboo. Whereas the sheng is used to provide simultaneous tones in harmony, the yu is played in single lines melodically. The instrument was used, often in large numbers, in court orchestras of ancient China but is no longer used.
The lusheng is a Hmong musical instrument. It has a long history of 3000 years in China, traced back to the Tang Dynasty. It is a mouth organ with multiple bamboo pipes, each fitted with a free reed, which are fitted into a long blowing tube made of hardwood. It most often has five or six pipes of different pitches and is thus a polyphonic instrument. Its construction includes six parts. It comes in sizes ranging from very small to several meters in length.
The hulusi, also known as the cucurbit flute and the gourd flute, is a free reed wind instrument from China, Vietnam, and the Shan State, played also by the indigenous people of Assam. It is held vertically and has three bamboo pipes that pass through a Calabash gourd wind chest; the center pipe has finger holes and the outer two are typically drone pipes. It is not uncommon for a hulusi to have only one drone pipe while the second outer pipe is merely ornamental. The drone pipe has a finger hole which allows it to be stopped. Advanced configurations have keyed finger holes similar to a clarinet or oboe, which can greatly extend the range of the hulusi to several octaves.
Traditional Vietnamese musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical musics of Vietnam. They comprise a wide range of string, wind, and percussion instruments, used by both the Viet majority as well as the nation's ethnic minorities.
Traditional Thai musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical music of Thailand. They comprise a wide range of wind, string, and percussion instruments played by both the Thai majority as well as the nation's ethnic minorities.
Traditional Cambodian musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical music of Cambodia. They comprise a wide range of wind, string, and percussion instruments, used by both the Khmer majority as well as the nation's ethnic minorities.
Hmong music is an important part of the culture of the Hmong people, an ethnic group from southeast Asia. Because the Hmong language is tonal, there is a close connection between Hmong music and the spoken language. Music is an important part of Hmong life, played for entertainment, for welcoming guests, and at weddings and funerals. Hmong musical instruments includes flutes such as the dra, leaves also called nblaw, two-string vertical fiddle, and the qeej or gaeng, a type of mouth organ.
A ploong is a musical instrument of the Mru people, who inhabit the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and also in Burma. It is a mouth organ made from gourds and bamboo and is of varying sizes. The largest ploong has eight long pipes; its sound has been compared to a bagpipe or electronic organ.
Bamboo's natural hollow form makes it an obvious choice for many musical instruments. In South and South East Asia, traditional uses of bamboo the instrument include various types of woodwind instruments, such as flutes, and devices like xylophones and organs, which require resonating sections. In some traditional instruments bamboo is the primary material, while others combine bamboo with other materials such as wood and leather.
Sompoton or Sumpotan, is a mouth organ made from a gourd with bamboo pipes in northern Borneo. It originated in the state of Sabah and is played by indigenous men and women in Sabah, especially by the Kadazan-Dusun and Murut.
The ploy is a Cambodian wind instrument. It is constructed of a gourd body with 5 to 7 bamboo tubes protruding from the body, and a bamboo pipe set at a right angle to the gourd. Musicians blow air in through the bamboo tube, which fills the gourd "wind chest" and exits through the other bamboo tubes. Each of the bamboo sound-tubes has a metal rod inside, that vibrate in the air passing through the tube.
The keluri or keledi or enkulurai is a free reed gourd mouth organ from Sarawak, East Malaysia and Kalimantan made of bamboo and gourd. Historically the keledi or keluri was played by the Orang Ulu people who come from Sarawak, Malaysia, the area northwest of the island of Borneo. Among the Iban people the instrument is called enkulurai. Other peoples that have played the instrument include the Kayan people and Kenyah people. In the 21st century, the instrument has largely disappeared; while not extinct, researchers have had a difficult time finding anyone making or using the instruments.
Tarpa is a tribal instrument originating from Western India. It is a wind instrument, played by blowing into a reservoir chamber that is connected to two bamboo pipes which are attached to a resonating chamber. The makers and players of this instrument primarily belong to the Warli tribe of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The Tarpa, alongside the Dhol is the primary instrument played at Warli gatherings and festivities. Other associated aspects of Warli life and culture pay heed to the Tarpa playing a significant role for the community- the dance form performed with the music of the instrument, is also referred to as Tarpa-dance, and the Tarpa event is a prominent motif featured in Warli paintings.
