Hulusi - Chinese Gourd Flute

$225.00 - $325.00
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Weight:
360.00 Grams

The Hulusi 葫蘆絲 (Húlu sī) is a Chinese wind instrument made of a gourd and bamboo. It has been described as sounding like "Chinese bagpipes". Like bagpipes, the Hulusi has drones, but unlike the bagpipe these drones can be opened and closed. The gourd resonator acts as an air pressure reservoir and allows the notes to be deeply bent - the Hulusi is in fact a chromatic instrument because the microtones in between the holes are all accessible. The ability to bend the notes makes the Hulusi a highly expressive instrument. 

Indigenous to Yunnan and strongly associated with the ethnic minorities of that province, it features a large hollow Húlu (double gourd) as a resonator. 絲 Three bamboo tubes emerge from the bottom of the gourd and each has a vibrating metal tongue built into it that produces the sound as air passes through. The main (central) bamboo has 7 holes and plays a full octave from the lowest to highest note. The other two tubes are drones, one is the sixth below the tonic and the other is the third below the tonic. 

The drones can be opened individually, allowing for a total of 4 configurations - no drones open, left drone open, right drone open, both drones open. Each Hulusi comes with a zip-up case. Keys available are C, Bb, and F.