| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heckelphone |  | Germany | The heckelphone is a musical instrument invented by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons, introduced in 1904. It is a double reed instrument of the oboe family, but with a wider bore and hence a heavier and more penetrating tone. It is pitched an octave below the oboe and furnished with an additional semitone taking its range down to A. The heckelphone is approximately four feet in length, and is quite heavy. |
| Heckelphone- clarinet |  | Germany | The heckelphone-clarinet (or Heckelphon-Klarinette) is a rare woodwind instrument, invented in 1907 by Wilhelm Heckel in Wiesbaden-Biebrich, Germany. Despite its name, it is essentially a wooden saxophone with wide conical bore, built of red-stained maple wood, overblowing the octave, and with clarinet-like fingerings. It has a single-reed mouthpiece attached to a short metal neck, similar to an alto clarinet. |
| Helicon |  | Europe | The helicon is a brass musical instrument in the BB-flat Bass family. It is the predecessor of the sousaphone, and both instruments have circular shapes and are typically worn over the shoulder. A distinguishing characteristic of the helicon is a smaller diameter in the coiled chamber which forms the body of the instrument. The instrument is very popular in central and eastern Europe and is a common choice for military fanfares. Its range is two octaves below that of a cornet. |
| Hichiriki |  | Japan | The hichiriki (篳篥) is a double reed instrument used as one of two main melodic instruments in Japanese gagaku music, the other being the ryuteki. The hichiriki is difficult to play, due in part to its double-reed configuration. Although a double reed instrument like the oboe, the hichiriki has a cylindrical bore and thus its sound is similar to that of a clarinet. Pitch and ornamentation (most notably bending tones) is controlled largely with the embouchure. It produces a sound that many describe as "haunting." |
| Hocchiku |  | Japan | Hocchiku (法竹), sometimes romanized as hochiku or hotchiku, is a Japanese end-blown flute, crafted from root sections of bamboo. After cleaning and sanding, the heavy root end of the bamboo stalk reveals many small circular knots where the roots formerly joined the stalk. The same part of the bamboo plant is also used to produce the shakuhachi but, unlike the shakuhachi, the hocchiku's inside (bore) and outside surfaces are left unlaquered and its mouthpiece is not inlaid. The membranes at the nodes inside a hocchiku bore are generally left more intact than those of a shakuhachi. Together, these characteristics make for a visibly and audibly raw and organic instrument. Hocchiku can be fashioned to any length, suitable bamboo permitting, with longer instruments having their frequency range shifted proportionally lower. |
| Horagai |  | Japan | The conch shell, blown as a trumpet, served a number of purposes in Japanese history. It is called jinkai, horagai, or a number of other names in Japanese depending on its function. The conch is perhaps most associated with its use by Buddhist monks for religious purposes. Its use goes back at least one thousand years, and it is still used today for some rituals. |
| Horn |  | Europe | The horn (informally: French horn) is a brass instrument descended from the natural horn that consists of about 12 feet of tubing (for a single horn in the key of F), wrapped into a compact, coiled form with a flared bell. Most horns have finger-operated valves. A single horn, which will usually be tuned to either F or B flat, has three valves; the more common double horn has two sets of tubing (generally F and B flat) and a fourth valve, operated by the thumb, which routes the air flow to one or other set. Triple horns, with five valves, are also made. |
| Hulusi |  | China | The hulusi (葫蘆絲) is a free reed wind instrument from China. It is held vertically and has three bamboo pipes which pass through a gourd wind chest; one pipe has finger holes and the other two are drone pipes. The hulusi is now played throughout China. It has a very pure, clarinet-like sound. Although the hulusi is still predominantly performed in China, it has in recent years been adopted by European composers and performers. |
| Jug |  | United States | A jug is a musical instrument when the musician holds the mouth of the jug about an inch from his or her mouth and emits a blast of sound, made by a "buzzing" of the lips, directly into it. The jug does not touch the musician's mouth, but serves as a resonating chamber to amplify and enrich the sound made by the musician's lips. Changes in pitch are controlled by loosening or tightening the lips, and an accomplished jug player might have a two octave range. Some players augment this sound with vocalizations, didgeridoo style, and even circular breathing. |
| Kaba Zurna |  | Turkey | The Kaba zurna is a conical woodwind instrument with a double reed. There are several types of zurnas used by different countries. The Kaba zurna is the longest (and lowest) one. It is used in northern Turkey and Bulgaria. |
| Kangling |  | Tibet | Kangling is the Tibetan word for a trumpet or horn made out of a human thighbone. (It may also be made out of wood or metal.) In Tantric Chöd practice the practitioner, motivated by compassion, plays the kangling to summon hungry spirits and demons so that s/he may satisfy their hunger and thereby relieve their sufferings. It is also played as a way of "cutting off of the ego." |
| Kaval |  | Bulgaria | The kaval (or caval) is a chromatic end-blown flute. It is primarily associated with mountain shepherds throughout the Balkans and Anatolia. Unlike the transverse flute, the kaval is fully open at both ends, and is played by blowing on the sharpened edge of one end. The kaval has 8 playing holes (7 in front and 1 in the back for the thumb) and usually 4 "devil's holes" down near the bottom of the kaval. The devil's holes are supposed to improve tone and intonation. |
| Kèn |  | Vietnam | The kèn is an instrument used in traditional Vietnamese music. It has a double reed and a conical wooden body. It produces a powerful and penetrating high-pitched sound, similar to the Persian/Indian shehnai. |
| Kèn Bầu |  | Vietnam | The kèn bầu is a double reed wind instrument used in the traditional music of Vietnam. It is similar in construction and sound to the Chinese suona and the Korean taepyeongso. It comes in various sizes and is a primary instrument of the music of the former royal court music of Huế. The instrument has a conical hardwood body with seven finger holes. Unlike its Chinese and Korean counterparts, the kèn bầu has a detachable bell made of jackfruit wood, carved in the shape of a gourd. |
| Khene |  | Thailand | The khene (also spelled "khaen", "kaen" and "khen"; Thai: แคน) is a mouth organ of Lao origin whose pipes are connected with a small, hollowed-out wooden reservoir into which air is blown. The most interesting characteristic of the khene is its free reed, which is made of brass or silver. It is related to Western free-reed instruments such as the harmonium, concertina, accordion, harmonica, and bandoneon, which were developed beginning in the 18th century from the Chinese sheng, a related instrument, a specimen of which had been carried to St. Petersburg, Russia. |
| Khlui |  | Thailand | The khlui is a vertical duct flute from Thailand. It is generally made of bamboo. The khlui is very similar to the khloy from Cambodian, but their tunings are different. |
| Khomuz |  | Tuva | Khomuz is a Jew's harp from Tuva. The Jew's harp is an integral element in the music of Tuva. It is used to play the same overtone melodies used in the khoomei, sygyt, and kargyraa styles of overtone singing. The instrument is also a traditional part of Alpine musical styles, from Hungary to France. The earliest trouve in Europe is a bronze-harp dating 5th to 7th century. |
| Klông pút |  | Vietnam | The Klông pút is a musical instrument from Vietnam. It is a set of large bamboo tubes of varying lengths, each closed at one end. The player claps their hands near the open ends of the tubes to produce musical tones. |
| Kombu |  | India | Kombu is a wind instrument (big trumpet) usually played along with Panchavadyam, Pandi Melam, Panchari melam etc. This musical instrument is usually seen in Kerala state of south India. The instrument is like a long horn. |
| Kubing |  | Philippines | The kubing is a type of Philippine Jew's harp of bamboo found among the Maguindanaon and other Muslim and non-Muslim tribes in the Philippines and Indonesia. It is also called kobing (Maranao), kolibau (Tingguian), aru-ding (Tagbanua)), aroding (Palawan), kulaing (Yakan), karombi (Toraja), yori (Kailinese). Ones made of sugar palm-leaf are called karinta (Munanese), ore-ore mbondu or ore Ngkale (Butonese.) The kubing is traditionally considered an intimate instrument, usually used as communication between family members in close quarters. |
Prev Top Next |
