| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shvi |  | Armenia | The Shvi (Armenian: Շվի; literally whistle) is a woodwind instrument with a libium mouth piece. It typically has a range of an octave and a-half. The Tav Shvi is made from apricot wood, it is up to 18 inches long, and is tuned 1/4 lower producing a more lyrical and intimate sound. The shvi is up to 12 inches in length and is made of reed, the bark of willows, or walnut wood. It has 8 holes on the front, 7 of which are used while playing, and 1 thumbhole. One octave is obtained by blowing normally into the shvi and a second octave is attained by blowing with slightly more force. |
| Siku |  | Andes | The siku (also "Sicu," "Sicus," "Zampolla" or Spanish zampoña), is a traditional Andean panpipe. It accompanies the folk music of the high Andes, where it is widely used. It is one of the main instruments in Andean Huayno and the principal instrument in Sikuri and K'antu. Sikus are typically made from bamboo tubes, but have also been made from Condor feathers, bone, and many other materials. Additionally, different types of bamboo are employed to change the quality of the sound. Siku is split across two rows of pipes. One must alternate rows with every note in order to play a complete scale. Traditionally, two musicians were required to play the siku - each one taking one row of the instrument. |
| Singing Ringing Tree |  | England | The Singing Ringing Tree is a musical sculpture set in the landscape of the Pennines overlooking Burnley, in the north west of England.Completed in 2006, it is part of the series of four sculptures within the Panopticons arts and regeneration project. Designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu, the Singing Ringing Tree is "constructed from pipes of galvanised steel, which harnesses the energy of the prevailing winds", to produce a slightly discordant and penetrating choral sound covering a range of several octaves. Some of the pipes are primarily structural and aesthetic elements, while others have been "cut across their width enabling the sound". The harmonic and "singing" qualities of the tree were produced by tuning the pipes "according to their length by adding holes to the underside of each". |
| Slide Whistle |  | United States | A slide whistle (variously known as a swanee whistle, piston flute) is a wind instrument consisting of a fipple like a recorder's and a tube with a piston in it. It thus has an air reed like some woodwinds, but varies the pitch with a slide. Because the air column is cylindrical and open at one end and closed at the other, it overblows the third harmonic. The slide whistle is most commonly used as a sound effect, but it is also possible to play melodies on it. |
| Sogeum |  | Korea | The sogeum (also spelled sogum or sogŭm) is a small bamboo transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. Unlike the larger daegeum, it does not have a buzzing membrane (although it did have one in ancient times). It is used in court, aristocratic, and folk music, as well as in contemporary classical music, popular music, and film scores. |
| Sopilka |  | Ukraine | Sopilka (Ukrainian: Cопiлка) is a name applied to a variety of woodwind instruments of the flute family used by Ukrainian folk instrumentalists. It most commonly refers to a fife made of a variety of materials (but traditionally out of wood) and has six to ten finger holes. Sopilkas are used by a variety of Ukrainian folkloric ensembles recreating the traditional music of the various sub-ethnicities in western Ukraine, most notably that of the Hutsuls of the Carpathian Mountains. Often employing several sopilkas in concert, a skilled performer can mimic a variety of sounds found in nature, including bird-calls and insects. |
| Sopranino Saxophone |  | Europe | The sopranino saxophone is one of the smallest members of the saxophone family. A sopranino saxophone is tuned in the key of E-flat, and sounds an octave above the alto saxophone. This saxophone has a sweet sound and although the sopranino is one of the least common of the saxophones in regular use today it is still being produced by several of the major musical manufacturing companies. Due to their small size, sopraninos are not usually curved like other saxophones. Orsi, however, does make curved sopranino saxophones. Shown in the image (left to right): a curved E-flat sopranino saxophone, a straight E-flat sopranino saxophone, a C soprano saxophone, and a B-flat soprano saxophone. |
| Soprano Clarinet |  | Europe | The soprano clarinets are a sub-family of the clarinet family. They include the most common types of clarinets, and indeed are often referred to as simply "clarinets". Among the soprano clarinets are the B♭ clarinet, the most common type, whose range extends from D below middle C (written E) to about the C three octaves above the C on the staff (or three octaves above middle C); the A and C clarinets, sounding respectively a semitone lower and a whole tone higher than the B♭ clarinet; and the low G clarinet, sounding yet a whole tone lower than the A, rare in western music but popular in the folk music of Turkey. |
| Soprillo |  | Germany | Soprillo is the brand name of a piccolo or sopranissimo saxophone, the smallest saxophone in the family. It is pitched in B♭, one octave above the soprano saxophone, although the keywork only extends to a written high E♭ rather than F. Due to its small size, the upper octave key has to be placed in the mouthpiece. It is difficult to build an instrument so small, and only recently has a true sopranissimo saxophone been produced. The Soprillo is 12 inches in length (13 inches with the mouthpiece). Because it is so small and requires such a small and focused embouchure, the Soprillo is difficult to play, particularly in its upper register. |
| Sorna |  | Iran | The sornā or Sarnā (also Surna and Zurna) is an ancient Iranian woodwind instrument. The instrument's history dates back to the Achaemenid Dynasty (550-330 B.C.E.), and was used to play at the end of the day from the city gate or from the local administration building. This custom persisted in England until the 19th century, the town waits playing shawms to mark the hours. The instrument was mainly played in outdoors in regional music of Iran in the festive ceremonies (the famous Persian poet Molana Rumi has mentioned the sorna and dohol in his poems). |
| Sousaphone |  | United States | The sousaphone is a wearable tuba descended from the hélicon, and designed in an ergonomically efficient way such that it fits around the body of the wearer, and so it can be easily played while being worn. Often used in a marching band, it is sometimes referred to as a marching tuba. It is named after John Philip Sousa, a famous march composer and conductor. |
| Suling |  | Indonesia | A suling is an Indonesian/Philippine flute made out of bamboo. It is used in gamelan ensembles. Depending on the regional genre, a suling can be tuned into different scales. Sulings are made mainly of 'tamiang' bamboo (Schizostachyum blumei, Nees), a long tube bamboo which has very thin surface. The head of suling, near a small hole, is circled with a thin band made of rattan or rotan to produce air vibration. |
| Suona |  | China | The suona, also called laba (Chinese: 喇叭) or haidi (Chinese: 海笛), is a Han Chinese shawm (oboe). It has a distinctively loud and high-pitched sound, and is used frequently in Chinese traditional music ensembles, particularly those that perform outdoors. It is an important instrument in the folk music of northern China, particularly the provinces of Shandong and Henan, where it has long been used for weddings, festival and military purposes. |
| Surma |  | Ukraine | The surma is a type of shawm that had widespread use in the armies of the Cossack host. It is thought that the instrument was introduced into Ukraine from the Caucasus or Turkey where the surma exists under the names zurna and surnai. The instrument surma is made of wood with a conical bore, having a bell at one end and a double reed similar to that used in the oboe at the other. It usually has nine to ten finger-holes and is capable of chromatic sounds through a range of dynamics. The instrument is reminiscent of the sound of the oboe. Presently the surma has found its way into orchestras of Ukrainian folk instruments in a range of sizes such as prima, alto and bass. The image shows a surma (top) and a Ukrainian Cossack trumpet (bottom). |
| Taepyongso |  | Korea | The Taepyongso is used for military music such as the Daeschwita and Chongdeop of Chongmyo-Jeryeak, Nongak of Pungmullori. This instrument has the loudest sound among the traditional instruments. The blowing part is situated in the upper part of the instrument. |
| Tarogato |  | Hungary | The tárogató ( Romanian: taragot) refers to two different woodwind instruments, both of them Hungarian. The tárogató has a Persian origin, and it appeared in Hungary during the turkish wars. Up to about the 18th century, the tárogató was a type of shawm, with a double reed, conical bore, and no keys. This instrument is documented as far back as the 15th century. In the 1890s a modern version was invented by Venzel József Schunda, a Budapest instrument maker. It uses a single reed, like a clarinet or saxophone, and has a conical bore, similar to the saxophone. The instrument is made of wood, usually black grenadilla wood like a clarinet. |
| Tenor Saxophone |  | Belgium | The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. It is the second most common size of saxophone (after the alto) and is a transposing instrument, pitched in the key of B♭, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding a major ninth lower than the written pitch. The tenor saxophone uses a slightly larger mouthpiece, reed, and ligature than the alto. It is used in many different types of ensembles, including concert bands, big band jazz ensembles, small jazz ensembles, and marching bands. |
| Three Hole Pipe |  | France | The three-hole pipe, also commonly known as tabor pipe is a wind instrument designed to be played by one hand, leaving the other hand free to play a tabor, bell, psalterium, bones, triangle or other percussive instrument. The tabor pipe has two finger holes and one thumb hole. In the English tradition, these three holes play the same notes as the bottom three holes of a tin whistle, or tone, tone, semitone. Other tabor pipes, such as the French galoubet, Picco Pipe, the Basque txistu, the Aragonese chiflo or the Andalusian pito rociero, are tuned differently. A much larger 3-hole pipe, the fujara, is played in Slovakia. |
| Tin Whistle |  | Ireland | The tin whistle, also called the tinwhistle, whistle, pennywhistle,dilli ney or Irish whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. The Irish words for the instrument are feadóg ('whistle' or 'flute') or feadóg stáin. It can be described as an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the flageolet, recorder, Native American flute, and many other woodwind instruments found in traditional music. |
| Tonette |  | United States | The Tonette is a small, end-blown flute made of plastic, which was once popular in American elementary music education. The Tonette was introduced in 1938. Designed as a pre-band instrument, the tonette was nearly unbreakable, chromatic, and tunable. It was easy to blow and the fingering was simple. By 1941 over half of the grammar schools in the United States had adopted the Tonette as standard pre-band equipment. The Tonette's pleasant flute-like sound was also used for special novelty effects in radio, television and film. In World War II the armed services found the Tonette to be an inexpensive and entertaining way for idle troops to pass the time. |
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