Sandalwood 3 Octave Asian Hulusi Flute in the Key of G with Case. Includes instructions on how to play in Chinese. Marked "G" on sound tube along with kanji that translates to "Fine Hulusi." Red, blue, and yellow tassel below a pan chang knot attached to the sound tube. Plastic carrying case covered in stylized writing, soft orange felt interior. 

Case Size: 23 x 6 x 6 in. 

#5347 . 

The hulusi, also known as the cucurbit flute and the gourd flute, is a free reed wind instrument usually played by people in China, Vietnam, and other Southeast Asian countries. 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. 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. The hulusi was originally used primarily in the Shan State of Myanmar, Yunnan province in southwest China, and Assam in northeastern India by a number of ethnic-minority groups, in particular the Dai people who call the instrument “pi lamtao” (roughly translated as “woodwind instrument from a gourd”). Over the past three hundred years the hulusi gained widespread popularity throughout China, with a variety of innovations to capitalize on its pure, mellow, clarinet-like sound. Towards the end of the 20th Century as multicultural music began to gain appreciation in the West, the hulusi and other Eastern instruments were heard in the works of Jack Reddick and Peter Gabriel in England, Paul Simon in America, and Herman Witkam in the Netherlands, demonstrating their versatility and appeal beyond the Sinosphere.