Xiao (flute)
Xiao ( Chinese 簫 / 箫 , Pinyin Xiao ), also dongxiao ( 洞簫 / 洞箫 , Dongxiao ), is in the Chinese music played longitudinal flute made of bamboo with usually five finger holes, a thumb hole and two or more ventilation holes at the bottom.
Just like that, the xiao is blown through a notch at the upper end of the tube, making it one of the rim- blown or gapless flutes . Due to the slightly different shape of the blow notch, its tone can be kept a little more stable than with the Japanese version. Their sound is very soft, deep and reserved.
Origin and Distribution
In the 8th century came during the Tang Dynasty chiba ( 尺八 , literally "one-foot-and-eight-inch") called flute type with the Togaku ensemble to Japan and became the Japanese shakuhachi . Originally, the xiao Buddhist monks served as a meditation instrument .
Design and style of play
The range is two octaves . The xiao is played either solo or in an ensemble together with the fretless Chinese fretboard zither guqin . Four variants are distinguished according to size and regional distribution. The yaxiao , developed in the 1930s, differs from the other variants in that it has seven finger holes, which can be used to produce two additional, chromatic nuances that improve the interaction with the guqin .
A Chinese bamboo flute blown crosswise is the dizi .
literature
- Frederick Lau: Dizi and Xiao. In: Robert Provine (Ed.): Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Volume 7: East Asia: China, Japan, and Korea. Routledge, New York 1998, p. 186
- Alan R. Trasher: Xiao. In: Laurence Libin (Ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments . Volume 5, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, pp. 340–342
- Alan R. Trasher: Xiao. In: Grove Music Online, 2001