Quick Answer: What Is a Hulusi?
The hulusi (葫芦丝, húlúsī) is a free-reed wind instrument with a gourd air chamber. A common form has a bamboo melody pipe and two shorter side pipes. The player holds it upright and changes notes using the holes on the melody pipe. A side pipe can add a steady drone.[1][2][3]
- Gourd: It distributes breath to the pipes.[1][3]
- Reeds: Flexible tongues vibrate to make the sound.[1][2]
- Melody and drone: The center pipe changes pitch, while a sounding drone can hold one note.[1][3]
The exact number of working drones and how they are controlled depend on the instrument.[1][2]
The outline is distinctive. A round gourd sits above a bundle of bamboo pipes. In a performance, listen for a second note that stays in place as the main tune moves.[1][2][3]
How the Gourd Feeds the Reed Pipes
The player blows through a mouth tube into the gourd. Air reaches a free reed in a pipe. The reed is a narrow tongue that vibrates through a slot. Covering holes changes the notes of the melody pipe. A drone pipe gives a steady pitch as long as air reaches its reed.[1]
In a transverse bawu, the player blows directly at a reed in the side of one pipe. A hulusi feeds its pipes through the gourd. Both use breath to activate a reed, while the tongues of some Chinese jaw harps are set in motion by a pluck or cord pull.[1][2]
How to Hear the Melody and Drones
The University of Würzburg holds a 41-centimeter hulusi, De 468, with a bottle gourd and three pipes. The melody pipe has six front holes and one thumb hole. On that instrument, the two drone pipes have sliding brass covers that can close them. The catalogue describes drone intervals of a fifth and an octave from the melody pipe’s reference note.[1]
A drone can sound under several successive melody notes without changing with them. If the player closes a drone, that steady tone can drop away while the melody continues. A recording may have a single wind line even when a photograph shows three pipes. The closable drones on De 468 explain how that can happen.[1][2]
From Yunnan Communities to Recorded Performances
Collections document related forms among Dai, Achang and Wa communities in Yunnan. The names differ across communities. The Würzburg catalogue gives bilangdao as a Dai name and huluxiao as an Achang name. In Lianghe County, a Yunnan government account records teaching and public events about hulusi making and performance.[1][2][4]
The lusheng is another reed instrument with multiple pipes. Its pipes and performance contexts differ from the gourd-shaped hulusi.
Grinnell College documents a factory-made model and a performance by Zhang Changpin with pipa player Yang Hui. The demonstration pairs a wind instrument with a fretted lute, giving each a distinct role in the recorded sound. In the duet, follow the held wind tones alongside the pipa’s short plucked attacks.[2]
FAQs About the Hulusi
Is the hulusi a flute?
It is sometimes called a gourd flute. Its sound starts with free reeds, placing it among reed instruments in classifications based on how sound is made.[1][3]
Do all three pipes always sound?
Some side pipes can be closed. The central pipe carries the melody, and the use of drones depends on the design and how the player sets them.[1][2]
Fuentes
[1] University of Würzburg Institute of Music Research. Hulusi, Objects De 468 and StW 47
[2] Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection. Hulusi and Performance Demonstration
[3] Xinhua. Hulusi in Yunnan
[4] Yunnan Provincial Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission. Hulusi Transmission in Lianghe County