Sheng

Sheng free-reed *mouth organ of China, mentioned ca. 1100 B.C. but not depicted until the 6th c. A.C. It is considered the ancestor of all our free-reed instrs. (see: free reed). The sheng's elegant form is traditionally said to be that of the phoenix. The instr. consists of a wind chest and pipes. Originally the wind chest was a small gourd or calabash, its natural neck serving as mouthpiece and wind trunk; today it is made of lacquered wood with a shorter mouthpiece. The bamboo pipes are…