WOODWINDS

Similarly to the zampoña, the quena duct flute comes from Peru and Bolivia.

The technical difficulty in playing this instrument is that instead of the sound being created by channelling the air stream through the mouthpiece like with a recorder, it must be created by the musician’s own lips. The focussed air stream must precisely hit the notch on the head of the flute. This technique is also used to play the Japanese shakuhachi and produces an airy, wooden sound.