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Tsakling

This instrument was collected in the field by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton, during his world trip between 1889 and 1891. Often played by shepherds and other travelers, such as "Shamma" (peasant traders from the Sham region in the lower Indus River valley, below Nyemo/Nimmo village), the tsakling is a typical Ladakhi instrument. It is a double duct-flute carved from a single piece of wood with two separate bores/tubes. Each tube has seven fingerholes and one thumb-hole, and the fingering is similar to that of a conventional duct flute, or recorder.

  • Culture:Ladakhi
  • Period:
  • Materials:
  • Specific materials/techniques:
  • Decorative elements:Geometric carved designs in mouthpiece and window areas. Plain double line incisions along the tubes. Fluted design at distal end of tubes.
  • Inscriptions:
  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:421.222.12 Sets of open flutes with internal duct with fingerholes
  • Repository:Powell-Cotton Museum
  • Measurements:Length: 365mm