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Panpipes; siku

Malta siku, panpipes. Sixteen bamboo pipes arranged in two rows of eight. The paired pipes in the two rows are of similar lengths, and the pipes are graduated by their length within each row, with their upper rims aligned. The instrument is photographed from the player's perspective. The pipes of the proximal row (at the front in the photograph) are stopped at the bottom by a node, so as to produce a note when air is blown across the upper rim. The pipes of the distal row are open at the bottom (their lower ends cut obliquely) to produce harmonic effects. The pipes are held together by a strip of bamboo bark wrapped twice around the raft near the top and by two pairs of purple and white threads, one of which binds the pipes to the bamboo strip, the other secures the longest ten pipes further down. The instrument is one of a pair in the collection, the other has museum number M25-1990.

  • Culture:
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  • Materials:vegetable fibre, bamboo
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  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:421.112.3 Mixed open and stopped panpipes
  • Repository:Horniman Museum and Gardens
  • Measurements:overall: 250 x 115 x 35 mm