9-hole Xun that looks like a Xiao

[meoweth]

I just received this:

detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=15523002695

And Attached is the fingering chart. I'm not sure what to make of it, it seems like its a xun, not a xiao. It's very wide diamter at the top, like 2 G-xiao's diameter. I tried to play the second octave and could only get out the first 2 notes, so it seems limited to just the fingering chart + 2 more notes.

Any thoughts on this? Im enjoying it though.

Attachments:

????????????????.... (125.09 KB)

[Flolei]

Some of us - included me - think that it is more a xiao than a xun because of the mouthpiece. It's a notched flute, not a globular flute with a simple round blowing hole on the top. I agree with you that the diameter and the range are closer to xun, but the blowing technique is closer to xiao. Enjoy and maybe post a sample of your playing!

[davidmdahl]

Hmmm. I don't know. The translation of the website describing the instrument calls it a Xun. It appears from the photo that the foot end is stopped, but it is hard to tell for sure. A xiao should be more or less open at both ends, although the notch end can be less open. It certainly is a funny looking xiao, if that's what it is. I suspect that it is more of a xun.

Best wishes,

David

[Flolei]

Well, David, I understand your opinion. I know that the description tells that it is a xun. Sure, it's a funny xiao but it's also a funny xun, a xun which is not globular, not with a simple blowing hole and not from clay or other earth material... What does it have from xun? Only the fact that it is almost (not completely) closed at the end and its range, of course, which seems to be very limited. Is it enough? I really don't know. Therefore I would like ti get a sample. The recording on Youtube has such a strong reverb that it's impossible to tell anything serious about the sound. This one on Youku is maybe a little better.

v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjczNTUyNDM2.html

For me it doesn't sound as a xiao or a xun. Something between...

Best wishes,

Flo.

[davidmdahl]

I don't disagree with anything you wrote, Flo. So, is a turduck more turkey or more duck, or something completely different. Since I have neither seen, heard or played the instrument in question, I am not going to argue very strongly either way. I will say though that I lean toward describing it as a xun since it seems to have the limitations of that instrument. This is probably the most I have written about something I don't know much about so here I will stop.

[Flolei]

David, I like this comparison with turkeys and ducks... hahaha! I think that we might agree that it is one of these new instruments which maybe we don't need to put in any specific category. Best wishes, Flo.

[Blue]

Alternatively, you can treat it as a pluot (a cross between a plum and an apricot). Or a chug/pughuahua (a cross between a chihuahua and a pug).