Traditional Chinese Musical Instrument, Sheng

The sheng is the earliest reed pipe wind instrument in China, and the world's first musical instrument with the use of free reed. It makes sounds through the combination of the reed and pipe, and the free vibration of the reed in the reed frame. The sheng consists mainly of the hopper, bamboo pipe,and reed. Legend has it that the sheng varies in shape and size, and there are long and short tubes. As one of the national musical instruments with the widest purposes among traditional Chinese musical instruments, the sheng boasts a gentle timbre,emanating peacefulness. 

It can be used to play not only monophony,but also harmony with outstanding effect,thus playing a prominent role in folk wind and percussion bands. Also, it is also widely used in singing, folk arts, and opera accompaniment. Nowadays, the 17-reedsheng is more widely used. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Chinese musical instrument makers and performers have made constant revisions of the sheng,and have developed the 21-reed sheng, 24-reed sheng, 36- reed sheng, 51-reed sheng, kuoyin sheng, jiajian heng,mediant sheng,bass sheng,and keyboard pai sheng.