Hulusi

The hulusi (traditional: 葫蘆絲; simplified: 葫芦丝; pinyin: húlúsī) is a free reed wind instrument from China. It is held vertically and has three bamboo pipes which pass through a gourd wind chest; one pipe has finger holes and the other two are drone pipes.

The hulusi was originally used primarily in the Yunnan province by the Dai and other non-Han ethnic groups but is now played throughout China, and hulusi are manufactured in such northern cities as Tianjin. Like the related free reed pipe called bawu, the hulusi has a very pure, clarinet-like sound.

Although the hulusi is still predominantly performed in China, it has in recent years been adopted by European composers and performers. Rohan Leach from England; Rapheal De Cock from Belgium and Herman Witkam from the Netherlands have all taken the instrument in new directions.

A similar instrument called hulusheng is a mouth organ with a gourd wind chest.