No Brand Khlui Thai Ducted Bamboo Flute 1990's - Glossy natural bamboo

This is a Khlui, a vertical ducted bamboo flute from Thailand, which originated before or during the 13th to 16th centuries.

It is traditionally made of bamboo, though instruments are also made from hardwood or plastic.

This one is of a nicely polished bamboo.

The khlui has eight finger holes (seven on the front and one on the back for the left thumb). The tonal center of this flute is A, and it is tuned to a diatonic major scale, although many scalar permutations can be made by utilizing cross fingerings. 

The Khlui formerly also had an additional hole, placed low on the instrument, over which a buzzing membrane was stretched (similar to the dimo membrane used on the Chinese dizi, but in the modern day few khlui players use a membrane. The khlui is said to have been named after the first king of Thailand.

This Instrument was gifted to me in the 1990’s by a fellow ethnomusicologist and guest artist at the University of Washington, who is a virtuoso musician from Thailand and with whom I had the pleasure of studying the khlui..

Note: 

This particular flute may in fact have the above mentioned sort of membrane, but it has been covered by what looks like masking tape. It is not at the bottom end of the instrument, but toward the top on the player’s right side (see photos). Normally a buzzing membrane hole may be covered by a thinner paper, such as cigarette paper. 

On a final note, the ducted mouthpiece may look rough from the photo, but this instrument plays incredibly well. It is absolutely as easy to play as a Western recorder and has a very sweet tone!

Length: 17”

Diameter: 1”