Winds

The wind instruments pictured here are known as "panpipes" or "panflutes".The ones used by the musical group TINKU are South American panpipes. There also exist the European and Oriental panpipes. For our purposes, we will discuss on the South American instruments.

Traditional South American wind instruments can be grouped into two categories: double row and single row. Double row instruments are generally known as panpipes and commonly referred to as "Zampoñas". However, each one has it own unique name based on its size and structure. Zampoñas are primiarily constructed of bamboo tubes of various lengths. Each tube is tuned to a different musical note.Their sizes vary from 5 inches to 5 feet in length. In the picture above there are double row instruments named Toyos (the longest panpipe, approximately 5" tall), Zampoña (large & medium) & Chulis (the smallest of the panpipes, not shown). Others do exist (not pictured) and have different names. Zampoñas are played in various ways. They are often played in pairs and sometimes tied together. They are othertimes played alternately by one or by two separate musicians; or they are played in conjunction by two separate musicians or even by a single musician.

In the single row instruments, there are several panflutes: Antara, Quena (Bamboo & Ebony), Quenicho™, Quenacho. They have the same musical note structure as the Zampoña but in a single row fashion. The Quena, sometimes spelled "Kena", is a single bamboo reed flute. It was originally constructed of bone (femur), gold, copper or clay. It varies in size and key. Quenas also come in various lengths. The smallest one used by TINKU is the "Quenicho™", an instrument designed exclusively for use in TINKU's concerts. The Quenicho™ reaches the highest of the musical notes. Also pictured above are the Bamboo Quena, Ebony Quena, and the Quenacho. The latter is the longest of all and reaches the lowest notes. Read "The Legend of the Quena".