How the quena makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the quena belongs to the flutes (edge-blown): an air jet is split on a sharp edge, setting the air column vibrating – flutes, recorders, whistles and panpipes.
More broadly it is one of the aerophones (wind instruments), where sound comes from vibrating air.
Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.
From Wikipedia
The quena (hispanicized spelling of Quechua qina, sometimes also written kena in English) is the traditional flute of the Andes. Traditionally made of cane or wood, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole, and is open on both ends or the bottom is half-closed (choked). To produce sound, the player closes the top end of the pipe with the flesh between the chin and lower lip, and blows a stream of air downward, along the axis of the pipe, over an elliptical notch cut into the end. It is normally in the key of G, with G4 being the lowest note. It produces a very "textured" and "dark" timbre because of the length-to-bore ratio of about 16 to 20 (subsequently causing difficulty in the upper register), which is very unlike the tone of the Western concert flute with a length-to-bore ratio of about 38 to 20.
Other flutes
Frequently asked questions
What does a quena sound like?
As one of the flutes, its sound comes from the way an air jet is split on a sharp edge, setting the air column vibrating.
What type of instrument is the quena?
It is classified as flutes (edge-blown) (Hornbostel–Sachs 421.111.12).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q841005 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Quena – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Didier Descouens – Public domain