Instruments
The Xun
The egg shaped flute Xun belongs to the category of "earth"(clay) instruments, though several founds indicate that this instrument was formerly made of stone. Egg shaped flutes like this and other Ocarinas can be found worldwide, the Chinese Xun may be dated back to the third millenium BC, which is still discussed and not sure.


* Sample (MP3, 117 KB) *

The model shown above has nine playing holes of which two are on the back and have to be closed all the time, otherwise the instrument doesn't work. The air stream has to be blown with tight lips on the edge of the big blowing hole on top of the egg, just like blowing a bottle.
The Xun above is tuned  this way . There are many different models in different sizes and tunings availabe today.

Pictures (Click to expand):

           
 
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