| | | |  |  | | | | | Shô
The shô, the Japanese mouth organ, first appeared about 4,000 years ago in China, or rather in the region now known as Laos. It is still very popular there, where it is called the sheng or khaen. In Japan it was solely used for performing gakaku court music. The sho consists of a wooden cup holding seventeen bamboo pipes with freely vibrating metal reeds, two of which produce no sound. The sound is created by blowing into the wind chamber and closing the finger-hole of the pipe being played. The moisture in the performer’s breath condenses on the metal reeds and impairs the sound. Consequently, during pauses the performer must dry the wind chamber over a small charcoal fire in a white clay bowl placed in front of the musician. Chinese legend tells us that the form and the sound of the instrument imitates the call of the phoenix.
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