TAEPYEONGSO: Korean musical instrument

The taepyeongso is a double reed wind musical instrument from Korea. The musical instrument belongs to the shawm or oboe family of the musical instrument. Perhaps, the musical instrument derived from the Persian zurna and it closely linked to the Chinese musical instrument called suona. The musical instrument has a conical wooden body that is manufactured from yuja, daechu, or yellow mulberry wood, having a metal mouthpiece and a metal bell that has the shape of a cup. The musical instrument came to Korea from China in the Goryeo period.

The loud sound and the piercing sound that is produced from the instrument has kept the instrument confined mostly to the folk music of Korea and to the marching bands, the second played for royalty in the genre called daechwita. The musical instrument is, nevertheless, also used parsimoniously in some other genres, like Buddhist, Confucian and Shamanist ritual music as well as neo-traditional music or fusion music.

The musical instrument is known by a several names, which are taepyeongso, hojeok, saenap/swenap and nallari/nalnari. The name saenap was derived as the official name for educational use by the Korean National Centre for the Traditional Arts, though the named is least often encountered.

In the Hornbostel-Sachs system of categorization, the musical instrument would be labeled 422.112: an oboe instrument that has a conical bore. Indigenous categorization structures in Korea classify musical instruments by the use of the musical instrument, the origin of the musical instrument and by material with which the instrument is manufactured. categorization by materials—known as pal eum, or “eight tones”—is centered on Chinese categorization theory, and was utilized as the foundation of the of cited 1908 manuscript Jeungbo munheonbigo. In this manuscript, the musical instrument is categorized as bamboo, possibly to reflect the similarity of the instrument to piri, another double reed musical instrument. In later categorization centered on pal eum, nevertheless, like Kim Gi-su’s Gugak Ipmun, taepyeongso is occasionally reclassified as wood. The left over six materials in this scheme are metal, stone, silk, skin, gourd, and clay. ‘Classification of the musical instrument by use’ originates from the Goryeosa, in which musical  instruments were classified according to whether the instruments were used in the aak 20, dangak, or sogak, having several musical instruments being counted in more than one class.

The exact date of the introduction of this musical instrument in Korea is unknown. The musical instrument seems to not have been involved in the historically important gift of musical instruments that were given to the Goryeo-era King Yejeong by Emperor Huizong of melody in the year 1114, even though analogous musical instruments are pointed out, including “20 oboes…having thin wooden linctus conjoin using gold threads and silver threads, the red silk paillasses, and also purple silk hyoppokcha”. As indicated, the earliest mention of the musica;l instrument is in the 1493 Akhak gwebeom. The alternative name for the musical instrument, which is hojeok, proposes a conceivable route for the introduction of the musical instrument in Korea.

The common Chinese name for this musical instrument kind, suona looks like the shehnai of India and the sralai of  Cambodian, to be a translation of the zurna, the Persian shawm instrument. The loud, wailing cry of the musical instrument lends itself to outdoor performance, public events, and the musical instrument seems to be accompanied by the drums and some other percussion musical instruments. In Northern part of the country, a new jang-saenap, having the keys that are like that of the oboe, having a smoother sound, and also a protracted range has been fabricated.

There are 7 finger holes on the front of the musical instrument, of which only the upper 5 of the finger holes are often used, and one thumb hole in the back of the musical instrument that the left thumb of the hand nearly always covers. Different kinds of wood are used in the production of the musical instrument, including, citron wood, yellow mulberry wood as well as ebony. Construction of the musical instrument in the modern days is standardized, and most of the instruments are trade in from China, even though one might conjure up that in the ancient days there must have been substantial differences in the construction of the musical instrument. More luxurious musical instruments can often be taken totally apart for onslaught or substituted, while with inexpensive musical instruments; usually only the bell plus tassel can be detached.

In the past, the reeds of the musical instrument were manufactured of the stem of river reeds that is hollowed out, continually steamed and parched, smoothed down and then shaped, and bound at the bottommost having thread to hold it resolutely to the instrument’s mouthpiece. Today, most players of the musical instrument do make use of pieces of plastic drinking stubbles.