The pungi, also called the been, or bin is a wind instrument

Wind instrument

A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...

 played by snake charmers

Snake charming

Snake charming is the practice of pretending to hypnotise a snake by playing an instrument. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous acts, as well as other street performance staples, like juggling and sleight of hand...

 in India. The pungi is similar to the Chinese Hulusi

Hulusi

The hulusi or cucurbit flute is a free reed wind instrument from China. It is held vertically and has three bamboo pipes which pass through a gourd wind chest; the center pipe has finger holes and the outer two are typically drone pipes...

 but has only two reed pipes, known as the "jivala". The pungi was improved to produce the Shehnai

Shehnai

The shehnai, shahnai, shenai or mangal vadya, is an aerophonic instrument, a double reed conical oboe, common in North India, West India and Pakistan, made out of wood, with a metal flare bell at the end...

. The pungi originated in India and is still played by snake charmers in street performances. The pungi is generally available in all music knowledge books and music instrument shops.

History

The pungi was originally developed as an Indian folk music instrument. It is important for religious purposes and music in India. The pungi was popular in the Badagutittū about fifty years ago. However, prior to this it derived from Indian folk music and was used for religious purposes for snake charming.

Physical description

The pungi is traditionally made from a dried bottle gourd

Calabash

Lagenaria siceraria , bottle gourd, opo squash or long melon is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable, or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, the calabash is widely known as the bottle gourd...

. Often, the neck of the gourd is carved for aesthetic reasons. On the other end, two reed or bamboo pipes are connected. These are known as the jivala. One of the pipes has seven holes and plays the melody; the other pipe is for drone. The jivala is fitted to the gourd with beeswax, which can be adjusted for pitch modification.

Function

Indian musical practices often coincide with religious ideals. An example would be the comprehensive practice of mantra incantation, which, can be defined as meaningful and/or meaningless syllables used to create prayer to a supernatural force or deity. The pungi, or Indian snake charmer, is believed to be one of the many avenues in which one can communicate with the gods through devotional genres. The pungi is played with no pauses, so the pungi players use a technique called circular breathing

Circular breathing

Circular breathing is a technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. This is accomplished by breathing in through the nose while simultaneously pushing air out through the mouth using air stored in the cheeks.It is used extensively in playing...

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