dizi Singapore Chinese Orchestra 新加坡华乐团

Dizi

One of China’s oldest and most popular instruments, the dizi is made from bamboo and has six holes, not including a separate hole for the mouthpiece and another for dimo (membranes from a bamboo shoot). When played, the sound from the instrument is produced by the vibration of air columns within its bamboo body.

There are many types of dizi, with bangdi, qudi and xindi being the three most commonly used. In the Chinese orchestra, a series of dizi are used for different keys. The bangdi has a relatively higher pitch while the qudi pitch range is about a fourth or fifth lower than the bangdi. The xindi has a range of about an octave below the bangdi, and is an instrument without dimo. As a result, its tone colour of the xindi is relatively mellower.