Bamboo Flutes (Bansuri & Dizi)

In order to ease the transition into playing bamboo flutes, I’m going to lump the bansuri and dizi together. Just to be clear, though, they are not the same thing. The bansuri originates from India and Nepal, and dizi are from China. They each have their own unique style, in terms of vibrato, tone, ornamentation, etc. However, the nuts and bolts are the same – they are (primarily) simple system, 6-hole, transverse flutes made of bamboo.

As I mentioned in my Introduction, I experienced quite the trial-by-fire when it came to playing dizi. During the 2019 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, I was called upon with about 3-days notice that I would be covering the featured dizi solo for the Chinese band, as their soloist was unavailable for the rest of the month of performances. With some concentrated practice time under the guidance of the outgoing soloist, and about 2 hours to practice with the band, I went on to perform the solo for the first time in front of over 8,000 fans in attendance, plus the filming crew for the BBC, who was recording the event to broadcast across Europe to a TV viewership of over 250 million.

Here is a “stand-cam” recording I took of me playing the part, along with an edited down video from a fan that was posted on YouTube, showing the featured dizi moments from the overall performance.

Bansuri

The bansuri is played very similarly to the keyless Irish flute, in that it’s got 6-holes, you hold it parallel to the ground, and you blow across an embouchure hole, similar to a Boehm flute, but without a lip plate.

Bansuris are used throughout the world for their simplicity and accessibility, but also for their ability to immediately provide an “exotic” soundscape. Commonly used to conjure musical settings of Asia and Africa, bansuris are used throughout the world of Broadway musicals, including shows like Aida, Miss Saigon, the Lion King, The Book of Mormon, Prince of Egypt, and even Peter Pan.

Most bansuri are made of a single piece of bamboo and are cylindrical, though it’s not uncommon at all to see bansuri that aren’t perfectly straight. You’ll often see bansuri with some curve to the overall shape of the flute.

Dizi

Dizis are (well, can be…) very similar to bansuris. They are played the same way, they have six finger holes, etc. The first thing I tend to notice is that bansuris have much thinner walls, while dizis have thick, solid walls that feel much sturdier. The embouchure on a bansuri is much closer to the end of the flute, whereas the embouchure hole on a dizi is closer to the finger holes.

Dizi is the Chinese word for “flute”, similar to how we would use the word “flute” to refer to the family of instruments (piccolo, flute, alto flute, etc). Within that family, there are various types of dizi. The two most common varieties that you’re likely to encounter are the bangdi and the qudi. The bangdi is pitched in a similar range to the Boehm-system piccolo (give or take, depending on the key of the instrument), and the qudi are roughly a 4th or 5th lower.

In addition to the bangdi and qudi, there are other types of dizi to help explore a greater range:

• Xiaodi/gaoyindi – Pitched roughly 4th or 5th higher than the bangdi (which is like the high range of the piccolo)
• Dadi/diyindi – Pitched roughly a 4th or 5th lower than the qudi (putting it around the same range as a Boehm-system flute)
• Deidi/diyindadi – Pitched roughly an octave lower than the qudi (so, approximately alto flute range)

Dizis are available either in one-piece models, or for a little extra money, you can get them with tuning slides.

Other than stylistic playing differences (such as ornamentation, vibrato, etc), there is one main “structural” difference between the bansuri and the dizi. The dizi has an extra resonance hole, located between the embouchure hole and the first finger hole. This is not a finger hole! It’s called the mo kong and is designed to be covered by a paper-thin membrane of reed called a dimo.

Properly applying the dimo can feel like an art form, in and of itself, reminiscent of how oboists and bassoonists craft their own reeds. First, one must cut a small piece of the reed membrane from a long strip of paper. This membrane is extremely thin – even thinner than the tissue paper you would use to wrap a gift. Then you would moisten and apply a special glue called ejiao to the tone hole, directly onto the flute itself. Ejiao is traditionally made of donkey hide and comes in the form of a hard block, which becomes sticky when moistened. After applying the ejiao all round the tone hole (including right on the edges) until you feel the tension of the surface of the flute getting sticky as you rub the ejiao block over it, you would then adhere your dimo right over the tone hole. From there, it becomes a bit more of an artistic process, and you’ll need to go through some trial-and-error. You don’t want the dimo to have too much tension over the tone hole, or it won’t rattle. It also won’t rattle if it’s too loose. After a bit of practice, you can quickly hone in on what works best for you and your preferred style. The goal is to have the firmly attached to the exterior flute body, but with the slightest amount of “give” in the tension over the hole. As the air flies through the flute, some of it will skim the surface of the dimo, creating that iconic buzzing sound.

Here’s a really great tutorial from Eason Music, demonstrating how to apply the ejiao. This is one part of a 20-part series, all of which are incredible informative and helpful if you’re trying to fully understand the ins-and-outs of playing dizi.