Title
Flute
Year/Period
Early 20th century
Region
Singapore
Object Type
suling, wind instruments
Material
bamboo (material)
Technique
drilling (process), carving (processes), cutting (shaping or dividing)
Dimension
Object size: H29.5 x D2.5cm
Accession No.
XXXX-09319
Collection of
NLB Type
Musical instrument
A 'suling' or 'seruling' is a bamboo ring flute that is used in gamelan (a percussive group of bronze gongs and drums) ensembles. A suling can be tuned into different scales depending on the regional genre. Sulings are generally found in Sunda (West Java), Indonesia, Java (Central Java) and Bali in Indonesia and Maguindanao in the Philippines. They are made mainly of 'tamiang' bamboo, a long tube bamboo with a very thin surface. The head of suling, near a small hole, is circled with a thin band made of rattan or rotan to produce air vibration.
