daegeum

The ''daegeum'' (also spelled ''taegum'', ''daegum'' or ''taegŭm'') is a large

bamboo flute The bamboo flute, especially the bone flute, is one of the oldest musical instruments known. Examples of Paleolithic bone flutes have survived for more than 40,000 years, to be discovered by archaeologists. While the oldest flutes currently kno ...

, a

transverse flute A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played. The player blows across the embouchure hole, in a direction perpendicular to the flute's body length. Transverse flutes include the Western concert flute ...

used in traditional Korean music. It has a buzzing membrane that gives it a special

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...

. It is used in court, aristocratic, and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, as well as in

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

, and

film scores A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

. And ''daegeum'' has a wide range and has a fixed pitch, so other instruments tune in to the ''daegeum'' when playing together. Smaller flutes in the same family include the ''

junggeum The ''junggeum'' (also spelled ''chunggum'' or ''chunggŭm'') is a medium-sized transverse bamboo flute formerly used in traditional Korean music. Unlike the larger ''daegeum'', it does not have a buzzing membrane (although it did have one in anc ...

'' () and ''

sogeum The ''sogeum'' (also spelled ''sogum'' or ''sogŭm'') is a small bamboo transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. Unlike the larger ''daegeum'', it does not have a buzzing membrane (although it did have one in ancient times). It is used ..