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The musical leaf is one of any leaves which is used to play music on. It goes by many names, including leaflute, leaf flute, leaf whistle, gum leaf, and leafophone. In Cambodia it is called a ''slek'' () and is played by country people in
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
, made from the leaves of broad-leaf trees, including the sakrom and khnoung trees. It is also known as , 'blow leaf.' To play a leaf, the musician curls the edge of a leaf into a semi-circle (along the leaf's long edge) and "places the arch between the lips", making sure that the leaf is touching both upper and lower lips. The leaf vibrates in contact with them as the player blows air across it. The player can control the pitch of the noise with their upper lip. An instrument of country people, it has been observed being played by herders riding their water buffalo in the rice fields. While it is used to imitate sounds wild animals make, it can produce sustained sound, a sharp, high-pitched whistle. Players can control the pitch and make songs, normally solo, but sometimes with other instruments. Similar instruments are used in other places under different names and from the leaves of different species, such as the gum leaf (from
eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...
s) in Australia, grass flutes in Japan, the in Nepal, and tree leaf flute in China.


Structure of a musical leaf

"Leaf instruments occur in many music-cultures notwithstanding a sense that gumleaf sounds 'belong' to Australia. Unlike the complex leaf-derived instruments of Australia's closest neighbours in the Indian Ocean littoral and Oceania, the 'gumleaf' is composed of unmodified organic leaf matter." To play a leaf, one can pluck a leaf or play it while it is still on the plant. The leaf needs to be slightly curved and placed in the mouth. However, not all leaves can produce a sound as it requires the correct rigidity, flexibility and thickness. If the leaves wilt, they loose
turgor pressure Turgor pressure is the force within the cell that pushes the plasma membrane against the cell wall. It is also called ''hydrostatic pressure'', and is defined as the pressure in a fluid measured at a certain point within itself when at equilibri ...
which makes them not rigid enough to play. In Germany and Austria shepherds modified the bark of birch trees to play in the same way. However, unlike leaves, they do not wilt allowing the musician to play for longer periods of time.


Range

Much like whistling, the range of a leafophone depends on the size of the players mouth and mostly playing in the higher registers. Through breathing techniques which open the throat, therefore increasing the size of the resonance chamber, one can achieve playing lower notes. Additionally using thicker leaves makes it is possible to reach lower notes that require far more air to set the leaf in vibration. If a musical piece requires low notes, often the player will raise those notes by an octave. Depending on the leaf used, the player can play a 2–3 octave range.


Timbre

Through use of a high-speed camera, one can see that the leaf moves away from the lips when the player blows and its elasticity brings it back onto the lip. This oscillating movement sets it in vibration to produce a sound. An analysis of the overtone series comparing an oboe and (birch leaf) playing the note F2 are nearly identical.


Variants in other places

While called in Cambodia, the instrument is used in other places under different names. In China, recorded knowledge of the wood leaf (, ) as an instrument dates back to the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
, 7th to 10th centuries A.D. It is depicted in a sculpture at the tomb of Emperor Wang Jian of the
Five Dynasties The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...
in
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...
, Sichuan. In modern times, plastic has been substituted for the leaf, and the instrument has been recorded and used in movie music. With synthetic materials, the instrument does not wear out quickly while playing, and has a range of nearly three octaves. * China, () tree leaf flute * China, (), grass piano * China, 木叶 () wood leaves * Japan, , grass flute or grass whistle * Australia, gum leaf * Nepal, पिपिरिमा () * Brazil, * Germany and Austria, ''Birkenblattblasen'' * Albania and Kosovo

The Make Music festival 2021 featured the leaf as a musical instrument.Make Music 2021
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Notable players

* :de:Herb Patten, Herb Patten *
Levi Celerio Levi Celerio (April 30, 1910 – April 2, 2002) was a Filipino composer and lyricist who is credited with writing over 4,000 songs. Celerio was recognized as a National Artist of the Philippines for Music and Literature in 1997. He is also known ...
*
Sodō Yokoyama was a Japanese Sōtō Zen teacher of the 20th century. Also known as the , he was famous for residing in a public park in Komoro in Nagano Prefecture where he practiced zazen and played songs for travelers by whistling on a leaf. He had resided ...
, Japanese man known as the Leaf Flute Zen Master ()


See also

*
Music of Cambodia The music of Cambodia is derived from a mesh of cultural traditions dating back to the ancient Khmer Empire, India, China and the original indigenous tribes living in the area before the arrival of Indian and Chinese travelers. With the rapid We ...


Bibliography

* Ledgerwood, Judy., Mortland, Carol A.. Cambodian Culture Since 1975: Homeland and Exile. United States: Cornell University Press, 2018. * The Garland Handbook of Southeast Asian Music. N.p.: Taylor & Francis, 2011. * Mizerski, Jim. Cambodia Captured: Angkor's First Photographers in 1860's Colonial Intrigues. Portugal: Jamine Image Machine, 2016. * Trankell, Ing-Britt., Ovesen, Jan. Cambodians and Their Doctors: A Medical Anthropology of Colonial and Postcolonial Cambodia. Denmark: NIAS Press, 2010.


References


External links


Video, Cambodian slek.

Video, demo of how to play a leaf, Australia

Video of a leaf being played as part of an orchestra, Washington D.C.

Video, demo of 5 different leaves
{{Cambodian musical instruments Cambodian musical instruments Chinese musical instruments Japanese musical instruments Australian musical instruments