Xiao

The nanxiao has a wide bore and a thick wall: a large air column, a dark and weighty tone, and a real appetite for breath. A dongxiao is narrower, speaks more easily and answers faster, while a short xiao asks less of your finger span and travels well. The three bamboos here, purple, makino and bitter bamboo, differ in weight and in how they sit in the hand, and that difference is more audible than it looks. Grades run from entry level upward, and what rises is the care taken over the bamboo itself, not the number of holes.