Hnyìn (gender unknown)
original: ? (Myanmar (Burmese))
Mouth organ with a gourd as wind chest
Now obsolete, it was, according to Bernatzik, "a rare instrument, used among mountain tribes (e.g. Lahu na kulau), also used in ensembles or played in groups whilst dancing"; According to Blench "The mouth-organ does not play a significant role in the Burmese instrumentarium today, although it is played by some minorities in the north. However, there is evidence that is was of greater importance in the past. […] in the Tang chronicles. In 802 AD, the ruler of the Pyu kingdom sent a troupe of 35 musicians to the Tang capital at Yang Chao (Becker 1967). […] the chronicler included a complete list of instruments, among which were two mouth organs of different sizes with gourd wind chests. Each had 16 pipes and the longest was nearly five feet [i.e. ca. 1520 mm; ws] in length. The number of pipes is surprisingly large, but the size of the instrument and the detail of the gourd suggests some of the folk instruments such as the Lahu type […] rather than the two orderly rows of the khaen type instruments".
Collaer, Paul [et al.]: Südostasien (Musikgeschichte in Bildern 1/3). Unter Mitarbeit von Emmy Bernatzik, Jacques Brunet, Ernst Heins, Mantle Hood, Margaret King, José Maceda, Hans Oesch, Trân vǎn Khê und G. van Wengen. Leipzig, 1979, p.70 (name [hnyin] only).
Bernatzik, Emmy: Burma [Bildtafeln und Interpretationen]. In: Collaer [et al.]: Südostasien (1979), p.70/* (type and function only, no term).
Blench, Roger: The history and distribution of the free-reed mouth-organ in SE Asia (presented at the 14th EurASEAA meeting, Dublin, September 2012 (Draft submitted for proceedings, 2012), p.12 (type only, no term).