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End-blown trumpet
Vernacular name:Rkang gling
Vernacular name:Rkang dung
Date: 1850 ca.
Place Made:Eastern, Tibet, Asia
Serial No: none
Signednone
Markingsnone
DescriptionThis short trumpet has a brass body with silver embellishments, especially around the central knob and bell. Often, perforated knobs like this were used to support or disguise joints in the tubing.
While rkang gling can be either of metal or bone, metal instruments are preferred for ensemble playing as they are louder and offer more immediate response, allowing greater articulation. Shamans of both Buddhist and Bon traditions employ rkang gling in many rituals, usually holding the trumpet in the left hand, the hand of “wisdom,” and often paired with a damaru, in the right hand, the hand of “method.”
While rkang gling can be either of metal or bone, metal instruments are preferred for ensemble playing as they are louder and offer more immediate response, allowing greater articulation. Shamans of both Buddhist and Bon traditions employ rkang gling in many rituals, usually holding the trumpet in the left hand, the hand of “wisdom,” and often paired with a damaru, in the right hand, the hand of “method.”
DimensionsLength: 340 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1976 from H. M. Lissauer, Melbourne, Australia.
Terms
Credit Line: Ringley Fund, 1976
Not on view
Published ReferencesCross, Thomas E., Instruments of Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet, SMM Catalog Vol. II (1982), p. 26.Cross, Thomas E., Instruments of Burma, India, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet, M.M. Thesis, University of South Dakota, May 1983, p. 64, plate XXIV."Important Acquisitions Received," Shrine to Music Museum, Inc., Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 1 (October 1976), p. 2.
Object number: 01375