Nose flute.

Any kind of flute, tubular or vessel, side- or end-blown, which is sounded by nasal breath. Such flutes have a very wide distribution, but are particularly common in the Pacific Islands and South-east Asia. Sachs suggested that the origin of nose flutes lies in the association of nasal breath with magic and religious rites. In Oceania the nose flute is pre-eminently an instrument of Polynesia and Micronesia. It is only rarely reported for mainland New Guinea but is present in the offshore D’Entrecasteaux group to the south-west and in the Bismarck Archipelago to the north-west. Southwards in Melanesia it is prominent only in areas adjacent to western Polynesia as in New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands and in Fiji. In Micronesia it was formerly widespread in the Caroline Islands where it was present in Belau, Yap, Truk, Satowal, Nomoi, Pohnpei and Mokil. In Polynesia it was present almost everywhere except New Zealand.

For illustration see Flute, §I, fig.2h.

MERVYN McLEAN