Themusical leaf is one of any leaves used to play music on. It goes by many names, includingleaflute,leaf flute,leaf whistle,gum leaf, andleafophone.
In Cambodia, it is called aslek (Khmer:ស្លឹក) and is played by country people inCambodia, made from the leaves ofbroad-leaf trees, including the sakrom and khnoung trees.[1][2] It is also known asphlom slek, 'blow leaf.'[1] 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.[1][2] The leaf vibrates in contact with them as the player blows air across it.[2] The player can control thepitch of the noise with their upper lip.[2][3]
In South Korea, it is called achojeok (Hangul:초적) and it is a designated intangible cultural heritage asset.[4]
An instrument of country people, it has been observed being played by herders riding their water buffalo in the rice fields.[1] While it is used to imitate sounds wild animals make, it can produce sustained sound, a sharp, high-pitched whistle.[1][2] Players can control the pitch and make songs, normally solo, but sometimes with other instruments.[1][3]
Similar instruments are used in other places under different names and from the leaves of different species, such as thegum leaf (fromeucalypts) in Australia, grass flutes in Japan, thepipirma in Nepal, and tree leaf flute in China.
"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."[5]
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 loseturgor pressure which makes them not rigid enough to play. In Germany and Austria shepherds modified the bark of birch trees to play similarly. However, unlike leaves, they do not wilt allowing the musician to play for longer periods of time.[6]
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. The player can play a 2–3 octave range depending on the leaf used.
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 andbirkenblatt (birch leaf) playing the note F2 are nearly identical.[6]
While calledslek in Cambodia, the instrument is used in other places under different names. In China, recorded knowledge of the wood leaf (木叶,Mù yè) as an instrument dates back to theTang dynasty, 7th to 10th centuries A.D.[7] It is depicted in a sculpture at the tomb of EmperorWang Jian of theFive Dynasties inChengdu, Sichuan.[7] In modern times, plastic has been substituted for the leaf, and the instrument has been recorded and used in movie music.[7] With synthetic materials, the instrument does not wear out quickly while playing, and has a range of nearly three octaves.[7]
The Make Music festival 2021 featured the leaf as a musical instrument.[10]
[Website gives year released as 1975, but album cover is copyrighted 1978.]Link to the liner notes.
{{cite AV media notes}}:External link in|quote=Starring Ossie Cruze...[from YouTube page: Ossie Cruze: Aboriginal Elder plays a gum leaf at Jigamy Farm, South Coast, NSW, Australia.] [Ossie demonstrates how to play a leaf, playing a scale and then putting the notes together to play a song.]
Picture of the sculpture of wood-leaf player from the tomb of Emperor Wang Jian
{{cite web}}:External link in|quote=[From YouTube description. These are not all the name of the instrument; some (Whispering Hope, gospel duet) are the name of the song being played: 樹葉笛, musical leaf, 草笛, kusabue, 草琴, leaf, whistle, gospel duet, 木叶, 希望のささやき, 陳宏志, 微聲盼望, Whispering, Hope,leaflute. ]