The erque or erquencho: An Andean clarinet

The erquencho or erque is an aerophone of traditional construction and use in northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia. It is an idioglottal clarinet: the only single reed instrument present in traditional Andean organology. Basically, it is a reed pipe called boquilla or pajuela, between 8 and 15 cm in length and up to 1 cm in diameter, closed on one side and open on the other, and equipped with a tongue at the proximal end and a huge pavilion at the distal.

Due to the small dimensions of the mouthpiece, which acts as a body, this particular clarinet does not have fingering holes — that is, a mechanism that allows the variation of the length of the air column and, therefore, the production of different notes. This does not mean that the interpreter is incapable of altering and modifying the pitch of the sound emitted: thanks to the combination of a series of quite complex techniques (varying the intensity of the blow, the pressure of the lips or the incisor teeth on the tongue, the point where that pressure is exerted, etc.) a fairly wide and interesting sound range can be obtained.

   [Video. From YouTube user Rodnal Escalante Maigua]

More information about this sound artifact can be found in the free-access digital book The erkencho, accessible through the "Digital books on music. Series 1" section.