The sho is a Japanese mouth organ consisting of seventeen slender bamboo pipes set into a small cup-shaped air chamber. Most of the pipes hold tiny metal reeds that begin to sound when the player blows into the mouthpiece or draws air in.
The most remarkable feature of the sho is its role in the ancient court music of gagaku: the instrument plays not single notes but whole cluster chords of five or six tones, held long and continuously (for the sho sounds both on the inhale and the exhale). These shimmering, static sonorities resemble rays of light and traditionally symbolise “heavenly radiance.” With its unearthly, organ-like sound, the sho creates the mystical, timeless background of gagaku music — one of the most ancient orchestral arts in the world, living continuously for over a thousand years.
