What happens when you fuse the Andean Quenacho with the Chinese Xiao? You get the Quimera™, my latest creation!
So what is it? Quimera (pronounced kee-meh-ruh) is Spanish for that mythical creature the Chimera, a hybrid creature from Greek mythology that had the parts of various animals (according to the myth it was made from a lion, a goat and a snake). And in literature the term chimera means something that is made up from different parts. What better name for a hybrid flute that partakes to two different traditions? I was puzzled to find a name that would capture the spirit of this particular creation, and it was my friend Ashley Jarmack and her husband Alex who suggested “chimera” and it seemed like the perfect name.
The Andean quenacho is just a quena in a lower key (usually in D). They have a unique voice—very robust, sweet and with a hint of breathiness, like wind in the tall grass. They ordinarily play a diatonic major scale (do re mi), but in the case of the Quimera ™ I gave it the eight-hole scale of the Chinese bei xiao. They differ from the xiao in having a larger bore and larger finger holes, but the scale is the same. That is to say that the player has a flute with a well-balanced 2.5 octave range and mind-blowing versatility in terms of the different keys and modes one can play in.
And unlike the traditional xiao, these are much more compact, so traveling around with them is easier.
Like the bei xiao, there are eight finger holes, and the lowest hole is offset to the right, assuming the player uses their right hand to cover the lower holes. I’m initially offering these in the keys of D and C, but other tunings might be added later.