What is "quena"

The quena (hispanicized spelling of Quechua qina, sometimes also written kena in English) is the traditional flute of the Andes. Traditionally made of totora, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole, and is open on both ends or the bottom is half-closed (choked). To produce sound, the player closes the top end of the pipe with the flesh between the chin and lower lip, and blows a stream of air downward, along the axis of the pipe, over an elliptical notch cut into the end. It is normally in the key of G, with G4 being the lowest note (all holes covered). It produces a very "textured" and "dark" timbre because of the length-to-bore ratio of about 16 to 20 (subsequently causing difficulty in the upper register), which is very unlike the tone of the Western concert flute with bore ratio about 38.

The quenacho (also "kenacho" in English) is a greater, lower-toned version of the quena and made the same way. It is in the key of D, with D4 being the lowest note, a perfect fourth lower than the quena. It produces a very "rich" timbre because of the length-to-bore ratio of about 25, paradoxically brighter by comparison to the quena.

Quena is mostly used in traditional Andean music. In the 1960s and 1970s the quena was used by several Nueva Canción musicians, this use was in most cases for particular songs and not as a standard instrument but some groups such as Illapu have used it regularly. In the 1980s and 1990s some post-Nueva Canción rock groups have also incorporated the quena in some of their songs; notably Soda Stereo in Cuando Pase el Temblor and Los Enanitos Verdes in Lamento Boliviano. The quena is also relatively common in World music.Quenas are usually played in pairs, in harmony. In Peru, one sees white quenas made from the leg-bone of the condor.