Bansuri
The bansuri (Hindi: बांसुरी
;(Bangla: বাঁসুরী
is a transverse alto flute of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, made of a lone stick of bamboo with six or seven open finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is depicted in Buddhist paintings from around 100 AD. It is intimately associated with Krishna's Rasa lila; the tunes on his flute are poetically associated with driving the women of Braj mad. The North Indian bansuri, typically about 14 inches, was traditionally used as a soprano instrument primarily for accompaniment in lighter compositions including film music. There are many size of bansuri from 14" to 30".
Venu
The venu (Sanskrit: वेणु; veṇu) is a bamboo transverse flute used in the Carnatic music of South India. Although it is often called Carnatic flute or simply flute in English, venu is the instrument's ancient Sanskrit name. It is also called by various other names in the languages of South India, including pullankuzhal (புல்லாங்குழல்
in Tamil and also in (പുല്ലാങ്കുഴല്*) Malayalam, and ಕೊಳಲು (koLalu) in Kannada. It is known as pillana grovi (పిల్లన గ్రోవి
in Telugu (Andhra Pradesh).
One of the oldest musical instruments of India, the instrument is a keyless transverse flute made of bamboo. The fingers of both hands are used to close and open the holes. It has a blowing hole near one end, and eight closely placed finger holes. The instrument comes in various sizes.
The venu is associated with the Hindu god Krishna, who is often depicted playing it. This kind of flute is mainly used in South India.
The venu is capable of producing two and half octaves with the help of overblowing and cross fingering. The flute is like the human voice in that it is monophonous and also has the two and half octaves sound reproduction. Sliding the fingers on and off the holes allows for a great degree of ornamentation, important in the performance of raga-based music.
The venu's north Indian counterpart is called bansuri.