Algoza
The paired flutes played at once, one droning and one singing, by the herdsmen of the bar.
The algoza is a pair of wooden flutes, played together in the mouth by a single player. One flute plays the melody; the other holds a drone. The player uses circular breathing, drawing air through the nose while pushing it out through the cheeks, so that the sound never stops.
It is the music of the herdsmen and camel drivers of the bar country, of the Cholistan desert and of the Sindh, and the traditional accompaniment of the jugni and the old qisse. Ranjha's flute in the legend of Heer is often pictured as an algoza or a bansuri.
Algoza players were once common at every fair; now there are only a few masters left on either side of the border, and they are much sought after for recordings and festivals.
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