a Chinese free-reed mouth organ with speaking pipes. The sheng is played not only in China but in Burma, Tibet, and Laos. It has a bowl-shaped wind-chest with holes in the bottom, a mouthpiece, and 13, 19, or 24 bamboo or reed pipes that are inserted into the wind-chest and arranged along its rim; the lower end of each pipe is fitted with a free copper reed. The player produces a sound by stopping with a finger the opening in the lower end of the appropriate pipe. The modern sheng has a tempered tuning of 12 tones of equal intervals. The instrument is used in ensembles and orchestras.