Antara (musical instrument)

The antara is a panpipe of only one tier of pipes of cane of different lengths, which expresses each one a height.

It is a musical instrument composed by a series of pipes (either of ceramic or cane) arranged in vertical, gradual form (that is to say in steps) and in tiers or lines (1 or 2). At present they are made of a cane that grows in the "eyebrow of the forest" known as chuki or chajlla (Arundo donax); the pipes are held together by one or two strips of cane (ties) to form one trapezoidal plane (like a raft). The antaras are of different sizes and they produce diverse sounds.

Generally they present two lines of pipes, the principal line formed by pipes open at one end and closed at the other by the natural knot of the cane. The pipes of the secondary tier, either open- or closed-ended, enrich the sounds produced by the principal pipes.

It is also known as a Siku, Panflute, or Panpipe. Siku is a term used so much in Quechuan as in Aymara used by the peoples of the Plateau of the Collao (P.e. Qcollas and Huancanés). Panpipe is a generic name in Spanish language with which it is named at present to the altiplánicas flutes (Jimenez Borja 1950-51; Valency Chacon 1981 and 1989). The name "pan flute" is associated with a god of the Greek mythology. The god Pan, its creator, who was an anthropomorphic being represented by a human head and torso, goat body and legs, two horns, beard and hirsute hair (Bolaños 1988: 17; Valency Chacon 1989: 31).