free-reed bamboo mouth organ. The earliest type ever recorded in history had 14 pipes and was discovered in Zeng Houyi's tomb in Hubei province. The most common types of sheng today include a 17-pipe instrument and a modified version for contemporary compositions, which has an expanded range of 21–37 pipes. The tone of the sheng is lucid and bright. It has a huge range, a chromatically complete scale and is able to produce chord voicings. Most orchestras use a full range of sheng, including the gaoyin (soprano), zhongyin (alto), cizhongyin (tenor) and diyin (bass) sheng. Suona (嗩吶) The tone produced by suona is loud, piercing and uplifting, thus it is usually used to perform vibrant and lively pieces. However, its repertoire also includes some mellower pieces. The suona is commonly used as an accompaniment in the Chinese opera, singing or dancing, but also for more sombre occasions, such as during a traditional Chinese funeral procession. It is also utilised in solos or ensembles for various occasions and ceremonies. Being a double-reeded wind instrument, it is extremely difficult to master it to produce perfect pitches. There are modified types, such as the keyed alto, tenor and bass suonas. Many suona players are also now doubling on guan, a double-reed Chinese instrument of much mellower quality (like that of the clarinet.) This usage has also led to the development of keyed lower guan, such as the zhongyin and diyin Guans. Occasionally, koudi (口笛), xun (塤), haojiao (號角, horn), hailuo (海螺, conch shell) and xiao (蕭) would also be used according to the composition. Percussion (打击乐) Like its Western counterpart, instruments used in the percussion section of the modern Chinese orchestra vary according to the musical work. The percussion section of the modern Chinese orchestra consists of two main parts: Chinese percussion and Western percussion. More often than not, musical works written for modern Chinese orchestra incorporate a large Western percussion section, including important roles for instruments like the timpani (定音鼓), bass drum (大军鼓), snare drum (小军鼓), etc. More obscure instruments in orchestral context like the mark tree (音树), vibraslap (弹簧盒), conga (康加鼓), cowbell (牛铃), etc. are also utilized in modern Chinese orchestra. Western percussion is considered an essential part of the Chinese orchestra percussion section. The history of Chinese percussion instruments is longer than any other section of traditional Chinese instruments. The character of the drum was first recorded in the ancient