My Instrument: Hyelim Kim and her daegeum

Korean flautist Hyelim Kim is one of the most dramatic players I’ve ever seen. The bamboo instrument she plays is like an extension of her body and she moves expressively as she performs. It adds an extra element of drama to the music and she’s been involved in several theatrical presentations where movement and music are equally integral. The sound is piercing, intense and full of overtones.

The traditional Korean flute is called daegeum, which literally means ‘large flute,’ and it’s made from bamboo. Hyelim’s father was a keen amateur player, so she was introduced to it at an early age. “My father often took me to the bamboo forest because he was obsessed with making his own instruments. When I was little, I was surrounded by bamboo – the sound, the smell, the texture. I became fascinated by the feeling and memory.”

Hyelim was born in Daegu, one of South Korea’s largest cities in the south of the country. But, aged 12, she left to study in a traditional music school in Seoul. Her music education began with singing, then janggu drumming and pansori ‘opera,’ before she chose to study daegeum. 

The instrument has a distinctive buzzing sound because of a reedy membrane near the mouthpiece. It’s a very assertive tone. “When you listen to Western classical flute it sounds very refined, but when you listen to Korean traditional playing it’s sometimes quite ugly and distorted,” says Hyelim. “To describe ugly emotions you need ugly sounds, so one of the functions of the membrane is to make the sound distorted.” One of the things they would do at the traditional music school was go to the wetlands to harvest the reeds for the membrane. 

“You can vary the sound, of course, and each player has a different dictionary of tone colours they use. I think my sound is towards the more distorted end of the spectrum.” 

There’s a Korean word, nongeum (meaning ‘playing with sound’), to describe how wind-players manipulate the sound as it’s being produced – vibrating it, pushing or pulling it. It’s certainly remarkable the richness of sound that Hyelim Kim can produce. Whereas Western flutes have a fairly consistent sound, handmade Korean flutes and their players have their own distinctive characteristics. 

Hyelim Kim is still playing the same daegeum she had at the music school and has been using it for 15 years or so. They age very well. “I have spent so much time with the instrument that I have almost personalised it,” she says. It’s made out of ssang’gol chuk bamboo (bambusa arundinacea), which is the favoured species for making these instruments. Hyelim feels the fact that it is made from all natural ingredients is significant for its organic sound.

She also mentions a story about the creation of the daegeum. The seventh-century king, Sinmun of Silla, was informed about an island with two bamboo plants. These plants stood separate during the day, but fused together at night. The dragon guarding them said, “when you clap with one hand no sound comes out. You need two hands to make a sound when you clap. Likewise, the bamboo only produces sound when both sides come together.” The dragon added, “the entire world will be peaceful if you make a flute out of the bamboo.” The king did just that and the resulting instrument had enormous powers of protection and healing, as well as the ability to attract rain. “That’s why it’s still seen today as an instrument that brings peace and harmony,” Hyelim says.

This interview originally appeared in the November 2022 issue of Songlines. Never miss an issue – subscribe today