Japanese instrumentalist Byon Kay will perform ethnic and world music with multiple rarely seen instruments: the Jew’s harp, the nose flute, the khene and the overtone flute.

The Jew’s harp, also known as the jaw harp, mouth harp, Ozark harp or juice harp, is a lamellophone instrument, which is in the category of plucked idiophones: It consists of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. The tongue/reed is placed in the performer’s mouth and plucked with the finger to produce a note. The Jew’s harp is frequently found in the repertoire of music played by alternative or world music bands.

The nose flute is a popular musical instrument played in Polynesia and the Pacific Rim countries. Other versions are found in Africa.

The khene is a mouth organ of Lao origin whose pipes, which are usually made of bamboo, are connected with a small, hollowed-out hardwood reservoir into which air is blown, creating a sound similar to that of the violin. In Cambodia, it is used among the ethnic Lao population and is used in lakhon ken, a Cambodian dance drama genre that features the khene as the premiere instrument.

The most interesting characteristic of the khene is its free reed, which is made of brass or silver. It is related to Western free-reed instruments such as the harmonium, concertina, accordion, harmonica, and bandoneon.

The overtone flute is a type of a flute that is designed to play in the upper harmonics, typically well above the two or three harmonics that are the practical limit for most woodwind instruments.

Overtone flutes may be considered simple tubes lacking tone holes, or relatively few tone holes for a woodwind instrument. They rely on their ability to play high into the overtone series in order to play melodies. One series of harmonics is achieved by overblowing with the end of the tube open and another is achieved with the end closed. This means that most overtone flutes are limited to producing only those notes from a natural scale.

Overtone flute tubes typically have relatively long resonating chamber compared to its diameter or cross sectional area, which encourages the instrument to resonate in the higher harmonics. This also makes it either difficult to play or very quiet when attempting to play the instrument in the first harmonic.

Time: 9 p.m., Dec. 9

Tickets: 60-80 yuan, including a drink

Venue: Brown Sugar Jar’s Public store, No. 1031, Shangbu Road South, Futian District (福田区上步南路1031号红糖罐Public店)

Metro: Line 1, Science Museum Station (科学馆站), Exit D