Bawu looks like a flute and is made of bamboo. On the wall near the closed end, there is a rectangular mouthpiece with eight holes in the tube body, seven in the front and one in the back, and the mouthpiece is at 45 degrees. The upper end of the tube is equipped with a copper reed (the earliest Bawu, the mouthpiece was equipped with a bamboo reed, and later it was changed to a copper reed, which was made of a thin copper sheet with a thickness of 0.2-0.25 mm), and the upper end was blown horizontally, and the reed was vibrated. And the pronunciation is beautiful.

The tube body is made of thin bamboo and green bamboo, the lower end (or right end) is open, and the upper end (or left end) is closed with a bamboo joint or a wooden plug. A rectangular mouthpiece is opened on the upper tube wall, and a rectangular bamboo or copper reed is glued with beeswax. The body of the tube has eight holes (seven in the front and one in the back), forming a forty-five-degree angle with the mouthpiece. Some have two to four tail holes at the lower end.

The production of Bawu is relatively simple. Take a bamboo tube with a length of about 26 to 28 cm, insert a triangular copper reed on the side near the upper end, and drill 8 sound holes on the bamboo tube, which can emit 6 to 9 tones. Yang Sheng, a Yunnan national musical instrument maker, made the wooden pipe Bawu, which is made of purple oil wood and has a copper socket.

This kind of musical instrument is very peculiar. It is said that it is like the flute of the Han nationality, but it is blown horizontally; it is said that it is like the flute of the Han nationality, but it does not have the crisp sound of the flute. This is mainly because it has two copper reeds installed at the top of the contact port instead of a bamboo film like a flute, so the volume is not loud. Commonly used Bau is 30-60 cm in length. Vocal range: treble Bawu f1-g2, alto Bawu b-c2, bass Bawu f-g1.