panpipes, Pandean pipes, or syrinx, musical wind instrument, consisting of graduated tubes closed at one end and fastened together. The player holds the instrument vertically and blows into the open end of the tube; each tube has its own pitch. Of Chinese origin, the instrument was known to the Greeks (who connected its origin with the legend of the god Pan and the nymph Syrinx who was changed into reeds). It survives in some parts of Europe, South East Asia, and South America.