Combined with a variety of sounds such as otsuon (low pitch), kanon (high pitch) as well as shirabe, hanon (semitone), atari, yuri, and tome (very high pitch), it is considered to be a Buddhist preaching, has the power to beat evil spirits, and is even used as a tool of communication between monks who run up mountains.
大まかには乙音（低音階）、甲音（高音階）、さらには調べ、半音、当り、揺り、止め（極高音）などを様々に組み合わせて、獅子吼に擬して仏の説法とし、悪魔降伏の威力を発揮し、更には山中を駈ける修験者同士の意思疎通を図る法具として用いられる。