Dunde

Extract

Bar zither of Indonesia. Appearing in many differently named regional varieties, the instrument is most common, although increasingly rare, in Sulawesi. Like the obscure Indian toila, the Thai pin pia, and the Cambodian sadiu, the Indonesian instrument consists of a half coconut shell or half gourd tied directly by string or attached via a wooden dowel (about 4 cm long) to the centre of a rigid wooden bar carved in the shape of a bow. The bar is of variable length, usually no longer than the player’s arm. The player modulates the resonance by manipulating the coconut or gourd resonator against his chest while plucking the one or two metal strings with a forefinger or a small wooden plectrum. Some single-string instruments have a tuning peg. The instrument is known as the dunde among the Bar-e and Poso Toraja people of Central Sulawesi. In North Sulawesi it is called the ...