Trough zither
Trough zithers are a group of African stringed instruments or chordophones whose members resemble wooden bowls, pans, platters, or shallow gutters with strings stretched across the opening. A type of zither, the instruments may be quiet, depending upon the shape of the bowl or string-holder. Sound is often amplified with the addition of a gourd resonator. Instruments have been classed into five different types, based on shape.
Inanga player Torobeka Joseph from Burundi. Trough zither type A, using Wegner's classification. | |
| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 315.1 (without resonator) or 315.2 (with resonator) (Trough zithers. Instruments in which strings are stretched across the mouth of a trough.) |
| Developed | Modern examples come from Africa, especially the Great Lakes Region of East Africa. |
| Related instruments | |
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The resonator is most commonly a gourd, but tin cans have also been used.
An instrument of East and Central Africa, mainly Rwanda and Burundi. Parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania as well, near the borders with Rwanda and Burundi.
- Unidentified trough zither, Democratic Republic of Congo, late 19th century. 13 x 6 in. (33 x 15.2 cm). Type E.
- Enganga. Type A six-string zither tied to a calabash. Shi language group around Bukavu in eastern Congo. Royal Museum for Central Africa
- South Sudan or Northern Uganda. Acholi people, trough zither (center back), arched harp (left), unnamed flute (right). Circa 1880. The zither is a nanga or possibly kinanda.
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