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Encyclopedia ID 317

Sasando

Also known as Rote tube zither

Sasando: photograph by Fakhri Anindita
Photo: Fakhri Anindita, CC BY-SA 4.0, source on Wikimedia Commons

A bamboo tube wrapped with strings inside a palm-leaf fan resonator; pluck both sides with the fingertips.

Heritage note

Part of the living heritage of Indonesia. Some forms of this practice carry deep meaning for the communities who keep it; here we describe the play and the craft only, with respect for its roots.

Origins

Usually placed in the era of Classical Worlds (about 1000 BCE to 500 CE), although its exact origins are uncertain, within the cultural world of Southeast Asia and the Islands.

Sources

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