We returned to the guesthouse after work Tuesday and found this sitting on a table. We were told it is a Sasando, a tube zither, a harp-like traditional music string instrument native to Rote Island, part of Timor, Indonesia. We'd never seen one before.
According to Wikipedia: The name sasando is derived from the Rote dialect word ”sasandu”, which means "vibrating" or "sounded instrument". It is believed that the sasando had already been known to the Rote people since the 7th century.
Rote Island is also where several of the workers at the UBB office are from and some here have worked on the soon-to-be dedicated Lole New Testament this June.
AT (our guesthouse host as well as the lead IT guy) bought this from Jeremias Pah, a renowned maker of Sasando instruments. Here's a YouTube video of him with some clips of him making the instrument. Note the hat in the video, another traditional head piece in this part of Indonesia.
The instrument is made almost entirely of bamboo, readily available here. The curved fronds are also bamboo and serve more as an amplifier (director) of sound than decoration, though it certainly is that.
Learning to play this is daunting. Not only are there strings (wires) surrounding the core 365 degrees but, with the wood pieces serving as wedges, there are a full set of (higher) notes above the wedges as well. AT himself, who is proficient on a guitar, is still trying to learn how to play the Sasando.
Here's a wonderful example of what this instrument sounds like.
If you are interested in learning more about the Sasando, here's a link to Wikipedia.
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