Bolon

Description

Large, bass arched harp made with a semi-hemispherical gourd resonator, covered with shaved animal skin that was laced with hide. A curved wooden neck protrudes from the gourd and bears four strings of twisted hide, looped several times to create rings that can slide along the neck and be adjusted for tuning. The strings go through holes of a tall bridge (currently disassembled), thus being lifted to a plane perpendicular to the soundtable instead of parallel to it, and are attached to anchor hide strings laced around a small bottom spike. Usually, these instruments have a plaque rattle as a neck finial, similar to the plaque rattles that are assembled onto the lacing of djembe drums, known as sesse, or ksing-ksing.