South East Asia

For the area of South East Asia we regard here the countries of Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.

For Vietnam see Far East. For Hawaii and Tahiti see North America.

Note that Australia does not have any special plucked instruments.

The jakhay is an instrument that is also used in other countries of South East Asia. In Cambodia it is called takhe, or charakhe or usually krapeu. In Burma it is called mi-gyaung. Originally it was carved to resemble a crocodile, now it is more a stylized panhandle. Alternative spellings are jakae or jakhae.

The jakhay is made from one huge piece of hardwood, carved in the right shape and the back/bottom hollowed out. The bottom (the soundboard) is made from a softer wood, and has (roughly drilled) soundholes in it. It has 3 rounded short legs screwed into the soundboard.

The 11 or 12 high frets are made of light coloured hardwood and fixed in a groove, carved in the top. There are 3 long rounded tuning pegs on both sides of the open peghead. The entire instrument (except the soundboard) is painted dark brown.

The bridge is made of brass, with a flat and rounded top, to make the 3 nylon strings (especially the lowest, wounded string) buzz, like on Indian instruments.

Playing is by resting the jakhay on the floor, with the player sitting cross-legged behind it. The right hand uses a pen-like plectrum with some decoration on the top, and the left hand presses down the strings behind the frets. The sound is not very pleasing to western ears. For more information about Thai instruments see Khryang Ditt and ThaiFolk.

In Thailand they use a similar long plucked instrument as the chapey dan veng in Cambodia : in Thailand it is called grajappi or krajappii or krachappi. There is an old and a new version.
The old style grajappi looks much like the chapey, so see Cambodia.
The new version grajappi is made a bit differently.

The body of the new style grajappi is made by hollowing out a round bit of (heavy) wood, and covering it with a thin wooden front. The round body shape is supposed to be a slice of the bodhi tree or of a pineapple. The soundboard has a large round soundhole (like a guitar), that is often covered with a decorated rosette; formerly made of ivory, now of white plastic.

The neck and long pegbox are made from one piece of wood and glued to the body wiith a dovel join. The pegbox extents in a very long (flat) curve to the back; this bit can be taken off, and is highly decorated with dark wood and white (ivory looking) plastic. The 13 frets (in a regular seven-to-an-octave scale) are pieces of white plastic, glued to the flat front of the neck.

The pegs (two on both sides of the open pegbox) are long and round, with decorated "handles" attached to them. There are two courses of double nylon strings, which runs from a high decorated (plastic) nut over a rather large loose bridge to a string holder fixed to the bottom of the body. This stringholder is covered by a piece of decorated white plastic.

The strings are probably tuned : FF BB.

Playing the grajappi is with a plectrum, mainly to accompany singing.

The sueng (also spelled sung, or soung or serng or seung) is a plucked instrument that vaguely resembles the yueh qin ("moon guitar") from China.

The sueung is made from one piece of hardwood, including neck and pegbox. The body is hollowed out and covered with another (round) piece of hardwood, with a small soundhole in the middle.

The neck is rather square. It has high wooden frets attached (nailed) to it, in oriental scale (7 frets to an octave). The pegbox is open and a bit sickle-shaped. The four round friction pegs are two on each side. Modern versions have small guitar machines, with fake wooden tuners.

It has 2 double metal strings (the old ones often made of bicycle brake wire). They run over a loose wooden bridge to pins at the end of the body.

The body of the sueng is decorated with woodcarvings around the edges. A plectrum is fixed with a rope to the end of the body.

This is a nice small folk instrument, based on the Chinese sanxien and the Thai sueng. It is made by the Lisu, one of the hilltribes in North Thailand. It is locally known as tseubeu, or subu or dsyböö. The Akha tribe calls it deuham, and the Lahu calll it sae mu. Internet shops usually call it sung lisu. It is made in several sizes, from around 300mm to about 750mm.

The body of a sung lisu is a small round piece of hardwood, like a bowl. The bottom is pierced with holes and has decoration around the edges. The front is covered with skin, like python or monitor lizard. The straight neck is carved from one piece of hardwood which extents to the pegbox. The pegbox bends back in a sharp curl.

There are two round friction pegs on the right side and one on the left side of the open pegbox. Three metal strings (of the same thickness) run over a small loose bridge to a wooden pin at the end of the neck, which goes right through the body.

A nice round plectrum is fixed to that pin with a rope.

An apparently rather new type of instrument, used in modern Thai music groups.

The phin is a guitar-like instrument, based on the Thai sueng.

The body, neck and frist part of the tuning head is carved from one piece of wood, hollowed out, and covered with a thin wooden soundboard. The body has a teardrop or spade shape, and it has a flat back.

The peghead has a (separately made) sideways extension (fixed with a screw to the peghead) in a curl ending in a decorated carving (see a similar sideways extension in the carved sape of Malaysia). The peghead has 3 modern tuning machines - one left, two on the right side. The instrument is often painted.

The fingerboard is almost flush with the front, and has guitar-like metal frets, which follow an irregular scale, using frets 1,2,3,5,7,8,10 and 12 for the first octave. The 3 steel strings (all of the same thickness) run over a loose wooden bridge to a small stringholder, fixed with screws at the end of the soundboard. Four tunings are in use : a e' a' / a d' a' / a a' a' / or a a' e'.

The phin is played with a plectrum and the sound is like a simple guitar (often amplified). It is used in Molam type of music of North-East Thailand, which also uses the reed organ "kaen", a bowed string instrument "saw", a hand drum and a circular panpipe "wode". The phin plays repeated riffs.       picture from website

In Cambodia we can find two plucked string instruments : the chapey and the krapeu. The krapeu is very similar to the Thai jakhay, so see Thailand.

The chapey dan veng (also chapay veng) is a (very) long neck lute. It is the same instrument that is called grajappi in Thailand.

The body is made from a thick piece of wood, hollowed out, with a thin plank on top as soundboard. That body shape is supposed to be a slice of the bodhi tree or of a pineapple. There is no soundhole.

The neck and the long pegbox are made from one piece of wood and glued to the body. The pegbox extents in a very long (flat) curve to the back. The frets are pieces of hardwood glued with some black wax to the neck. The pegs, which are long and round, are on both sides of the open pegbox.

There are two courses of nylon strings, which can be single, or double or only one double. They run to a string holder which also serves as bridge. The strings are tuned F B. Playing is with a plectrum, mainly to accompany singing.

Some instruments are quite crummy made (like the example), but some are very delicately carved and with some bone (or ivory) inlay (see the grajappi from Thailand).

(gitar) gambus

As in most Islamic countries, the Arabian oud is also played in Malaysia and Indonesia. This oud is quite similar to the oud used in the Middle East, as it came with Arab workers from Yemen (town of Hadramaut), who carried on their tradition of playing the oud.

This oud is here called gambus (or gambus Hadramaut, or gambus Hadramawt, or gambus johor, or gambus Arab, or - mainly in Indonesia - gitar gambus). There is also a local oud-like instrument, which is called gambus Melayu (see under).

The oud-like gambus is often imported from Egypt or other countries in the Middle East, but quite a few are locally made in Malaysia or Indonesia. Although the general shape of those is similar to the imported oud, there are often a few differences. Usually the wood used for the front is not pine wood, and certainly not bookmatched. And although the neck is often fretless (like the oud), especially the gitar gambus from Indonesia does have frets. Also the number of strings may vary.

picture from CD Smithsonian Folkway : Music of Indonesia - 11

The technique of playing the gambus is the same as the oud (with a long plectrum), but here more to accompany arabic singing - often in "orkes gambus".

gambus Melayu

Besides the oud-like gambus (see above) in Malaysia (especially on Sabah), and in Brunei, and on some islands of Indonesia (like Lombok, Riau, etc.) there is a another gambus, which looks quite different. This gambus (gambus Hijaz or gambus Melayu) is closely related to the old qanbus of Yemen and East Africa (see Africa). On Kalimantan it is called panting and played in Panting Banjar music.

This traditional gambus has a (narrow) body and neck carved from a single piece of wood and a (goat) skin top. Nowadays the front is sometimes (mainly in Brunei and Sabah) made of thin wood (like on the oud-type gambus) - less breakable, and it gives a sharper sound.
The peg head is often flat, or sickle-shaped, or turned back to the front, with some tribal decoration. It usually has friction pegs on both sides of the open tuning head.
The gambus has four or five double strings of gut (or nylon) and no frets. The strings run over a loose wooden bridge and are tied to a large pin-like extension of the body.

There is nowadays quite a cross-over between the two types of gambus, so the gambus Melayu may be also made from staves, and have 6 double strings and a large single rosette - or three. Also the tuninghead may be bent back, or with a decorated carving. It may even have tuning machines.

It is played with a long plectrum, and used for vocal accompaniment of Zapin music. It has a sound similar to the oud but with a more resonant, almost hollow sound.

For much more information about all these different types of gambus instruments see : inthegapbetween.       left : from CD right : from website

The sape (or sapé or sapeh) is one of the largest plucked stringed instruments in the world. It is mainly used on the island of Borneo (which is half Malaysia : Sabah and Sarawak, and half Indonesia : Kalimantan; plus the small independent state of Brunei)

The sape is probably made by shipbuilders as the body resembles very much a ship (however the hollowed out bit is on the back...). Maybe that is why this type of instrument is known as "boatlute".
The short neck and square pegbox is also from the same piece of wood. The front is decorated in black and red plakat paint, in traditional Borneo tribal patterns.

The number of metal strings may vary from 3 to 5 and can be tuned with round wooden pegs from both sides of the peghead.

Each string is the same gauge and has its own small bamboo bridge, giving each a different string length. They run over a flat bamboo bridge and go through holes to the back of the instrument. Only the first string has (flat bamboo) frets in a diatonic scale.

Playing the sapeh is quite awkward, as your hand can not really grip the "neck", but more or less have to press on the front of the body. Only the first string is fingered, the others are used as drones (it feels a bit like playing upside-down dulcimer). Only the thumb is used for strumming. The sound is not very loud. The repertoire is about 35 different tunes. left: me trying out a sape in the Sarawak Cultural Village, 2008

This long necked strummed lute is quite rare, and found amongst the Dusunic people of Sabah (the north part of the island Borneo).

The sundatang is mainly made of jackfruit wood, with two or 3 brass strings. The body seems to be either rather square or oval-shaped, and is probably build like a guitar, not hollowed out (but I am not sure). The instrument looks very similar to the kudyapi boat-lutes of the Palawan from the (nearby) Philippines (see under). There are just a few (about 5) high frets on the long neck, near the body (like on the Vietnamese Dan Day).

The sundatang of the KadazanDusun tribe from Penampang district, the Lotud-Dusun tribe (who call it “gagayan”) and those of the Rungus tribe are more widely played than the one of the KadazanDusuns of Tambunan district. This Tambunan sundatang has a small body and a neck over a meter long.

The sundatang can be played for personal entertainment or as a dance accompaniment (in the Tambunan district - the Magarang) and sometimes played in pairs as in Tuaran district.

pictures from website Malaysiana   Some look-a-likes are shown on eBay with the name "cekuntrung" (Java) which seems a souvenir-like, decorated version.

The kacapi is a small boat lute from the Bataks on Samosir island in Lake Toba, in North Sumatra. They are now mainly made as woodcarving souvenirs for tourists.

The kacapi (pronounced "kachapi") is made from one piece of wood, in a boat-shape. The back is hollowed out. There are 2 metal strings, which can be tuned by round wooden friction pegs on both sides of the open pegbox. The bridge is a raised bit of wood left in the middle of the body.

Usually the top of the pegbox, and the end of the body are nicely decorated.
If the front is left plain it may be a playable instrument; otherwise it is usually over-decorated with woodcarvings and difficult to play.

The entire instrument is painted in some dark brown colour, probably with shoe polish.

The kacapi seemed not very popular with players on Sumatra,
as on my visit in 1987 I found only one boy able to play it,
and I could not find any cassettes with pure kacapi music on it.

kacapi (Sulawesi)

This is a special boat lute from the island Sulawesi. It is called kacapi [pronounced "kachapi"] in the south, but also kacaping and katapi.

The instrument is made from one piece of wood, with a cavity on the back. This is covered with a separate wooden panel, with several round sound holes in it.

The peghead has usually a highly decorated panel, also carved from the same piece of wood.

The kacapi has always two strings. They are tuned by small round friction pegs. The strings are pressed down on a row of 5 or 6 high finger posts, carved integrally from the neck and soundboard. The bridge is a similar high post.

It is strummed with a long plectrum, for solo music or to accompany songs.

above : A side view of a kacapi, with the five high fingerpost, the bridge pole (right) and the elaborate wood carvings on both ends, everything carved from one piece of wood. (picture from eBay).     left : Most information about this instrument (including this picture) comes from the CD South Sulawesi Strings, Smithsonian Folkways.

jungga [1]

This is the two-stringed jungga from the island of Sunda. As it is a boat lute, it looks quite similar to the sape from Borneo, or the kacapi from Sulawesi.
Note that there is another jungga (with 4 strings), also on Sunda island.

The body and neck is carved from one piece of wood, with a cavity on the back. This is closed with a separate piece of wood, with soundholes in it. The body is wider than the kacapi from the Bataks.

It has the high finger posts that serve as frets, and the high bridge, like the kacapi from Sulawesi.

It is played to accompany songs.

the high fingerposts that serve as frets (from eBay)

jungga [2]

This jungga is a four-stringed, locally made guitar from the island of Sunda.

Some instruments have a few frets, most are fretless. It is built like a quite primitive guitar, and played with a plectrum.

keroncong guitar / cak / cuk

The keroncong guitar is a small ukulele-type guitar from Java island, Indonesia, mainly used in Keroncong music (pronounced "kron-chong"), which has some Portuguese influence (from the late 19th century).

Originally the keroncong guitar was a small slender guitar (probably much like a ukulele - and related to the Portuguese cavaquinho, or maybe the Spanish guitarrico). It was played in the Keroncong orchestra in combination with a small banjo. However, these two instruments are now completely replaced by a set of two special kind of ukuleles : the cak and the cuk. One instrument with 4 thin steel strings is called the cak (pronounced “chuck” - originally the small banjo). It has lots of tiny holes in the front as soundhole - either rounded or in a kind of square or triangle. The 3th course is double, and the tuning could be : d"d" g' b'. The other instrument, called the cuk (pronounced “chook”), has 3 (thick) nylon strings and usually a normal single round soundhole. Tuning could be quite low : g' b e'.
	cak and cuk example : handmade by Gitar-Media Yohanes Supriyanto, Indonesia, 2010
	cak : L=580 B=195 H=35 scale 380mm cuk : L=585 B=220 H=60 scale 380mm

The cak and the cuk are the same size as a concert ukulele. Interestingly these instruments are not built like a small guitar, but the body is carved from one piece of mahogany wood. Sometimes only the sides of the body are carved, with a separate mahogany back. Other makers carve the entire instrument (!) from one block of mahogany. The body of the cak is much thinner, to give it a sharper sound.

Both instruments have a raised fingerboard with metal frets. The tuninghead is always flat, with machine tuners from behind. The strings run over a loose bridge to a mandolin-like stringholder. The body and neck are varnished in colour, the soundboard is varnished or painted (sun-burst).

The cak is played in 4-beat, with the off-beat strums accentuated; the cuk plays usually arpeggios. Together the cak and cuk form a set with interlocking strums, that gives Keroncong music its characteristic rhythmic sound.

The other instruments used in traditional Keroncong (or Kroncong or Krontjong) music are usually the gitar tunggal - (the guitar of local or of western manufacture), the violin, the flute and often a (plucked) cello and a (plucked) contra bass. However, Keroncong music can also be performed using modern instruments like electric guitars, electronic keyboards and a drumkit. This music is also very popular among the Indonesians living in Holland.

The laud, the banduria and the spanish guitar are the instruments used in Spanish Rondalla music, and as the Spanish ruled the Philippine islands for three centuries, this type of music became also popular on the Philippines - and even with Philippinos now living in the USA. See more information on the website of Jayars.

The Philippine instruments look quite similar to the Spanish banduria and laud (see Europe west), although the number of strings has increased. From 12 strings in 6x2 courses in Spain, to 14 strings in 6 courses in the Philippines : 6th single, 5th and 4th double, 3th, 2nd and 1st three double.

The banduria (sometimes spelt : bandurria, or called banduria guitar) is made like a flat back mandolin. The soundhole is usually round like on a guitar. The tuning head is made like a slotted guitar-head, or flat, with machines from behind - seven on each side. It has a raised fingerboard.

The 14 metal strings run over a loose narrow wooden bridge to a mandolin-like stringfastener at the edge of the body. The tuning of this banduria would be in 5-5-5-5-5 : f# bb e'e' a'a'a' d"d"d" g"g"g".

Playing is with a plectrum, often with a mandolin-like tremolo.

The Philippine instruments like the laud and the banduria used in the Rondella music look quite similar to the original Spanish banduria and laud (see Europe west).

The bodyshape of the laud of the Philippines resembles often the flat back Philippine banduria, but with a longer neck, and usually with f-holes instead of a round soundhole. It has a raised fingerboard. The tuning of a laud would be one octave lower than of the banduria : F# BB ee aaa d'd'd' g'g'g'. Playing is with a plectrum, often with a mandolin-like tremolo.
	body with f-holes (picture from Taguig)

The laud, the banduria and the spanish guitar are the instruments used in Philippine Rondalla music, with sometimes another instrument : the octavina.

The octavina is a special Philippine instrument : it is a guitar-shaped laud, so it has 14 metal strings in 6 courses : 6th single, 5th and 4th double, 3th, 2nd and 1st three double.
The tuning would be like the laud, so one octave lower than the banduria :
F# BB ee aaa d'd'd' g'g'g'

The octavina is a bit smaller than a guitar, but the construction is the same. The 14 strings run (like on the laud) over a loose wooden bridge to a mandolin-like stringfastener at the edge of the body.

Playing is with a plectrum, often with a mandolin-like tremolo.

It is not very clear where the name octavina arrived from - the name is also used for a small spinet (plucked 17th century keyboard). However, in Spain used to be a small guitar-like banduria instrument with 6 double strings, called octavilla; very likely that is the origin of the name.

The black colour of the front of the example is just painted on; others were red or plain.

On the Philippines the long boat-lute with two strings is still quite popular in some areas. It exists under many different names, although they all look quite similar : kudlung, fagelung, hegalong, hagelung, kudyapi, kutyapi, kusyapi, ketiyapi, etc. It is mainly called kudlung in the south and kudyapi in the north. For the kudyapi used by the Palawan tribe see under.

Like all other boat-lutes, the entire instrument (with all additions, except tuning pegs and frets) is carved from one piece of (soft)wood, with the resonator chamber carved from the back, and covered with a thin wooden board, sometimes with a soundhole in it. The sides of the body and neck form a long flowing bulge. The front and the back are flat. The length of the instrument can be from about 1 to even 2 meters. Some instruments are highly decorated and painted.

The two metal strings are tuned with two tuning pegs on both sides of the pegbox. The bridge (which is also the stringholder) is a raised block of wood on the front. The strings run through small holes to the tuning pegs. The frets are pieces of wood, glued to the neck with balc wax, in a pentatonic scale.

It is usually played with a small wooden pick, bound to the forefinger. Only the first string is fingered, the second string is only a drone. It is mainly played solo or to accompany singing or dancing.

For lots of information see Brandeis and Kipas.

kudlung example : from website Kipas

The kudyapi boat-lute used by the Palawan tribe looks very similar to the sundatang from Borneo.

Like all other boat-lutes, the entire body and neck is carved from one piece of (hard)wood, with the resonator chamber carved from the back, and covered with a separate thin wooden board (sometimes with some soundholes in it). The body shape is bulging on both sides, with a straight top and bottom. The front and back are flat. The length of the instrument can be from about 1 to far over 2 meters.

The bridge (which is also the stringholder) is a (carved) raised block of wood on the front. The two metal strings are tuned with two (carved) tuning pegs on each side of the pegbox. The tuning head ends in a flat half moon shape.

The frets are small round pieces of wood. They are glued to the neck with dots of black wax, and put in a kind of eastern scale. Notice that the frets are only on the high end of the neck (like the Vietnamese Dan Day), and that only the first string runs over the frets. The lowest fret is used as "nut" for the first string.

The kudyapi is usually played with a small wooden pick, bound to the forefinger. Only the first string is fingered, the second string is only a drone. It is mainly played solo or to accompany singing or dancing.

For lots of information about boat-lutes see Brandeis and Kipas.

Primitive guitar from Philippines.

It is made like a normal guitar, with no (or just a few) frets and played like the player thinks it should be played.