njari
Instrument Information
Origins
Continent: Africa
Region: East Africa
Nation: Zimbabwe
Formation: Shona
Classification (Sachs-Von Hornbostel revised by MIMO)
122.11 idiophone--lamellaphone (or plucked idiophone; lamellae, i.e. elastic plaques, fixed at one end, are flexed and then released to return to their position of rest) in board- or comb-form; the lamellae are attached to a board or cut out from a board like the teeth of a comb; without integral resonatorDesign and Playing Features
Category: idiophone
Energy input motion by performer: plucking
Basic form of sonorous object/s for idiophone: tongue - heteroglot
Sound objects per instrument: multiple sounded discretely
Resonator design: separate resonating space shared by multiple sonorous objects - temporarily affixed to instrument when played
Number of players: one
Sounding principle: flexing - direct
Sound exciting agent: fingertip/s, fingernail/s, finger-mounted pick/s
Energy input motion by performer: plucking
Pitch of sound produced: definite pitch
Sound modification: bottle caps loosely attached to sonorous surface
Dimensions
gallery #1: 7 in. width of soundboard at top 8.5 in. width of soundboard at bottom 8.6 in. height of soundboard gallery #2: 7 in. width of soundboard 8.5 in. height of soundboard
Primary Materials
wood
metal
metal - sheet
bottle caps
Maker
Jacob Mafuleni (gallery #1)
Entry Author
Toby Austin, Roger Vetter