Simbing

Simbing
	A simbing in Bakau Crocodile Museum, Gambia
String instrument
Other names	Furakaf (Jola); Simbi; Simbingo; Simbing ; donsonkoni (hunter's ngombi);
Classification	harp-lutes
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	323-5; (Acoustic instruments which have a resonator as an integral part of the instrument, in which the plane of the strings lies at right angles to the sound-table; a line joining the lower ends of the strings would be perpendicular to the neck. These have notched bridges. Sounded by the bare fingers)
Related instruments
	bolon; kora; seperewa;

Short description: African harp-lute

The simbing is an malian harp-lute, used by the Mandinka people of Mali, and Mandinka and Jola peoples of Senegal and Gambia.^[2]^[3] The instruments consist of a calabash resonator, a (usually curved) stick for a neck, a metal jingle attached to the neck, and a bridge that holds the string over the skin soundboard in a vertical line.^[2] For comparison lutes (such as the guitar) usually have the strings held in a horizontal line above the soundboard. The instruments have five to nine strings. The instrument from the 1790s was reported as having seven strings by Mungo Park.^[4]

The instrument was played in Mandinka and Jola cultures in the context of hunting.^[2] With the Mandingas, the instrument was played by "the hunter's musician" who narrated songs about the hunt and the animals.^[2] With the Jolas, the instrument is used to accompany men singing in groups.^[2]

The instrument strings were plucked to make noise. Also, the calabash gourd could be tapped with sticks by the singer, for percussion.^[2]

References

↑ Wallaschek, Richard (1893). Primitive Music. London and New York: Longmans, Green and Co.. "...the Mandingoes have a harp, "korro" with eighteen strings, and another, "simbing," with seven strings..."
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 Durán, Lucy. Sadie, Stanley. ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. 3. p. 387.
↑ Simbing (plaque inside museum). Bakau, Gambia: Bakau Crocodile Museum. Retrieved 19 October 2022. SIMBING Seven-string bow-harp in pentatonic tuning, one plane of string, played by the Jola people in Senegambia who call it also Furakaf. In Mall Bamana who call it simbi plays it.
↑ Park, Mungo (1893). Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, 1795-1797. "add a list of their musical instruments, the principal of which are—the koonting, a sort of guitar with three strings; the korro, a large harp, with eighteen strings; the simbing, a small harp with seven strings..."

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simbing. Read more

[1] Wallaschek, Richard (1893). Primitive Music. London and New York: Longmans, Green and Co.. "...the Mandingoes have a harp, "korro" with eighteen strings, and another, "simbing," with seven strings..."

[grove-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 Durán, Lucy. Sadie, Stanley. ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. 3. p. 387.

[3] Simbing (plaque inside museum). Bakau, Gambia: Bakau Crocodile Museum. Retrieved 19 October 2022. SIMBING Seven-string bow-harp in pentatonic tuning, one plane of string, played by the Jola people in Senegambia who call it also Furakaf. In Mall Bamana who call it simbi plays it.

[4] Park, Mungo (1893). Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, 1795-1797. "add a list of their musical instruments, the principal of which are—the koonting, a sort of guitar with three strings; the korro, a large harp, with eighteen strings; the simbing, a small harp with seven strings..."

String instrument
A simbing in Bakau Crocodile Museum, Gambia
Other names	Furakaf (Jola) Simbi Simbingo Simbing ^[1] donsonkoni (hunter's ngombi)
Classification	harp-lutes
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	323-5 (Acoustic instruments which have a resonator as an integral part of the instrument, in which the plane of the strings lies at right angles to the sound-table; a line joining the lower ends of the strings would be perpendicular to the neck. These have notched bridges. Sounded by the bare fingers)
Related instruments
bolon kora seperewa