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Raft Zither
A raft zither is a group of single-cord tube zithers, connected together to form a "raft". Tube zithers use a tube as a platform to hold a string (either tied onto the tube or cut out of the tube itself), raised with bridges. The flat surface of the raft is the base for the strings, and the multiple instruments form a single instrument with many notes. Each tube zither in the raft zither has a different note, and the idiochord An idiochord ( la, idio – "self", chord – "string", also known as a drum zither) is a musical instrument in which the "string" of the instrument is made from the same material as its resonating body. Such instruments may be found in the Indian O ... instruments become a single heterochord instrument. The raft zither is also related to the board zither, which uses a board as the base for its many strings. One example of a raft zither is the Totombito zither, from Congo. Other African examples may be found in Nigeria and East Africa. In Nepal, the Dh ...
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Raft Zither, Benin, 19th Century
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels, or inflated air chambers (such as pontoons), and are typically not propelled by an engine. Rafts are an ancient mode of transport; naturally-occurring rafts such as entwined vegetation and pieces of wood have been used to traverse water since the dawn of humanity. Human-made rafts Traditional or primitive rafts were constructed of wood or reeds. Modern rafts may also use pontoons, drums, or extruded polystyrene blocks. Inflatable rafts up to the 20th century used flotation chambers made of goat- or buffalo-skins, but most now use durable, multi-layered rubberized fabrics. Depending on its use and size, it may have a superstructure, masts, or rudders. Timber rafting is used by the logging industry for the transportation of log ...
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Tube Zither
The tube zither is a stringed musical instrument in which a tube functions both as an instrument's neck and its soundbox. As the neck, it holds strings taut and allows them to vibrate. As a soundbox or it modifies the sound and transfers it to the open air. The instruments are among the oldest of chordophones, being "a very early stage" in the development of chordophones, and predate some of the oldest chordophones, such as the Chinese Se, zithers built on a tube split in half. Most tube zithers are made of bamboo, played today in Madagascar, India, Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Tube zithers made from other materials have been found in Europe and the United States, made from materials such as cornstalks and cactus. There are both round and half tube zithers, as well as tube zithers with the strings cut out of the bamboo body, ''idiochordic'', or, rarely, have separate strings, ''heterochordic''. Cultural connections The areas where the bamboo tube zither has been used was connec ...
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Bridge (instrument)
A bridge is a device that supports the strings on a stringed musical instrument and transmits the vibration of those strings to another structural component of the instrument—typically a soundboard, such as the top of a guitar or violin—which transfers the sound to the surrounding air. Depending on the instrument, the bridge may be made of carved wood (violin family instruments, acoustic guitars and some jazz guitars), metal (electric guitars such as the Fender Telecaster) or other materials. The bridge supports the strings and holds them over the body of the instrument under tension. Explanation Most stringed instruments produce sound through the application of energy to the strings, which sets them into vibratory motion, creating musical sounds. The strings alone, however, produce only a faint sound because they displace only a small volume of air as they vibrate. Consequently, the sound of the strings alone requires impedance matching to the surrounding air by tra ...
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Idiochord
An idiochord ( la, idio – "self", chord – "string", also known as a drum zither) is a musical instrument in which the "string" of the instrument is made from the same material as its resonating body. Such instruments may be found in the Indian Ocean region, disparate regions of Africa and its diaspora, and parts of Europe and North America. Bamboo is often a popular material for idiochords: a tube of bamboo may be slit to loosen portions of the husk at the middle, leaving them attached at the ends, and these "strings" may be raised up by inserting sticks to serve as bridges. Such bamboo idiochords include the valiha of Madagascar, the kulibit in the Philippines and Indonesia, and the ''karaniing'' of the Mon-Khmer "Orang Asli" tribal peoples of Malaysia. A massive one-string bamboo idiochord, the ''benta'', is native to Jamaica and played with a slide, much like a diddly-bow. Idiochords are also made from other materials; cornstalk was used in North America to make the cornstalk ...
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Dhimal
The Dhimal or Dhemal(in Nepali:धिमाल) are an Kirati ethnic group residing in the eastern Terai of Nepal. They are a Sino-Tibetan-speaking ethnic group of the eastern Terai. They mainly reside in Morang and Jhapa districts of Nepal and Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. They are respected as the "First Citizens" of Damak municipality. Ethnicity and language They are an indigenous group of Nepal and belong to Sino-Tibetan group. They are culturally close to Limbu and Koch of Terai and of the northern hills. Dhimals consider themselves of Kirati descent. They consider the Limbu, the Rai of the hills and the Mech, and Koch people of the tarai as their brethren. According to Hodgson the Mech, Bodo, Koch and Dhimal tribes are of the same race; however, comparison of language does not support so close a connection, he added. He stated that "… but it is difficult to suppose the Bodo and Dhimal languages other than primitive". He also stated that the Dhimals ...
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Thysanolaena
''Thysanolaena'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, the only genus in the tribe Thysanolaeneae. Its only recognized species is ''Thysanolaena latifolia'' (formerly ''Thysanolaena maxima''), native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Yunnan), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is also naturalized in Mauritius, Seychelles, Gambia, Tanzania, Hawaii, California, the West Indies and Brazil. Tiger grass, Nepalese broom grass, broom grass, broom stick are common names for this plant, in Nepali ''amliso'' and ''jharu'' in Assamese . The flowers of this plant are used as cleaning tool or broom, which is known as'' '' in Nepali and ''jhadu (phool jhadu)'' in Hindi. Habitat It is found growing along steep hills, sandy banks of rivers and damp steep banks along ravines. It is widely distributed throughout Nepal but only up to an altitude of 2000 metres. The gra ...
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