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Harp-Lute

Ngoni, Donso (Hunter's) w/Jingles

Mali, Africa
Mande

Gourd, cane, skin, metal, fiber, nylon strings
1970's


Chordophone - Harp-Lute - Plucked

Donso (hunter’s) ngoni in Bamana language. Donso means hunting. Hunters use these spike harps to accompany the long, epic stories about famous hunters and generally hunter's mythology. This six-string (arranged in two ranks of three strings) pentatonic instrument of the traditional hunters societies in Mali and Guinea, originates from the Wassoulou region of southern Mali.

 

Owner: Resource: Alan Suits of "Coyote's Paw Gallery" in Sante Fe, NM
Catalog#: AF-CHHP-28-70

"Mande Music" by Eric Charry, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.