Central Highlands of Vietnam

Jarai people of Central Highlands of Vietnam

Wood, horn, hair string, metal, fiber string
Mid 20th century
Length: 31 in; Width: 6 in (pegs are widest pt);  Depth: 1.75 in;  Bow length: 27.5 in
Chordophones – Lutes

The k’ni is a two string fiddle-like chordophone sometimes referred to as a mouth violin played by the Jarai people in Vietnam. K’ni is the common word for fiddle in the Jarai language.  It was originally made from a bamboo cane, but this modern example has a small fingerboard with several bamboo frets attached to the neck.  Unlike other bowed chordophones the musician’s mouth serves as a resonator as there is no sounding board.  Instead, one end of a thread is tied to the bridge and the other end of the thread has a disc-shape fragment of buffalo horn, which is placed in the musician’s mouth and tensely held with the mouth when played. The alteration and movement of the mouth cavity then modifies the tone timbre of the sound that approaches that of the human voice, but still retains the characteristic of a bowed chordophone.  The k’ni is used for courtship, funerals, and religious ceremonies

Folk artists usually use pentatonic scales. One pentatonic scale of  the Jarai people is Do1 – Re1 – Fa#1 – Sol1 – La1

Resource: The Garland Handbook of Southeast Asian Music