Folk and World Music Instruments
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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Dadaiko - large Japanese barrel drum. It is usually around two meters in diameter.
Daduk - Bulgarian flute.
Dafri - a very small Indian frame drum, usually only several centimeters in diameter. The frame is sometimes ornamental and the head is made from snake skin.
Dagaa gyil - a long xylophone, about 1.5 meters long, with seventeen keys, each with a corresponding gourd resonator (Ghana). Also known simply as gyil.
Dagu - 1. Large Chinese drum 2. A larger Chinese erhu, pitched an octave lower.
Dai - General Japanese term for a drum stand.
Daira - Afghan frame drum.
Daiko - General Japanese term for drum
Daira - 1. Afghan frame drum with jingles inside the frame. Traditionally played by women. 2. Mozambican term for drums.
Daire - A round, single-headed drum of the Balkans.
Daluo - large Chinese gong.
Damian - a popular six string instrument used by nomadic people of Tibetan origin living in Ladakh (India).
Damaru - small Tibetan drum shaped like an hourglass with two pieces of string at the end of which are small round strikers. The drum is turned rapidly left and right. The strikers whip around and alternately strike each drum head. Also known as Ton Dhar.
Damman - a set of two kettledrums called Fo and Mo, meaning male and female. Fo has a hole under it so that water can be poured into it to produce a heavy, deep sound. They are played with small sticks called Damshing. Damman provides a deep pulsating, resonant beat and is played with dances and singing in Ladakh (India).Damman-ishkun - double-headed Iranian bass drum.
Dan Bau and Bass Dan Bau - The dan bau is a one-string zither native to Vietnam. It is constructed of a long narrow sound box, with a tall curved stem made from water buffalo horn inserted at one end. The single string runs between the soundbox and a small wooden gourd attached to the stem. The Stem is bent to change the pitch of the string. The player touches the string lightly with the heel of the hand at harmonic producing nodal points while plucking with the fingers. This produces the dan bau's characteristic high clear sound. Vietnamese group Khac Chi has added frets to the instrument's already complex array of pitch production mechanisms.
As the sound box of the dan bau is very narrow, it is not a loud instrument, and was traditionally used in more intimate environments. In recent years an electric version has been introduced, to be played in ensembles and large concerts. The bass bau was adapted from the dan bau to provide a musical range equivalent to that of a bass guitar. It is simply an electric dan bau with a very thick string on it. Due to the thickness of the string, it is quite a difficult instrument to play (Courtesy of Khac Chi).
Dan mo - Vietnamese set of wood blocks and bamboo rasps used for percussive effect.
Danpigu - single headed drum (China).
Dan Trong- small single-headed Vietnamese barrel drums of varying sizes and depths.
Daouli - two headed goatskin drum from Greece.
Dap - a Chinese frame drum with a round mulberry frame covered with python skin on one side.
Darabuka- See darbuka.
Darabukka- See darbuka.
Darabukkah- See darbuka.
Darbouka-
Darbucca - See darbuka.
Darbuka - the most widely used name for a North African, Turkish and Middle Eastern hourglass-shaped drum.
Darrabuka - See darbuka.
Dati - Chinese term for cello.
Datonggu - large Chinese barrel drum.
Davadyensivka - Ukrainian wind instrument. It is a diatonic double sopilka.
Davuli - Kosovar Albanian short wooden cylinder covered at each open end with leather-stretched with rope. It is played with two wooden drumsticks.
Dayera - Uzbek frame drum. Also known as dayereh.
Dayereh - Persian and Uzbek frame drum.
Def - large frame drum without jingles used in Turkey, Egypt, Kurdistan, Kosovo, Armenia, Greece and other countries and regions in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Turkic countries.
Demung - Javanese Gamelan metal-keyed melodic instrument.
Derabucca - See darbuka.
Derbacki - See darbuka.
Derbekki - See darbuka.
Devil drum - a rural percussion instrument from Latvia made from a tree branch with a string joining both ends. Jingles or bells hang from the string. The string is struck with a small stick. The Latvian name is vella bumgas.
Dhad - a small, double-sided, hourglass shaped drum. It is held in one hand, and struck with the other. The hand holding it constricts the tightening strings as it is struck, thus creating a unique sound. It is generally used in the Punjab region (India/Pakistan) by Sikh poets while singing praises of historical figures in battle.
Dhapari - Indian percussion instrument made of multiple strips of skin.
Dhiplopadoura - double reed pipe from Crete.
Dhol - 1. Ancient Armenian drum. The instrument is hung from the player’s neck and features two heads, of which only one is actually played. The dhol can also be played with sticks.2. Large, double-sided barrel shaped drum from the Punjab region in South Asia. Its thundering sound is the heart of the Bhangra dance form. The dhol is generally made from Mango wood or Sheesham wood, and played with two sticks, a thin switch made from cane, and a heavier, curved stick generally cut from the roots of the Acacia tree.
Dholak - a small double-ended barrel-shaped drum from India and Pakistan, made from a hollowed out block of wood traditionally used across the Indian subcontinent. The heads are tensioned by lacing that passes through small metal rings.
Dholki - See dholak.
Dhul - Afghan double-ended barrel drum.
Dhungchen - long copper horns played by the monks of Tibet.
Dhut - large Javanese drum.
Didjeribone - a tuned didjeridu made out of plastic, with a rubber mouth, invented by Charlie McMahon. for more information go to http://www.didjeribone.com/.
Didjeridoo - See didjeridu.
Didjeridu- an end-blown, straight, natural wind instrument made from a termite hollowed eucalyptus branch. Used by aborigines of Northern Australia. Dihn Pa - Vietnamese percussive bamboo tubes struck on the ends by padded sticks. Dihu - Chinese low pitched bowed lute. Dilruba - Indian bowed instrument with 4 metal and 24 sympathetic strings. It has frets and the bridge runs over a goatskin.
Diskader - Breton response singer in the kan ha diskan call and response songs.
Diun diun - See dunun.
Dinh Pa and Bass Dinh Pa - The dinh pa is a traditional instrument from the highlands of Vietnam. It is made from varying lengths of bamboo pipes fastened together in two rows and stood upright. It is played by striking the top ends of the pipes with a padded stick, although originally the open hand was used. The bass dinh pa is simply a much larger version of the dinh pa (Courtesy of Khac Chi).
Diple - Croatian reed instrument similar to a bagpipe but without a drone. Also known as mih and mjeh.
Diplica - Croatian reed instrument.
Divan - largest member of the saz family, about 140 cm long (Turkey).
Dizi - transverse bamboo flute of the Han Chinese. It has 6 open holes.
Djabara - West African shakers made out of a hollow gourd, with a loose net, with beads, grains or shells worked into the net.
Djegok - Xylophone used in the Gamelan orchestras of Bali.
Djembe - See Jembe .
Djundjun- See dunun.
Do - General term used for the body of a drum (Japan).
Dobe - Romanian kettledrums.
Dobro - slide guitar with one or more metal resonator discs mounted inside the body.
Doedelzak - bagpipe from Flanders (Belgium).
Doh- see do.
Dohol - Armenian percussion.
Dohollah - brass tabla.
Doira - Tajik frame drum.
Dolak - see dholak.
Dolçaina - Spanish traditional reed instrument made from wood, about 70 cm long. The cone shaped dolçaina is usually found in the Valencia region. In many other parts of Spain it is known as dulzaina or gaita.
Doli - Georgian double-headed cylindrical drum.
Domra - Russian three-stringed mandolin.
Dombak - Persian hourglass drum. Also known in North Africa and Turkey as darbuka.
Donbak - See dombak.
Dondon or don-don - Talking drum from Ghana. Hourglass shaped, variable pitch pressure drum. Also known as dun-dun.
Dondondo - Ghanaian thumb bell.
Donno - hourglass-shaped taking drum from Ghana, popular with the Dagomba people.
Dora - Mongolian small gong with a deep lip and pronounced center.
Doshpuluur - Tuvan two or three string banjo-like plucked instrumentbanjo.
Doso - Double Pit wooden xylophone (Benin). The resonator is a pit dug into the ground. It is the largest xylophone of its kind in the world. The longest keys are huge beams measuring 1.8 meters. The keys lie parallel to one another over and across the pit, which is about 70 centimeters deep and almost 2 meters wide.
Dotar - 1. two-stringed lute from India, Central Asia and the Middle East. 2. Bengali short-necked fiddle derived from the rabab.
Double head drum - Native American frame drum.
Doudoumba - See dudumba.
Doumbec- See dumbek.
Doumbek- See dumbek.
Doundoun- See dunun.
Dragspel - Swedish accordion.
Drbakka - See darbuka.
D'rbuka - See darbuka.
Drbekki - See darbuka.
Drilbu - Tibetan hand bells used by monks in Buddhist rites.
Drum - A percussive device that when struck repetitively, either by hands or other implements, yields a noise.
Duasi - drum (Mozambique).
Duassi - See duasi.
Duda - Hungarian and Latvian bagpipe.
Dude - ancient Croatian bagpipe.
Dudelsack - German Bagpipe.
Duduk - 1. Armenian oboe dating to Armenia's pre-Christian times that is made of apricot wood and capable of sustaining drone notes for long periods of time. The duduk's range is only one octave and requires considerable skill to play, its dynamics being controlled by constantly adjusting lips and fingers. The duduk has a warm, soft, slightly nasal timbre and is used in folk songs and dance music. 2. flute of Western Bulgaria with 20-100cm long six finger holes. 3. A large wooden pipe from Serbia.
Duduki - Georgian short cylindrical oboe, related to the Armenian duduk.
Dudumba - large drum that produces the base beat in Guinean music.
Dudy - Czech bagpipe.
Duff - Nubian frame drum.
Duggi - small kettledrum worn around the waist by Baul performers in Bangladesh and India during the singing of philosophical and devotional songs.
Dukka - pair of Indian drums similar to tabla.
Dulcimer - general term for musical instruments of the box zither type.
Dultzaina - Basque traditional reed instrument closely related to the dulzaina. Although originally made of wood, nowadays it is commonly made of iron.
Dulzaina - 1. Spanish traditional reed instrument made from wood, about 70 cm long. 2. Two metal flutes joined by a single mouth piece. Capable of producing harmony and heard in traditional Ecuadorian music.
Dumbeck- See dumbek.
Dumbeg- See dumbek.
Dumbek - A single-skinned, lap drum who name comes from the two principle tones that the drum produces: a deep thump (dum) and a tight snap (bek).
Dumbéleki - Greek drum.
Dumbra - lute of the Tartar people.
Dundun - hourglass-shaped talking drum from Nigeria.
Dungchen - very long bass trumpets used by Tibetan monks in Buddhist rites. They are 2 meters long (12 feet) and are played as a pair.
Dungur – 1. Tuvan term for drum. 2. Large Tuvan shaman's drum or tambourine.
Dunun - a double sided cow or goat skinned cylindrical barrel drum, which is slung horizontally over the shoulder and hit with a curved stick. The dununs come in three sizes, from highest in pitch but smallest in size, to lowest pitch and largest size- the kenkeni, the sangban, and the big dununba (West Africa).
Dununba - The largest of the dunun drums.
Dutar - a 14-stringed Afghan plucked lute, with a long neck, from the Herat region. Also known as a dotar. The dutar can also be found in the Uighur and Uzbek people of China.
Dvadyensivka - See davadyensivka.
Dvojnice - Croatian double flute.
Dvorgrla- See Dvorgrle.
Dvorgrle - a double pipe flute, with seven holes, from the Balkans.
Dvoyanka - a double pipe from Bulgaria. Its length ranges from 30 to 40 cm.