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Folk and World Music Instruments

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Maddalam - barrel drum from Indonesia.

Maeta - `Are`are wood blocks (Solomon Islands).

Magu - Aboriginal Australian term for the didjeridu.

Mahandja - leg-rattles from Mozambique. Little packets of leaf fibers filled with seeds.

Makuta - Large, barrel-shaped African drums.

Mandocello - a large mandolin, larger than a mandola and tuned an octave below a mandolin. It's also known as an "octave mandolin."

Mandola - a large mandolin that is tuned a fifth below a standard mandolin.

Mandolin - a small Pear-shaped Italian instrument of the lute family with fretted neck and from four to six pairs of strings.

Mandoliny - homemade lutes from Madagascar.

mandolión - synonym for bandoneón.  

Mandora - Swedish string instrument, similar to a mandolin.

Mandore - See Mandora.

Manjira - a pair of tiny Indian cymbals.

Manyanga - a popular percussion instrument from Kenya.

Manguaré - Colombian tuned log.

Maqrunah - Tunisian and Libyan double reed pipe.

Maracas - a pair of rattles filled with dried seeds or pebbles, used to provide rhythmic counterpoint (Venezuela).

Marimba - a fully resonated xylophone, played with mallets.

Marímbula

Marovana - a rectangular, box-shaped cousin of the valiha (Madagascar).

Marovany - a box-shaped zither from Madagascar. It has strings on both sides.

Marranzanu - Sicilian jew's harp (Italy). It is also known as mariolu, ngannalarruni, and nghinghilarruni. The marranzanu is believed to have a North African origin.

Maruga - a metal rattle or shaker, often used in groups which perform Cuban rumba.  

Masenko - an Ethiopian 1-string fiddle. It is the typical instrument of an azmari or entertaining bard.  

Masenqo - See masenko.

Masinko - See masenko.

Massinko - See masenko.

M atepe mbira - an mbira with thin keys that range from 29 to 34.

Matouqin - See matuqin.

Matraca - Spanish ratchet.

Matracca - Italian ratchet.

Matsuribue – Japanese festival flute.

Matuqin - a bowed lute adorned with a horse head at the top of the instrument (China and Mongolia).  

Maung - Burmese gong.

Mazhar - a very large bass tambourine (North Africa and Middle East).

Mbaire - a large xylophone from Busoga (Uganda). It is comprised of twenty large keys arranged in a pentatonic scale and played by six people.

M'bal - a shorter version of the n'der drum of the Wolof (Senegal).

Mbela - a musical bow composed of an arched branch and a string cut from a vine. The string is stretched between the two ends of the branch and held in front of the half-open mouth. When struck with a thin stick, the string produces a fairly faint single noteto bring out another note, the player then touches it with a blade. The mouth cavity, acting as a natural resonator of varying shape and volume, amplifies and modulates the tones (Central African Republic).  

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Mbira - a "thumb piano"that is found primarily in the Shona culture of Zimbabwe. The mbira is made of 22 to 28 thin iron keys that are mounted on to a hardwood resonating box, and often placed inside a gourd for increased amplification. The metal keys are plucked with the thumbs and index fingers to create an intertwining, buzzing melody. The instrument is often played inside a gourd or wooden chamber for increased amplification. 

• Dandemutande. Dedicated Zimbabwean music, including mbira, marimba, chipendani (mouthbow), voice, and dance, among other instruments & musical arts.

• Mbira maker, John Kunaka. Dedicated to the late John Kunaka, one of the best mbira makers in Zimbabwe. Details are given about the construction of an mbira with photos and diagrams.

• Mbira is the non-profit organization devoted to Shona mbira music of Zimbabwe

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M'bung m'bung bal - a shorter bass version of the n'der. Used to play the accompanying rhythm in a sabar drum set (Senegal).

M'bung m'bung tungoné - a shorter bass version of the n'der. Used to play the accompanying rhythm in a sabar drum set (Senegal).  

Meleket - a long Ethiopian trumpet without finger holes.

Melodeon - Button keyed accordion. It has ten keys, giving a twenty-note diatonic range. In England this term includes all button-keyed accordions. In Ireland and Scotland it is more specific to the one row 10-keyed variety.

Membranophones- instruments in which a membrane vibrates: drums.

Metallophone - percussion instrument consisting of a row of tuned metal bars.

Mezoved - North African bagpipe.  

Mi Gaung – Burmese three stringed instrument in the shape of a crocodile.

Mih - Croatian reed instrument similar to a bagpipe but without a drone. Also known as diple and mjeh.

Mihbaj - a Bedouin coffee-grinder made of wood. It has a base that is about 30 cm. tall and a 60 cm. pestle.

Mjeh - See mih.

Mijwiz - Lebanese double reed pipe.

Milk jug - percussion instrument used by Hungarian Gypsy musicians.

Mina y Curbata - a set of one-headed Afro-Venezuelan barrel drums made from avocado wood. The mina drum is about 2 meters long and is played diagonally, hitting it with sticks. The curbata is about 1 meter long and it is also played with sticks.

Misnice – bagpipe from Dalmatia (Croatia) and Herzegovina (Bosnia-Herzegovina). Made out of goatskin. The chanter is a double pipe with six holes on each side. One pipe is used as the drone and occasionally fingered, the other side used for the tune, in nearly the same register as the drone.

Mitbadj - see mitbaq.

Mitbaq - Iraqi double reed pipe.

Miya-daiko – Japanese shrine or temple drum.

Mizmar - Arabic wind instrument with single or double reed, similar to an oboe.

Mizwid - a bagpipe played in the central regions of Tunisia.

Mjersnice – See miesnice.

Moraharpa - Medieval ancestor to the Swedish Nyckelharpa, still played today.  

Morin huur is one of the symbols of Mongolian and Buryat musical tradition. It is sometimes called the horse-head fiddle. It is a bowed string instrument with a trapezoid body. It normally has the wooden head of a horse at the top of the neck, and its strings are made of horsehair.

Morin Khurr - Mongolian horse-head fiddle.

Morsing - jew's harp from southern India. It is well-respected & taught at university music schools.

mouth harp – harmonica.

Moxenos - family of three wooden flutes of variable size (large, medium and small) that are always played simultaneously.

Mpuunyi - Ugandan bass drum.

Mridangam - double-headed Barrel shaped drum used in Carnatic (South Indian) classical music. It is played over the lap and legs while in a sitting position.

Mrudangam - See Mridangam.

Mudbedsh - Iraqi reed instrument.

Munnharpe - Norwegian Jew's harp.  

Murali - " double clarinet with a wind chamber (India).

Murchang - a jew's harp from Rajasthan & parts of North India.

Musette bechonnet - bagpipe from the High Loire (France).

Musette - 1) French bellows blown bagpipe with 2 small cylindrical keyed chanters, and a shuttle drone. 2) a French shawm related to a bagpipe chanter, rather like an oboe.

Musukitarra – Basque jew’s harp.

Mutchinga - medium drum from Mozambique.

Muye - a tree leaf or leaf reed (Chinese).

Muyu - Chinese fish-shaped woodblock.

Last Updated Sunday, October 31 2004 @ 06:56 AM EST|18,602 Hits