KACHHAPI VINA Plucked Strings. India. The body is about four feet in length and is gourd-shaped, that is, the circular base tapers into a neck. The neck has many frets, and five strings pass from the base of the instrument over a bridge and over the frets.
KAGURA SUZU Sonorous Substances. Japan. An instrument consisting of a handle of wood with two wire hoops at one end, upon which are hung a number of small bells. This is used to mark time in the orchestra and in the temples.
K'AI-TI See so-na.
KAJIREI Sonorous Substances. Japan. A time marker. It consists of hollow rings strung on a bent wire, to the ends of which is fastened a wooden handle by which it is shaken.
KAKKO Vibrating Membranes. Japan. A small drum originating in Turkestan or Thibet, though now Japanese. It is placed on a stand and marks the time in the orchestra. The heads of skin are stretched over hoops of larger diameter than the shell, and the projecting edges are laced together with cords of skin.
KAKOSHI Bowed Strings. Africa. This consists of a hollow body, sometimes with and sometimes without a sounding-board. Midway in its length is placed a cross-bar, from which are stretched strings to the pegs, placed rudely in the long neck. The cross-bar is held in place by cords. One from the Masango tribe, Angola, to be seen in the National Museum in Washington, D. C., in its outlines roughly resembles a violin.
KAN-DUNG Vertical Flute. India. A flute made from a bone of a Buddhist priest and employed in the temple service.
KANOON or QANON Plucked Strings. Turkey. A kanoon in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is composed of a body of wood over which are stretched seventy-five gut strings arranged in sets of three. The body is quadrangular in outline, having the upper end cut off diagonally. The strings pass from pegs in the upper end, over a bridge to the interior, where they are fastened. The upper part of the face is formed of wood and the lower of skin. The instrument is thirty-four inches long and fourteen inches wide.
KANTELE Plucked Strings. Finland. A trapeze-shaped psaltery, the national instrument of Finland. Tradition has it that Wδinδmφinen, the divine player, made its frame from the bones of the pike, and its tuning pegs from the fish's teeth.
KANUNA or KATYANANA-VINA Struck Strings. India. A specimen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has three straight sides and one which is cut off diagonally. Twenty-eight strings are carried from a like number of pegs, over a single bridge, to the opposite end. The instrument is nearly thirty inches in length and sixteen inches in width. The strings are struck with hammers.
KARABIB Sonorous Substances. Africa. Morocco clappers. Two metal discs, with a boss in the center of each, united by a narrow band of metal. They are played in pairs, the hand grasping the center piece while the discs are beaten alternately. Karabibs are usually accompanied by the drum. They are used by the negroes in the Soudan.
KARNAL Cup Mouthpiece. Persia. A trumpet of metal having a length of about two feet.
KASHOOKS Sonorous Substances. Persia. Two wooden spoons with small bells attached to the bowls. They are shaken to produce a jingle.
KASSO Plucked Strings. Africa, West Coast, Dahomey, Senegambia. The body is made from a section of a large gourd, closed with a membrane, and pierced with a long straight stick. Beneath the membrane are four other sticks which protrude at points near the edge of the gourd, two of them being parallel with the strings and two at right angles. The strings pass over the upright notched bridge, which rests upon the center of the membrane. Loops are used in fastening them instead of pegs.
KATYANANA-VINA See kanuna.
KAZO Vibrating Membranes. Japan. A skin stretched over a wooden hoop having a diameter of twenty or more inches.
KEIKEN --- Bowed Strings. Japan. A four stringed Chinese fiddle, the strings being tuned in pairs. The cylindrical body is made of a short piece of bamboo, having a snake skin belly and a long slender wooden neck, in which four pegs are inserted. The strings pass from the lower part of the body along the neck, and are bound against it with a cord just below the pegs. A horsehair bow is twined in and out among the strings, so that single notes cannot be produced.
KEMANGEH, KEMANTCHE Bowed Strings. Turkey, Persia. A spherical body having a slender, spike-like neck, passing through it and projecting at the base. It is strung with three or more wire strings, and is sometimes fitted with sympathetic strings.
KEMANGEH A'GOUZ Bowed Strings. Africa. This name, of Persian origin, signifies " crooked " or " arched," and thus a bowed instrument. It is found in many forms among the Mohammedan nations, and doubtless owes its appearance to the invasion of Persia by the Arabs in the Seventh Century. The instrument is held with the lower edge resting either against the left hip of the performer, or against the shoulder as with the ordinary violin.
KEMANGEH A'QOUZ Bowed Strings. Arabia. A specimen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a body of cocoanut shell and a belly of skin. A neck of polished wood passes through the body and projects at the lower edge. Two horsehair strings are attached to a metal ring passing over the lower end of the neck, and are wound about two pegs in the upper end. The diameter of the gourd is three inches, and the length of the instrument is thirty-nine inches.
KEMANGEH ROUMY Bowed Strings. Africa. A kemangeh with sympathetic strings. See kemangeh.
KEMANTCHE See kemangeh.
KENT HORN See bugle.
KERO Vibrating Membranes. Japan. A small drum coming from China, where it is used to signalize the appearance of dawn. It is used in Japan to mark the time in the processional orchestras, being hung about the leader's neck by a cord, which he holds in his left hand.
KETTLE DRUM Vibrating Membranes. Europe. This is the only instrument in which stretched skin is employed giving different tones. The great hemispherical basin of copper is covered with calfskin, strained tightly enough to give musical vibrations. The tension of the instrument is regulated by a ring of metal moved by screws turned with a key. The changes in the tension make possible the production of sounds which are clearly different in pitch. A change is necessary with every new note, and the process requires a rest in the music. However, a machine has been invented by which instantaneous changes can be made. Several effects can be produced with the various sets of sticks. Some have flat heads and are of felt, furnished at the end with a whalebone button, and those of wood may have a piece of sponge at the tip.
Kettle drums are always played in pairs, and at times three are called for. Those having heads of transparent skin are considered best. It is difficult to play them well, and the performer must strike fearlessly and accurately. The two drums in general use have a combined compass of an octave. The larger one is capable of producing the notes from F below middle C to middle C, and. the smaller from B flat to F above.
Beethoven gave the drum a new importance. It had previously been used merely to increase the noise in loud effects. The composers following him have gradually trans-formed the kettle drum into an instrument of importance to the melody. Three are required in the overture of Weber's " Peter Schmoll," in that of Auber's " Masaniello," and in Spohr's " Historical Symphony." Meyerbeer has written a passage with notes requiring drums in G, C, D and E, in " Robert le Diable."
At times the drums are struck simultaneously, and Wagner uses them muffled. A concerto for the kettle drums alone has been written.
KHEW Sonorous Substances. Burmah. Wind bells to be placed on eaves. A leaf of thin brass is attached to the clappers to intercept the wind.
KHUDRA KATYAYANA-VINA or SAR MUNDAI --Plucked Strings. India and Burmah. This instrument at times has an angular body, at others a circular one, which narrows into a short neck. Twenty or more strings are struck in the manner of those of the dulcimer. See dulcimer.
KIN A Chinese instrument of very ancient use. It has from five to twenty-five strings and is played like the lute. See ch'in.
KINANDI -- Plucked Strings. Africa. Devil's harp. A variety of ancient Greek lyre which may have been brought to Africa by the Phoenicians. Exceedingly rude ones have been made from common tin basins covered with camel skin. Some tribes consider this instrument to be endowed with magical power. No white man would be allowed by the guardians to approach these precious possessions without first uncovering his feet.
KINNARI Plucked Strings. India. Constructed from a piece of bamboo or blackwood upon which are frets, some-times formed of the scales of the scaly ant-eater, though usually of bone or metal. Three gourd resonators are fixed beneath the stem. An ostrich egg shell answers this purpose in an instrument in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
KISANJI Sonorous Substances. Africa. A zanze of the Angola, West Coast. See zanze.
KISSAR Plucked Strings. Africa. An instrument found in many countries and among many of the tribes of Africa. It may be described as the lyre form of harp. The body is generally round, and consists variously of a gourd, a turtle-shell, or even a human skull. From the body, and extending some distance above it, rise two uprights with a cross-bar. Its appearance bears some faint resemblance to a rude lyre. The strings are stretched from the cross-bar over a bridge to the lower edge of the body. In the lake countries, antlers are used for the uprights, the material and workmanship being exceedingly crude. The native, in playing some forms of the kissar, holds the frame in the left hand while resting the edge of the body on his hip. This position of the instrument strongly suggests that of the lyres on Assyrian bas-reliefs.
KIT Bowed Strings. England. A miniature violin probably a little later date than the pochette. Its extremely small size made it possible to be carried in the pocket. It was used by dancing masters. See pochette.
KITHARA, CITHARA Plucked Strings. Ancient Greece. A large form of lyre upon which it was possible to produce the deeper tones. It was portable, and in the sculptures it is found supported by a ribbon passing over the player's shoulder. See lyre.
KLONG KHEK Vibrating Membranes. Siam. This drum has a cylindrical shell and heads of skin, which are held in place with hoops laced together with strips of bark or skin.
KLONG PONG PING Vibrating Membranes. Siam. A hand drum with a shell shaped like an hour-glass, and having skin heads.
KLONG TA ROTI POTE Vibrating Membranes. Siam. A small drum supported in a frame.
KLONG YAI -- Vibrating Membrane. Siam. These drums come in sets of three, and have cylindrical shells and skin heads. In a set at the Metropolitan Museum, two drums have a height of twelve and one-half inches and the other of seven and one-half inches. The respective diameters are eighteen and one-half inches, seven and three-quarter inches, and seven and three-quarter inches.
KLuI Vertical Flute. Siam. A vertical flute fitted with a number of finger-holes.
KO-DAIKO Vibrating Membranes. Japan. A small drum used principally in processions, although sometimes in orchestras, In the first case it is plain, in the second decorated. This drum is placed in a cubical frame suspended from a pole, and carried on the shoulders of two men. The drummer walks at the side to deliver vigorous blows on the parchment heads with two plain, thick sticks of wood, with knobs of leather. Before the procession starts, it is placed outside the temple gate and struck continuously for two hours or more to summon the people.
KOKIU Bowed Strings. Japan. A Japanese fiddle whose ultimate form is the result of numerous changes. The four strings are fastened to a spike projecting from the lower part of the body, and carried over a bridge to the peg box in the long slender neck. The body is square and has a frame of wood and a belly and back of cat-skin.
KOMOUNKO Plucked Strings. Korea. The body is similar in form to that of the Japanese koto. It is played with a plectrum. See koto.
K0TIN Bowed Strings. Japan. A two stringed variety of the keiken. The body is shorter and uncovered at the back. The neck is of bamboo. See keiken.
KOTO Plucked Strings. Japan. A number of strings of tightly twisted silk soaked in wax and stretched over a long narrow sounding-board. It is the chief modern instrument, and has assumed many forms. There are kotos with movable bridges, with stationary bridges, and without bridges. The sounding-board may vary somewhat in shape, and the strings may differ in number and in the manner of being attached to the sounding-board. Some of the many forms are elsewhere briefly mentioned.
KO-TSUZUMI Vibrating Membranes. Japan. A shoulder drum usually highly decorated, the color of the silken cords denoting the grade of the musician. The drum is placed upon the right shoulder, where it is held in place by the left hand and struck with the fingers of the right.
KO-TZE Vertical Flute. China. A whistle made of gourd, and over an inch square, which is fastened to the tail feathers of pigeons. The noise occasioned by the flight of the birds through the air frightens off birds of prey.
KOUITARA or KUITRA Plucked Strings. Africa. This is popular in Tunis and Morocco, where it is found highly decorated owing to Oriental influence. The pear-shaped body is fitted with a narrow neck, and usually with four pairs of strings. A still more primitive form is constructed from a bottle-shaped gourd.
KOUNDYEH or NGIEMEH Bowed Strings. Africa. A rude fiddle from Sierra Leone. It is made from a cocoa-nut shell, its opening being covered with a membrane having a sound-hole. It has a long neck and one string.
KOY Cup Mouthpiece. Siam. A musical horn about a foot in length, and having a diameter of two inches at its bell.
KRA CHAPEE PIucked Strings. Siam. A circular wooden body with a long slender neck. Often played with a small piece of horn. A kra chapee in the Crosby-Brown collection in the Metropolitan Museum has an extreme length of fifty-nine and one-half inches and a diameter of fourteen inches.
KRAP PUANG Sonorous Substances. Siam. Castanets formed from strips of metal fastened between two strips of wood, and strung together on a cord.
KRUMHORN, CROMHORN Double-Beating Reed. Europe. Obsolete. A round tube curved upward at the lower end. The tube was cylindrical, and the instrument was sounded by a double-beating reed similar to that of the bassoon, placed within a cap so that the lips of the per-former had no direct influence upon it. The instrument was of the same diameter throughout its length, and the wooden tube was often covered with leather. Near the end of the tube was sometimes placed an extra finger-hole, which regulated the pitch. It generally possessed seven finger-holes, but larger instruments had more, and the lowest were governed by keys. A set consisted of high soprano in C, soprano in G, alto in D, tenor in G, and bass in D. It was in general use throughout the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, and was used in the music of La Grande Ecurie of the King of France until about 1730.
KU - Plucked Strings. Japan. Has a circular body and is similar to the genkwan. It differs from others of its class in its rich ornamentation with gold lacquer designs. See genkwan.
KUAN-TZU Single-Beating Reed. China. A small tube of bamboo about eighteen inches long. It has seven holes above and two below, and is blown by means of a coarsely made reed inserted in the upper end. The sound does not fall pleasantly upon foreign ears. It is used in funeral and marriage processions.
KUITRA See kouitara.
KULEPA-GANEZ Sonorous Substances. Oceania. This instrument is found in New Ireland of the Bismarck archipelago. It is composed of four slabs of wood. The performer moistens his fingers, and by rubbing the surface of the wood can produce four distinct tones.
KUNDI Plucked Strings. Africa. Another name for the nanga. See nanga.
KUNJERRE-VINA Plucked Strings. India. The body tapers to the neck, which has a large number of frets over which the strings pass. The instrument is often four feet long.
KURNA Cup Mouthpiece. India. A trumpet with a slender conical tube of metal expanding into a bell.
KURTAR or CHITTIKA Sonorous substances. India. A pair of clappers with round backs and curved handles. Four pairs of metal discs are inserted in the body, while several groups of small bells jingle upon the sides. It is held in one hand with the fingers through the handles.
KYEE-ZEE -- Sonorous Substances. Burmah. A gong made from a triangular plate of metal having curved edges. The sides are several inches in length.
