Nepali sarangi

Traditional Nepali sarangi are made up of a single piece of wood having a neck and hollowed-out double-chambered body; they are often made from a very light wood called khiro. The lower opening is then covered up with dried sheep-skin upon which the bridge rests, while the upper chamber is left open. The neck is fretless, and the strings are tuned with the kunti. The original strings were made out of sheep intestine, similar to the use of catgut (made from the intestines of cattle) in violins. The village people allotted intestines of sheep, sacrificed during major festivals like Dasain, to the Gandarvas. The Gandarvas left the intestine in a pot for some days. Once the meat was fully rotten, it was pulled out, leaving behind the fine nerves of the intestine which were then woven to get the strings, which produced fine quality sound.However these days, readily available nylon and steel strings have generally replaced gut strings.The bow was traditionally strung with horse tail-hair (as used in violin bows), but in the modern day nylon bowstrings are common. Different notes are made by touching the strings with the nail of fingers of the left hand. - See more at: http://www.lightnepalvideo.com/videos/nepali-sarangi/#sthash.My8Bolvr.dpuf

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