| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaba Zurna |  | Turkey | The Kaba zurna is a conical woodwind instrument with a double reed. There are several types of zurnas used by different countries. The Kaba zurna is the longest (and lowest) one. It is used in northern Turkey and Bulgaria. |
| Kabosy |  | Madagascar | The kabosy is a box-shaped wooden guitar commonly played in music of Madagascar. It has four to six strings and is commonly thought to be a direct descendant of the Arabic lute. Known to locals as a "mandoliny," the kabosy has staggered frets, many of which do not even cross the entire fretboard. |
| Kagul |  | Philippines | The kagul is a type of Philippine bamboo scraper gong/slit drum of the Maguindanaon with a jagged edge on one side, played with two beaters, one scarping the jagged edge and the other one making a beat. The Maguindanaon and the Banuwaen use it in the rice paddies to guard against voracious birds, using the sound it produces to scare them away. The Maguindanaon and the Bukidnon also use it for simple dance rhythms during social occasions. |
| Kakko |  | Japan | The kakko (羯鼓) is a Japanese double-headed drum. Like the Shime-Daiko and tsuzumi, the skin of the heads are first stretched over metal hoops before they are placed on the body, tying them to each other and tightening them making them taut. Kakko drums are usually laid on their sides on stands so that it can be played with sticks called bachi on both heads. Kakko drums have been used in taiko ensembles and gagaku court music. |
| Kalimba |  | Africa | The kalimba is an instrument in the percussion family. It is a modernized version of the African mbira. It is a sound box with metal keys attached to the top to give the different notes. Also known as the African Thumb Piano. Several reeds or tines are plucked with the thumb or fingers, and the reed vibrations are amplified by a hollow box resonator or a sounding board. |
| Kamancheh |  | Azerbaijan | The kamancheh or kamencheh is a Persian and Azeri instrument related to the violin. Played with a variable-tension bow, the kamancheh consists of a round body made from gourd or wood, which acts as a sound box, covered with a thin sheep or fish skin membrane. Traditional kamanchehs have three silk strings, however, modern ones have four metal ones. At the bottom of the instrument is a spike to support the kamancheh while it is being played. This instrument is widely played in classical Mugham music of Iran, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with slight variations in the structure of the instrument. |
| Kane |  | Japan | The kane (鐘/鉦) is a large bell from Japan. It is a tradition in Japan to ring the large Buddhist temple bells 108 times together with Japanese folk music a few minutes before the new year. This tradition is called "joya no kane." |
| Kangling |  | Tibet | Kangling is the Tibetan word for a trumpet or horn made out of a human thighbone. (It may also be made out of wood or metal.) In Tantric Chöd practice the practitioner, motivated by compassion, plays the kangling to summon hungry spirits and demons so that s/he may satisfy their hunger and thereby relieve their sufferings. It is also played as a way of "cutting off of the ego." |
| Kanjira |  | India | The kanjira or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. It consists of a circular frame made of the wood of the jackfruit tree, between 7 and 9 inches in diameter and 2 to 4 inches in depth. It is covered on one side with a drumhead made of monitor lizard skin, while the other side is left open. The frame has a single slit which contain three to four small metal discs - often old coins - that jingle when the kanjira is played. |
| Kanklės |  | Lithuania | The Kanklės is a Lithuanian plucked string musical instrument (chordophone), related to the zither. It is roughly in the shape of a trapezium (British) or trapezoid (American). The instrument is fitted with several wire or gut strings under tension which produce tones when plucked. It is usually rested on the player's lap and played with the fingers or a pick made of bone or quill. The instrument is similar in construction and origin to the Latvian kokle, Russian gusli, Estonian kannel and Finnish kantele. |
| Kantele |  | Finland | A kantele (or kannel) is a traditional plucked string instrument of the zither family. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle and the Lithuanian kanklės. Together these instruments make up the family known as Baltic Psalteries. The oldest forms of kantele have 5 or 6 horsehair strings and a body made from one piece of wood. The modern ones have metal strings and often a body made from several pieces. Modern concert kanteles can have up to 40 strings. |
| Kanun |  | Turkey | The kanun (or qanún) is a string instrument found in Near Eastern traditional music based on Maqamat. It is basically a zither with a narrow trapezoidal soundboard. Nylon or PVC strings are stretched over a single bridge poised on fish-skins on one end, attached to tuning pegs at the other end. Kanuns used in Turkey have 26 courses of strings, with three strings per course. It is played on the lap by plucking the strings with two tortoise-shell picks, one in each hand, or by the fingernails, and has a range of three and a half octaves, from A2 to E6. |
| Kaval |  | Bulgaria | The kaval (or caval) is a chromatic end-blown flute. It is primarily associated with mountain shepherds throughout the Balkans and Anatolia. Unlike the transverse flute, the kaval is fully open at both ends, and is played by blowing on the sharpened edge of one end. The kaval has 8 playing holes (7 in front and 1 in the back for the thumb) and usually 4 "devil's holes" down near the bottom of the kaval. The devil's holes are supposed to improve tone and intonation. |
| Kayamb |  | Réunion | The kayamb is a flat musical instrument used in the Mascarene Islands (a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar) to play sega and maloya music. It is called maravanne in Mauritius. Kayamb is made of reed (or sugar cane flower stems) and is filled with jequirity or canna seeds, it is shaken horizontally with both hands. |
| Kazoo |  | Africa | The kazoo is a simple musical instrument (membranophone) that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when one hums into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton - a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane. |
| Kebero |  | Ethiopia | A kebero (or kabaro) is a double-headed, conical hand drum used in the traditional music of Ethiopia and Eritrea. A piece of animal hide is stretched over each end, thus forming a membranophone. A large version of the instrument is used in Orthodox Christian liturgical music, while smaller versions are used in secular celebrations. |
| Kecer |  | Indonesia | The kecer (or kecèr) are a pair of small cymbals set inside a rack (rancak) used in the gamelan of Indonesia. The rack is similar in design to that of a saron, except less wide. The bottom cymbals are permanently fixed in the rack, while the top are attached by a cord to the bottom ones. They are used in the accompaniment of wayang (an Indonesian and Malay word for theatre.) |
| Kemenche |  | Turkey | A kemenche is a kind of rebec or fiddle from the Black Sea region of Asia Minor also known as the "Kementche of Laz" in Turkey. In Greece and the Pontian Greek diaspora it is known as the "Pontian lyra". It is the main instrument used in Pontian music. It is a bottle-shaped, 3-stringed fiddle played in the upright position. It is sometimes played by resting it on the knee when sitting, and sometimes it is held out in front. A kemenche is a bowed instrument, the bow is called doksar. |
Prev Top Next |
