Fiddle with resonator(s)

The resonator fiddle comes in two forms: with a cylindrical bamboo body or a flat wooden body. The one in this picture is played by the Tampuon of the Banlung region (Ratanakiri). It is called kaneu or kaney. The fingerboards are carved into the structure of the neck. It has a steel string (the strand of a bicycle brake cable) and two resonators, one made of gourd, the other made of a section of bamboo on which a plastic film is stretched. From the center of this membrane comes a taut wire, connected to the base of the play rope. This ingenious device is acoustically very effective, relegating the gourd to the rank of a decorative object! The rope is rubbed with a bamboo bow, without hair, coated with vegetable resin.