Music of Indonesia, Vol. 15: South Sulawesi. - CD - Various

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More incomparable music from the islands of Indonesia is presented in Volume 15 of the Smithsonian Folkways series recorded and compiled by Philip Yampolsky. This series has been exposing the world (and even Indonesia itself) to a myriad of cultural and musical surprises from the country with the globe's third largest population. South Sulawesi's interest in foreign instruments gives this recording its unique perspective. Arabic lutes, European violins, and zithers are all brought together to create rather raucous string-band music that seems to both reflect Indonesian culture and deflect tradition. The featured instruments include , a zither that might be comparable to a mountain dulcimer. It is strummed in an open fashion, with noted strings playing the melody over a drone. is a lutelike instrument with heavy, muted strings plucked by the performer. Other tracks use the violin in a distinctly Indonesian fashion. Most of the tracks feature small groups of two or three players, usually just instruments and voice with no percussion. As with all CDs in this series, detailed and highly readable notes on the history, culture, and music are included.