Description:
The Khomouz is a fretless lute found amongst the Kyrgyz people in both
Kyrgyzstan, and also in neighboring Xinjiang China (Turkestan). The
primary role of the khomouz is meant to accompany singing either in
solo or with small ensembles.
Anatomy of the Khomouz: Originally the khomouz had three wooden friction tuning pegs though the more common machine-gear tuners are being used. The khomouz is either made plain or ornate with inlay. The body of the khomouz is of a unique construction in two half's who are carved and then they are assembled. The khomouz is strung with nylon strings and has a moveable bridge. During the Soviet Era often musical instruments were made into families from prima (solo) to contrabass and western tunings and chromatic fretting were adopted to these instruments.
The Tunings: The tunings for the Khomouz are quite unique in the approach the middle string would be tuned to the highest pitch often the high and low strings would be tuned a fourth and a fifth apart from each other. Where as other tunings range from the lowest to highest pitch as found on other lutes. The tunings appear to be regional in which there seems to be no standard tuning.
| Names | Tunings |
|
| Kambarkan | D-A-D |
|
| Shringrama | D-A-E |
|
| Terz | D-A-G |
|
| Ongu | E-A-B |
|
| Kerbez | E-A-E |
|
| Unkown | D-D'-A |
|
Bb-C-F |
||
C-B-C |
||
C,-F-C |
Low octave C to high C | |
C,-G-C |
Low octave C to high C | |
C-G-C |
No use of octave in tuning | |
F-B-C |
||
F-C-F |
||
F-C-G |
No use of octave in tuning | |
F-C'-G |
Middle C tuned to one octave | |
F-F-C |
||
F-G-C |
||
G-C'-F |
Middle C tuned to one octave | |
G C F' |
Bottom string tuned to one octave |