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lesotho 1982 videos

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The video shows Chaka Motsopa, an exceptional player of the lesiba, perhaps Southern Africa's most unusual musical instrument. The lesiba consists of a single string to which a quill is attached at the end. The player blows on the quill, thus setting the string into vibration. By altering the size of his mouth cavity he amplifies and alters the overtones produced and at the same time hums a second part. (The video was taken in Mapoteng on July 7, 1982.)

   

 

The sekhankura belongs to the family of musical bows. Overtones (of two fundamentals) are produced by a circular motion of a bow and then amplified by a tin resonator. the instrument is played here by

 
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