SoundsField recordingsFrequenciesDecibelsInstrumentsGlossaryToolsLearn
  1. Home
  2. Instruments
  3. Harps
  4. Adungu: How It Makes Sound & History
Harps

Adungu

The Adungu is a member of the harps (Hornbostel–Sachs 322.11). It dates back to 1850. Learn how it makes its sound and explore related instruments.

How the Adungu makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the Adungu belongs to the harps: strings run at an angle away from the soundboard, each plucked open.

More broadly it is one of the chordophones (string instruments), where sound comes from vibrating strings, amplified by a resonating body.

Players shape its sound through technique and materials; the resonating body filters the raw vibration, boosting some harmonics and damping others.

From Wikipedia

The Adungu, also called the Endongo or Ennanga or Bow harp in English, is a traditional stringed musical instrument of the Acholi people of Northern Uganda and the Alur people of northwestern Uganda. It is an arched harp of varying dimensions, ranging from six to ten strings or more.

Other harps

Frequently asked questions

What does the Adungu sound like?

As one of the harps, its sound comes from the way strings run at an angle away from the soundboard, each plucked open.

What type of instrument is the Adungu?

It is classified as harps (Hornbostel–Sachs 322.11).

Sources & credits