Gusli
Gusli is an ancient chordophone, probably utilised even by the Greeks but it served as a powerful basement for the Russian folk music. Its full history is unknown but the Greek historians Theophylact Simocatta and Theophan did mention the gusliin their chronicles; That during the war at the end of the 6th century, the Greeks took Slavonic prisoners and found a musical instrument named the Gusli. The Slavs were from the area of the later Kievan Rus' kingdom which shows the connection Gusli has to russian instruments.
In terms of sound, gusli has a strong, resonant, sweet and even silvery sound. Its amplitude, just like most other chordophones, depends on how hard the string is plucked, its pitch is high, with the sound having long duration if not interfered with. |