sasando

{{Short description|Indonesian traditional musical instrument}}

{{More citations needed|date=April 2021}}

{{Infobox instrument

| name = Sasando

| image = Alat Musik Sasando.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| alt =Man playing sasando.

| caption = Man playing Sasando

| names =

| classification =String Instruments

| hornbostel_sachs =

| hornbostel_sachs_desc =

| inventors = Rotenese people

| developed = Indonesia

| timbre =

| volume =

| range =

| pitch =

| related =Indonesian Traditional Instruments

| musicians =

}}File:Indonesia 1992 5000r o.jpg.]]

The sasando, also called sasandu from Sandu or Sanu,{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/89.4.1489 |title=Tube Zither (Sesando or Sasandu), late 19th century|year=2013|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110118102116/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/89.4.1489|access-date=December 29, 2013|archive-date=2011-01-18}} is a tube zither, a harp-like traditional music string instrument native to Rote Island of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.

The name sasando is derived from the Rote dialect word ”sasandu”, which means "vibrating" or "sounded instrument". It is believed that the sasando had already been known to the Rote people since the 7th century.{{Cite web|last=ASEAN|date=2020-08-08|title=What is Sasando? Where did it come from? How to play it?|url=https://indonesiar.com/what-is-sasando-where-did-it-come-from-how-to-play-it/|access-date=2021-04-26|website=indonesiar - Indonesia negeriku, orangnya lucu-lucu|language=en-US}}

File:Sasando player from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.webm

The main part of the sasando is a bamboo tube that serves as the frame of the instrument. Surrounding the tube are several wooden pieces serving as wedges where the strings are stretched from the top to the bottom. The function of the wedges is to hold the strings higher than the tube surface and also to produce various lengths of strings so it can create different musical notations. The stringed bamboo tube is surrounded by a bag-like fan of dried lontar or palmyra leaves (Borassus flabellifer), which functions as the resonator of the instrument.[http://www.nusacendanabiz.com/mod.php?mod=informasi&op=viewinfo&intypeid=2&infoid=5] {{dead link|date=April 2021}} The sasando is played with both hands reaching into the stings of the bamboo tube through opening on the front. The player's fingers then pluck the strings in a fashion similar to playing a harp or kacapi.

The sasando can have 28 (sasando engkel) or 56 strings (double strings).