SI210042 Tonkori
This was an interesting project. A fellow musician and friend of Malcolm, Norika Yue, asked me if I could build a Tonkori, something I had never heard of. It is a 5 string plucked instrument developed by the Ainu people
This was an interesting project. A fellow musician and friend of Malcolm, Norika Yue, asked me if I could build a Tonkori, something I had never heard of. It is a 5 string plucked instrument developed by the Ainu people of Japan thousands of years ago. There are some pictures of tonkoris, and there are a few videos of them being played, but no plans and few details available. I extrapolated dimensions from the pictures and had an idea what sound I was aiming for. Tonkoris are always female and have a soul, which is granted by imparting the soul to an object such as a pebble, and placing it in the instrument. Since this has a piezo pickup, a pebble rolling around would be distracting, so I had a glass blower I know make me a marble, with the condition that the marble must have flaws, because people aren’t perfect. I made a retaining ring , epoxied the marble in place, and added a second soundhole above it. I made a short video so viewers can hear it, I doubt I’m getting any gigs though.
Materials Used
- Five-string plucked instrument body
- Piezo pickup
- Glass marble soul object
Work Performed
This was an interesting project. A fellow musician and friend of Malcolm, Norika Yue, asked me if I could build a Tonkori, something I had never heard of. It is a 5 string plucked instrument developed by the Ainu people of Japan thousands of years ago. There are some pictures of tonkoris, and there are a few videos of them being played, but no plans and few details available. I extrapolated dimensions from the pictures and had an idea what sound I was aiming for. Tonkoris are always female and have a soul, which is granted by imparting the soul to an object such as a pebble, and placing it in the instrument. Since this has a piezo pickup, a pebble rolling around would be distracting, so I had a glass blower I know make me a marble, with the condition that the marble must have flaws, because people aren’t perfect. I made a retaining ring , epoxied the marble in place, and added a second soundhole above it. I made a short video so viewers can hear it, I doubt I’m getting any gigs though.
Final Result
The finished Tonkori turned an unfamiliar historical instrument into a working custom build, combining extrapolated dimensions, a piezo pickup, and the symbolic glass marble detail described in the source.
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