Goura (instrument)

Goura, also gora, gom - gom or setolo - tolo, is a mock of the Khoisan in South Africa musical bow whose string is not plucked, painted or beaten, but blown by mouth. The sound generation by wind is similar to an Aeolian Harp.

The goura was first described in 1700 by the German ethnologist Peter Kolb. It consists of the bow and a string that has been replaced on one side of the sheet by a short, flattened piece of ostrich quill. This short flat piece of string is placed between the slightly parted lips and the forced one - and exhaled air vibrated. It can also be threaded on the circular part of the string half coconut shell, with the aid of the pitch and tone color can also be varied. The goura was played by the Khoi Khoi and the San and today is the national musical instrument of Lesotho. The musical instrument that Sarah Baartman in London played on stage and which will be described in the sources as "somewhat like a guitar", was probably a goura.