santour   

The santour consists of a trapeziform case made of walnut wood, approximately 90 cm wide at the broad end, 35 cm wide at the narrow end and 6 cm deep. The sides form an angle of 45 degrees to the wider end. The strings are fixed to hitch-pins along the left-hand side and  wound around  metal wrest-pins on the right by means of which they are tuned with a tuning key.  Each  quadruple  set of strings rest on a movable bridge of hardwood (kharak). The right-hand rank corresponds to the bass strings and that on the left to the treble strings. In the center of the santour the low-pitched strings on the right cross the high-pitched strings on the left. The santour has a range of three and a half octaves. It is played by striking the strings with two hammers or mallets called mezrab which are held in three fingers of each hand.