I always wanted this...

Jerry Kamit

A sape player and his sape

This instrument here is called 'sape'. It's almost like a guitar only with less strings than the normal guitar *usually 3.. 2 or so* Chords are needless in order to play the sape. The instrument itself are traditionally the Kenyah's or the orang ulu's musical instrument and often accompanied with traditional dances of the respective tribes.

A little summary of sape, quoted from fascinatingmalaysia.com:

The sape is a masterpiece of woodcarving. The carver selects white wood with a smell that repels insects. The sape is carved with a parang (sword) to a length of about 1.2 metres.

The body is hollowed out with the same tools as those used for building boats. The carver is usually a musician, who places the strings and pegs and paints decorations.

.....................................................................................

My obsession with this rather unique musical instrument triggered when I first saw an Iban singer named Jerry Kamit, who uses this particular instrument in every song he has. Another reason is probably due to it's exotic and unique shape, compare to a normal guitar. Also to preserve our old traditions from fading in this modern days and introduce a piece of our culture to others who either have non or little idea of what sape is.

My search for my very own sape still on because it's a kind of rare to find one selling in your typical shops these days and with reducing numbers of expertise in sape making made it a bit harder to purchase one. But I'm going back to Long Banyok this 22nd and hoping that someone there has one that they wish to sell or better yet, to give away free *wink wink*