Yakut Khomuses

Yakutia is a behemoth of the Jew's harp playing world and is a unique region in terms of how widespread the instrument is. Everybody in the republic of Yakutia knows what a “homus” is (the local name for the Jew's harp) and has most likely tried playing one at least once in their lives. For them, the homus is a part of their culture, national heritage, and an object of pride. Every family has one, they teach children how to play them in schools, and on-stage homus performances is an integral part of national holidays. The homus is even maintained and developed on the government level. Practically every population center, down to the level of every little village, has at least one metalsmith manufacturing these instruments who enjoys the respect of all the residents. However, this widespread popularity and massive demand does not necessarily pave the way for the development of the craftsmen and the homuses themselves as acoustic instruments. Technological development is very basic – people take whatever the manufacturers come up with, often times without even caring about their musical properties, but rather viewing them more as a symbol or an instrument to be used sporadically. Meanwhile, homuses cannot be described as having any properties in common as a single instrument, since in most other regions they are made by different craftsmen and everyone comes up with a different result determined by their experience, the availability of technology, equipment, personal tastes, local traditions, and many other factors. So, just like anywhere else, one can find homuses that sound exactly the same as, say, in some German manufactured “maultrommels” or Nepali “murchungas”.