Sourcing Indonesian Keroncong

This exercise is not for the faint of heart.

Supposedly, there are 2 small uke like instruments to play the kerong and cong part together; hence the name Keroncong. I can't find any photos or youtube videos.

I did find some instruments on sale on the internet. We had to fit a big taxi into a very very narrow Jakarta residential street and I thought to myself, "what in the world have I got myself into?"

These are not the best made instruments but they were cheap - about $45 each and they are a sample of what Indonesia Keroncong is.

these look fantastic. I'd love to hear how the four string sounds. The three string looks like it has a very thin body - how deep is it? or is it just the photo?

farmerboy said:

these look fantastic. I'd love to hear how the four string sounds. The three string looks like it has a very thin body - how deep is it? or is it just the photo?

Click to expand...

The four string model sounds very bright. I played with a mandolin and the stings are hard to play. THe 2 strings together on this 4 string keroncong don't hurt like the mandolin style and its fun to "walk" the strings to see what kind of tones you can get out of it.

The body on both feel fairly heavy. The body has been "carved" out of what appears to be ebony wood. I mean very roughly carved out. There is no western sense of quality control, just some guy with a chisel; but, honestly, that roughness gives its own tone and a flavor that yes, this is a local design - no sense of colonial Luthier control, just locals putting together something top play. Each one was only $45 and once I compare to other $45 instruments, then its a good buy just to have uniqueness of a different interest and of course learning the story behind it.

THe bridge screw seems to have put a crack in both keroncong. no problem. $45.

I got some other "local instruments" - both have instrumental design flaws but I bought them to see if they really were used for music. THe place I went to was selling things that obviously were more made for show and not to be played. junk. I bought 2 that appeared to have some functionality to them (both have what appears to be good friction tuners) or perhaps I will use them to provide me with some ideas for FrankenUkes.

Sound samples will follow.

wow....i have it to im from yogyakarta indonesia,,,,this call cak and cuk ukuleles,its will be very good when u played together (be shouted)
This is one of the craftsmen in my country :

http://dhikaiklan.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post_18.html

carved theyre body make saound very bright,maybe thats the secret

cheeerrrrs (^^)V