Musical instruments of Kazakhstan

Yesterday I went to the Museum of the Musical Instruments of Kazakhstan. It was a very beautiful place, quiet and peaceful, the way acoustic instruments universally make me feel.

The instruments were beautiful too. They are mostly string instruments like the violin and piano so I thought of both of you often. Here are some pictures of the instruments most like a violin, the Sazgen and Qylqobyz [pronounced COOL-ko-biz, I think].

The most famous musical instrument here is the Dombra. It is a two string guitar that is in the pictures below. They come in many shapes. It looks simple, but wait until you hear the songs that a university student was able to play on it! They are amazing.

Here is a picture of the student who played a number of songs for me. A lot of the Kazakh music for the Dombra has very complicated time signatures and changes throughout the piece. You'll notice in the background a computer. While he waited for people to come in and visit with him at the museum has was playing videogames. I thought you'd enjoy that!