Chanzy

The CHANZY, like the doshpuluur, is a three-stringed plucked instrument. It produces a louder tone than the doshpuluur, and is commonly used throughout Central Asia to accompany throat singing. Kongar-ool Ondar is shown playing the chanzy.

A chanzy or Chanzi, Tyanzi is a three-stringed lute instrument from the Tuvan Republic. It looks like a long-necked banjo with a skin head glued over a heart or kidney-shaped wooden hoop body. The neck is long and made of pine wood. Some models have frets, others not or only drawn on. Usually it has two similar sound-holes and some painted decoration. It is most commonly used to accompany throat singing.

Like on the doshpuluur the three strings are tuned by modern guitar tuners, the extra long tuning pegs, on some instruments, are just for decoration. Often the peg-head has a carving of a horse head. It produces a louder tone than the doshpuluur, and is commonly used throughout Central Asia.

The 3 guitar-strings run over a rather large loose bridge on the skin to a wooden string-holder, which is fixed with a rope to a pin on the bottom of the body. It has nylon strings and it can be tuned F2, C3, F3 or D2, A2, D3, or C2, G2, C3; from the top string to the bottom one. The top and the middle strings have a fifth between them. The middle and bottom strings have a fourth between them. Therefore, the top and bottom strings have an octave between them.