Dala-Fandyr

Dala-Fandyr

 

an Ossetian stringed instrument played by plucking. Its overall length is 800–850 mm. It has two to three strings, and its body has the shape of an elongated rectangle. The upper soundboard of the dala-fandyr is wooden, with a large number of small, circular sound holes. The fingerboard has no frets, and the head has the appearance of a hooked-shaped scroll, with projecting tuning pegs. The instrument is tuned in fourths or fourths and fifths. Reconstructed versions of the dala-fandyr, with 13–15 frets, are part of the present-day song and dance ensemble of the Iuzhnaia Osetiia Autonomous Oblast.