Chuniri

(also chunir), a Georgian (primarily Svanetian) bowed stringed folk instrument. The chuniri has a wooden drumlike body covered on one side by a leather membrane. The instrument’s flat neck passes through the body, terminating at the bottom in a supporting leg and at the top in a spade-shaped pegbox. The short bow is arched. The two or three horsehair strings are tuned to a third or to a second and third. The chuniri is used in ensemble playing with the changi (a plucked stringed instrument) to accompany singing and dancing; improved versions of the instrument are used in the folk orchestras of the Georgian SSR.