: a large, ornate, Indonesian zither with usually 13 pairs of strings strung on two sides and that stands on legs with the body sloping toward the player and is plucked with the thumbnails typically in a gamelan ensemble
Celempung is a zither with metal strings which the player plucks with his thumbnails. There are two strings for each pitch, tuned the same and placed so close together that the player treats the pair of strings as if it were a single string.—
Henry Spiller, Gamelan, 2004
Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Copy Citation
Share