SOMPOTON (Erofon)
This mouth organ is the most
fascinating of the Sabah native musical instruments. It is constructed from a dried gourd
and eight bamboo pipes arranged in a doublelayered raft. One of the pipes has no sound,
but merely balances the bundle. By blowing or sucking the gourd's mouth, the player can
produced a soft sweet harmonious sound. A small lamella of polod palm (like tiny bungkau)
isinserted in the side of each sounding pipe near its base. The pipes are
fitted into a hole on one side of the gourd and sealed with bees wax. The lamellae lie
inside the gourd and provide the sound of the completed instrument. The pipes are bound
with thin strands of rattan.
While playing a sompoton, the player
covers and uncovers the ends of three of the four shortest pipes with three fingers of his
right hand and three small openings cut in the base of the front shortest pipe and front
and back pipes of the longer raft with fingers of the left hand.
The sompoton can be played as a solo
instrument for personal entertainment or in groups to accompany dancing. It is popular
among the Dusun/Kadazan.