Long- or short-necked wooden lute, probably of Middle Eastern origin, found in Muslim areas of Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and other parts of Indonesia, and in Malaysia. Its pear-shaped body has a decorated soundhole and tapers to form the neck, ending in a receding pegbox. Handmade gambus vary considerably in shape and size. They usually have four or six pairs of strings and sometimes another single string. The instrument is plucked with a feather quill (see illustration), horn plectrum or the fingernails. It is used for solo instrumental music, to accompany a singer, and in a large or small orkes gambus (gambus orchestra) which may include gambus, violin, gendang (double-headed drum), rebana (frame drum), tambourine, harmonium, a set of marwas drums, maracas and female singers, who perform religious and love songs at weddings and other ceremonies. It resembles the Middle Eastern 'ūd; see Qanbūs.
In northern coastal Java the gambus is featured in the gambusan ensemble, and in Malaysia it is the leading melody instrument accompanying the folk theatre boria and the singing of ghazal (poetry).
MARGARET J. KARTOMI