Santur

Santur is a Persian hammered dulcimer, consisting of a trapezoidal box with horizontal strings, played with oval shaped featherweight mallets known as mezrab. The Iranian classical santur has 72 strings of brass or copper and stainless steel, 18 sets of four tuned in unison, with two rows of bridges providing a range of three octaves. A variant of the instrument is played in Turkey. Similar types of hammered dulcimer are found widely spread in Europe and Asia; the Indian santoor is wider, more rectangular and has more strings.