Matouqin
The Matouqin (horse-headed qin) is a typical Mongolian bowed instrument with two strings, however, very different from erhu. The horse hair of the bow doesn't go between the two strings, instead, the instrument and the way of playing is more similar to cello than to erhu. The instrument was originally made from a horse head for the body, horse skin for the resonator, and horse hair for the strings and bow. The music played upon this instrument is of great variety and virtuosity. Much of the music typically sounds like human voice, and can imitate a horse to such an extent as real such as galloping horse, the whinnying, etc. The modern horse-headed qin has a wooden body and soundboard, two horse hair strings, and has a rich warm tone and very beautiful sound. The peg head is decorated with a detailed carving of a horse's head.
