sompoton
Sompoton or Sumpotan, is a mouth organ made from a calabash gourd with bamboo pipes in northern Borneo. It originated in the state of Sabah and is played by indigenous men and women in Sabah, especially by the Kadazan-Dusun and Murut.
Also recorded as sumpotan
sompoton

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- Name
- Sompoton
- Field
- mouth organ
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Documentary summary
Sompoton or Sumpotan, is a mouth organ made from a calabash gourd with bamboo pipes in northern Borneo. It originated in the state of Sabah and is played by indigenous men and women in Sabah, especially by the Kadazan-Dusun and Murut.
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wikidata · Q15849628 · wikipedia · Sompoton
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• Name — Sompoton • Classification — Mouth organ • Developed — Northern Borneo: Sabah, Malaysia
Description
A sompoton consists of eight pieces of bamboo pipe inserted into a dried gourd sealed with bees' wax, which serves as a wind chamber. Unlike a bamboo flute, which is a straight pipe, the sompoton is a 'mouth organ' as it contains vibrating reeds. Another difference is that, unlike a flute (which is played only by expelled air), a sompoton can be played by both inhalation and exhalation. In Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah, at the Anjung Kinabalu crafts market one is likely to find 'ornamental sompotons' with only two reeds; but at the Sabah Cultural Centre one finds completely functional/playable sompotons with the full complement of 7 reeds. Traditionally, the individual pipes have their own names, such as lombohon, monongkol, suruk, baranat, randawi, tuntuduk and tinangga.
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.D. Ohrnberger. The Bamboos of the World: Annotated Nomenclature and Literature of the Species and the Higher and Lower Taxa. Elsevier. 304–. 29 January 1999. 978-0-08-054238-6.
- 2.Malaysian Historical Society. Sabah: history and society. 1981.
- 3.New Sabah Times. Sompoton. 14 dead link. May 2018.
- 4.Elaine Lee. Ethnic musical instruments of Malaysia. Win Publication. 2006. 978-983-2312-17-8.
- 5.Ong Chen Wei and Jedol Dayou. Frequency Characteristics of Sound from Sompoton Musical Instrument. School of Science and Technology. Universiti Malaysia Sabah. 71–72. 25 September 2009.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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