Domra

a Russian stringed musical instrument that is plucked. It is played with a plectrum.

The domra was most widely used in the 16th and 17th centuries, primarily by musicians-skomorokhs (itinerant performers). In the second half of the 18th century it was encountered less frequently. In the years 1896-1900 an instrument similar to a three-stringed domra was reconstructed by S. I. Nalimov on the instructions of V. V. Andreev and began to be used in balalaika orchestras. The reconstructed domras were of various dimensions (475-1,100 mm) and had different ranges (piccolo, prima, alto, tenor, bass, contrabass); the strings were tuned at intervals of a fourth, like the balalaika and had full chromatic ranges. In the years 1908-17, G. P. Liubimov and S. F. Burov built a number of four-stringed domras with strings tuned at intervals of a fifth and having ranges from piccolo to contrabass. The domra is widely used in Soviet Russian folk-instrument orchestras.