The string tambourine originally comes from France, where it was used in the Middle Ages as an accompaniment instrument, similar to a hammered dulcimer or a chorded zither. Each chord is made up of 3 strings which are hit with a mallet, a plectrum or the fingertips.
The string tambura has an enormous fullness of sound and is extremely simple to play. It is both a plucked string instrument and a percussion instrument at the same time. No matter how it is played, it always produces a deep, wide, very warm and all-encompassing sound.