The earliest Kubuzi, also known as Kelekubuzi, is the oldest stringed musical instrument spread among the Kazakh people.
Herdsmen use local materials and make them according to the materials, and often the styles and specifications of the qin are very inconsistent. This most primitive stringed instrument can still be seen in the remote mountainous areas of Kazakhstan. Later, on the basis of Kele Kubuzi, the pegs (one on each side), strings and fingerboards were added to make a two-string Kubuzi, still using horsetail strings or tendon strings, which is similar to that of today's Kirgiz people. The stringed kejak is very similar.
In the traditional Kubuzi, the body is excavated from a single piece of wood, with a total length of 60 cm to 65 cm.
The appearance of the resonance box is spoon-shaped, the upper part is large and the lower part is small. The box is 27 cm to 29 cm long. The upper part is open and exposed, not covered with leather film or wooden panel, and the lower part is covered with camel lambskin or sheepskin. The headstock is unadorned, with a string groove and a nut, and three pegs on both sides (one on the left and two on the right).
The neck is slender and long, with no grades on the front. There are bridges and horses on the skin, and three camel strings are attached.
Since the 1960s, the musician Alibeke of the Xinjiang Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Art Troupe has continuously reformed Kubuzi. The upper half of the piano box is covered with pine wood top, and the lower half is covered with python skin or sheepskin, adding a fingerboard and strings. Increase to four, use silk or steel strings, and make treble, alto, bass and double bass series Kubuzi.
The tunings are the same as the various violins, respectively. The high-pitched Kubuzi is 60 cm long, the piano box is 24 cm long, 15 cm wide and 10 cm wide. The tuning is g, d1, a1, and e2, and the range is g-e3; g, d1, a1, range c-c3.
When playing, the lower part of the piano box is clamped between the knees, and the bowing method is the same as that of the cello. The high-pitched and alto Kubuzi are often used for solo performance or to accompany folk songs, and the performers often sing by themselves.