The jew's harp was one of the most popular instruments in the last millennium. I observed a lot of times how they make khomuses. I tried twice. The first try took place a long time ago, with no instruments and of materials at hand. So it could sound, but I couldn't improvise. The second try took place in Japan during a craftsman Metsugi's master class of for children. There are master classes of making children khomuses in Tokio center of childhood creative work. It is an idea of widely known researcher of khomus music Leo Tadagava. Children and their parents during these classes make a small biabon for themselves. I tried to do it together with them, so I made a qualified for the first try Japan khomus. It takes pride of place in my collection.
Yakutsk is a compact town with most of sights concentrated in the center within a 2-3 km distance. Listen to the example of Sonny Terry, an African-American from the United States, playing Shortnin' Bread” on a metal Jew's harp. A small musical instrument consisting of a lyre-shaped metal frame that is held between the teeth and a projecting steel tongue that is plucked to produce a soft twanging sound.
There was four of them which were always a Singing & playing on their curious Instruments, which were as follows, viz. They had each of them a Thrapple made of a fresh buffelow hide dressed white with Some Small Shot in it and a little bunch of hair tied on it.
Many playing techniques produce sound effects that influence both melody and rhythm. The number of possible sound effects may be unlimited. It is worth just to try out and discover ever new effects. Especially the tongue is a very talented organ. In the following some suggestions.
Pluck Jew's Harps are equipped with a string at the same place where "normal" Lips Jew's Harps are usually are being picked with the finger. Plucking softly but peppy and elastically (in most cases in an angle of about 20° to the front away from the Jew's Harps direction) the reed is put into vibration. This type of Jew's Harp is especially popular in Southeast Asia, but it can be found in Central and East Asian cultures, like in Kyrgyzstan and North Japan, too. Due to the higher physical effort plucking this Jew's Harp, playing it seems always to be a dance.
The most common form consists of a flexible tongue, or lamella, attached at one end to a lyre-shaped frame that is held against the player's teeth with one hand, while the lamella is set in vibration with the other. 2 It produces just one fundamental pitch, whose successive overtones are amplified variously when the back of the player's tongue is moved back and forth, changing the size and shape of the oral cavity. Thus all the pitches of a diatonic scale are present, but not in consecutive order, and some are slightly out of tune.
khomus meditation
https://jews-harp-khomus.blogspot.com/
how to play jaw harp
old jew's harp needs fixing i understand