A soku is a traditional West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

n instrument used in a type of music called Wassoulou

Wassoulou

Wassoulou is an historic region in southwest Mali, northeast Guinea and the area west of the Sankarani river and south of the Niger River in Mali and Côte d'Ivoire...

 which originated in the Wasulu region of southwest Mali

Mali

Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...

. It is a traditional fiddle, sometimes replaced by modernized versions of the instrument. Known as the n'diaraka or njarka

Njarka

The njarka is a small fiddle made from a gourd, with one gut string, which is native to Mali. Probably the most notable njarka player was Ali Farka Touré....

in Songhai, it is composed of a single string that usually wails the feminine vocal melody.