The sape (also known as sampet, sampeh, sapeh) is a traditional lute of many of the Orang ulu or upriver people, who live in the longhouses that line the rivers of Central Borneo. The term Orang Ulu includes a number of culturally diverse language groups. Not all of them used the sape traditionally, but the instrument is growing in popularity and is slowly making its way into all these cultures.

Sape is carved from a single bole of wood; many modern instruments reach over 3 feet in length. Although a number of woods are suitable, the best is said to be the tebuloh (a diptercarp), considered a 'bitter' wood avoided by insects. The frets are carved from palm stalk, and held on by a gum made by the kelulut bee.

Initially, the sape was a fairly limited instrument with two strings and only three frets. Its use was restricted to a form of ritualistic music to induce trance. Yet as groups such as the Kenyah andKayan embraced Christianity and abandoned headhunting and its attendant rituals, many older instruments disappeared, to be replaced by the sape. It gradually became a social instrument, used as accompaniment for the surviving recreational dances, and as a form of entertainment. Now considered a purely musical instrument, the sape gained more strings and many more frets to increase its range.