The first instrument that I will talk about is known to be one of the simplest string instruments that there is. The berimbao is a single stringed instrument that consists of a string, a bow and a gourd for resonance. The origin of this instrument is widely unknown but its origins seem to start in Brazil. Soon after the Portuguese took control of the Brazilian area, they were in great need of workers, so they started to import many slaves from several countries in Africa. This was not well documented so it is unknown which countries the slaves came from.
This African culture greatly impacted the culture of the area and soon after the introduction of slaves, the berimbao made its appearance, but it is unknown which group created it. So even though the berimbao was introduced and played in Brazil, its sound and music is much more of a resemblance towards African music.
It is played by hitting a stick against a single string put under tension by a bowed piece of wood attached to a gourd with a hole in it. In order to change pitch the player places a rock, coin or any other hard object against the string. Because of its simple nature, it is usually only played by using 3 different notes and a muted rhythmic note. The player always holds a basket of seeds called a caxixi in the same hand as his striking stick for more rhythm. So as far as instruments go, this is not really the most intricate thing out there and it would actually be relatively easy to make.
In the above video we see a berimbao player using all of the playing techniques to show off the different notes it can play (which aren’t many). He uses his body to mute the gourd to create a different tone of the sound. It has a very buzzy sound sometimes which is iconic of many African instruments and music styles. Because the string is being held under tension by a bow of wood, the wood can loss tension. The string is carefully unhooked after a performance to ensure that the tension of the bow stays the same to produce the same pitch. The bow must be strung much like a bow and arrow before every performance. This sounds like an interesting summer project build to me.
Now prepare your eardrums for something incredibly different and cool. It may be a little piercing to listen to, but with a name as interesting as mizwad, why wouldn’t you listen. The mizwad is a bagpipe instrument from the Tunisia area. The mizwad is considered by some to be one of the first bagpipe instruments to have been created.
It consists of a leather bag, a blowpipe and two chanter tubes with fixed reeds on the inside. Normally, both chanters are exactly the same with the same number of finger holes, both having a cow horn attached to the end of the tube to amplify the sound. The musical scales to which this is played is much different than those of our common western music. Many notes that are played can be bent and warped with different amounts of pressure applied by the arm.
The mizwad is usually accompanied by a Tunisian drum called a darbouka. It is considered to be the working man’s instrument and is said to put people in a “trance-like” state when they hear it. When I hear it, I can see how they would go into a trance. Just like the Scottish bagpipes that we are usually familiar with, the sound of the mizwad is piercing and sometimes, but not usually, accompanied by a drone note. It is played in an Arabic style of music with many notes that are in between the notes that we think of in western culture. With a flurry of grace notes and complicated rhythmic patterns, it can be a little hard to follow sometimes. It is helpful when a drummer is drumming to really tell where the beat is. In these attached videos we see two mizwad players, playing traditional songs. In one video we see it being played as a solo instrument, and in another we see how it can be played as accompaniment to many people singing. It seems to be a very social instrument that can cause dancing, singing and laughter. In fact, in the second video the mizwad player starts laughing multiple times. As a jazz musician I know that sometimes in the middle of a solo or jam session some people will just laugh and smile because of some melody change that we find to be funny, and have we almost have inside musical jokes that no one else would understand. The gift of music, not matter how different, is a virtue that can bring people together in ways sometimes unexplainable.
Works Cited
“Musical Instruments – BERIMBAO.” KAYPACHA. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <http://www.kaypacha.com.ar/en/instruments/berimbao/berimbao.htm>.
“Berimbau :: ASOCIACIÓN ESENCIA CAPOEIRA.” Instructor Muralha. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <http://instrutormuralha.webnode.es/instrumento-da-capoeira/>.
“Mezoued.” Hot Pipes. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <http://www.hotpipes.com/pipe0026.html>.
Dan,
Again, I am intrigued by your post! I certainly had no idea that such diverse instruments exist, and I find it really interesting how you talk about their origins and the factors that impacted their development. When I read your posts, I think back to my days in middle school where I had music class as an elective. My teacher was very interested in African music so every week we would learn about the different types of music in their culture and what the different meanings associated with each genre. I must admit that I don’t remember much about this since it was all the way back in seventh grade. But the parts which I do recall are about the physical make-up of the instruments; meaning the materials that were used to make them. I found it interesting how even in poorer countries, people utilize the resources to make instruments because it brings them such great joy.
I saw that you mentioned you were a jazz musician, what instrument do you play? I’d like to hear more about that!
Great post again!
Katie