Edited by Azizi Powell
This is the second of multiple posts on traditional musical instruments throughout the world.
The other posts in this series can be identified & accessed by clicking the "traditional musical instrument" tag below.
The purpose of this series is to showcase videos of and share information about traditional musical instruments.
In the context of this series, my definition of "traditional musical instruments" - with a few exceptions such as pan ("steel drums"), and vuvuzelas- are those instruments that were created prior to 20th century and which are largely unfamiliar to people in the general public (including me).
My thanks to the musicians and vocalists featured on these videos and to all the publishers of these videos.
DISCLAIMER
This series does not purport to include examples of all "traditional musical instruments" worldwide.
I love listening to music & I enjoy watching music videos. Unfortunately, I don't play any musical instrument and I've never studied ethnomusicology anywhere but informally online. I'm definitely not an expert on the subject of traditional musical instruments.
****
LIST OF FEATURED TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS THAT BEGIN WITH THE LETTER "B"
Bagpipes
Balafon
Banjo
Berimbau
Bilma (Australian clap sticks)
Bodhran
Bomba
Bones
Bouzouki
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Other featured traditional musical instruments may be shown in the video for the instrument that is showcased in this post. Some viewer comments may be included along with quoted information about the showcased instrument.
BAGPIPES [Scotland]
PORTREE - ISLE OF SKYE - SCOTLAND - BAGPIPES - PIPE BANDS - DRUMS
1runrig, Uploaded on Oct 4, 2011
Pipebands on The Isle of Skye!
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagpipes
"Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish and Irish Great Highland bagpipe (known in Ireland as the War pipes) and Irish Uilleann Pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes have been played for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, the Caucasus, around the Persian Gulf and in Northern Africa."
****
BALAFON [West Africa
Orodara Sidiki [Burkina Faso]
fabien ben, March 25, 2009
orodara sidiki joué pour un mariage à bobo dioulasso par seydou dembélé et une des team de bolomakoté
-snip-
Video Description: A roadside musical performance in Burkina Faso.
-snip-
Information about Balafon
From http://www.accessgambia.com/information/balafon.html
"The Balafon (Balafong, Balaphone) is a kind of wooden xylophone or percussion idiophone which plays melodic tunes and usually has between 16 to 27 keys which has been played in the region since the 1300s and originated in Mali according to the Manding history narrated by the griots.
They call it "a gift from the devil" to the Kuyateh families. This was the period under the Manding Empire's founder Sunjata Keita and his Sosso rival Soumaoro Kante who was said to have been given by Balafon by spirits. The instrument as well as the Karanyango (bell) was incorporated into the musical ensemble of the griots to accompany the Kora."...
****
BANJO [United States / African Americans]
Carolina Chocolate Drops performing "Cornbread and Butterbeans"
knoxnews | May 12, 2008
-snip-
From http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_ii_banjo.html
"If the fiddle was the primary contribution to American music from northern Europe, the banjo was the primary contribution from Africa. The banjo has been called "the outstanding American contribution to the music of folklore," and can be traced back in some form to sub-Saharan cultures of the 13th century. It was almost certainly brought to the New World by slaves, and as early as 1781 Thomas Jefferson, writing about slaves on his own plantation, said, "the instrument proper to them is the Banjar, which they brought hither from Africa." Many of these early "banjars" were made from gourds and played with a fretless neck. We have no idea how these sounded, but surviving illustrations suggest they used heavy strings and probably had a deep, mellow sound. By 1847 we have eyewitness accounts of the fiddle and banjo being played together in the South - the origin of the modern string band or bluegrass band.
This early black folk tradition eventually transferred the banjo to whites, especially in the Appalachians. Here, musicians made banjo heads out of groundhog skins and adapted their songs to the instrument's harmonics. A parallel tradition began to develop in the 1840's, with the popularity of minstrel shows, in which professional entertainers performed songs and dances derived from what they interpreted to be black culture. The banjo became the central instrument of these "plantation melodies" and songs like "Old Dan Tucker" entered the pantheon of vernacular music. Early on in the minstrel show era, a Virginian named Joel Sweeny popularized a type of banjo with a fifth, short string and used it to develop a more complex picking style. Billed as "The Banjo King," Sweeny toured widely in the years before the Civil War, and even did a command performance before Queen Victoria.
Long after the minstrel show lost popularity, the 5-string banjo retained popularity with southern whites. An amazing number of regional styles emerged by the 1920s, from the frailing or downstroking style to more ornate 2-and 3-finger up-picking. Some masters, like Uncle Dave Macon, the first star of The Grand Ole Opry and one of the first country musicians top record, could play in as many as 17 styles when he was in his prime."...
****
BATA [Nigeria]
Yoruba Bata: A Living Drum and Dance Tradition from Nigeria
debraklein | August 29, 2007
Introduction to Yoruba Bata Performance as practiced in Erin-Osun, Nigeria. Featuring Lamidi Ayankunle, master Bata drummer from Erin-Osun.
**
La Fuerza del Tambor (The Power of the Drum) (Cuba)
Tina GallagherUploaded on Jun 3, 2007
"The Power of the Drum" presents many of the ways in which the drums are used to communicate with the Orishas and with Olofi (God). Interviews and drumming demonstrations are interspersed with examples from live drumming celebrations featuring the bata drums, güiro, and the Bembe Macagua. Filmed in Matanzas, Cuba.
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat%C3%A1_drum
"A Batá drum is a double-headed drum shaped like an hourglass with one cone larger than the other. The percussion instrument is used primarily for the use of religious or semi-religious purposes for the native culture from the land of Yoruba, located in Nigeria, as well as by worshippers of Santería in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and in the United States. The Batá drum's popular functions are entertainment and to convey messages. Its early function was as a drum of different gods, drum of royalty, drum of ancestors and drum of politicians. Batá drum impacted on all spheres of life."...
****
BEGENA [Ethiopia and Eritrea]
Zerfu Demissie
terprecords | July 23, 2007
www.terprecords.nl Begena Music + singing from Ethiopia
Traditional 10-string harp, the harp of King David
Very old religious music played during Lent.
-snip-
Here are several viewers' comments about this instrument:
janster200-"This sounds the same as the Sumerian lyre. There are some videos here on YouTube where the reconstructed Sumerian lyre is being played. The two instruments look different but they sound the same. In Ethiopia, they just never stopped playing it."
**
Klezfiddle1- I am increasingly fascinated by the similarilty between the Begena, and the replica ancient Jewish Kinnor Lyre which I play!Does anyone out there know if is there also a TENOR version of the begena, which would be more similar in pitch to the ancient Jewish Kinnor; the orginal "Harp of David"?
**
manofchange83- But Kirar and Begena are complitily diffrent when you play kirar you get exiteing music but when you play begen the sound is very depressing .that is why it is used mainly on the fasting season of HUDADE which lasts for two months and ends on Easter day ,the music they play with begena is always about the suffering of Christ.
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begena
"he begena (or bèguèna, as in French) is an Eritrean and Ethiopian string instrument with ten strings belonging to the family of the lyre. According to oral tradition, Menelik I brought the instrument to the region from Israel, where David played on it to soothe King Saul's nerves and heal him of insomnia. Its actual origin remains in doubt, though local manuscripts depict the instrument at the beginning of the 15th century (Kimberlin 1978: 13)."
****
BERIMBAUS [Brazil]
CAPOEIRA GUAIAMUNS: Toques de Berimbau - Mestre Paulinho Carioca
Capoeira Guaiamuns, Published on Mar 4, 2014
Toques de Berimbau
Execução: Mestre Paulinho Carioca - CAPOEIRA GUAIAMUNS
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berimbau
"The berimbau (/bərɪmˈbaʊ/; Brazilian Portuguese: [beɾĩˈbaw]) is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau's origins are not entirely clear, but there is not much doubt about its African origin, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows, and very similar instruments are played in the southern parts of Africa.[1] The berimbau was eventually incorporated into the practice of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, the berimbau (the soul of capoeira) leads the capoeiristas movement in the roda—the faster the berimbau is playing the faster the capoeirista moves in the game. The instrument is known for being the subject matter of a popular song by Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell, with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The instrument is also a part of Candomblé-de-caboclo tradition."...
****
BODHRAN [Ireland]
Bodhran Demonstration
exit8babe | February 21, 2007
The bodhran is the traditional Celtic frame drum. The cross braces and laminated rosewood strengthen the shell of this goatskin-covered drum. With a rich deep sound, these drums are great fun even if you have not mastered the traditional playing.
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhr%C3%A1n
"The bodhrán ... is an Irish frame drum...
History
According to musician Ronan Nolan, former editor of Irish Music magazine, the bodhrán evolved in the mid-20th century from the tambourine, which can be heard on some Irish music recordings dating back to the 1920s and viewed in a pre-Famine painting. However, in remote parts of the south-west, the "poor man’s tambourine"– made from farm implements and without the cymbals – was in popular use among mummers, or wren boys.[2] A large oil painting on canvas by Daniel Maclise (1806–1870) depicts a large Halloween house party in which a bodhrán features clearly.[3] That painting, produced c. 1842, shows a flautist accompanied by a tambourine player who, in an Islamic style in contrast to standard bodhrán technique, used his fingers rather than a tipper. It is known that by the early 20th century, home-made frame drums were constructed using willow branches as frames, leather as drumheads, and pennies as jingles. In photographs from the 1940s and videos from the 1950s, jingles remained part of the bodhrán construction like a tambourine, yet were played with cipín, also known in English as "tipper".[4]"...
****
BOMBA [Puerto Rico]
Bomba in Loiza, Puerto Rico #1
gyenyamesankofa | August 09, 2008
This is one of several videos that I will be posting from my trip to Puerto Rico in July 2008.
This clip features Bomba drummers and dancers at Raul Ayala's house in Loiza, during La Fiesta de Santiago Apostol.
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomba
"Bomba is one of the folk musical styles of Puerto Rico. it is a largely African-derived music. The rhythm and beat are played by a set of hand drums and a maraca. Dance is an integral part of the music...Bomba is described to be a challenge between the drummer and the dancer. The dancer produces a series of gestures to which the primo drummer provides a synchronized beat. Thus, it is the drummer who attempts to follow the dancer and not the other way around...
The traditional drums used in bomba are called barriles, since they have long been built from the wood of barrels. The high pitch drum is called "subidor" or "primo", and the low pitch drums are called "buleador" and "segundo"."
****
BONES [throughout much of the world]
Playing the Bones with Boris
stageselectca, Uploaded on Aug 19, 2007
8min promo on how to play the celtic bones, with Boris Sichon.
video copyright Stage Select Productions 2007
**
How to Play Bones with Dom Flemons
Uploaded by musicmakerfoundation on Sep 5, 2010
Dom Flemons of the Carolina Chocolate Drops shows us how to play the bones!
-snip-
In the video of the Carolina Chocolate Drops that is given in the "Banjo" entry, Don Flemons is heard playing the spoons.
**
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bones_(instrument)
"The bones are a musical instrument (more specifically, a folk instrument) which, at the simplest, consists of a pair of animal bones, or pieces of wood or a similar material. Sections of large rib bones and lower leg bones are the most commonly used true bones, although wooden sticks shaped like the earlier true bones are now more often used. If metal spoons are used instead, as is common in the United States, this is called "playing the spoons". The technique probably arrived in the U.S. via Irish and other European immigrants, and has a history stretching back to ancient China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome."
****
BONGOS [Africa / Cuba]
Armando Peraza solos on congas and bongos
martincongahead | January 29, 2007
Legendary Cuban percussionist, Armando Peraza performs solos on congas and bongos.
-snip-
From http://www.zzounds.com/edu--aboutbongos
"The bongo is a unique drum. It is a percussion instrument that originates in the nation of Africa, although it is more commonly associated with Cuba. A typical bongo has a wooden or ceramic body and the drumhead is made of goatskin or rawhide stretched across the top to give it its unique sound. Bongos consist of two small connected drums, usually held together with a piece of wood. Bongos are compact and can be carried around easily. They can come in many different colors, sizes, styles, and the drumhead can be made of a synthetic material. Its unmistakable shape, look, and style give the bongo drum its unique sound and appealing dynamic.
Bongo History
The bongos were introduced into the Cuban culture during the slave trade and by the late 19th century, bongo drums had become a staple in Cuban culture, and have been credited with helping to develop salsa music, bolero, and other Latin American musical genres. The way bongos were created changed in the 1940s when metal tuning lungs were added to give them a deeper sound. A similar instrument to the bongo can be found in Morocco, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern nations; however, the bongos have roots in the African culture. Some people claim Moroccan bongos and African bongo styles were combined to create the modern Cuban bongo."...
****
BOUZOUKI [Greece]
Ithikon Akmeotaton- Pente Ellines ston Adi (live)
ithikonakmeotaton | October 22, 2006
Acoustic Session. Recorded 16.10.2006 live at at Octalogic Studio (GER)
-snip-
Here's a viewer's comment from that video's thread:
Zeuxis5511
...."This is Greek tradition and heritage to the entire world. You must be Greek to understand the depth of this song.
This is a Bacchic Zeus dance for life. Zeimpekikos.
Bravo an excellent performance of Giannis Papaioannou's original song."
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouzouki
"The bouzouki... (plural sometimes transliterated as bouzoukia) is the mainstay of modern Greek music. It is a stringed instrument with a pear-shaped body and a very long neck. The bouzouki is a member of the 'long neck lute' family and is similar to a mandolin. The front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound."...
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Comments and additions to this list are welcome.
This is the second of multiple posts on traditional musical instruments throughout the world.
The other posts in this series can be identified & accessed by clicking the "traditional musical instrument" tag below.
The purpose of this series is to showcase videos of and share information about traditional musical instruments.
In the context of this series, my definition of "traditional musical instruments" - with a few exceptions such as pan ("steel drums"), and vuvuzelas- are those instruments that were created prior to 20th century and which are largely unfamiliar to people in the general public (including me).
My thanks to the musicians and vocalists featured on these videos and to all the publishers of these videos.
DISCLAIMER
This series does not purport to include examples of all "traditional musical instruments" worldwide.
I love listening to music & I enjoy watching music videos. Unfortunately, I don't play any musical instrument and I've never studied ethnomusicology anywhere but informally online. I'm definitely not an expert on the subject of traditional musical instruments.
****
LIST OF FEATURED TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS THAT BEGIN WITH THE LETTER "B"
Bagpipes
Balafon
Banjo
Berimbau
Bilma (Australian clap sticks)
Bodhran
Bomba
Bones
Bouzouki
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Other featured traditional musical instruments may be shown in the video for the instrument that is showcased in this post. Some viewer comments may be included along with quoted information about the showcased instrument.
BAGPIPES [Scotland]
PORTREE - ISLE OF SKYE - SCOTLAND - BAGPIPES - PIPE BANDS - DRUMS
1runrig, Uploaded on Oct 4, 2011
Pipebands on The Isle of Skye!
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagpipes
"Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish and Irish Great Highland bagpipe (known in Ireland as the War pipes) and Irish Uilleann Pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes have been played for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, the Caucasus, around the Persian Gulf and in Northern Africa."
****
BALAFON [West Africa
Orodara Sidiki [Burkina Faso]
fabien ben, March 25, 2009
orodara sidiki joué pour un mariage à bobo dioulasso par seydou dembélé et une des team de bolomakoté
-snip-
Video Description: A roadside musical performance in Burkina Faso.
-snip-
Information about Balafon
From http://www.accessgambia.com/information/balafon.html
"The Balafon (Balafong, Balaphone) is a kind of wooden xylophone or percussion idiophone which plays melodic tunes and usually has between 16 to 27 keys which has been played in the region since the 1300s and originated in Mali according to the Manding history narrated by the griots.
They call it "a gift from the devil" to the Kuyateh families. This was the period under the Manding Empire's founder Sunjata Keita and his Sosso rival Soumaoro Kante who was said to have been given by Balafon by spirits. The instrument as well as the Karanyango (bell) was incorporated into the musical ensemble of the griots to accompany the Kora."...
****
BANJO [United States / African Americans]
Carolina Chocolate Drops performing "Cornbread and Butterbeans"
knoxnews | May 12, 2008
-snip-
From http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_ii_banjo.html
"If the fiddle was the primary contribution to American music from northern Europe, the banjo was the primary contribution from Africa. The banjo has been called "the outstanding American contribution to the music of folklore," and can be traced back in some form to sub-Saharan cultures of the 13th century. It was almost certainly brought to the New World by slaves, and as early as 1781 Thomas Jefferson, writing about slaves on his own plantation, said, "the instrument proper to them is the Banjar, which they brought hither from Africa." Many of these early "banjars" were made from gourds and played with a fretless neck. We have no idea how these sounded, but surviving illustrations suggest they used heavy strings and probably had a deep, mellow sound. By 1847 we have eyewitness accounts of the fiddle and banjo being played together in the South - the origin of the modern string band or bluegrass band.
This early black folk tradition eventually transferred the banjo to whites, especially in the Appalachians. Here, musicians made banjo heads out of groundhog skins and adapted their songs to the instrument's harmonics. A parallel tradition began to develop in the 1840's, with the popularity of minstrel shows, in which professional entertainers performed songs and dances derived from what they interpreted to be black culture. The banjo became the central instrument of these "plantation melodies" and songs like "Old Dan Tucker" entered the pantheon of vernacular music. Early on in the minstrel show era, a Virginian named Joel Sweeny popularized a type of banjo with a fifth, short string and used it to develop a more complex picking style. Billed as "The Banjo King," Sweeny toured widely in the years before the Civil War, and even did a command performance before Queen Victoria.
Long after the minstrel show lost popularity, the 5-string banjo retained popularity with southern whites. An amazing number of regional styles emerged by the 1920s, from the frailing or downstroking style to more ornate 2-and 3-finger up-picking. Some masters, like Uncle Dave Macon, the first star of The Grand Ole Opry and one of the first country musicians top record, could play in as many as 17 styles when he was in his prime."...
****
BATA [Nigeria]
Yoruba Bata: A Living Drum and Dance Tradition from Nigeria
debraklein | August 29, 2007
Introduction to Yoruba Bata Performance as practiced in Erin-Osun, Nigeria. Featuring Lamidi Ayankunle, master Bata drummer from Erin-Osun.
**
La Fuerza del Tambor (The Power of the Drum) (Cuba)
Tina GallagherUploaded on Jun 3, 2007
"The Power of the Drum" presents many of the ways in which the drums are used to communicate with the Orishas and with Olofi (God). Interviews and drumming demonstrations are interspersed with examples from live drumming celebrations featuring the bata drums, güiro, and the Bembe Macagua. Filmed in Matanzas, Cuba.
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat%C3%A1_drum
"A Batá drum is a double-headed drum shaped like an hourglass with one cone larger than the other. The percussion instrument is used primarily for the use of religious or semi-religious purposes for the native culture from the land of Yoruba, located in Nigeria, as well as by worshippers of Santería in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and in the United States. The Batá drum's popular functions are entertainment and to convey messages. Its early function was as a drum of different gods, drum of royalty, drum of ancestors and drum of politicians. Batá drum impacted on all spheres of life."...
****
BEGENA [Ethiopia and Eritrea]
Zerfu Demissie
terprecords | July 23, 2007
www.terprecords.nl Begena Music + singing from Ethiopia
Traditional 10-string harp, the harp of King David
Very old religious music played during Lent.
-snip-
Here are several viewers' comments about this instrument:
janster200-"This sounds the same as the Sumerian lyre. There are some videos here on YouTube where the reconstructed Sumerian lyre is being played. The two instruments look different but they sound the same. In Ethiopia, they just never stopped playing it."
**
Klezfiddle1- I am increasingly fascinated by the similarilty between the Begena, and the replica ancient Jewish Kinnor Lyre which I play!Does anyone out there know if is there also a TENOR version of the begena, which would be more similar in pitch to the ancient Jewish Kinnor; the orginal "Harp of David"?
**
manofchange83- But Kirar and Begena are complitily diffrent when you play kirar you get exiteing music but when you play begen the sound is very depressing .that is why it is used mainly on the fasting season of HUDADE which lasts for two months and ends on Easter day ,the music they play with begena is always about the suffering of Christ.
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begena
"he begena (or bèguèna, as in French) is an Eritrean and Ethiopian string instrument with ten strings belonging to the family of the lyre. According to oral tradition, Menelik I brought the instrument to the region from Israel, where David played on it to soothe King Saul's nerves and heal him of insomnia. Its actual origin remains in doubt, though local manuscripts depict the instrument at the beginning of the 15th century (Kimberlin 1978: 13)."
****
BERIMBAUS [Brazil]
CAPOEIRA GUAIAMUNS: Toques de Berimbau - Mestre Paulinho Carioca
Capoeira Guaiamuns, Published on Mar 4, 2014
Toques de Berimbau
Execução: Mestre Paulinho Carioca - CAPOEIRA GUAIAMUNS
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berimbau
"The berimbau (/bərɪmˈbaʊ/; Brazilian Portuguese: [beɾĩˈbaw]) is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau's origins are not entirely clear, but there is not much doubt about its African origin, as no Indigenous Brazilian or European people use musical bows, and very similar instruments are played in the southern parts of Africa.[1] The berimbau was eventually incorporated into the practice of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, the berimbau (the soul of capoeira) leads the capoeiristas movement in the roda—the faster the berimbau is playing the faster the capoeirista moves in the game. The instrument is known for being the subject matter of a popular song by Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell, with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The instrument is also a part of Candomblé-de-caboclo tradition."...
****
BODHRAN [Ireland]
Bodhran Demonstration
exit8babe | February 21, 2007
The bodhran is the traditional Celtic frame drum. The cross braces and laminated rosewood strengthen the shell of this goatskin-covered drum. With a rich deep sound, these drums are great fun even if you have not mastered the traditional playing.
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhr%C3%A1n
"The bodhrán ... is an Irish frame drum...
History
According to musician Ronan Nolan, former editor of Irish Music magazine, the bodhrán evolved in the mid-20th century from the tambourine, which can be heard on some Irish music recordings dating back to the 1920s and viewed in a pre-Famine painting. However, in remote parts of the south-west, the "poor man’s tambourine"– made from farm implements and without the cymbals – was in popular use among mummers, or wren boys.[2] A large oil painting on canvas by Daniel Maclise (1806–1870) depicts a large Halloween house party in which a bodhrán features clearly.[3] That painting, produced c. 1842, shows a flautist accompanied by a tambourine player who, in an Islamic style in contrast to standard bodhrán technique, used his fingers rather than a tipper. It is known that by the early 20th century, home-made frame drums were constructed using willow branches as frames, leather as drumheads, and pennies as jingles. In photographs from the 1940s and videos from the 1950s, jingles remained part of the bodhrán construction like a tambourine, yet were played with cipín, also known in English as "tipper".[4]"...
****
BOMBA [Puerto Rico]
Bomba in Loiza, Puerto Rico #1
gyenyamesankofa | August 09, 2008
This is one of several videos that I will be posting from my trip to Puerto Rico in July 2008.
This clip features Bomba drummers and dancers at Raul Ayala's house in Loiza, during La Fiesta de Santiago Apostol.
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomba
"Bomba is one of the folk musical styles of Puerto Rico. it is a largely African-derived music. The rhythm and beat are played by a set of hand drums and a maraca. Dance is an integral part of the music...Bomba is described to be a challenge between the drummer and the dancer. The dancer produces a series of gestures to which the primo drummer provides a synchronized beat. Thus, it is the drummer who attempts to follow the dancer and not the other way around...
The traditional drums used in bomba are called barriles, since they have long been built from the wood of barrels. The high pitch drum is called "subidor" or "primo", and the low pitch drums are called "buleador" and "segundo"."
****
BONES [throughout much of the world]
Playing the Bones with Boris
stageselectca, Uploaded on Aug 19, 2007
8min promo on how to play the celtic bones, with Boris Sichon.
video copyright Stage Select Productions 2007
**
How to Play Bones with Dom Flemons
Uploaded by musicmakerfoundation on Sep 5, 2010
Dom Flemons of the Carolina Chocolate Drops shows us how to play the bones!
-snip-
In the video of the Carolina Chocolate Drops that is given in the "Banjo" entry, Don Flemons is heard playing the spoons.
**
-snip-
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bones_(instrument)
"The bones are a musical instrument (more specifically, a folk instrument) which, at the simplest, consists of a pair of animal bones, or pieces of wood or a similar material. Sections of large rib bones and lower leg bones are the most commonly used true bones, although wooden sticks shaped like the earlier true bones are now more often used. If metal spoons are used instead, as is common in the United States, this is called "playing the spoons". The technique probably arrived in the U.S. via Irish and other European immigrants, and has a history stretching back to ancient China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome."
****
BONGOS [Africa / Cuba]
Armando Peraza solos on congas and bongos
martincongahead | January 29, 2007
Legendary Cuban percussionist, Armando Peraza performs solos on congas and bongos.
-snip-
From http://www.zzounds.com/edu--aboutbongos
"The bongo is a unique drum. It is a percussion instrument that originates in the nation of Africa, although it is more commonly associated with Cuba. A typical bongo has a wooden or ceramic body and the drumhead is made of goatskin or rawhide stretched across the top to give it its unique sound. Bongos consist of two small connected drums, usually held together with a piece of wood. Bongos are compact and can be carried around easily. They can come in many different colors, sizes, styles, and the drumhead can be made of a synthetic material. Its unmistakable shape, look, and style give the bongo drum its unique sound and appealing dynamic.
Bongo History
The bongos were introduced into the Cuban culture during the slave trade and by the late 19th century, bongo drums had become a staple in Cuban culture, and have been credited with helping to develop salsa music, bolero, and other Latin American musical genres. The way bongos were created changed in the 1940s when metal tuning lungs were added to give them a deeper sound. A similar instrument to the bongo can be found in Morocco, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern nations; however, the bongos have roots in the African culture. Some people claim Moroccan bongos and African bongo styles were combined to create the modern Cuban bongo."...
****
BOUZOUKI [Greece]
Ithikon Akmeotaton- Pente Ellines ston Adi (live)
ithikonakmeotaton | October 22, 2006
Acoustic Session. Recorded 16.10.2006 live at at Octalogic Studio (GER)
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Here's a viewer's comment from that video's thread:
Zeuxis5511
...."This is Greek tradition and heritage to the entire world. You must be Greek to understand the depth of this song.
This is a Bacchic Zeus dance for life. Zeimpekikos.
Bravo an excellent performance of Giannis Papaioannou's original song."
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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouzouki
"The bouzouki... (plural sometimes transliterated as bouzoukia) is the mainstay of modern Greek music. It is a stringed instrument with a pear-shaped body and a very long neck. The bouzouki is a member of the 'long neck lute' family and is similar to a mandolin. The front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound."...
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