Musical Instruments Part 2
"Here are examples of kundu drums with original snake skins. (Top Photo) the 3 above are kundu drums from East Papua New guinea, Sepik region. (Second photo) Asmat Drum(West Papua or Irian Jaya)with intense carvings and men figures on the handles, white wash color. Same island, different region, very different style."
"Above a very old finger drum from the Trobriands, without snake skin alas that was confiscated at customs or stolen along the way we assume. This happens a lot not to include breakage! We often lose entire containers of rare pottery among other things! Fun to search for but not always fun to open! I am told Trobriand drums, to experts, are the best sounding finger drums in the world."
"Here is a rare instrument that originated in India. I believe the style was imported to Bali a long long time ago and adopted in only one village of the island and modified. I bought the last 2 they had a while back and sold them shortly after. They do not play them anymore over there. The children have no more interest in such customs. Alas, the old ways will be lost!
Some in India call similar instruments a Sarangi.The Sarangi has no frets or fingerboard. It has four main strings that lay over the sympathetic strings. The bow is held palm upwards. It is drawn across the main strings, just above the bridge. The fingers of the left hand note the strings. This is done by pressing and sliding the bottom of the fingernail against the side of the string. Players often use talcum powder on their palms to facilitate the gliding of the hand up and down the neck. The gliding of your nails along the strings creates the sound characteristic of Hindustani music."
"Above is an instrument from Java used in gamelan orchestras, 5 feet long."
"Behind the jipae straw full body costume of the asmat, to the right of it and by the library piece, is the tallest asmat drum we ever found, 6 ft tall for the giants among us!"
[ Edited by: I dream of tiki 2009-02-21 23:20 ]
