Ground bow explained

The ground-bow or earth-bow is a single-string bow-shaped folk musical instrument, classified as a chordophone. It is known in cultures of equatorial [1] and south[2] Africa, and in other cultures with African roots. It consists of a flexible stick planted into the ground (possibly a stripped sapling or a branch), with a string from its free end to a resonator of some kind based on a pit in the ground.[3] It looks like a game trap or a child toy, therefore its distribution over Africa used to be overlooked. Hornbostel (1933) classified is in the category of harps, although it has combined characteristics of a harp and a musical bow.[4]

The resonator may be a pit covered by a board, with string attached to it.[3] Kruges describes several other constructions by Venda, e.g., the other end of a string is tied to a stone dropped into the pit, with string passing through the board covering the pit, etc.[4]

Other names include "ground harp" (Sachs, 1940, History of Musical Instruments) and ground-bass. It is called kalinga or galinga by Venda people. In their language "galinga" means simply a hole in the ground, while the origins of "kalinga" are uncertain.[4] It is known as gayumba in Haiti, Dominican Republic,[5] and tumbandera in Haitian traditions of Cuba.[6] [7] Baka people call it angbindi.[8]

It is also known in Cuba under the onomatopoeic name tingo-talango (tingotalango).[9] [10] Julio Cueva's song Tingo Talango dedicated to this musical instrument describes its construction thus:

Tingo Talango is also the song by Ñico Lora.

The instrument is reportedly nearly-extinct in the native cultures.[4] [6]

Playing techniques

Kalinga may be struck by a stick or plucked in various ways. The bow stick may be bent to change the tension of the string, and hence the tone. It can be played in a glissando manner: the stick is bent, struck, and released, producing a peculiar sound. The produced pitches are not always stable.[4]

Kalinga is usually played to provide repetitive accompaniment to the choral song.[4]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. http://www.britannica.com/art/ground-bow "Ground Bow"
  2. Book: Africa and the Blues . 978-1-60473-728-8 . Kubik . Gerhard . 23 September 2009 . Univ. Press of Mississippi .
  3. http://www.aatespanol.cl/taa/tesauro/default.asp?a=338&Element_ID=12274 "Arco de tierra"
  4. Jaco Kruger, "Rediscovering the Venda Ground-Bow", Ethnomusicology,Vol. 33, No. 3 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 391-404
  5. Fradique Lizardo, Instrumentos musicales indígenas dominicanos, 1975,Section "Gayumba", p.64
  6. Music in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Encyclopedic History, vol.2, p.210
  7. Web site: Archived copy . 2015-07-22 . 2017-03-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170302120254/http://www.montunocubano.com/Tumbao/instruments/tumbandera.htm . dead .
  8. Web site: Baka Music & Magic - the Technology of Enchantment - full documentary .
  9. http://www.thecubanhistory.com/2015/05/cubanism-what-is-the-tingo-talango-cubanismos-que-es-el-tingo-talango/ "CUBANISM: WHAT IS The “Tíngo Talángo” ?"
  10. http://www.ritmacuba.com/tingo-talango.html "TINGO TALANGO, son, Auteur : Julio CUEVA