Ground bow

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ground bow dyulu tama in Fouta Djallon region of Guinea, 1908

The ground-bow or earth-bow is a single-string bow-shaped folk musical instrument, classified as a

Hornbostel (1933) classified is in the category of harps, although it has combined characteristics of a harp and a musical bow.[3]

The resonator may be a pit covered by a board, with string attached to it.[4] 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.[3]

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.[3] It is known as gayumba in Haiti,[5] Dominican Republic,[6] and tumbandera in Haitian traditions of Cuba.[5][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.[3][5]

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.[3]

Kalinga is usually played to provide repetitive accompaniment to the choral song.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ground Bow", Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. .
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Jaco Kruger, "Rediscovering the Venda Ground-Bow", Ethnomusicology, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 391-404
  4. ^ , 1985, and later editions
  5. ^ a b c Music in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Encyclopedic History , vol.2, p.210
  6. ^ Fradique Lizardo, Instrumentos musicales indígenas dominicanos, 1975,Section "Gayumba", p.64
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2015-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "Baka Music & Magic - the Technology of Enchantment - full documentary".
  9. ^ "CUBANISM: WHAT IS The “Tíngo Talángo” ?"
  10. ^ "TINGO TALANGO, son, Auteur : Julio CUEVA

Further reading