List of musical instruments by Hornbostel–Sachs number: 321.33
This is a list of instruments by Hornbostel–Sachs number, covering those instruments that are classified under 321.33 under that system. These instruments are also known as semi-spike lutes, tanged lutes and internal spike lutes. These instruments are made of a resonator and string bearer that are physically united, with strings in parallel to the sound table and a handle which is also the string bearer and which passes through the resonator but does not pierce its tail end.[1][2]
West African griot lutes
[edit]Tanged lutes are common in East Africa, as are a closely related class of instrument called spike lutes. These are instruments in which the handle does extends all the way through the resonator. A hereditary class of West African musicians, griots, play tanged lutes, and no other form of stringed instrument; non-griot performers in West Africa play a mixture of both spike lutes and tanged lutes.[3] The term griot lute thus typically refers to these tanged lutes of East Africa.[4]
The resonator of East African lutes may be made of wood, metal (such as a discarded can) or a half-calabash gourd. Griot lutes are exclusively wood, while non-griot lutes occur in all three categories. Typically, calabash lutes have no more than two strings, while the wooden instruments generally have more.[4]
Griot lutes tend to be wooden troughs, either boat- (naviform) or figure-8-shaped. Lutes used by griots have a V- or fan-shaped bridge, a feature unique to East African lutes, while non-griot lutes use cylindrical bridges; a few use two-footed bridges in the shape of an upside-down "u", while the Hausa wase places the bridge under the head, creating a ridged lump upon which the strings rest.[3] Non-griot lutes are not restricted by heredity, and are used for many social purposes, most commonly hunting.[4] It likely that one or more of these instruments is the ancestor of the African American banjo.[3][5]
Classification
[edit]- 3: Instruments in which sound is produced by one or more vibrating strings (chordophones, string instruments).
- 321.3: Instruments in which the string bearer is a plain handle (handle lutes)
- 321.33: Instrument in which the handle extends into but does not pass completely through the resonator (tanged lutes)
These instruments may be classified with a suffix, based on how the strings are caused to vibrate.
- 4: Hammers or beaters
- 5: Bare hands and fingers
- 6: Plectrum
- 7: Bowing
- 71: Using a bow
- 72: Using a wheel
- 73: Using a ribbon
- 8: Keyboard
- 9: Using a mechanical drive
References
[edit]- Coelho, Victor Anand (2003). The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00040-8.
- von Hornbostel, Erich M.; Curt Sachs (March 1961). "Classification of Musical Instruments: Translated from the Original German by Anthony Baines and Klaus P. Wachsmann". The Galpin Society Journal. 14. Galpin Society: 3–29. doi:10.2307/842168. JSTOR 842168.
- Shlomo Pestcoe (2005). "Banjo Ancestors: The Lutes of West Africa". Griot Lutes. ShlomoMusic.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Sachs and von Hornbostel, pg. 6-25
- ^ Charry, Eric (March 1996). "Plucked Lutes in West Africa: An Historical Overview". The Galpin Society Journal. 49. Galpin Society: 3–37. doi:10.2307/842390. JSTOR 842390.
Charry cites Balfour, Wachsmann and Brown; see Further reading
- ^ a b c Pestcoe
- ^ a b c Charry, Eric (March 1996). "Plucked Lutes in West Africa: An Historical Overview". The Galpin Society Journal. 49. Galpin Society: 3–37. doi:10.2307/842390. JSTOR 842390.
- ^ Coelho, pg. 45
Further reading
[edit]- Brown, Howard Mayer. "Chordophone". In Stanley Sadie (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, Volume II. London: Macmillan. pp. 549–553.
- Wachsmann, Klaus. "Lute 1: The Generic Term and Lute 2: Ancient Lutes". In Stanley Sadie (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, Volume II. London: Macmillan. pp. 549–553.