Making Gourd Musical Instruments: Over 60 String, Wind & Percussion Instruments & How to Play Them - Softcover

Summit, Ginger; Widess, Jim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806976837 ISBN 13: 9780806976839

Publisher: Sterling, 2002

Synopsis

“Actual instructions on gourd transformations into spike fiddles, water drums, and even xylophones are included.”—Booklist. “Highly recommended for general crafts as well as ethnomusicology collections.”—Library Journal. “Get this Book!”—Whole Earth.

About this title

About the Author

I have always been interested in handcrafts of all types, since a young child. I drew upon this interest often in my career as a Special Education teacher. Soon after retiring in 1990, I discovered the world of gourdcraft. After a fruitless search for books on the topic, Jim Widess and I agreed that the time was right for a new book, and a whole new world opened up! Artists around the country responded with enthusiasm and creativity to our inquiries, and the resulting books reflect the tremendous potential that the gourd has provided humans since earliest times. The great appeal of gourds to the craft world lies in their flexibility: the variety of shapes and textures of this ancient plant always suggest new possibilities to the crafter. Gourds can be embellished and adapted to work with all mediums available to artists today, and can be enjoyed for individuals with all levels of skill. In addition to growing gourds, I have been able to explore cultures and unimagined areas of human activity, from very functional containers to highly artistic expressions of music, dance, art and culture identities. It has been a great satisfaction to participate in the great gourd world, passing on a traditiion that has been such an important part of human history.

From Booklist

The authors introduce readers to make-it-yourself musical instruments. There is an amazing wealth of information here, covering not only how-to's and history but also extending into the social sciences and even science. We learn that pigeon flutes (crafted gourds attached to the birds' tails) were first mentioned about A.D. 1041 A.D. and that drummers are highly respected in India. Actual instructions on gourd transformations into spike fiddles, water drums, and even xylophones are included, along with a few photographs. But all the erudition tends to drown out the craft aspect, since instructions are sandwiched within the narrative text, and photographs are less than optimal. Nonetheless, a book that patient crafters will appreciate. Barbara Jacobs

Edition details

• Publisher: Sterling
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806976837
• ISBN 13: 9780806976839
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144