Mark Meckes
3rd August 2001, 05:33 AM
It's a Humdinger !!!
Forty (odd) years ago, a child, I was in my elements, living in the interior highlands of Papua New Guinea, amongest the last people of a Bamboo/Stone Age culture....Like my child-hood, this time is gone forever...except for a few grains of memory...here tis...
One day I noticed a `bamboo (string/thumb-activated) jaw harp' stuck in the woven bamboo wall of my bedroom.
I picked it up and after great effort, and re-whittling of the prong, I gradually coaxed a tune out of it.
This harp, which I still have,has long since lost it's resonance.
In fact it was probably worn out when I first found it !
Bamboo Jaw Harp from Papua New Guinea - circa 1960 - Artist unknown.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/data/527/thumbs/8091Mvc-158fjwhpPNG.jpg Top side (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=640)
The `string' is plaited possum hide (with fur still attached at end)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/data/527/thumbs/809Mvc-159f.jpg Under Side (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=641)
The ball of `rubbery resin' that was originally stuck to the underside of the vibrating prong fell off many years ago, and was replaced in my teenage years with chewing-gum.
It is no longer there, and the (approx) 7"(18cm) prong-end is now as thin as a needle.
Thirty-eight years later I finally got around to experimenting at making some jaw harps of my own variation......
~ Mark
Forty (odd) years ago, a child, I was in my elements, living in the interior highlands of Papua New Guinea, amongest the last people of a Bamboo/Stone Age culture....Like my child-hood, this time is gone forever...except for a few grains of memory...here tis...
One day I noticed a `bamboo (string/thumb-activated) jaw harp' stuck in the woven bamboo wall of my bedroom.
I picked it up and after great effort, and re-whittling of the prong, I gradually coaxed a tune out of it.
This harp, which I still have,has long since lost it's resonance.
In fact it was probably worn out when I first found it !
Bamboo Jaw Harp from Papua New Guinea - circa 1960 - Artist unknown.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/data/527/thumbs/8091Mvc-158fjwhpPNG.jpg Top side (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=640)
The `string' is plaited possum hide (with fur still attached at end)
http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/data/527/thumbs/809Mvc-159f.jpg Under Side (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=641)
The ball of `rubbery resin' that was originally stuck to the underside of the vibrating prong fell off many years ago, and was replaced in my teenage years with chewing-gum.
It is no longer there, and the (approx) 7"(18cm) prong-end is now as thin as a needle.
Thirty-eight years later I finally got around to experimenting at making some jaw harps of my own variation......
~ Mark