Angkongtho or Ebuke
A bamboo instrument struck by boys during the Temne circumcision ritual.
Instruments made of sonorous materials (idiophones) comprises the largest and most widespread type in sub-Sahara Africa. Names of identical instruments change from region to region. Some instruments and the music linked to them have traveled beyond the African homeland to North and South America and the Caribbean. Idiophones are sounded by shaking (rattle, sistrums), beating together (iron clappers), or striking (xylophones, slit gongs, bells). they reinforce the rhythmic foundation of a piece, provide a melodic line, signal by imitating spoken languages, or perform rhythmic, melodic and communicative roles simultaneously.
Instruments made of sonorous materials (idiophones) comprises the largest and most widespread type in sub-Sahara Africa. Names of identical instruments change from region to region. Some instruments and the music linked to them have traveled beyond the African homeland to North and South America and the Caribbean. Idiophones are sounded by shaking (rattle, sistrums), beating together (iron clappers), or striking (xylophones, slit gongs, bells). they reinforce the rhythmic foundation of a piece, provide a melodic line, signal by imitating spoken languages, or perform rhythmic, melodic and communicative roles simultaneously.
Artwork Details
- Title: Angkongtho or Ebuke
- Date: mid-20th century
- Geography: Sierra Leone
- Culture: Sierra Leonean
- Medium: Bamboo
- Dimensions: H. 48.3 x Diam. 7 cm (19 x 2 3/4 in)
- Classification: Idiophone-Struck-slit drum
- Credit Line: Gift of Herbert J. Harris, 1986
- Object Number: 1986.467.97
- Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments
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