M'Kul
Able to produce four tones when struck on its side and ends, this hollowed log may be used to accompany dance and send messages. Instruments made of sonorous materials (idiophones) comprise 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: M'Kul
- Date: late 19th century
- Geography: Republic of Cameroon
- Culture: Fang people
- Medium: Wood
- Dimensions: Height: 25 in. (63.5 cm)
Diameter: 14 in. (35.6 cm) - Classification: Idiophone-Struck-slit drum
- Credit Line: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
- Object Number: 89.4.556
- Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments
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Lobala
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Fang people
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Fang people
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