Mat Clements, who delivers The Big Drum Adventure, has been working across the Borders with the YMI programme since 2010. He delivers a gateway music programme which takes a whole primary class on a musical journey with drums, percussion and voice.
The project introduces pupils to the exciting world of music making, building rhythm, playing and performance skills to give each pupil the confidence to progress to the next level.
In this Museum of Amazing Musical InstrumentsMat the Hat introduces the Udu
And if you’re wanting to do an activity whilst you’re visiting the museum, there’s an accompanying quiz for each minstrument and web links to explore.
The Udo
This is the udu – a musical clay pot. How do you do, udu?
Udu pots originally came from Nigeria, Africa, but today they are made all over the world. The musical clay pot is popular in India, where it’s called a Ghatam.
In the Igbo language of Nigeria the word Udu means a vessel, but I think it’s also like the sound the instrument makes – ooo doo!
This udu is made of clay and has tiny grains of iron embedded in the clay to help improve the sound of the drum. You play it by covering the holes in the side or the top. If you bounce your hand over the hole, you make the ‘oooo’, if you place your hand you make a ‘doooo’.
Udu clay pots are a wonderful example of how something from the home becomes a musical instrument. Before they were made with a hole in the side, udu vessels would be placed under ground to store water or milk in order to keep the contents cool. They could be described as the world’s oldest refrigerator!
The udu is a quieter drum that’s nice to play on your own or with other softer sounding instruments. Some players put water inside the drum, which changes the pitch.
Link
Here are some other videos you can watch to learn more about the Udo, how is is played and made.
In this Museum of Amazing Musical InstrumentsMat the Hat introduces the Yantra.
And if you’re wanting to do an activity whilst you’re visiting the museum, there’s an accompanying quiz for each minstrument and web links to explore.
The yantra is a gentle and melodic drum, and is my musical partner to the Hang drum. The notes ring loud and pure.
The yantra is a tank drum – it is made out of an old propane gas tank. It’s been cut down to this lovely shape, but you can still see the letters underneath. It was made by a man called Jason who lives in Newburgh, Fife, in central Scotland. How do I know that – because I asked him to make this drum especially for me!
The yantra is a really sturdy drum, one that anyone can play with any sort of sticks – it’sindestructible and a great drum to take to a party! I don’t even need a case for it.
Some people call drums like this a tongue drum because the musical notes are made by playing each of these tongues that have been cut into the body. Each of the tongues is tuned to a different note on the scale of F major. The yantra is a tuned drum that I can play with any other instrument, but I especially like to play it with my Hang because the notes are similar. In music, this is because the scales that the two instruments play are related – D minor and F major.
The yantra drum get’s it’s name because yantra is the Sanskrit word for a mystical diagram that is important to members of the Hindu religion. The tongues on the drum look like a picture that you might meditate on. I think it’s rather beautiful!
Links
Here are some other videos you can watch to learn more about the Udo, how is is played and made.
In this second Museum of Amazing Musical InstrumentsMat the Hat introduces the Berimbau.
And if you’re wanting to do an activity whilst you’re visiting the museum, there’s an accompanying quiz for each minstrument and web links to explore.
The Berimbau
The Berimbau is a musical bow from Brazil. Some bows shoot arrows, but this bow shoots musical notes! It produces a unique sound that’s both rhythmic and hypnotic.
You’ll never find a berimbau that’s been made in a factory – all the parts of this minstument either grow naturally, or are recycled. The big bow is made from the wood of the beriba tree and is strung with wire that comes out of a car tyre. The gourd slides over one end – in Brazil this part is called the cabaça.
The berimbau produces three tones – a low note, a high note and a buzz tone. You move the berimbau to and from your tummy to make a wah wah sound that brings the instrument to life.
Berimbau rhythms are called toques. You will usually find a berimbau played for a martial art called capoeira, which is a sport that is very popular in Brazil. The rhythms of the berimbau tell the capoeira players how to play, and everyone sings along.
You hit the berimbau with a stick called a baqueta, which is held with a caxixi in your right hand. Your left hand holds the instrument by balancing it on your little finger, which takes a little while to get used to. Your left hand also holds the dobrão, which is shaped like an old Portuguese coin.
The berimbau travelled to Brazil from Africa in the days of slavery. The African slaves were kept in terrible conditions and weren’t allowed to dance or have any sort of fun, so practicing capoeira and playing the berimbau had to be done in secret. Nowadays capoeira is popular all over the world – it’s a great way to keep fit and play music at the same time.
Pronunciation guide
Berimbau: beh-rim-bow
Capoeira: caa-po-wayra
Toques: toks
Cabaça: kabassa
Caxixi : caa-shi-shi
Dobrão: dobraow (as in a cat’s meeaow)
Link
Here are some other videos you can watch to learn more about the Udo, how is is played and made.
This is the udu – a musical clay pot. How do you do, udu?
Udu pots originally came from Nigeria, Africa, but today they are made all over the world. The musical clay pot is popular in India, where it’s called a Ghatam.
In the Igbo language of Nigeria the word Udu means a vessel, but I think it’s also like the sound the instrument makes – ooo doo!
This udu is made of clay and has tiny grains of iron embedded in the clay to help improve the sound of the drum. You play it by covering the holes in the side or the top. If you bounce your hand over the hole, you make the ‘oooo’, if you place your hand you make a ‘doooo’.
Udu clay pots are a wonderful example of how something from the home becomes a musical instrument. Before they were made with a hole in the side, udu vessels would be placed under ground to store water or milk in order to keep the contents cool. They could be described as the world’s oldest refrigerator!
The udu is a quieter drum that’s nice to play on your own or with other softer sounding instruments. Some players put water inside the drum, which changes the pitch.
Link
Here are some other videos you can watch to learn more about the Udo, how is is played and made.
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Mat Clements, who delivers The Big Drum Adventure, has been working across the Borders with the YMI programme since 2010. He delivers a gateway music programme which takes a whole primary class on a musical journey with drums, percussion and voice.
