The Mouth Bow....

- musical instruments -

Hi, all!! ^_^ Today, let's make an interesting, and easy-to-put-together musical instrument, used by many tribes in the North American continent.... the mouth bow.

Take any kind of wood branch - not too green, as you don't want it to be too easily bent, and not too dead, as you don't want it to be too easily broken.... and make it about the length of your arm. If you've got any whittling skills, that helps. Smooth out all the rough spots, until you get a good, straight (within reason) stick. Any deciduous (non-evergreen) hardwood works best - for wood with few knots, try the shoots or branches of willow.

Now, take some string - some like nylon because it makes a nice sound - I like to use natural fibers.... sinew, or artificial sinew (made from natural fibers) is best, in my humble opinion. Some people like to use hemp cord - I like that stuff too. But you also get a great sound from wire - I use copper, brass, or steel.... experiment with different thicknesses! Guitar strings work as well, but use non-wound strings.

Tie one end tightly around one end of your stick, and then, carefully bending the stick, tie the other end of the string around the other end of the stick.... it should look like a bow when you're done.

That is pretty much all there is to this instrument's construction, besides decoration - but how to play it?

Well, you place one end of the stick to your mouth, resting your open mouth to touch the stick - you can bite down, but you won't hear the same sounds as others do, so try to avoid it. See to it that the string is untouched by any part of your mouth (or anything), so that you do not interfere with the string's vibration. Touching your open mouth onto the part of the string that's wrapped around the stick is fine. Hold the other end of the bow with one hand, and with the other hand, pluck the string - you might even use a guitar pick, a smoothed down piece of bone, or a flat chip of rock, or whatever. You can also tap the string with a stick, or anything you invent for this. With the hand that holds the other end of the bow, by increasing or decreasing the bend in the bow, you can change the pitch and tone of this wonderfully versatile little stringed instrument. You can also change the pitch of the string's tone by sliding something along the string, like a guitar finger slide, a glass bottle, or the back of your camping knife.

Now, this here operates along the same lines as a jaw harp - you know, those twangy ol' thangs that we often hear cowboys play with on those old western shows? Changing the shape of your mouth's opening, and using your tongue to change the volume of the space inside your mouth, changes the sound this makes much in the same way as the good-old jaw harp (also known as a "Jew's harp").

To decorate and personalize your mouth bow, wrap with leather string, tie on some colourful feathers, coloured porcupine quillwork and/or claws, bone hairpipe beads, beads of other types, painting, woodburning, or even whittling - but see to it that you do not cut too far into the body of the instrument, or it will snap to pieces.... any whittling should well be done before you bend the bow for tying on the string - you may also decide to keep any whittling to just the bark layer, creating patterns and designs in that way.

A well made mouth bow can be a beauteous piece of artwork indeed - and a functional one to boot.... it makes music. A good one is one you'll keep for a very, very long time. Great at powwows or camping trips, and around a campfire. Have fun with it.

That's it for today's post, everyone - until tomorrow, have a good night! ^_^

- musical instruments –