Vibraslap

Last updated
Vibraslap
Vibraslap.JPG
A vibraslap manufactured by Latin Percussion
Latin Percussion vibraslap showing metal teeth VibraslapII.JPG
Latin Percussion vibraslap showing metal teeth

The vibraslap is a percussion instrument consisting of a piece of stiff wire (bent into a U-shape) connecting a wooden ball to a hollow box of wood. The percussionist holds the metal wire in one hand and strikes the ball (usually against the palm of their other hand). The box acts as a resonating body for a metal mechanism placed inside with a number of loosely fastened pins or rivets that vibrate and rattle against the box. [1] The instrument is a modern version of the jawbone. [2]

Contents

History

The vibraslap comes from the African jawbone instrument. This is the lower jawbone of a donkey or a zebra which has loose teeth that rattle when the instrument is struck. [3] The instrument was carried by enslaved people to South America where it became known as the jawbone (quijada in Spanish). [4] It became used in Latin American music in the ensuing centuries.

The modern vibraslap was invented by Martin Cohen in 1967. [5] [ better source needed ] Cohen was told by percussionist Bobby Rosengarden, "If you want to make some money, make a jawbone that doesn't break." About the inventing process, Cohen remembers, "I had never seen a jawbone before, but I had heard one on a Cal Tjader album. I found out that it was an animal skull that you would strike, and the sound would come from the teeth-rattling in the loose sockets. So I took that concept and invented the Vibraslap, which was my first patent." [6] The vibraslap was the first patent granted to the instrument manufacturing company Latin Percussion. [7]

References

  1. ↑ "Vibra-Slap". Virginia Tech Online Music Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2009-09-25. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Donkey Call or Vibraslap". Ethnic Musical Instruments.com. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  3. ↑ Karl Peinkofer and Fritz Tannigel, Handbook of Percussion Instruments, (Mainz, Germany: Schott, 1976), 159.
  4. ↑ "Afro Peruvian Percussion". artdrum.com. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  5. ↑ US3439572A,Cohen, Martin B.,"Percussion instrument",issued 1969-04-22
  6. ↑ "PASIC 2012 Archived August 24, 2014, at the Wayback Machine ", PAS.org. URL last accessed December 11, 2009.
  7. ↑ "LP Vibra-Slap II - Standard Wood (LP208)". Steve Weiss Music. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.