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Fiberglass and wooden guiros are made by many percussion makers to be more durable when playing guiro instrument, while maintaining a smooth sound that’s closer to the original. While not as popular with traditional Latin percussionists, they are used in many Western popular and orchestral music pieces. Karl Peinkofer and Fritz Tannigel, Handbook of Percussion Instruments (Mainz, Germany: Schott, 1976), 154. The percussive instrument goes by many other names such as Güira, rascador, güícharo, candungo, carracho, rayo What are they usually made from?
Luigi Galvani, a lecturer at the University of Bologna, was researching the nervous system of frogs from around 1780. This research included the muscular response to opiates and static electricity, for which experiments the spinal cord and rear legs of a frog were dissected out together and the skin removed. In 1781, [5] an observation was made while a frog was being so dissected. An electric machine discharged just at the moment one of Galvani's assistants touched the crural nerve of a dissected frog with a scalpel. The frog's legs twitched as the discharge happened. [6] Galvani found that he could make the prepared leg of a frog (see the Construction section) twitch by connecting a metal circuit from a nerve to a muscle, thus inventing the first frog galvanoscope. [7] Galvani published these results in 1791 in De viribus electricitatis. [8] Many notable musicians also use it to produce classical orchestras, Bomba, reggae, and plena music. How to Play Guiro Instrument Clarke, Edwin; O'Malley, Charles Donald, The Human Brain and Spinal Cord: a historical study illustrated by writings from antiquity to the twentieth century, Norman Publishing, 1996 ISBN 0930405250.The frog galvanoscope, and other experiments with frogs, played a part in the dispute between Galvani and Alessandro Volta over the nature of electricity. The instrument is extremely sensitive and continued to be used well into the nineteenth century, even after electromechanical meters came into use. The guiro is a scrapper idiophone musical instrumentcommon in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. Guiro is a popular percussion instrument in dance music, including salsa. An entire frog's hind leg is removed from the frog's body with the sciatic nerve still attached, and possibly also a portion of the spinal cord. The leg is skinned, and two electrical connections are made. These may be made to the nerve and the foot of the frog's leg by wrapping them with metal wire or foil, [16] but a more convenient instrument is Matteucci's arrangement shown in the image. The leg is placed in a glass tube with just the nerve protruding. Connection is made to two different points on the nerve. [17] The vossa-satl utilizes live frogs, which are stored within the instrument and sprayed with a frog-musk to induce chirping and croaking, with the musician pushing on the valves to muffle or leave open certain chambers. Each chamber is a different size and produces a different tone. There are all kinds of vossa-satls, with some as small as a jaw harp and others as big as a pipe organ. Its sound is described as "bizarre but harmonious." [2]
What is the guiro instrument sound? The guiro sound is most often associated with the Puerto Rican and Cuban musical genres of son, trova, and salsa, as a rhythm accompaniment. The instrument is typically included in a percussion ensemble or played by a singer. Like maracas or claves, the guiro keeps time during a performance, making it a popular instrument for a lead singer. In addition to Latin music, the guiro is also found in the percussion sections of Western classical orchestras, sometimes referred to as a ‘grater’ in musical scores. The first guiro was first included in Latin orchestral pieces and later adopted by European composers. The frog galvanoscope can be used to detect the direction of electric current. A frog's leg that has been somewhat desensitised is needed for this. The sensitivity of the instrument is greatest with a freshly prepared leg and then falls off with time, so an older leg is best for this. The response of the leg is greater to currents in one direction than the other and with a suitably desensitised leg it may only respond to currents in one direction. For a current going into the leg from the nerve, the leg will twitch on making the circuit. For a current passing out of the leg, it will twitch on breaking the circuit. [21]Traditional guiros are made from the fruit of the higuero tree native to Puerto Rico. Gourds from many similar trees native to Latin and Central America are used, as well. The gourds are hollowed, dried and the shells carved with parallel notches. The width and placement of the notches or ridges creates slight changes in the sound but they are all very similar. The gourds may also include decorative carvings or paintings, particularly when used in folk or devotional music. The güiro was adapted from an instrument which might have originated in either South America or Africa. [1] The Aztecs produced an early cousin to the güiro, called the omitzicahuastli, which was created from a small bone with serrated notches and was played in the same manner as the güiro. [6] The Taíno people of the Caribbean have been credited with the origins of the güiro. [7] The Taínos of Puerto Rico developed the güajey, a long gourd or animal bone with notches, an antecedent of the modern day güiro. [8]
The güiro is a notched, hollowed-out gourd. [3] Often, the calabash gourd is used. [4] The güiro is made by carving parallel circular stripes along the shorter section of the elongated gourd. Today, many güiros are made of wood or fiberglass. [5] History [ edit ] Fun Fact: There are other gourd-based percussion instruments, which include the shekere. What Kind of Music Is the Guiro Used For? The shape of the Guiro can affect the sound it produces, with longer Guiros producing lower-pitched sounds. Guiros add a distinctive sound to any music genre, from Latin to pop, and are preferred in different regions of the world. The history of the guiro The traditional way of making guiros is by using the hollowed-out gourd fruit from the higüero plant, a native tree in Puerto Rico. You can also use gourds from other trees found in Latin and Central America. Blench, Roger. 2009. A guide to the musical instruments of Cameroun: classification, distribution, history and vernacular names. Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.Across Latin America and the Caribbean, the güiro can be found in a variety of traditional, folk dance music and used in dance ensembles and religious festivals. [5] In the Yucatán Peninsula, the güiro is used in two Mayan dances, the mayapax and the jarana. [7] In Cuba, the güiro is used in the genre danzón. [7] In Puerto Rico, the güiro often associated with the music of the jíbaro and is used in the musical genres of the plena, the seis, and the danza. [8] [12] In the Caribbean coast, the güiro was used in traditional, folk dance cumbia music and is still used in modern cumbia music. [7] In Panama, the güiro can be found in folk dances such as the merjorana and cumbia. [5] Use in classical music [ edit ] Russell, Craig (1998). "Music: Mesoamerica Through Seventeenth Century". Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture. Fun Fact:Different notches sizes and textured surfaces make distinct characteristic sounds of the instrument. It is also not unusual to find a guiro shaped like a frog. The güiro, like the maracas, is often played by a singer. It is closely related to the Cuban guayo, Dominican güira, and Haitian graj which are made of metal. Other instruments similar to the güiro are the Colombian guacharaca, the Brazilian reco-reco, the quijada (cow jawbone) and the frottoir (French) or fwotwa (French Creole) ( washboard). [1] Etymology [ edit ]
The scraped idiophone is a common type of percussion instrument found all over the world, likely developed around the same time as other gourd-based percussion instruments. These were native to many indigenous cultures as part of folk and ceremonial performances. The guiro is believed to have originated in Puerto Rico with the Taíno people, the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean in the 16th century and beyond. The earliest recorded reference to the instrument was in 1788, by a monk and Puerto Rico historian called Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra. He described it as an instrument to accompany dancers along with maracas and tambourines.Latin Americans use an ensemble of percussion instruments to produce some of the best upbeat rhythms and musical patterns. And the güiro instrument is one of them.In this article, you’ll discover what a guiro is, how it sounds, and more. What Is a Guiro Instrument? The frog galvanoscope was a sensitive electrical instrument used to detect voltage [1] in the late 18th and 19th centuries. It consists of a skinned frog's leg with electrical connections to a nerve. The instrument was invented by Luigi Galvani and improved by Carlo Matteucci. Guiros vary in material and size but they typically fall between 25 and 40 cm long. Traditional gourd guiros with wooden scrapers are still popular all over the world, but there are many different types of these instruments that produce a wide variety of distinct sounds. Matteucci used the frog galvanoscope to study the relationship of electricity to muscles, including in freshly amputated human limbs. Matteucci concluded from his measurements that there was an electric current continually flowing from the interior, to the exterior of all muscles. [14] Matteucci's idea was widely accepted by his contemporaries, but this is no longer believed and his results are now explained in terms of injury potential. [15] Construction [ edit ]
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