The Musical Bow

The musical bow is one of simplest and oldest of instruments. It is believed to have developed from the hunting bow, which is similarly widespread. Although some variant on the musical bow has been discovered in most parts of the world (the earliest example is a cave painting in France that dates to 15,000 BC), it is currently most prevalent in Africa. The basic components of the instrument are a bent stick, a string, and a resonating chamber. The last of these opens the door to a great deal of diversity in design, for the resonating chamber might be a gourd, a tin, a pot, a bucket, the mouth of the performer (in which case the instrument is termed a "mouth bow"), or anything that will boost the volume of the vibrating string. The string itself can be set into motion using a number of techniques, and the performer might do something to manipulate its pitch. As a result, the variety in musical bows is almost endless.

The musical bow is usually employed as a solo instrument. It is often used to provide entertainment, but it sometimes plays a role in ceremonies. For example, this bow is used as part of an initiation rite for the Akele in Gabon:

In this case, the performer activates the string by striking it with a reed held in his right hand. He controls the pitch by increasing and decreasing the string tension with a knife held in his left hand. The resonating chamber is his mouth, which he also uses to sing.

In this video, a man from another region constructs and plays a similar bow--but he uses it for a less serious purpose (a game of hide and seek):

Here is a boy playing a musical bow that uses a tin can as a resonator. He activates the string with his right hand and controls pitch with his left:

He only uses three pitches, but the rhythm is infectious! You could dance to this. And sometimes people do:

This time the resonator is a gourd, held to the player's stomach. The range of timbres is really amazing. But it's hard to focus on anything other than those rockin' kids.

Here's a final example, with yet another resonator and playing technique:

In this case the timbre is quite different, but the rhythmic sense and exploitation of a limited pitch set echo the previous examples. In addition, the instrument is once again constructed and played by a man.

References:

http://music.africamuseum.be/determination/english/instruments/musical%20bow.html

http://www.mfa.org/collections/search?search_api_views_fulltext=musical+bow

Paul Oliver, "Picking Bow/Mouth Bow," in Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Volume II.