Rattle strap

Unknown

20th century · Cord, nuts · Musical Instruments

One of many types of jingles worn by the dancers to underscore the rhythm of dance. Seeds, nuts, horns, hooves, shells or metal may be attached to straps or threaded on string and worn around the neck, ankles, arms or calves. Instruments made of sonorous materials (idiophones) comprises the largest and most widespread type in sub-Sahara Africa. Names of identical instruments change from region to region. Some instruments and the music linked to them have traveled beyond the African homeland to North and South America and the Caribbean. Idiophones are sounded by shaking (rattle, sistrums), beating together (iron clappers), or striking (xylophones, slit gongs, bells). they reinforce the rhythmic foundation of a piece, provide a melodic line, signal by imitating spoken languages, or perform rhythmic, melodic and communicative roles simultaneously.

Artist

Unknown

Date

20th century

Medium

Cord, nuts

Culture

African

Department

Musical Instruments

Credit line

Gift of Herbert J. Harris, 1986