Gourd ekontings and other gourd lutes

One way that instrument making can be more accessible is making the bowl or sides and back out of a gourd. In banjos, fiddles, and other instruments, this was common practice in African-American music and still is in parts of Africa and elsewhere in the world (see ekonting, berimbau, and other gourd lutes). I imagine a mandolin or even a bouzouki, guitar, European lute, etc. could be made this way, so long as the gourd is big enough and there is an appropriate spike through it where the strings can put their tension without breaking the gourd.

It may be more suited to nylon than steel strings because of the weakness of gourd wood, but if designed properly, this may be a non issue.

The top is typically made either of wood, or with rawhide skin stretched and secured over the top--the latter is what African and African-American instruments tend to use, as well as instruments from other cultures around the world, the Chinese sanxian, Persian barbat, Mediterranean lyre, and others.

This is the process of making an ekonting, which is the ancestor instrument to the American banjo:

Ohh, this has captured my imagination.

Are some gourd types better for making music than others?   We are just starting our gardening plans for the year.  It might be fun to see if gourds can grow this far north.

This is a different take on gourd instruments, specifically the gourd fiddle.

Instead of adding wood or skin, holes are carved directly into the gourd which is used as the resonator.

r ransom wrote:Ohh, this has captured my imagination.

Are some gourd types better for making music than others?   We are just starting our gardening plans for the year.  It might be fun to see if gourds can grow this far north.

A neighbor of mine grew some very decent gourds in a slightly shaded yard, up a lilac bush. We do have a decent amount of hot days here but this definitely is not the center of gourd country. I think they started them indoors—it seems like doing that, gourds can be grown in many regions outside of where they’d mature naturally.

A kind of flute instrument is made from birdhouse gourd in China called Hulusi:

I went on youtube, and this video on making tanpuras from gourds was suggested to me:



It's titled "This Family Has Made Pumpkin Instruments For About 200 Years. Now Electric Ones Threaten Their Craft," but they're actually using gourds, not pumpkins.

I figured this video was perfect for permies, and this seems like the perfect thread for it!