Hosho (instrument)
Encyclopedia
HOTA
HOTA is an acronym for Home Office Type Approval, a testing and certification process by the Home Office in the United Kingdom that speed cameras must pass before evidence from them can be admissible in UK courts by way of certification in accordance with Section 20 of the Road Traffic Offenders...
(Canna indica
Canna indica
Canna indica L. is a species of the Canna genus, belonging to the family Cannaceae, a native of the Caribbean and tropical Americas that is also widely cultivated as a garden plant...
) seeds inside them. The hosho are used to accompany Shona music
Shona music
Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, hosho and drumming. Very often, this music will be accompanied by dancing, and participation by the audience...
, especially mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
music. They make a rattling sound that western ears may be unaccustomed to hearing. However, this accompaniment is essential when playing mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
and or Marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
music. So essential, in fact, that extra vibrating elements, such as mirliton
Mirliton
Mirliton may refer to:*Chayote or mirliton, a pear-shaped vegetable or its vine*Mirliton , a comic book cat character created by Raymond Macherot and Raoul Cauvin*Mirliton, a type of membranophone...
s (buzzing membranes made from spider webs) are attached to the resonating tubes of Marimbas and machachara (miniature Hosho made from seashells or bottle caps) are attached to the Mbira and its Deze
Deze
In Zimbabwean Shona music, a deze is a halved calabash gourd in which an Mbira is placed in order to amplify its sound. It is typically round in shape and has bottle caps, shells or other objects strung around its perimeter which vibrate with the Mbira, creating a buzzing sound. Cracked deze...
. Mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
s and Marimbas from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
; and even other instruments, such as drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s will have some kind of rattles associated with their use.
From a western perspective the hosho are seen as accompanying instruments to Mbira, when in actuality they are seen as the lead instruments by the mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
players. See a typical use of the hosho by selecting the link at the end of this paragraph, as played together with the mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
at Zimfest 2008, by Musekiwa Chingodza
Musekiwa Chingodza
Musekiwa Chingodza is a Zimbabwean mbira and marimba player and teacher. He was born in 1970 in Zimbabwe.- Biography :Musekiwa Chingodza was born in Mwangara village, Murewa, Zimbabwe, in 1970. He began playing mbira at the age of five and is self-taught. Through listening to other gwenyambira, or...
. Zimfest is the premier event promoting the playing of mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
and Marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
in the U.S.http://www.youtube.com/v/4uKMli4Nn0A&hl=en&fs=1
A smaller version of the hosho is made of a wild orange called a damba
Damba
The damba is a species of cichlid fish from several river basins in northwestern Madagascar. This includes populations in far northern Madagascar that some have speculated represented an undescribed species, but a comparison of specimens did not support this, instead maintaining them as part of P....
, tied together with sticks and filled with hota
HOTA
HOTA is an acronym for Home Office Type Approval, a testing and certification process by the Home Office in the United Kingdom that speed cameras must pass before evidence from them can be admissible in UK courts by way of certification in accordance with Section 20 of the Road Traffic Offenders...
seeds or pebbles.
Other related percussion instrument
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
s from Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
include the magavhu (leg rattle) and ngoma
Ngoma
Ngoma, Zambia is the only settlement in the south of Kafue National Park. It is a short way south of Itezhi-Tezhi Dam. Ngoma is the home of the head warden for the south half of the park, and for around 200 game wardens and their families employed by ZAWA...
(drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
).
See also
- MbiraMbiraIn African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
- Shona musicShona musicShona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, hosho and drumming. Very often, this music will be accompanied by dancing, and participation by the audience...
- Music of AfricaMusic of AfricaAfrica is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
- Music of ZimbabweMusic of ZimbabweZimbabwean music includes folk and pop styles, much of it based on the well-known instrument the mbira which is also popular in many other African countries. An annual Zimbabwe Music Festival is held each year in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. People from all over the world attend...
- ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...