Luba bell - Figure - Luba - Congo

Single bell struck with a stick, rod or animal horn. Single and double clapperless bells made from forged iron are sounded to send messages, make announcements, and perform divination. These widespread idiophones are called by many different names. Agogo, a term used by the Yoruba and other Nigerian peoples to indicate a struck clapperless bell, is also found in Afro-Caribbean cultures. The bell's timbre is varied by letting it ring freely or by damping it against the chest. Instruments made of sonorous materials (idiophones) comprise the largest and most widespread type in sub-Saharan 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. Provenance: Jean-Michel Huguenin, Paris

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