COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.89.4.492
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Nationality:
African; West African; Gambian; Mandinka; Malinke
Creator Role:
Maker
Creator Name-CRT:
Made by Mandinka people
Title:
Balo
Title Type:
Object name
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
19th century
Creation Start Date:
1800
Creation End Date:
1899
Materials and Techniques:
Wood, gourd, hide, membrane
Classification Term:
Idiophone/struck/tonal
Classification Term:
Xylophone
Dimensions:
H. 8 5/8 in. (22 cm); L. 34 in. (86.5 cm); D. 17 7/8 in. (45.5 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
89.4.492
Credit Line:
The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
Context:
This balo is a xylophone with 15 gourd-resonated bars of wood. Among the Manding peoples, professional male musicians play such xylophones to accompany praise songs in a manner akin to music of the kora. Each hand holds a rubber-tipped mallet and bells are strapped to the player's wrist to add rhythmic emphasis. A sound modifier is affixed over the holes located under the bars in the side of each gourd located. In old examples such as this one, the modifier, which produces a buzzing sound essential to the African music aesthetic, is made of a membrane from a spider's-egg case. Today, makers use a more durable and accessible material-cigarette paper.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.mi89.4.492.R.tif
Link To Source
Balo
