Big Stuff Kit - Where it comes from
Text in this orange colour indicates that similar instruments can be found on every continent
Giant bamboo thunder drum
Ocean drum
This is a European variation of the “friction” drum. In all these drums the drumskin is made to vibrate by movements in the hair, string or spring.
This instrument is said to have originated in Nepal, far from the ocean. Its calming quality certainly fits with the Himalayan culture.
Bongos
Gamelan is a style of music that originated in Bali and Java and still thrives there today. The gamelan “orchestra” includes keyed instruments like this (some with 10 keys or more), gongs, flutes and cymbals.
Rainsticks 40cm & 60cm
Turtle cengceng
The rainstick probably originated with the Incas in Peru and is now found throughout south America, where it’s made using cactus plants, and southeast Asia, where it’s made using bamboo.
This is a type of dundun drum found in Mali and Guinea in west Africa. Similar doubleheaded drums are also found in Europe, the Balkans, India, China and Japan.
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Similar to traditional Japanese and Korean instruments, Binswara and Bak. Smaller clackers have also been used since the middle ages in Europe. Sometimes also called Kokrirko.
Gamelan 4 note (set of 3)
Said to have originated in Cuba in the nineteenth century. The larger drum is the “female” and the the smaller one the “male”.
Kenkeni
Long clacker
Another gamelan instrument from Bali, the cengceng (pronounced “chengcheng”) plays fast rhythms, often right across the main rhythm.
Pangi belt shaker
Djembe A style of drum with a distinctive “hour glass” shape, that is made and played all over west Africa and particularly in and around Mali. Big djembes like this are played with the hands, not sticks.
Made from the husks of the seeds of the Pangi tree that grows in Indonesia. Shakers, using local seed husks can be found in almost every culture.
Tong drum 4 note Also called the tongue drum or slit drum, this is one of the oldest types of instrument and is found throughout Africa, southeast Asia and Oceania.
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