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Man's Early Musical Instruments

Various Artists
Man's Early Musical Instruments

This 1956 educational compilation was edited by famed German musicologist Curt Sachs (1881–1959). Sachs was a co–creator of the Sachs–Hornbostel system of musical instrument classification, which the album showcases using examples from previous Folkways recordings. The album begins with the most basic percussion, foot–stamping and hand–clapping. It continues with various membranophones (skin–sounders), idiophones (self–sounders), aerophones (wind instruments), and chordophones (stringed instruments), and finishes with various examples of orchestral combinations of them all. The liner notes include an introductory essay by Sachs along with photographs and a discography of the source material used.

EN ESPAÑOL

Esta compilación educativa de 1956 fue editada por el famoso musicólogo alemán Curt Sachs (1881–1959). Sachs fue un co-creador del sistema de Sachs-Hornbostel de clasificación de instrumentos musicales, que el álbum muestra usando ejemplos de anteriores grabaciones de Folkways.

El álbum comienza con la percusión, más básica, taconeo y palmas. Continúa con diversos membranófonos (resonadores), idiófonos (auto sonidos), y aerófonos (instrumentos de viento) y cordófonos (instrumentos de cuerda) y termina con varios ejemplos de combinaciones orquestales de todos ellos. Las notas incluyen un ensayo introductorio de Sachs, junto con fotografías y una discografía de la materia prima utilizada.

*Content Advisory: Smithsonian Folkways has chosen to remove this compilation from circulation because all of the tracks found on it are available elsewhere in the catalog in their own cultural context. This compilation was a project that promoted a now-discredited school of thought in early-twentieth-century scholarship, assuming that communities not characterized by Western cultural patterns and processes were “pure” reflections of earlier stages of cultural evolution. This school of thought has perpetuated racist views and policies toward the Indigenous peoples it characterizes. Presenting Indigenous music as “primitive” is harmful to the communities that create it, their descendants, and to public discourse in general. We encourage the reader to learn more by clicking here.
For our policy on controversial recordings, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Track Listing

101
Māori male singer and mixed chorus with drummer
00:35  
102
Vincente Escudero
00:35  
103
Group of Bulu women, Cameroon
00:44  
104
Group of Yolngu men and women, Australia
00:21  
105
Group of Hanunóo women playing kalutang (musical sticks), Philippines
00:31  
106
Krisnaswāmī Iyer
00:52  
107
Yawalapití men, ceremonial chant with rattles, Mato Grosso
00:41  
108
Musicians playing alghoza, ghara (clay pitcher), Pakistan
00:21  
109
Kamayurá men singing, playing rattles, Mato Grosso
00:31  
110
Male singer with guiro (scraper), Mexico
00:34  
111
Mbala chief, Democratic Republic of the Congo
00:55  
112
Quechua musicians playing tinya and quena, Quispicanchis
00:38  
113
Philip Broken Leg
00:46  
114
Polly, Atitah, Mikusha, and Billy Boy of Shugliaq, Nunavut
01:38  
115
Bukharian women with doyra accompaniment, Palestine
01:05  
116
Yoruba drummers at annual festival of Orisa-nla, Nigeria
01:52  
117
Petro drummers, Haiti
00:35  
118
D.K. Pattamal
02:03  
119
Pat waing player, Myanmar
01:28  
201
Gong ensemble, hne (oboe) player, male singer, Myanmar
01:59  
202
Hanunóo gong ensemble, Philippines
00:37  
203
Nōmanji Temple bell, Kawasaki, Japan
00:25  
204
Master Dattopant and Group
02:33  
205
Three Yasua balafon players, Ogooué River Region
01:34  
206
Bapindi men, Kikongo village, Western Congo
00:44  
207
Hanunóo kinaban player, Philippines
00:33  
208
Didjeridu puller with rhythm sticks, Australia
00:39  
209
Men playing antelope horn, iron bell, and mixed chorus, Democratic Republic of the Congo
00:31  
210
Male singer with ciaramella, zampogna, Caserta, Italy
01:22  
211
Shepherd piper with kanun accompaniment, Greece
01:15  
212
Barzani dozaleh player, Kurdistan
01:08  
213
Patrick J. Touhey
00:44  
214
Accordion player with percussionist, Chavantina, Brazil
01:02  
215
Kaval (flute) player, Macedonia
01:21  
216
Svirala (flute) player, Serbia
00:40  
217
Jerome Vanderburg
00:48  
218
Two Kamayurá men playing tarawi (double flute), Brazil
00:45  
219
Pierre Rochas
00:43  
220
Aymara pan-pipe orchestra, Lake Titicata region, Peru
01:04  
221
Temiar nose flute player recorded at Gerik, Malaysia
01:31  
301
Christophe Oxilas
00:47  
302
Mboko man playing musical bow, Cameroon
00:55  
303
U Ba Than
01:09  
304
Tzotzil harpist, Mexico
01:09  
305
Swami D. R. Parvatikar
01:36  
306
Group of Hanunóo children, Philippines
01:06  
307
Ruhenzi
01:14  
308
Lengleik player, Norway
01:08  
309
Masenqo player, Gura Valley, Eritrea
01:40  
310
Wolof géwël (griot) accompanying himself on xalam
01:20  
311
Two male singers accompanied by tambura, Montenegro
01:16  
312
Female singer with shamisen accompaniment, Okayama
02:00  
313
Dock Boggs
01:19  
314
Niño Ricardo and la Niña de los Peines
02:38  
315
Manola El de Badajoz
00:27  
316
Hanunóo boy, Philippines
01:13  
401
Guslar (singer) accompanying himself on gusle, Montenegro
01:15  
402
Musicians playing sarinda, flute, ghara (clay pitcher), Pakistan
01:38  
403
Musicians playing huqin, yangqin, China
01:25  
404
Tcherawata player, Gura Valley, Eritrea
01:05  
405
Folk singer Sadik, Black Sea region, Turkey
00:58  
406
Johannes Dale
01:20  
407
Georges Simon
01:35  
408
Gamelan orchestra, Koeta, Indonesia
02:57  
409
Sein Be Dar Orchestra
01:30  
410
Bang Khun Phrom Palace Orchestra
03:14  
411
String ensemble with violin, Romania
03:06  
412
Cobla ensemble, Catalonia
03:08