Lehigh Valley Folk Music Society
Instruments
Percussion

Djembe	Doumbek	Tambourine	Washboard	Spoons	Triangle	Claves	Castanets	Shakers

A hollow fallen log, which by accident was found to produce sound, was probably the origin of both music and human communication, even predating vocal speech. The Djembe drum played by our group's percussionist is actually a hollowed African tree trunk with a skin drum head, a form which evolved from the early hollow log drum. Since then, tambourines and many other drum forms evolved, mostly originating on the African continent. Our percussionist also plays the Doumbec drum -- a smaller Mideastern version of the Djembe, typically made of ceramic, metal or fiberglass. Most other percussion sounds --jingles, rasps and other sound-making techniques, like hand-clapping, probably evolved in a similar way -- to help ancient villagers who were separated by distance and culture to communicate in a universal language. Our musicians also specialize in other more modern American folk music percussion instruments that originated in the mountain music of Appalachia - the spoons and the washboard. Mountain musicians grabbed onto just about anything they could from the kitchen to the laundry to carry the beat to the lively music to which they sang and danced.
Castanets are a percussion instrument much used in Spanish and Latin American music for the calypso and flamenco folk styles. The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by string. These are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or a ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks. They are traditionally made of hardwood and those used by LVFMS are made of oak.