AN AFRICAN SLIT GONG

Look carefully at this picture of a sculpture in the shape of an animal. Can you figure out what kind of animal it is?

You are looking at a slit gong in the shape of a water buffalo. The image above is a close up of the water buffalo’s head. A slit gong is a hollowed out log with a slit carved into the top, which sounds like a drum when played. In Africa, the drum is used to send messages over long distances (up to 12 miles). Can you think of some ways music communicates? If you closed your eyes during a movie, how could you tell the difference between a scary scene and a funny scene?

If you were to make a soundtrack for a day in your life, what would the music sound like when you are:
waking up?
on your way to school?
at the playground?
eating dinner?
brushing your teeth?
going to bed?

Labola people Democratic Republic of the Congo (Central Africa)
SLIT DRUM IN THE FORM OF A BUFFALO, 20th century
Length 8 feet, 8 1/2 inches
Museum purchase with funds provided by the Thomas C. Colt, Jr., Memorial Fund, 1985.39

HANDS-ON ART CONNECTION: Make your own drum!

1. Make a drum frame by arranging your wood pieces to form a square with an open center.
2. Have an adult help you hammer a nail into each end holding the square together
3. Use markers to add color and designs to the drum frame.
4. Working from left to right, wrap packing tape all the way around the front and back of the drum (this should be done with one length of tape)
5. Add a second layer of tape so it crisscrosses at a 90% angle with the first.
6. Play your drum with your hands or with the eraser end of a pencil.

MATERIALS

• 1 roll of clear packing tape
• 4 wood pieces approximately 2”X2”X10”
• Hammer
• 4 nails
• Scissors
• Markers

For more information about this object, visit ACCESS ART.