Archivio Storico:- ex Dipartimento di Musica e Spettacolo - Universita' di Bologna 12

Musical Instruments
  

The musical instruments used by the B'net Houariyat are exclusively percussion membranophones and idiophones, as typical of the majority of female groups. These are instruments constructed - at times by the singers themselves - utilizing simple materials, such as wood, terracotta and leather, or objects of common use, such as metal plates or the mechanic parts of old cars. The whole instrumentarium is called douzan (from the verb douz, "to carry"), a terms which emphasizes the ease with which it can be transported. The correct tuning of the membranes of the drums is fundamental to the musical result of the percussive complex, and is obtained with the use of a brazier and a bowl of water: the heat pulls the membranes, while humidity loosens them. Outside the local context, in the "concerts-shows" staged abroad by the group, the brazier is substituted by a source of electrically powered heat, which is generally a spotlight outside the stage area. 


Drums


Heating up the drums
  (mov file: 555 kb)


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Archivio Storico:- ex Dipartimento di Musica e Spettacolo - Universita' di Bologna