Arthur Stephans is literally sowing seeds for an orchestra this spring. The gourds filling his garden in the summer will be transformed into all sorts of percussion, wind, and string instruments. After over 20 years, his passion for hand-crafted historical instruments hasn’t waned. “That’s the appeal,” he remarks, “you grow the gourds and with just a few things from your tool shed, you have your own home-grown instruments. Our motto is, you can plant a seed and grow an orchestra.”
In related articles, Arthur shares an introduction to crafting gourd musical instruments and offers instructions for making simple gourd water drums, rattles, and rainsticks. The gourd drums, flutes, and horns described here are slightly more complicated than the three percussion instruments outlined in the previous article.
For this reason, musicians will appreciate detailed information found in the book Making Gourd Musical Instruments: Over 60 String, Wind, and Percussion Instruments and How to Play Them by Ginger Summit. The book includes invaluable step by step instructions and diagrams which are almost essential for the more complicated wind and string instruments.
How to Make Gourd Drums
Large bushel basket gourds, kettle gourds, or any large round variety with a thick shell make excellent drums. Musicians can begin by cutting off the top and bottom, and then scraping away as much pulp as possible from the inner shell. The outer shell can be decorated with paint, wood stain, or with a wood burner. Finally, the gourd can be sealed inside and out with a coat of polyurethane to make the drum more resonant and durable.
“To give our drums more strength,” Arthur says, “we’ve actually used fiberglass. The drums are open at both ends while we’re making them, so it’s easy to get to the inside. In the end, we’ll put a hide on one end and leave the other open.”
To strengthen the drums, we get a resin and fiberglass cloth. You don’t have to use the cloth, but it makes the drum just a little stronger.”
“The resin is an epoxy that hardens into something like a plastic. You usually get an A and B part of the liquid and once you mix them together, you have about thirty minutes before the mixture hardens up. You’ll either pour them or use a brush to apply the resin to the inside.”
“Fiberglass cloth is a thickly woven material that’s pliable. You can cut it into five or ten inch pieces and overlap them as you line the inside of the drum. They’re just going to be embedding in the resin, so it doesn’t have to be perfect, but the more evenly placed, the better. You cut each piece, place it inside the resin, and it seeps into the layer becoming part of the fiber that holds it all together. It does add a lot of strength to withstand the tightening of the head. Gourds can be fragile, but this helps them last a little longer.”
“We have different methods for attaching a head to a drum. Some of the heads are actually attached right to the side of the drum. They’re put on wet. If the gourd is thick enough, you can put a big brass tack right through it, and the head will tighten down as it dries. Otherwise, we use the method used on djembe drums. A ring at the top holds the hide and a ring at the bottom. A cord is woven tightly around the rings to tighten the head. You can adjust it according to the weather.”
How to Make Gourd Horns and Flutes
“Another instrument we have is like a horn,” continues Arthur. “We typically make them from long-handled dippers. I cut off the bell end and put a little beeswax on the mouthpiece.
“For a flute, I’d use the handle of a long-handled dipper. That’s usually about the right size. If you make a side-blown flute, it’s a little easier than making a fipple-end flute. But one of the easiest ways to make a fipple flute is to cut off the end of a long-handled dipper and use a piece of cork about an inch long that has a little bevel cut in the top. You’ll stick that in the end of the gourd to force air to the hole you’ve placed just at the end of the cork.”
To hear how these instruments sound, readers may be interested to check out the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra’s CDs. With attention to detail and creativity, the possibilities for gourds are almost limitless.
Quotes gained in conversation with Arthur Stephens of the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra.
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