Instruments (3)

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Les Cigar Box Guitar que nous connaissons et liées à la musique blues ou folk sont indéniablement des réalisations américaines. Celles d'esclaves qui ont adaptés sur le sol américain des instruments qu'ils construisaient et pratiquaient en Afrique. Du Diddley Bow unicorde à la CBG de 2, 3, ou 4 cordes à l'imitation de produits plus luxueux qu'ils ne pouvaient se payer comme la contrebasse, le violon, la guitare à 6 cordes, on peut dire que tous les instruments sont passés par leurs mains expertes pour arriver dans les nôtres aujourd’hui.

Mais ce type d'instruments et leurs constructions n'est pas un phénomène isolé mais bien un processus global, tous les pays, toutes les civilisations ayant un jour ou l'autre fabriquées ce type d'instrument.

Plus prés de nous, ce sont les poilus de 14-18 qui ont durant le peu de temps libre que leur laissait la guerre, revenait à l’artisanat qu'ils pratiquaient dans le civil pour produire, des bijoux, des meubles, des sculptures, des briquets, etc, et des instruments de musique dont ils jouaient aussi.

C'est l'art et l'artisanat insolite des tranchées, ou pour échapper aux horreurs qui les entouraient ces hommes créaient des objets de toutes beauté avec les moyen du bord et en récupérant tout ce qui pouvait leur tomber sous la main. A noter que les soldats allemands en face en faisaient autant ainsi que tous les autres soldats des autres pays impliqués dans ce conflit.

Voici pour inspiration quelques instruments de poilus fait dans des casque, des gourdes voir des masques à gaz!...

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The Cigar Box Guitars we know and related to blues or folk music are undeniably American achievements. Those of  slaves who have adapted on American soil the musical instruments they used to built and practiced in Africa. From one string Diddley Bow2, 3, or 4 strings  CBG  to copy of the most luxurious products they could not afford as bass, violin, 6 strings, guitar,  we can say that all instruments have passed through their expert hands to be nours today.

But such instruments and their construction is not an isolated phenomenon but a global process, all countries, all cultures have at one time or another , made ​​this type of instrument. 

Closer to us, are  the "Poilus" of 1914-18 (*nickname of french sodiers during WWI we can traduce by "hairy") who during the little free time that they the war left them, returned to the craft they practiced in the civilian life to produce, jewelry, furniture, sculpture , lighters, etc. and musical instruments they played as well.

It is the unusual art and crafts of the trenches, to escape to the horrors that surrounded them,  these men have created beautiful objects with all the things and means they could . Please note that the German soldiers did the same thing and with them all other soldiers of countries involved in this conflict.

Here's for inspiration some  instruments made ​​from  helmets, gourds and even gas masks! ...

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Artisanat-violon-boite-masque-a-gaz_medium.jpgEt voici une photo des soldats (Allemands) avec leurs réalisations (et deux "cigar box")

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And here is a picture of soldiers (Germans) with their instruments (and two "cigar box")

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Et  ici un Diddley Bow d'un soldat Canadien.

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And  here a Diddley Bow of a Canadian soldier.

9353781292?profile=originalOn pourra aller jeter un œil sur les sites ci-dessous ou il y pas mal d'instruments référencés et de superbes photos:

  • l'artisanat de tranchées
  • les objets de tranchées plus général mais on y trouve des instruments de musique
  • le superbe  site de Claude Ribouillaud, sur les instruments de musique de facture amateur, et qui en retrace l'histoire. On lira en particulier la section: La lutherie sauvage : art des solutions et message latent trés intéressante sur les instruments des soldats de 14-18.
  • Soldier's orchestra montre des photos de ces orchestres avec des instruments improvisés.(ci-dessous)

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You can have a look at the sites below where there are a lot of beautiful instruments referenced with pictures:

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As a kid, I was always looking for a piece of wood to whittle or drive a nail into. I was always tinkering and creating something, be it a birdhouse or a drum, a tree fort or a walking stick. I loved to experiment with wood, and that drive to create never ceased or even slowed as I grew older.I grew up in a musical family. My parents played nightclubs in the northeastern US for a living, so it was natural at some point for me to pick up an instrument. I began playing bass at 11, and when I was about 17, I heard Jaco Pastorius for the first time on the Heavy Weather Album. At the time, I was playing a 1963 pre CBS Fender P-bass. I noticed that Jaco had plucked the frets out of his fender, and decided that I wanted to learn to play fretless bass. I subsequently plucked the frets out of my bass, (If I had known what that bass would be worth today, I NEVER would have done It.) and being that hindsight is 2020, and because I did not have another bass, I was forced to learn what the word intonation really meant. After hacking on the thing for awhile, (I’m sure those around me were being more than kind for not giving up on me) I began to develop my own style.In the meantime, I got married to my wonderful wife, and began to raise a family.I never stopped playing, and to date, I have now been playing fretless bass for 30 years.I never lost the desire to create with wood, and because of the lack of quality fretless basses on the market, I began building my own instruments. What I began chiefly to satisfy myself has blossomed into a passion to build great fretless basses, in hopes that others will find as much pleasure playing them as I find building them.Now, concerning the Sipsey River Steel, that was a complete accident. It all started in the summer of 2008. Me and my son threw the flat bottom boat in the back of my truck and decided to take a day trip to west Alabama. In our travels that day, we stopped at the Sipsey River and motored our way upstream. We were just out for a ride, and enjoying ourselves thoroughly. We came to an area where there were a lot of cypress trees, and a farmer had cut a path through a pile of cypress knees to allow his cows to reach the river to drink. I thought the knees looked pretty neat, and being who I am, figured that I could make something out of them later, so we threw a few in the boat.They laid around the shop for months, and I actually thought about throwing them out on several occasions. In the meantime, my brother kept asking me to build him a lap steel out of some walnut that I had in the shop, and on a whim, I decided to try and build one out of the cypress knees. The rest is history. My love for tinkering with wood coupled with my brother’s persistence to build him a lap steel, is responsible the Sipsey Steel.I love to build instruments. Unique instruments. Unique fretless instruments. It’s my passion.Jack Dudley
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