![]() The size and shape of the soundholes is highly variable and may be dual crescents, round hole, oval hole, or even multiple holes of varying arrangement. Another variety is a neck with two holes bored 3/4 of the way through, parallel to the fretboard and close to the headstock (an innovation said to color the instrument's tone). Variations include a separate glued-on neck, palisander or ebony vertical tuning pegs, guitar-style box construction, or even a hollowed-out neck. The typical construction is a one-piece body and neck, classical guitar style peghead and machine tuners (occasionally positioned perpendicular to the headstock), spruce top, and some degree of ornamentation. There are many variations in the shape of the top in "plan view" and species of wood, though cedar or spruce family woods are preferred for the soundboard (top), and there is generally a narrowed "waist" somewhat reminiscent of the guitar-family-not the pear-shape of the lute. However, the number of frets ranges from five to eighteen. The overall length of a typical charango is about 66 cm, with a string scale length of about 37 cm. Aside from these visual distinctions, it resembles a small ukulele. The charango's ten strings require quite a large headstock, often approaching or even exceeding the size of its diminutive sound box. Unlike most wooden lutes, the body and neck are typically made of a single block of wood, carved into shape. This is no longer the norm, rather they are typically made of wood, with the bowled back merely imitating the shape of the armadillo shell. Traditionally a charango was made with a dried armadillo shell for the back and wood for the soundbox top, neck etc. The 2005 documentary film "El Charango" (director, Jim Virga editor, Tula Goenka assoc producer and sound, Andrew Reissiger) gives some explanation to the relationship between the charango and Cerro Rico in Potosi, Bolivia, site of the world's largest silver deposit and therefore the most likely location of the charango's birthplace. It is believed the charango came to be what it is today in the early part of the 18th century in the city of Potosi in the Viceroyalty of Peru (in what is present-day Bolivia), probably from Amerindian contact with Spanish settlers. Assuming the chroniclist is not representing the actual "charango" it is very important to notice that the image he presented is dated in the early 17th century, registering the musical mestizaje of the chord instruments in Bolivia. įile #857 of The New Chronicle of Guaman Poma eloquently expresses under the suggestive title "Indian Criollos" a drawing and text representing the Indigenes of Peru and Bolivia playing a similar instrument. ![]() Turino mentions that he found carved sirens representing playing charangos in some Colonial churches in the highlands of Bolivia. around here in the Andes of Bolivia they called them Charangos". The first historic information on the charango was gathered by Vega going back to 1814, when a cleric from Tupiza documented that "the Indians used with much enthusiasm the guitarrillos mui fuis. Another story says that the Spaniards prohibited natives from practicing their ancestral music, and that the charango was a (successful) attempt to make a lute that could be easily hidden under a garment such as a poncho. One story says that the native musicians liked the sound the vihuela made, but lacked the technology to shape the wood in that manner. There are many stories of how the charango came to be made with its distinctive diminutive soundbox of armadillo. It may have evolved from the vihuela, bandurria (mandolin), or the lute. It is not clear from which Spanish stringed instrument the charango is a direct descendant. When the Spanish conquistadores came to South America, they brought the vihuela (an ancestor of the classical guitar) with them.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |