{"id":119,"date":"2017-09-19T02:52:55","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T02:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/?p=119"},"modified":"2017-09-19T03:10:35","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T03:10:35","slug":"119","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/uncategorized\/119\/","title":{"rendered":"Boing Boing Boing!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered what that mysterious \u201cboinging\u201d sound is that randomly pops up in songs? Or what instrument is being played when a character stumbles and falls in a cartoon? Well stop your worrying today folks because Danielle has all of the answers to your\u00a0<\/span>questions! BEHOLD…the jaw harp, also commonly known as the jew harp. I first discovered this quirky instrument during the summer of 2017 <\/span>when I was browsing through Bernunzio\u2019s, <\/span>located right here in Rochester! I made an impulsive purchase and VOILA, a jaw harpist was <\/span>born. Grab a seat and enjoy this short video of snoopy playing a spectacular little tune!<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QkldkfoeVQc<\/a><\/p>\n

The jaw harp is small metal instrument that is played by using one\u2019s mouth and right hand index finger. To get started simply rest the instrument between <\/span>your lips, while holding the left <\/span>side of the instrument with your left hand. There are many different models of a jaw harp, and some may require you to press the frame onto your lips against your teeth. The right hand is used for plucking the loop of the instrument, which then vibrates the reed. The \u201cboing\u201d sound is created by simultaneously plucking the loop, and moving your tongue. The faster you move your tongue, the more vib\"\"<\/a>rant the \u201cboing\u201d sound will be. The lower your tongue sits in your mouth, the lower the pitch will be. If you move your tongue to the roof of your mouth, the pitch will sound higher. You can also change the <\/span>pitch by making \u00a0\u201coo-ee\u201d shapes with your mouth. This sounds like a relatively simple concept, but I struggled a lot with understanding how the instrument works. I guess since I\u2019m so used to focusing on my breath because of singing, I thought in order to play the jaw harp I would need to blow air through the reed. I quickly learned that no air is required to produce a sound on the instrument. However, the process of breathing into a jaw harp is a common practice used for some genres of music. It\u2019s surprisingly a pretty popular skill in the techno music world. In this video,<\/a> Mirko Muni shows off his techno jaw harp skills by experimenting with breathing in and out while playing the jaw harp.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A little known fact, is that the jaw harp is also associated with the invention of other well-known instruments. In this TED talk<\/a>, <\/span> guest speaker Valentinas tells his audience that the invention of the harmonica \u201cis based on several little jaw harps connected together.\u201d He also mentions that the accordion was made in a similar way. This explains why the jaw harp blends so well with these two instruments. You\u2019ll often hear the jaw harp being played with harmonica, accordion, or banjo in bluegrass! It\u2019s interesting to think that two well-known instruments were made possible by one simple instrument few people have heard of. It makes me wonder if other instruments were originated in a similar way. If so what are they? <\/span><\/p>\n

TED talk speaker Valentinas also touches on the origin of it\u2019s name. \u201cIt has nothing in common with Jews, Jewish, or Judaism. Very simple, this name \u2018jews\u2019 came from English word \u2018jaws\u2019, mouth, so sometimes it\u2019s called jaw harp or mouth guard.\u201d He mentions that it has around 900 different names, and is known as one of the oldest instruments in the world. Michael Wrig<\/span>ht, author of \u00a0<\/span>The Sea<\/i><\/a>\"\"<\/a>rch for the Origins of the Jew\u2019s Harp <\/i>states t<\/span>hat \u201cthe beginnings of the instrument suggests an Asian origin…Bamboo examples are played throughout Asia and Polynesia, but because of the basic structure of the single reed concept, it is possible that the instruments evolved in various ways independently rather than from one single source.\u201d The picture to the right shows four jaw harps carved out of bamboo instead of metal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaw harps also make fun cameos in cinema. They’re most popular in western movies, and actors often actually learn how to play them! Here is a little montage <\/a>of the jaw harp in cinema!<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.silkroadfoundation.org\/newsletter\/vol2num2\/Harp.htm<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4SpWuseQGys<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RKHgIERB5rQ<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CkPlk4BSSMY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QkldkfoeVQc<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.jewsharpguild.org\/history.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/bernunzio.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered what that mysterious \u201cboinging\u201d sound is that randomly pops up in songs? Or what instrument is being played when a character stumbles and falls in a cartoon? Well stop your worrying today folks because Danielle has all of the answers to your\u00a0questions! BEHOLD…the jaw harp, also commonly known as the jew … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Boing Boing Boing!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-uncategorized","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153,"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions\/153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gcornish.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/MHS123_Fall2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}