SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM Bulletin 136 HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BY FRANCES DENSMORE Collaborator, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution MAV 26 1927 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1927 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM Bulletin 136 HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BY FRANCES DENSMORE Collaborator, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution $&* "%* rv % UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1927 ADVERTISEMENT The scientific publications of the National Museum include two series, known, respectively, as Proceedings and Bulletin. The Proceedings, begun in 1878, is intended primarily as a medium for the publication of original papers, based on the collections of the National Museum, that set forth newly acquired facts in biology, anthropology, and geology, with descriptions of new forms and revi- sions of limited groups. Copies of each paper, in pamphlet form, are distributed as published to libraries and scientific organizations and to specialists and others interested in the different subjects. The dates at which these separate papers are published are recorded in the table of contents of each of the volumes. The Bulletin, the first of which was issued in 1875, consists of a series of separate publications comprising monographs of large zoological groups and other general systematic treatises (occasion- ally in several volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, catalogues of type-specimens, special collections, and other material of similar nature. The majority of the volumes are octavo in size, but a quarto size has been adopted in a few instances in which large plates were regarded as indispensable. In the Bulletin series appear volumes under the heading Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, in octavo form, published by the National Museum since 1902, which contain papers relating to the botanical collections of the Museum. The present work forms No. 136 of the Bulletin series. Alexander Wetmore, Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D. C, March 11, 1927. ii — — : : TABLE OF CONTENTS I'age Introduction 1 Section 1. Solid, sonorous instruments: Gongs 2 Bells 7 Cymbals— 10 Castanets 11 Rattles ' 12 Vibrating bars 18 Vibrating tongues 20 Section 2. Wind instruments: Whistles 22 Flutes- Primitive and oriental 23 Direct flutes and flageolets 27 Transverse flutes 28 Reed instruments Single reeds 30 3S Double reeds ,__ : Wind revolving reed 41 Bagpipe 41 Hand organ 43 Horns Primitive horns 44 Simple horns . 46 Horns with slide, finger holes, keys, and valves 4T Section 3. Drums and other vibrating membranes Drums 51 Kettledrums 55 Drums with one head 59 Drums with two heads 64 Drums with jingles 68 Tambourines 68 Onion flutes 70 Throat horns 70 Basket used as a drum 70 Section 4. Stringed instruments Instruments with open strings, picked 71 Instruments with stopped strings, picked 78 Instruments with open strings, hammered 91 Instruments with strings, bowed 93 Instruments with keys 102 Hurdy-gurdy 103 Solophone 104 Instruments with keyboard 104 Clavichord 104 Spinet and virginal 105 Harpsichord 100 Pianoforte 107 Bibliography 110 Index US in HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM By Frances Densmore Collaborator, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution INTRODUCTION The collection of musical instruments in the United States National Museum, in its history and development, is closely associated with two interesting personalities. The founder of the collection was Dr. G. Brown Goode, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- tion, in charge of the United States National Museum, who himself was an amateur musician. He included musical instruments in the classification of the branches of the Museum on its reorganisation in 1879. Musical instruments were regarded by Doctor Goode as sound-emitting devices and to be grouped for exhibition by the manner in which sound was produced. To Doctor Goode's personal interest and to his scientific viewpoint the collection of musical instruments owes its start in the right direction, and it received an impetus which it has never lost. The man most intimately connected with the present collection, however, is the late Edwin H. Hawley, who gave his best thought and strength to it from 1884 until his death in 1921. His prepara- tion for the work consisted of two and a half years' museum work under Prof. A. E. Verrill of the Yale Peabody Museum. Previous to Mr. Hawley's time the musical instruments had been given acces- sion numbers, but had not been classified as a separate section. He devised a system of classification based upon careful study of the classifications of similar collections in the museums of this country and Europe. This system was adopted by the Museum and forms the basis of the present work. Mr. Hawley went to the Paris Expo- sition in 1900, and visited London, Brussels, and other cities, in order to inspect the museums and confer with European authorities con- cerning the instruments needed to enrich and complete the collec- tion in the National Museum. To this contact and subsequent cor- l 2 BULLETIN 136, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM respondence may be attributed, in large measure, the remarkable completeness of the Museum collection. An exhaustive search was made for old instruments to complete synoptic series, and when these could not be obtained, copies were made from the best models. The specimens which comprise the collection have been derived from numerous sources, some of which antedated the organization of the Smithsonian Institution. Many specimens represent an in- terest and cooperation on the part of other countries, rare and valuable instruments having been received as gifts from the King of Siam, Rajah Tagore, India, and other foreign potentates. Offi- cers of the Army and Navy and consular representatives of the United States in foreign countries have obtained many musical in- struments for the Museum, while other specimens have been col- lected by members of the staff of various branches of the Smith- sonian Institution. Type specimens have been received from in- ventors, dealers, and manufacturers; and large numbers have been obtained from private collectors or denoted by generous individuals. The literary material left by Mr. Hawley is extensive and has been of greatest assistance in preparing this handbook. The card index of specimens comprises 3,057 cards, with detailed information concerning each specimen. Separate card indexes were prepared by him showing the classes of musical instruments with catalogue num- bers of specimens, the geographical locations whence the specimens came, the names of collectors or donors, and an index of musical terminology. The largest card index prepared by Mr. Hawley con- tains more than 23,000 cards, representing musical instruments in other museums or mentioned in literature, with descriptions and references. Only type specimens in the National Museum collection are included in this latter index. In addition to exhibited speci- mens and card indexes the musical material comprises reference books, old musical publications, photographs, and phonograph rec- ords of primitive music, some of the latter made in 1888. The exhibit hall contains only a portion of the musical instru- ments, many being included in the historical or cultural material of various countries, or kept for reference in the Museum offices. The great Worch collection of pianos may be seen on the rotunda bal- conies of the Natural History Building. Section 1. SOLID, SONOROUS INSTRUMENTS GONGS The simplest form of sonorous instrument is the gong, which may be defined as an object of stone, metal, wood, etc., struck with a mallet to produce a tone. A flat stone or a log of wood, struck in such a manner as to produce a tone, is a gong. The use of stone in HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 3 a gong ranges from the flat stones of primitive man to the beauti- fully carved gong of jade from Japan (Cat. No. 94890, pi. Id), the carving on the ower portion representing a bat and on the upper an openwork design of flowers. Gongs are generally circular in form, but a triangular metal gong was used long ago in Burma, and a triangular stone, suspended from a wooden frame, was used in Chinese households to announce the arrival of a guest, the number of strokes indicating his rank. Gongs of stone and wood cut in the shape of fish were used in Japan, and an interesting example from China appears in this exhibit as 94858 (pi. 2a). The Chinese name is literally translated as " wooden fish." The shape resembles that of a globular sleigh bell. It is carved from a block of wood, the loop-like handle formed by two dragons meeting nose to nose. A five-petaled flower is carved in low relief on the sides, which is gilded, and the body of the gong is lacquered with vermilion. It is beaten with a round stick, the handle of which is decorated with red cord. Another small wooden gong is in crescent form (95222). This is suspended by a cord and beaten with a stick. The large percussion instruments made of logs are technically " gongs," but the term "drum" is a more convenient designation, No. 2827 is commonly called a " war drum." It was received about the year 1840 from the Fiji Islands and is 55 inches long and 18 inches high. It consists of a log of hard red wood, hollowed like a trough. When in use a coil of rope forms its base. It is beaten on the edge of the opening with two sticks, one larger than the other, the strokes of the two alternating. Another gong made of a log is 95157. It is not hollowed out so completely as the preceding and is decorated with round spots burned in a row along the open- ings.