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Mendzan
This instrument was collected by Fred Merfield, who was based in Cameroon's East Region. It is a gourd-resonated, portable xylophone set of eight wooden keys, suspended and attached to a wooden frame with twine cord and canvas cloth. The frame is constituted by two longitudinal bars that hold the keys, a U-shaped handle, and a bottom rectangular frame that keeps the gourds together. Each key has a respective, graded-size gourd resonator underneath, which have a circular opening to receive mirliton membrane (one gourd is missing). In addition to the wooden handle, there is a leather strap, and two thick wooden beaters are attached to the bottom frame.
- Date:
1925–33 - Maker:
- Collection:
Powell-Cotton Museum - Inventory number:
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Cameroon - Hornbostel-Sachs classification:111.212 Sets of percussion sticks
- Culture:
- Period:
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- Decorative elements:Fringe made of raffia fibers attached to frame.
- Inscriptions:
- Hornbostel-Sachs category:111.212 Sets of percussion sticks
- Repository:Powell-Cotton Museum
- Measurements:Length: 700mm; Width: 740mm; Height: 360mm; Beaters length(s): 260mm and 265mm