Boobam

The boobam is a percussion instrument of the membranophone family consisting of an array of tubes with membranes stretched on one end, the other end open. [cite news |first=Alexandra |last=Jones |title=Bang Bang: EMF Percussion Ensemble Rips Through Diverse Repertoire |url=http://www.cvnc.org/reviews/2007/072007/EMF15.html |work=Classical Voice of North Carolina |location=Greensboro, North Carolina |date=2007-07-28 |accessdate=2008-02-17 ] The tuning depends partly on the tension on the membrane but mostly on the length of the tube.

The boobams are probably an ancestor of the modern octoban.

The tubes were originally made from lengths of giant bamboo although pipes of wood, plastic, metal, and cardboard also have been used. The membranes were originally goat or calfskin but most are now plastic.

The name "boobam" was coined in Mill Valley, California in 1954 and was described as "bamboo spelled sideways".

In 1948 Harry Partch an American composer, developed the system of music which depended on building of instruments, which could play non-tempered scales of various and exotic designs. Some of them based on Greek models, and some on more primitive models like marimbas. Musician David Buck Wheat and his room mate in Sausalito, California, Bill Loughborough, a musician and electronic engineer built instruments for Partch, such as a marimba which was hit with a large soft mallet over the chamber delivering low cycled tones barely audible. Loughborough had instruments borrowed from the Navy Yard, using an oscilloscope and audio oscillator were able to work on a new technical level that hadn't been possible before.

Together they moved onto a Sausalito barge with Jak Simpson who in 1954 founded a business named the "BooBam Bamboo Drum Company". [Gerd Stern, " [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=kt409nb28g&brand=oac&doc.view=entire_text From Beat Scene Poet to Psychedelic Multimedia Artist in San Francisco and Beyond, 1948-1978] ," an oral history conducted in 1996 by Victoria Morris Byerly, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2001. Retrieved on August 15, 2008.] Buckwheat was working on the President Lines as a bass player, sailing to the Orient. In the Philippines he would buy large diameter giant bamboo and bring back sticks on the ship which they used to build the Pacific Island bamboo drums. Jazz groups were fascinated and added the boobams to their percussion sections. In 1956 Chet Baker's Ensemble used them on the Today Show. Their unique sound inspired Nick Reynolds of the Kingston Trio who eagerly included them on their tour with his percussion solo being featured on "O Ken Karanga" on the album "College Concert" recorded at UCLA in 1962.

Construction

Boobams (bamboo reversed syllabically) are tuned bongos constructed with a shell of natural bamboo. The available width and depth of the shell, which contributes to the desired pitch, is limited only by the size of available bamboo found typically in the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean. Although appearing as ethnic drums in these areas, the modern instrument found its way into current use through its appearance on numerous recordings in Hollywood beginning in the 1950s. Two sets of boobams were owned and used by West Coast jazz drummer Shelly Manne for numerous recording sessions in the Los Angeles studios.

References

External links

* [http://www.oddmusic.com/clips/boobams.mp3 Boobam sound clip]
* [http://www.pas.org/Museum/tour/0304.cfm Boobams]
* [http://www.boobam.org/jpg-images/me+chet.jpgChet Baker featuring boobams on Today show, 1956]
* [http://antilles-trio.com/img/nick04.gifKingston Trio recording with Boobams]