Videoblog No. 8 - Ainu Mukkuri Mouth Harp

One of the Ainu traditional instruments is the Mukkuri, a mouth harp usually made from bamboo which has a rather interesting sound. The mouth harp instrument goes by many names including 'jaw harp' or 'Jew's harp', and similar instruments appear in many other cultures worldwide from Asia to Europe. The instrument is essentially very simple, and in the case of the Mukkuri is constructed from a single piece of wood. The instrument has a frame of wood and the sound itself is generated by a wooden tongue or reed which is attached to the frame at one end and free of it on all other sides, a similar principle to reeds used in instruments such as the mouth organ and accordion. The instrument is also similar in type to the plucked African mbira or kalimba. The instrument's mechanism allows the reed to vibrate freely when plucked, and the player uses their mouth as a resonator for the instrument, changing the shape of their mouth and controlling their breathing to produce different timbres. In the clip above you'll see examples of all of these techniques! The Mukkuri is either played with a finger plucking the stationary end of the reed, or by sharply pulling on a string attached to the stationary end of the reed tongue. In this clip the Mukkuri is played both on its own and in a duo, with both players interacting with each other to create many varied sounds. Unfortunately the players here were using an amplification system, so it's hard to get an idea of the volume of the instrument, but it really was quite amazing how loud the instrument was acoustically once the player got into the swing of things!

Видео Videoblog No. 8 - Ainu Mukkuri Mouth Harp канала kieraninjapan