Gravikord
Encyclopedia
The gravikord is an electric double bridge-harp
invented by Robert Grawi in 1986.
. It is made of welded stainless steel tubing, with 24 nylon strings but no resonating gourd or skin. The bridge
is made from a machined synthetic material with an integral piezo-electric sensor. Two handles located in elevation near the middle of the bridge allow holding the instrument. The bridge is curved to follow the arc of a strum from the hands which hold the shortened raised handles directly in the palms. A metal crossbar at the top of the bridge functions as a mechanical tone control and bridge stabilizer. The instrument connects to an amplifier like an electric guitar. The playing technique is similar to that of the kora: the player plucks the strings with the thumb and index finger of each hand. Because each hand can play "with" or "against" each other, simple techniques can produce music of great rhythmic complexity.
, its design evolved over several years. During 1973 - 74 the first model made was acoustic
having a bamboo
and fiberglass
basket resonator with animal skin head and large bamboo neck. Although taking inspiration from the West African kora
, these first gravikords already differed from the kora by having the tuning mechanisms removed from the neck and placed at the base, and an extensively re-designed bridge
which also featured a kalimba incorporated into it that could be played simultaneously with the strings. Its tuning also differed from the kora as it had 25 strings that were tuned symmetrically using a variation of the Hugh Tracey
kalimba tuning system as a basis that he thought would be more open to western musicians. Several one of a kind prototypes were also created during this period using wood
, aluminum, and other materials, also having different features including stereo
output and variable pitch
.
As noted in the book “Gravikords, Whirlies and Pyrophones” by Bart Hopkin
– “The design quickly evolved to a more distinctive form. In today’s Gravikord the body is made entirely of welded stainless steel
tubing, lightweight but strong. There is no resonator
; the tones of the twenty-four strings are amplified by means of a piezo-electric pickup in the bridge…The design is thoroughly ergonomic, made for natural and comfortable playing in a sitting or standing position.”
Interest in the instrument was shown by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York City, which included it in the show “Enduring Rhythms” (New York City, October 3, 1996 - August 3, 1997). In an article about this exhibit from The New York Times, Rita Reif writes “Some of the most innovative instruments in the show come from the 20th century when African rhythms became part of jazz
, rock
, pop
, and Latin American dance music as well as gospel
and even classical music
. The show stoppers include a Gravikord, an electronically amplified stringed instrument that sounds like an earthy harp
. In their shapes and sounds, Mr. Moore (curator
of the show) said, these instruments also represent a kind of continuity in “the layered rhythms, the mixed timbres, and all that movement which is so African.”
The notability of the instrument was also featured in an article by Tom Mulhern in Guitar Player Magazine –“Even though the Gravikord has a high-tech, modern-sculpture look, it actually has its roots in the African kora, a double strung harp... polyrhythmic music, plus the sound of the Japan
ese koto
, African kalimba (thumb piano) and the African kora…he (Grawi) began experimenting with bamboo double-strung harps that would allow him to perform separate melodies or accompaniments with each hand. Influences range from jazz, Dixieland
, to Balinese gamelan and American folk music
.” This article also includes a technical description of the instrument as well as a patent drawing
of the Gravikord.
In an article by Elvis Costello
in Vanity Fair he places the recording “Gravikords, Whirlies and Pryophones” in a list of the finest 500 albums of all time that should be in any audiophile
’s collection.
. Its standard scale is in the key of G major/E minor. It has 24 strings, 12 strings on each side, and is structured like an extended Hugh Tracey
kalimba, an already westernized African Instrument. The range of notes on both sides are the same and tuning is strictly in an alternate arrangement (except for the lowest bass note), so that the playing is equivalent between the left and right hands. This is reflected in the way the holes are drilled in the neck and the choice of string lengths and weights. A constant finger picking pattern will produce a constant musical pattern throughout the instruments range.
Throughout the playing range the notes of a scale rise strictly alternately and symmetrically, always right, left, right, left, etc. making all the intervals of adjacent strings on each side of the bridge in major or minor thirds. Directly opposite strings are consecutive notes in a scale. Octaves switch sides and are always in a constant spacing. Like on the kora, the player tunes the instrument before playing in the scale he wants.
The gravi-kora is set up tonally just like traditional koras. It has 21 strings, 11 on left hand, and 10 on right hand side. The instrument is held by hooking the smallest fingers around the long handles which are positioned below the straight sided bridge. The hand placement is above these handles which enables easy string muting while playing with the hand pads. But the range of notes is not the same on both sides of the bridge. The left side is shifted more to the bass register starting with a cluster of the 4 lowest notes together. The right side is skewed more to the treble, ending with a cluster of the three highest notes on the right side. This is reflected in the way the holes for the strings are drilled in the neck, and the length and weight of strings used. This results in a unique asymmetric layout of tones where most of the strings directly opposite each other in the middle section of the bridge are tuned in octaves except for the bass cluster in the left hand and the treble cluster in the right. This is a standard popular kora tuning.
Although to the casual observer these two instruments look very much alike, the playing experience and the advanced techniques developed by the musicians dedicated to each are very different.
, on slower pieces, accidentals can be created by sharping individual notes. This is accomplished by pushing and tensioning the section of the string behind the bridge with one finger while playing the string normally. This is similar to a technique used in Japanese koto playing. For faster chromatic pieces a pedal called a pitch shifter can be used to make the instrument fully chromatic. The pedal can be set to momentarily shift the entire instrument's tuning one-half step up or down.
, delay
, distortion
, reverb units, wah-wah pedal
s, or pitch shifters that allow chromatic playing.
Music for the gravikord can be written in the normal grand staff method using the G clef and F clef.
Also people who do not know music theory can play standard music scores. The gravikord has a property that simplifies the reading of musical notation
and the transposition
of music written in other key signatures for playing on the instrument. It can be done directly from the music using a mental method. Because of its double structure and symmetric tuning system, all the notes on one side of the bridge correspond to the lines of the musical staff and all the notes on the other side correspond to the staff spaces. So, whatever key the music is written in, determine where the root note
is of the scale. The method is then to mentally let this be the position of the instruments root note “G” for example. If the written note is on a staff line, let that staff line represent the “G” string on the gravikord and all the other strings on that side of the bridge will correspond spatially and sequentially to the other staff lines, all the notes on the opposite side of the bridge will correspond spatially and sequentially to the staff spaces. If the written musical root lies in a space then the opposite is true. Now the staff itself accurately represents spatially the strings and the notes on the gravikord and one can read the music as if it were written in a tablature
designed for the gravikord. The position of the written notes on the staff directly indicate which string to play on the instrument.
Gravi-kora
Music for gravi-kora can be written in the normal grand staff method using the G clef and F clef.
However, gravi-kora scores can also be written on a single G clef, following the Keur Moussa system. This notation system was created for the kora by Brother Dominique Catta, a monk of the Keur Moussa Monastery (Senegal). The seven low notes that should be written on the F clef are replaced by Arabic or Roman numerals and written on the G clef. More than 200 scores already written for kora solo or kora and Western instruments can therefore be played on the gravi-kora.
Bob (Robert) Grawi has recorded several Cds, as a solo player and with the Gravikord Duo and the Gravikord Ensemble.
Peter Pringle has recorded an improvisation for gravikord & theremin.
Gravi-kora
Foday Musa Suso
featured an early version of the gravi-kora in recordings with Herbie Hancock
, and on Suso’s CD « New World Power ». The Gravi-kora was adopted by Daniel Berkman and Jacques Burtin
who have also produced original recordings.
the following publications: Curio Magazine, Daily News, Dirty Linen, Experimental Musical Instruments, Folk Harp Journal, Gravikords Whirlies & Pyrophones, Guitar Player Magazine, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Sounds, Science News, Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, among others.
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
invented by Robert Grawi in 1986.
Description
The gravikord is a new instrument developed on the basis of the West African koraKora (instrument)
The kora is a 21-string bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa.-Description:A kora is built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator, and has a notched bridge. It does not fit well into any one category of western instruments and would have to be...
. It is made of welded stainless steel tubing, with 24 nylon strings but no resonating gourd or skin. The bridge
Bridge (instrument)
A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air.- Explanation :...
is made from a machined synthetic material with an integral piezo-electric sensor. Two handles located in elevation near the middle of the bridge allow holding the instrument. The bridge is curved to follow the arc of a strum from the hands which hold the shortened raised handles directly in the palms. A metal crossbar at the top of the bridge functions as a mechanical tone control and bridge stabilizer. The instrument connects to an amplifier like an electric guitar. The playing technique is similar to that of the kora: the player plucks the strings with the thumb and index finger of each hand. Because each hand can play "with" or "against" each other, simple techniques can produce music of great rhythmic complexity.
History
Created by Robert Grawi to satisfy the need for an instrument easier to play polyrhythms on than the guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, its design evolved over several years. During 1973 - 74 the first model made was acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
having a bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
and fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
basket resonator with animal skin head and large bamboo neck. Although taking inspiration from the West African kora
Kora
Kora may refer to:* Kora , a stringed musical instrument of West African origin* Kora , a New Zealand reggae band** Kora , Kora album released in 2007* Kora , a type of pilgrimage in the Buddhist tradition...
, these first gravikords already differed from the kora by having the tuning mechanisms removed from the neck and placed at the base, and an extensively re-designed bridge
Bridge (instrument)
A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air.- Explanation :...
which also featured a kalimba incorporated into it that could be played simultaneously with the strings. Its tuning also differed from the kora as it had 25 strings that were tuned symmetrically using a variation of the Hugh Tracey
Hugh Tracey
Hugh Tracey was an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist. He and his wife collected and archived music from Southern and Central Africa. He began making field recordings of music in the early 20's, through the 70's....
kalimba tuning system as a basis that he thought would be more open to western musicians. Several one of a kind prototypes were also created during this period using wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, aluminum, and other materials, also having different features including stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
output and variable pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
.
As noted in the book “Gravikords, Whirlies and Pyrophones” by Bart Hopkin
Bart Hopkin
Bart Hopkin is a builder of experimental musical instruments and a writer and publisher about the subject.Hopkin published the magazine Experimental Musical Instruments for 15 years and published several books and CDs specialized in a specialisation of certain types of instruments, such as wind...
– “The design quickly evolved to a more distinctive form. In today’s Gravikord the body is made entirely of welded stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
tubing, lightweight but strong. There is no resonator
Resonator
A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior, that is, it naturally oscillates at some frequencies, called its resonant frequencies, with greater amplitude than at others. The oscillations in a resonator can be either electromagnetic or mechanical...
; the tones of the twenty-four strings are amplified by means of a piezo-electric pickup in the bridge…The design is thoroughly ergonomic, made for natural and comfortable playing in a sitting or standing position.”
Interest in the instrument was shown by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York City, which included it in the show “Enduring Rhythms” (New York City, October 3, 1996 - August 3, 1997). In an article about this exhibit from The New York Times, Rita Reif writes “Some of the most innovative instruments in the show come from the 20th century when African rhythms became part of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and Latin American dance music as well as gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and even classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. The show stoppers include a Gravikord, an electronically amplified stringed instrument that sounds like an earthy harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
. In their shapes and sounds, Mr. Moore (curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of the show) said, these instruments also represent a kind of continuity in “the layered rhythms, the mixed timbres, and all that movement which is so African.”
The notability of the instrument was also featured in an article by Tom Mulhern in Guitar Player Magazine –“Even though the Gravikord has a high-tech, modern-sculpture look, it actually has its roots in the African kora, a double strung harp... polyrhythmic music, plus the sound of the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese koto
Koto (musical instrument)
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
, African kalimba (thumb piano) and the African kora…he (Grawi) began experimenting with bamboo double-strung harps that would allow him to perform separate melodies or accompaniments with each hand. Influences range from jazz, Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
, to Balinese gamelan and American folk music
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
.” This article also includes a technical description of the instrument as well as a patent drawing
Patent drawing
A patent application or patent may contain drawings, also called patent drawings, illustrating the invention, some of its embodiments , or the prior art...
of the Gravikord.
In an article by Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
in Vanity Fair he places the recording “Gravikords, Whirlies and Pryophones” in a list of the finest 500 albums of all time that should be in any audiophile
Audiophile
An audiophile is a person who enjoys listening to recorded music, usually in a home. Some audiophiles are more interested in collecting and listening to music, while others are more interested in collecting and listening to audio components, whose "sound quality" they consider as important as the...
’s collection.
Tuning
The gravikord is tuned to a diatonic scaleDiatonic scale
In music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note, octave-repeating musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps for each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps...
. Its standard scale is in the key of G major/E minor. It has 24 strings, 12 strings on each side, and is structured like an extended Hugh Tracey
Hugh Tracey
Hugh Tracey was an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist. He and his wife collected and archived music from Southern and Central Africa. He began making field recordings of music in the early 20's, through the 70's....
kalimba, an already westernized African Instrument. The range of notes on both sides are the same and tuning is strictly in an alternate arrangement (except for the lowest bass note), so that the playing is equivalent between the left and right hands. This is reflected in the way the holes are drilled in the neck and the choice of string lengths and weights. A constant finger picking pattern will produce a constant musical pattern throughout the instruments range.
Throughout the playing range the notes of a scale rise strictly alternately and symmetrically, always right, left, right, left, etc. making all the intervals of adjacent strings on each side of the bridge in major or minor thirds. Directly opposite strings are consecutive notes in a scale. Octaves switch sides and are always in a constant spacing. Like on the kora, the player tunes the instrument before playing in the scale he wants.
Gravikord general diatonic tuning:
Left: Sol1, Fa2, La2, Do3, Mi3, Sol3, Ti3, Re4, Fa4, La4, Do5, Mi5.
Right: Do2, Mi2, Sol2, Ti2, Re3, Fa3, La3, Do4, Mi4, Sol4, Ti4, Re5.
Tuning in G major / E minor:
Left Hand: D, C, E, G, B, D, F#, A, C, E, G, B.
Right: G, B, D, F#, A, (middle)C, E, G, B, D, F#, A.
The gravi-kora
Although the gravikord is closely related to the African kora, the musical knowledge of griots and traditional kora players does not directly transfer to gravikord playing. The notes are not where they expect them to be and the bridge and hand playing positions are also different. For these musicians the gravi-kora was developed by Robert Grawi.The gravi-kora is set up tonally just like traditional koras. It has 21 strings, 11 on left hand, and 10 on right hand side. The instrument is held by hooking the smallest fingers around the long handles which are positioned below the straight sided bridge. The hand placement is above these handles which enables easy string muting while playing with the hand pads. But the range of notes is not the same on both sides of the bridge. The left side is shifted more to the bass register starting with a cluster of the 4 lowest notes together. The right side is skewed more to the treble, ending with a cluster of the three highest notes on the right side. This is reflected in the way the holes for the strings are drilled in the neck, and the length and weight of strings used. This results in a unique asymmetric layout of tones where most of the strings directly opposite each other in the middle section of the bridge are tuned in octaves except for the bass cluster in the left hand and the treble cluster in the right. This is a standard popular kora tuning.
Gravi-kora general diatonic tuning:
Left: Fa1, Do2, Re2, Mi2, Sol2, Ti2, Re3, Fa3, La3, Do4, Mi4.
Right: Fa2, La2, Do3, Mi3, Sol3, Ti3, Re4, Fa4, Sol4, La4.
Tuning in F major / D minor:
Left Hand: F, C, D, E, G, Bb, D, F, A, C, E.
Right: F, A, (middle)C, E , G, Bb, D, F, G, A.
Although to the casual observer these two instruments look very much alike, the playing experience and the advanced techniques developed by the musicians dedicated to each are very different.
Chromatic playing
Although both instruments are tuned normally to a diatonic scaleDiatonic scale
In music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note, octave-repeating musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps for each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps...
, on slower pieces, accidentals can be created by sharping individual notes. This is accomplished by pushing and tensioning the section of the string behind the bridge with one finger while playing the string normally. This is similar to a technique used in Japanese koto playing. For faster chromatic pieces a pedal called a pitch shifter can be used to make the instrument fully chromatic. The pedal can be set to momentarily shift the entire instrument's tuning one-half step up or down.
Effects
Since the instruments produce no conflicting acoustic sound, the gravikord and the gravi-kora can be easily played with all kinds of guitar effects : vibratoVibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
, delay
Delay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
, distortion
Distortion
A distortion is the alteration of the original shape of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually unwanted, and often many methods are employed to minimize it in practice...
, reverb units, wah-wah pedal
Wah-wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal is a type of guitar effects pedal that alters the tone of the signal to create a distinctive effect, mimicking the human voice...
s, or pitch shifters that allow chromatic playing.
Musical notation
GravikordMusic for the gravikord can be written in the normal grand staff method using the G clef and F clef.
Also people who do not know music theory can play standard music scores. The gravikord has a property that simplifies the reading of musical notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
and the transposition
Transposition (music)
In music transposition refers to the process, or operation, of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval.For example, one might transpose an entire piece of music into another key...
of music written in other key signatures for playing on the instrument. It can be done directly from the music using a mental method. Because of its double structure and symmetric tuning system, all the notes on one side of the bridge correspond to the lines of the musical staff and all the notes on the other side correspond to the staff spaces. So, whatever key the music is written in, determine where the root note
Root (chord)
In music theory, the root of a chord is the note or pitch upon which a triadic chord is built. For example, the root of the major triad C-E-G is C....
is of the scale. The method is then to mentally let this be the position of the instruments root note “G” for example. If the written note is on a staff line, let that staff line represent the “G” string on the gravikord and all the other strings on that side of the bridge will correspond spatially and sequentially to the other staff lines, all the notes on the opposite side of the bridge will correspond spatially and sequentially to the staff spaces. If the written musical root lies in a space then the opposite is true. Now the staff itself accurately represents spatially the strings and the notes on the gravikord and one can read the music as if it were written in a tablature
Tablature
Tablature is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches....
designed for the gravikord. The position of the written notes on the staff directly indicate which string to play on the instrument.
Gravi-kora
Music for gravi-kora can be written in the normal grand staff method using the G clef and F clef.
However, gravi-kora scores can also be written on a single G clef, following the Keur Moussa system. This notation system was created for the kora by Brother Dominique Catta, a monk of the Keur Moussa Monastery (Senegal). The seven low notes that should be written on the F clef are replaced by Arabic or Roman numerals and written on the G clef. More than 200 scores already written for kora solo or kora and Western instruments can therefore be played on the gravi-kora.
Performers
GravikordBob (Robert) Grawi has recorded several Cds, as a solo player and with the Gravikord Duo and the Gravikord Ensemble.
Peter Pringle has recorded an improvisation for gravikord & theremin.
Gravi-kora
Foday Musa Suso
Foday Musa Suso
Foday Musa Suso is a musician and composer from the West African nation of Gambia. He is a member of the Mandinka ethnic group, and is a jali...
featured an early version of the gravi-kora in recordings with Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, and on Suso’s CD « New World Power ». The Gravi-kora was adopted by Daniel Berkman and Jacques Burtin
Jacques Burtin
- Biography :After studying Literature and Art at La Sorbonne , he was introduced to the kora by brother Dominique Fournier at the Abbey of Bec Hellouin and by brother Dominique Catta, composer and choirmaster of the Keur Moussa Monastery...
who have also produced original recordings.
Discography
- 1988 - Making Waves - Bob Grawi (Take That Music)
- 1990 - New World Power - Foday Musa Suso (Island Records)
- 1991 - Rising Tide - Bob Grawi (Take That Music)
- 1996 - Cherries & Stars - Bob Grawi (Take That Music)
- 1998 - Gravikords, Whirlies & Pyrophones - Bob Grawi and Multiple Artists (Ellipsis Arts)
- 2005 - Calabash Moon - Daniel Berkman (Magnatune)
- 2008 - Le Chant de la Foret - Jacques Burtin (Bayard Musique)
- 2009 - Heartstrings - Daniel Berkman (Magnatune)
Published articles
Articles describing or referencing the gravikord have appeared inthe following publications: Curio Magazine, Daily News, Dirty Linen, Experimental Musical Instruments, Folk Harp Journal, Gravikords Whirlies & Pyrophones, Guitar Player Magazine, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Sounds, Science News, Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, among others.
See also
- Kora (instrument)Kora (instrument)The kora is a 21-string bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa.-Description:A kora is built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator, and has a notched bridge. It does not fit well into any one category of western instruments and would have to be...
- Electric harpElectric harpLike electric guitars, electric harps are based on their acoustic originals. There are both solid-body and hollow body electro-acoustic models available...
- Music of AfricaMusic of AfricaAfrica is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
- Cross rhythm
- Kalimba
- MbiraMbiraIn African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
- Hugh TraceyHugh TraceyHugh Tracey was an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist. He and his wife collected and archived music from Southern and Central Africa. He began making field recordings of music in the early 20's, through the 70's....