The hosho are Zimbabwean

musical instruments A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

consisting of a pair of maranka (mapudzi)

gourds Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earli ...

with seeds. They are used as major instruments in many traditional Shona music genres, such as in ''mbira'' ensembles and in ''mhande''. They typically contain

hota HOTA is an acronym for Home Office Type Approval, a testing and certification process by the Home Office in the United Kingdom that speed camera In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object ...

(''

Canna indica ''Canna indica'', commonly known as Indian shot, African arrowroot, edible canna, purple arrowroot, Sierra Leone arrowroot, is a plant species in the family Cannaceae. It is native to much of South America, Central America, the West Indies, and ...

'') seeds inside them. Before the hota seeds are added, the hosho is boiled in salted water and the inside is scraped out with a corncob, newspaper plug, or woven wire. Removing the debris inside the hosho allows for a more sharp and percussive tone. The hosho are used to accompany

Shona music Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including mbira, singing, hosho and drumming. Very often, this music will be accompanied by dancing, and participation by the a ...

, especially

mbira Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...

music. Hosho plays several key roles in Zimbabwean music. Oliver Mtukudzi insists that it’s what keeps musicians on the same page. Hosho doesn't add thickness to mbira performance all due to its dense sound quality. It is also a good start in learning Mbira. This is because it helps beginners to observe patterns and learn from mbira masters by looking over their shoulders. Moreover, hosho has acted as a way for women to join mbira performance. Hosho make a rattling sound that western ears may be unaccustomed to hearing. However, this accompaniment is essential when playing

and/or

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

music. So essential, in fact, that extra vibrating elements such as mirlitons (buzzing membranes made from spider webs) are attached to the resonating tubes of marimbas and machachara (miniature Hosho made from seashells or bottle caps) are attached to the mbira and its

deze In Zimbabwean Shona music, a ''deze'' is a halved calabash gourd that an mbira is placed into to amplify its sound. It is typically round and has bottle caps, shells or other objects strung around its perimeter to vibrate with the mbira, creating ...

Mbira Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...

s and

marimbas The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

; and even other instruments, such as

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s, will have some kind of rattles associated with their use. Many hosho styles emphasize the second pulse of the triplet. This creates an off beat articulation that follows the bass notes of the mbira's ''kutsihnira'' part. From a western perspective the hosho are seen as accompanying instruments to mbira, when in actuality they are seen as the lead instruments by the

players. See a typical use of the hosho by selecting the link at the end of this paragraph, as played together with the

at Zimfest 2008, by Musekiwa Chingodza. Hosho goes well too with Makwa. Makwa clapping is a very common aspect of musical practices but very often underlooked or rather not discussed as much. Whistling is one other feature that’s usually distinctive, common but rarely talked about. Makwa plays significant roles in Zimbabwe Ngoma and mbira ensembles. It adds that sharpness that’s usually heard over other instruments. This adds that the timbral element to many musical forms giving room for alterations hence more musical creations A smaller version of the hosho is made of a wild orange called a damba, tied together with sticks and filled with

seeds or pebbles. Other related

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

s from

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

include the magavhu (leg rattle) and ngoma (

). One of Zimbabwes most respected Hosho players is Tendai Kazuru from Mbira deNharira.

References

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References

See also