Musical Instrument.

Yeah, he didn't say and I didn't ask. When he first got back to the US he was really funny! He had gotten his first car and didn't know anything about one. When winter set in his tires partly deflated, so he ask someone at work (not me) what to do. They told him he had summer air in the tires, so he needed to let it out and then drive down to the gas station and fill them back up with winter air... I caught him as he was letting the air out of his first tire and explained they were only teasing him. Then we changed his tire and I went with him to help him fill them back up. Some people don't think about the harm they could cause before they open their mouths... He would have ruined his tires and possibly his rims if he'd actually let all the air out and then driven to the gas station.

@DaddyEvil Yeah, that kind of thing can be quite funny as long as the target is stopped from doing anything that could damage themselves, someone else or their property.

@WorDazza When I found the person who had told him that I told them they owed him a set of tires and two rims because his were ruined. The guy turned white! Then I told him not to tell anyone something like that unless he was prepared to pay for the damages he caused. Only after he pulled out his wallet did I explain I'd caught our friend and everything was really okay. It made me very angry!

@DaddyEvil My husband loves the musics from the Andes, he bought some DVDs about the instruments and this is why I know. They play the instrument "rubbing" the sticks on the surface. You can see some videos on YouTube.

@LadyDuck Oh, very interesting. Thank you for that. I'll check some of them out on YouTube. Thank you again.

Oh, thank you for telling me the name of my instrument, Anna! I really appreciate that! When did you learn about one of these instruments? Did someone show you how to play it?

@DaddyEvil I think you need to preserve it. It is an antique one.

I've had it for ages and don't know how to make music with it. Once in a great while I will get it down off it's shelf and play at it but not for long. I don't want to accidentally damage it.

@Shavkat Antiques here are considered over 50 years old. This instrument is only 30 something years old, so not an antique. It is kept on a shelf in my living room, so is safe enough.

That's how those types of gourds grow. Should I have told him I wanted one that had a straight gourd instead?

@DaddyEvil Well he could have made one out of a spaghetti squash, or atleast tried!

@ScribbledAdNauseum Hmmm... will a squash dry out like a gourd does? He had to drill holes in the bottom side for the sound to come out and make ridges on the upper part for the bone to scrape across for the music... Not sure about that, though.

Thanks... The sound, whether it was him doing it or me doing it, is either a hard or soft rasping sound. It can change in pitch depending on where on the gourd you are using the stick, but that's the only variations he showed me. (In my opinion, it wasn't very pretty.)

@JudyEv I suppose a person could also tap on the gourd to give more of a straight percussion sound, too. I didn't think of that.

@DaddyEvil Definitely not designed for solo work but as a percussion type instrument it can add colour and variety.

No, he played it a little to show me what it was supposed to sound like but that's all. Yeah, I though he'd done a very nice job making it.

@sunrisefan I collect a few things... autographed books, gold stamps, old coins but not art.

@DaddyEvil That should be a good art collection if you're into collecting.

Thank you. Yes, I believe he did a beautiful job making it.

@DaddyEvil 30 years ago - you've taken good care of it! Buzzing - hmmm! I think I have seen similar instruments, but not sure that it's the same sound. What song can you play on it ?

@much2say We've kept it on a shelf since I got it. I dust it once in a while and admire the artwork on it, then put it back. Uhm... sure... what would you like to hear? I can make it do raspy sounds.

He probably told me when he gave it to me but I don't remember. We're talking 30 years ago now. It makes a buzzing sound. You can vary the pitch by where you draw the bone over the ridges, thinner part of the gourd makes higher pitch sounds.

I told him that, too. I don't think so. I think they are just pictures he thought would look good on it.

Thanks... It makes a buzzing kind of sound. It sounds harsh to me.

@MarshaMusselman Yes, maybe 'different' is how I should say that... I'm just not used to hearing that kind of sound in association with what we call music.

@DaddyEvil I can see where it would be different since it's made from a hard vegetable.

Thanks. Honestly, me, too.

@DianneN A couple of you have made that comment and it's now got me worrying a bit. I mean, after all, are the cannibals going to tell him not to use that bone because it might have belonged to a person? I doubt they even thought about it. And it's been in my house for 30 years.

@DaddyEvil

Thank you! I think he did a really nice job with it!

@paigea Uhm... not really... or very badly, whichever answer you like better.

@DaddyEvil Can you play it?

Yes, his parents were told not to go back into the jungles there or they'd be eaten. They were standard missionaries, so didn't care if they and their kids got eaten or not, apparently. I wouldn't have risked my kids, but then I love them... Thank you.

If you are/were trying for the Spanish word, you almost got it. It's spelled 'diferendo'. I'm sure there wasn't! Thank you!

@DocAndersen I wondered but try not to correct people... sometimes I guess wrong. *shrug*

@DaddyEvil i was going for the abo word would you believe i missed it by that much? Didgeridoo is the correct spelling

I'd never seen or heard of one like this before and my friend didn't know what it was called. If you go to @LadyDuck's box, she told me the name for it. I was happy about that.

Thank you.

It's a percussion instrument. Running the stick across grooves carved into the top of the instrument makes a rattling sound. (To me, it isn't very pretty sounding, but I am not trained in using it, either. )

Thank you very much. He did a really nice job making it.

Yes, his parents were missionaries to the cannibal tribe they lived with. I wouldn't have taken my kid with me if I knew it might be dangerous where I was going, but they took theirs.

@Bubba90 I do, too.

Hello. Thank you. My friend did a good job making it.

@DaddyEvil and I admire his work