The sound of the curiously named ‘Jew’s Harp’, or Jaw Harp, first reached my ears via the classic spaghetti western soundtracks of Ennio Moricone.
I didn’t realise at the time that such a small unassuming piece of metal was behind the infamous “bong bong boing, wingi-wingi bong bing bong, wingi-wingi—“ before the even more infamous whistle in ‘For a Few Dollars More’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLXQltR7vUQ .
I’ve had my own now for many years, and it’s the most simple and satisfying thing to play around with.
Below you can hear three audio tracks (best listened to with headphones).
The first is more of a soundscape, that in my head conjures visions of a breathless, desperate escape across a desert.
In the second I’ve tried to create a conversation between two similar individuals, shaping and selecting the sounds I think best approach some sort of speech pattern. The pair seem to be disagreeing about something.
The final track is some unaltered audio of me messing around on this charming little instrument.
There are lots of variations of this instrument around the world, many are much more sensitive and dynamic than the clunky old-timer you’ve heard here.
Like any instrument, the creative possibilities are many and marvellous. From a single cartoon sound effect to long trance-like pieces, and from mimicking sounds of raindrops to creating a juicy beatboxing hook…
If you want to hear some PROPERLY creative people taking twanging to the next level, try any of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysxipgds2l8
https://youtu.be/4SpWuseQGys?t=248