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Chinese Plain Bamboo Bones
Chinese Bamboo Kuai Ban Bones
Grab these stubby bamboo bones at a bargain price. But hurry. Because when they're gone, they're gone!


 
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Why shop here?
Only $7.99 pair
Special Note: Supply Limited - When they're gone, they're gone!

This is a natural product, no two are alike: Your item may differ from photos.

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Product Code: 111-20
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Product Specs Story
 
Chinese Plain Bamboo Bones
Kuai Ban: Ancient Chinese Rap Music

Play these Short Wide Bamboo Bones Like Regular Bones
I think I saw a video that showed a kuai ban performer playing these bamboo bones like regular musical bones, but I am not sure. If I run across that video again I will post it here. But no matter. I can play them like regular bones, although they are a bit wide. And at least one long-time player bought a pair at Bones Fest XI in Wisconsin, so you know these clappers have some merit.

But here is the good news: Last year I ordered twenty pairs of these plain bamboo bones just to check them out. My supplier in China calls them si pan wa. Believe it or not, each pair of these plain si pan wa bones cost me more than a full set of traditional kuai ban clappers (which sell here for $19.97). Well...sigh, I did the same thing again this year. Except this batch is an inch shorter than the ones they shipped last time - and there are no holes in them like the other ones. I cannot imagine a pair of these plain bamboo bones going for twenty dollars plus. So I set what I think is a reasonable price on them: Just $6.97 per pair. Yes, my loss is your gain.

Look
, there is no use crying over spilled milk, right? So here is your chance to pick up a cheap set of rather unusual (if not rather short and wide) bamboo rhythm bones. And if you are thinking of grabbing a pair or two, don't put it off. Because when they're gone, they're gone.

What is Kuai Ban?

Kuai ban (pronounced "kwai bahr") is a unique folk art where storytellers accompany their own vocal performance with the rhythmic sound of bamboo or brass clappers.

Chances are, if you get a pair of kuai ban clappers, you will skip the storytelling business. But there is no telling what marvelous rhythmic
innovations you will come up with when you experiment with these exotic percussion instruments. This is a true golden opportunity to create original new percussive inventions in Western music.

Bones in Ancient China
Some folks say musical bones were played in ancient China. Here are three references.

1. This first reference is from a report published in the Rhythm Bones Player (vol 5, no 1, 2003). The report cites a reference from the minstrel era:
The Harper's New Monthly Magazine article titled The Ancestry of Brudder Bones appearing in the 1878-9 issue states that bones were among the musical instruments of Chinese Emperor Fon Hi the first. The date was around 3500 B.C.

2. Steve Brown is the director of the Rhythm Bones Society. Steve is also the only two-time consecutive All-Ireland Bones Playing Championship winner from America. He cites this reference in his article entitled The Bones, which appears on the Drum Dojo website:
The New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians in a brief listing on the bones states, "The bones were played in China before 3000 BC, in Egypt around that date, and in ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and medieval Europe."

3. My nephew has lived in China around ten years. I recently asked if he ever saw musical bones there. Here is what he told me:
Well, I have seen bones here. They are used to accompany a "rapper" as he tells a sort of rhyming story. The art is from Shandong province (literally Mountain East) and is hundreds of years old. It's called "kuai ban" in Mandarin which literally means fast clacker or "kuai shu" which means fast tales.

So there you have it. Three references (obscure as they might be) to bone playing in ancient China. And yes, folks do play bones in China now. But
kuai ban is quite different from bone playing in the Western world.

The Father of Kuai Ban
The art form was developed by Li Runjie during the midst of World War II. An old friend of the Li family (and a virtouso kuai ban performer himself) is Liang Houmin. He explains that "Mr. Li was born into a poor farmer's family. He was apprenticed in Tianjin while still a youngster. By the time he reached 18, he was indentured by Japanese occupation forces to work in a coalmine as a miner. But he fled from the mine and began life as a beggar. No doubt, life then was miserable, yet, right at that time, he learned to play the "Shu Lai Bao", a rhythmic story telling to the accompaniment of the clappers, played by beggars to make a living." Liang Houmin explains that by the 1950s Mr. Li had fully developed the art of kuai ban and become famous.

Be the first kid on your block to own a pair of genuine Chinese si pan wa bamboo bones! You can get traditional kuai ban bamboo and brass half-moon clappers at this store too. Order yours now.
Features
  • Plain Design: Plays like regular bones.
  • Natural Bamboo Finish: Smooth sanded surface gentle on hands.
  • Durable Bamboo: Produces medium to sharp tone.

Average Customer Review: Average Customer Review: 4 of 5 4 of 5 Total Reviews: 1 Write a review.

  0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 
4 of 5 rattling with chinese bones February 15, 2011
Reviewer: Robert W from Corvallis,Oregon  
larger bones then the usual. easy to handle once you figure out your grip.I have smaller hands so it took a little while, but once I got it........ can be very loud percussion or softer depending on the wrist flick.

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