Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

an Shona music, a ''deze'' is a halved

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...

gourd that an

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 Tine (structural), tines, played by holding the instrument ...

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 a buzzing sound. Cracked ''deze'' frequently are repaired by wire stitching. Because of the size of the ''deze'', audience members cannot see the mbira players' hands. Because of this, it is not uncommon for those who want to learn the mbira to play the hosho first, so that they can stand behind the players (in a traditional band) to see into ''deze'' and learn by observation. Modern ''deze'' are often constructed out of fiberglass and epoxy for increased durability. However, some mbira players, like Chartwell Dutiro, critique the use of fiberglass dezes in live performance. Dutiro says it compromises the resonance of the mbira and thus hinders communication with dza vadzimu (ancestral spirits).

See also

Further reading