Rhythm Stick

This is a photo collage I did of the Rhythm Stick, partly for art sake, but mostly because the instrument is over five feet tall and at it's greatest length only six inches. This makes it hard to shoot with a good background in a small apartment. The Rhythm Stick can be plucked, struck, bowed, stomped, smacked, and whacked. The wood for the stick was taken out of an old basement, it was the banister from a staircase we were tearing out. I figure it has to be close to a hundred years old. There are three very light gauge acoustic strings near the head of the instrument, and one long piano string that runs down the length of the pole. The head is made from an old wooden salad bowl. I'm guessing by the look of it, some time in the seventies it was made. The face of the head was carved out of a wooden sugar container, which I believe may also have originated in the seventies. The attachment piece from the head to the pole was taken off a lamp, which I'm just going to say was probably from the seventies. There is a nice brass handle mounted off to the back, and if you look just below the tuning pegs there are eight handmade figure eight swirls that I use to make my metal dresses. If you would like to see some of those dresses click here.