ZANGÃO

ONCE UPON A TIME...

The ZANGÃO, which means bumble-bee, takes its name from the sound that it produces. It’s a toy that can even be made from no more than a simple button. In the old days, all the toys and instruments that both boys and girls made were always connected to the environment and the different seasons. So, in Spring, when the bees were busy collecting the nectar from the flowers, so that they could then carry it off to their hives and transform it into honey, the children’s imagination was unleashed and they started making the ZANGÃO.

MATERIAL NEEDED

Some cardboard and a meter-long piece of parcel string.

TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES

 A pair of scissors and some glue.

HOW TO MAKE THE INSTRUMENT

What produces the sound in the ZANGÃO is the friction caused by the object rotating in the air. If this object has pointed edges, its sound will be more penetrating. If you make several of these instruments with different shapes and sizes, you’ll be able to hear the difference in the sounds produced. What 1 suggest is that you begin by making a star, which you can form by sticking several pieces of card together. It’ s important for the two holes that you’re going to make in the centre of the star to be dose to each other, otherwise the ZANGÃO won’t rotate in a regular fashion. Thread the string through the ho1es and tie the two ends together.

DECORATION

The Zangão is the name given in Portuguese to the male bee or drone, but it’s the queen bee that rules over the hive. So, 1 warn you boys that it’s best to seek some advice about decorating your instrument from a girl. Mind you, girls, when you’re the ones that have made the instrument, 1 suggest you don’t sting the boy just because he wants to give you his ideas about the decoration. All in all, it’s best to follow the example of the bees... work together.

HOW TO PLAY THE INSTRUMENT

Whilst the string is still new and hasn’t been worn in yet, it difficult for the ZANGÃO to produce a sound. However, pull the string tight between your two index fingers and begin to rotate the star. It should be kept equidistant from the two ends. As soon as the string begins to intertwine, pull it tight. You’ll see that the star begins to spin and the string unwinds in the opposite direction. With time, you’ll develop the knack of playing the instrument, although you’ll probably have some difficulty in getting a sound out of it at first. After that, though, you won’t want to know about anything else. It sounds as good as honey tastes.