Handle Castanets for Hire

Originating in Spain, the castanets have the greatest association with flamenco dancing. They are two hollowed round shells of hardwood, generally rosewood. The shells can be arranged for playing in several ways. The most authentic of these is for each shell to be looped with string so the player can use the thumb for the string loop and the fingers for the control of the wood shells. This method is not the most practical for the modern set up or a multi percussion piece as the time it takes to remove castanets from the fingers can have a detrimental effect on the speed the percussionist can move from one instrument to the other. Other methods for using castanets are to attach wooden rods to one end of each rod for use on the knees. The easiest method is to use machine castanets. These are basically the two wooden hollow shells mounted on a hardwood plate with hollows to match those of the shells. The shells are connected at the back of the board using either taught string or springs.

Repertoire

Rimsky-Korsakov Cappriccio Espangnol
Bizet Carmen

Translation

Italian - Castagnette
French - Castagnettes
German - Kastagnetten
Spanish - Castanuelas