The Box Bass

The Box Bass

Something special and unique that I remember from the 1950's is a Music Box-bass that we used as accompaniment to our singing sessions as teenagers. This box, which is shown in the foreground on the left of this drawing, was made by one of our pioneering and innovative leaders of our childhood, Mickey, as he was fondly called. The box-bass was simple in its construction and easy to make. It consisted of 15 x 15 inches tea chest from the local Mapusa market. It consisted of a thick twine pulled through the top centre of the box and tied to the top of a wooden or bamboo pole held upright in any corner. One had to play this 'instrument' by ear in the real sense by placing one's right foot on the corner of the box diagonally opposite to the pole, and plucking on the string with the right hand just like one would do on a double bass. The pitch, which was 'more or less' or near enough, could be obtained by adjusting the pressure on the pole with the left hand. One side of the box had a sound port-hole. Clever invention. Isn't it? It even had the bass and treble clef painted on its sides to give the additional visual effect by Michael. Wow!