Agogo Bell

Who would have thought that an old muffler could make real music? That's exactly what this African instrument does (the one pictured above came from Ghana). It's extremely common to find that most world cultures have historically created musical instruments from "junk" - in this case, old car parts and turn them into something of value. The Agogo Bell has many sounds and expert players (which I most certainly am not) obtain extraordinary sounds by tapping the larger bell against their thighs while they are playing. This produces an interesting "thawp" sound.