A Cascas by any other name

This instrument is actually a toy in many cultures, but I have fallen in love with it. It goes by many, many names. (as folk instruments often do.) It is called :
cascas, kashika, kashaka, asalato, aslato, aslatua, patica, thelevi, televi, kosika, kitikpo, asalatua, akasa, bakita, kokosiko, and probably some other names I'm not aware of. 

If you have a chance to choose your own cascas (or pair of cascas), make sure they fit in your hands well. As a woman with medium hands, I found that the smallest cascas available to me were the most comfortable. The large ones were extremely difficult for me to catch on the upswing. I may have gotten better at it with practice, but I opted for the smaller set. My set is held together with a plug of wood that holds all right, but can work its way loose during practice. I have seen other sets that have a tie end of the connecting string going all the way through the cascas. These appear to be safer, although I have no experience to prove it one way or another. 

One of the nice things about these instruments, is that they can just be held in the hands and shaken for a nice soft swishing sound, kind of like those plastic egg shakers. Simple and a good way to use them in a drum circle while you are building up your skills at swinging the cascas for the nice sharp 'clack' for rhythmic variety.

This is my favorite series of instructional videos for the aslatua. There is no verbal explanation, no slow motion, no showing off -  just  a series of short videos showing different patterns for playing the instruments. Perfect. If you subscribe to the series, you can have them at hand whenever you need to see or hear a particular pattern again. 




Where can you get these?
I got authentic 'made in Africa' aslatua from the company that runs the Djembe Direct website. They cost $9.95 each in the summer of 2010. These are made from the seed pod of the Swawa tree, hollowed and cleaned, then filled with gravel. They are closed off, and the string is attached with a plug of soft wood or cork.

Here are some from Toca. They are at X8 drums. These are wood balls in the same design as the natural cascas. I am a little irked that they are represented as a 'new design' thought up by Toca, but the look like they'll work fine. They list at $13.99, X8 sells them for $8.99.

Authentic, made in Ghana from seed pods or small gourds. $9.80 at Rhythm House Drums.

Authentic, called batika shakers at African Rhythm Traders Cost $6.95 each

Red plastic kosika are sold at Kosika.com . They were out of stock until September 1st when I checked in July.

Remember these costs are all for one connected pair of instruments. There is also a (sometimes steep) price for shipping and handling at all of these vendors.

If you know of a good source for cascas, by any name, please share it in the comments section.