A kashaka is simple percussion instrument consisting of two small gourds filled with beans (essentially, two small kinds of maracas) and connected by a string. One gourd is held in the hand and the other is swung from side-to-side around the hand, creating a "clack" upon impact. It originated in West Africa, but has been reproduced in plastic in various countries under different names: Patica (Japan) and Kosika (USA). Other names include Asalato, Kes Kes, Tchangot Tche, and many other.
Kashakas create both shaking sounds and percussive clicks, by swinging the balls around the hand, and by making the balls hit each other. Learning to catch the Kashaka can be difficult at first, but it enables a much larger variety of rhythms to be created. Also, as hands come in different sizes, it is important to play a Kashaka that is the right size, as it makes learning how to play and master different rhythms much easier. When a Kashaka is played in each hand by an experienced player, polyrhythms can be produced by playing two different rhythms with different time signatures.
Kashakas are considered a toy to some, a percussion instrument to most, and are also a skill development tool that can improve dexterity, ambidexterity, brain hemispheric synchronization, and the ability to multitask. It can also build muscle mass and improve flexibility in the hands, arms, shoulders and chest. It is also considered a meditative tool that can create a trance state, promote relaxation and lower stress levels.
Many countries in West Africa are impoverished, and for many children, a Kashaka is their only toy. This is because they literally grow out of the ground.
Each ball of a Kashaka is a hollow gourd from the Swawa tree (see below for more information about the tree). When the gourds dry and fall off the trees children collect them and fill them with orange pebbles from the iron-rich soil of the Sahel. Along the coast of West Africa small pieces of shells are used instead.
The two gourd balls are attached to each other by a small string (sometimes made from old rags braided together), in one of two ways:
In Mali, only women and girls play with Kashakas. Sometimes it's for work, and sometimes for play. Everyone in Mali has to help out - as soon as girls are old enough to babysit, they will lean how to play Kashakas to entertain their younger siblings. When they get older, and a little better at playing, they get together with their teenage friends and have some fun: they surround a tree and sing folk songs, rhythmically bouncing their Kasso Kassonis off the trunk at the same time.
The men and boys in Mali think Kasso Kassonis belong to the realm of women's things. Even the great Malian drummers don't use them.
In other parts of West Africa, like in Togo, Benin and Ghana, male drummers have been using Kasso Kassoni (or Kashaka) for generations. They were probably introduced to Ghana by their legendary fishermen, who have traveled far up and down the Gold Coast, trading and sharing cultural traditions and rhythms (so far, more than 20 names for Kashakas have been discovered).
In some places in Cameroon, Kashakas have a unique traditional use. Whenever villagers gather to meet with the chief, they all pull our their Kashakas and begin shaking them as soon as the chief enters the compound. In Guinea, Kashakas are played by young women after their rite-of-passage ceremonies, when they travel to the river for a ritual cleansing.