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The next stage in the instrument’s manufacture is one of the most interesting. In order to create harmonics, or over tones, when the keys are struck, several small holes, about an inch (2.5 cm) in diameter are cut into the sides of the calabashes. These holes are then covered with the outer material from spider egg cases collected from the bush. To adhere the two together, a glue stick is made from the resin of a tree and applied to the outer edge of the holes. This is achieved by heating the part of the calabash where the glue is required with the end of a smouldering stick, then melting the glue over this area by running the glue stick around the locally heated perimeter of the hole.
This addition to the calabash gives the sound a very distinctive air, so much so that when a visitor hears the xylophone for the first time they often remark that some of the keys are not quite in tune or ‘right’ !