On a mission to restore the image of musical spoons

LOCAL FOLKLORE – Popular with tourists who stroll through Old Quebec, the musical spoon is primarily a percussion instrument that is played all over the world.

In Quebec, the musical spoon is associated with traditional music. An object sold in tourist shops in Old Quebec, the spoon is closely linked to our folklore, the holiday season and traditional music.

It’s an image that Quebec spoon manufacturer Héritage musical spoons is working hard to break. My friends and acquaintances, the first question they ask me is: “Are you in contact with La Bottine Souriante and traditional groups?” Me, every time, the hair rises on my armreplies Mathieu Cyr, who decided to join the company founded by his father during the pandemic.

Without taking anything away from traditional Quebec groups, the company's commercial objective is to focus, thanks to the internet and social networks, on the musical instrument and its versatility. And it works. More than 90% of the company's spoons are sold internationally. We are working very hard to get the spoon out of this frameworkcontinues Mathieu Cyr. If you look at our website, we really haven't taken the folkloric, traditional, sugar shack and New Year's approach.

Among the musicians who have purchased the instrument from Héritage Cuillères Musicales in recent years, we find Saturday Day Night Live drummer, He must have bought us about thirty spoonsand Santana's drummer.

Playing the spoon

For Olivier Bussières, who has been a professional percussionist for 15 years, the spoon has always been part of the family musical landscape. He recognizes that the spoon is an unloved instrument for percussion in general. It feels like there's not much we can do with it.he said. I have long looked for how to use this instrument in a diverse way and how to integrate it into several musical styles.he explains.

It was thanks to videos by Benoît Cliche, a late actor and percussionist from Quebec, that he understood all the possibilities the instrument offered him. He had developed a way of playing that really allowed you to use the whole hand, not just the thigh and the palm of the hand, but the forearm and the rolling of the fingers.. Bussières began to apply the techniques learned with the rope drum and the spoon. It really opens a lot of doors to the instrumenthe admits.

The musician, who says he owns around twenty spoons, obtains the instrument from Louis-George L'écuyer, a craftsman and manufacturer of wooden spoons since 1985. It's a question of sound. With Louis-George, what's fun is that he's always creating new types of spoons, new sounds..

Louis-George L'Écuyer who, with his wife Denise Caron, owns a workshop located northwest of Montreal, has points of sale in Old Quebec and Montreal. But just like the Héritage musical spoons company, it is online that he reaches musicians around the world. It's another type of clientele, completely different. […]. It leads me to find new things, new models, explains the craftsman.

In the world of musical spoons, there is no single spoon and each manufacturer makes their own models. Olivier Bussières explains. Louis-George really explores. For example, he puts marbles inside certain spoons to create a shaker or again, a kind of pattern of stripes on the top of spoons to make a güiro, which allows you to make a roll that is usually done on a tambourine.

Versatile percussion instrument

Everyone agrees that the musical spoon is an instrument that can blend with several musical genres. Yes, it's a percussionsays Mathieu Cyr It's like saying that the guitar is just for playing flamenco.

According to the Canadian Museum of History, the origin of the musical spoon dates back to antiquity, but it is in Irish and Celtic music that it gains importance. There are versions of the musical spoon all over the world, such as in Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Canada and the United States.

It's coming back into fashion a bitnotes Olivier Bussieres. He sees it, he says, in his circle of percussionist friends. Many people buy their spoons from Héritage musical spoons. They are super proactive about promotion, even internationallyexplains the musician. There are some really good Israeli percussionists playing with their spoons and making videos.

The Quebec company sells three models of spoons, small, medium and serious. Three different tones. Sales are going well. We are increasing year after yearunderlines Mathieu Cyr. Because we work very hard to sell them.

Social networks allow you to reach an audience of high-caliber musicians. If you look at our Instagram page, you will see young musicians, they don't do traditional music. […]. What they do with the spoon, we are still further than the good old rigodon.