The Güirophone (Figure 1) which is described starting on page xxx of Gourd Drum Engineering was the result of a “happy” accident. The little gourd was intended to be used for prototyping a snare drum and as we got near the end of the first cut, SNAP!—the side of the rim broke. It happens. We set it aside and went on to something else. 

A couple of days later one of us decided to try a technique inspired by a long ago reading of The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian  Jaynes (Figure 2). Here’s how it happened:

I took the broken gourd in hand and the mind was cleared of all thought (as much as that is ever possible). I held it before me as I sat on a short concrete ledge in the garage workshop next to a barrel full of scrap wood of all kinds; cut ends, branches, salvaged wood; all sorts of stuff. I hazarded a glance at the barrel of wood. Clear the mind. Clear the mind. I turned the damaged gourd over gently in my hands.

After about 15 seconds an image of what would eventually become the Güirophone flashed across my  cerebellum. I looked again at the barrel of wood and immediately saw (perhaps for the second time) a short piece of willow that had been cut off the end of a longer piece used to make a walking stick at some time in the past. It was exactly the right length and diameter and fit perfectly into the broken space on the gourd rim. All we needed was another space cut into the other side to match the one created by accident during the initial failed cut.

The mind is an amazing thing.