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Nepali crafts people have been producing handmade lokta paper for more than a thousand years in the Himalayas.

 

What is Lokta paper?

Lokta paper is prized for its attractive texture, the durability and strength of its fibre and its resistance to insects. The people of Nepal continue to use handmade lokta paper and, until the Chinese occupation in 1959, traded it with Tibet where it was used in the monasteries for sacred texts. Nepalese still use lokta paper today for official government documents, due to its durability, and for wrapping paper to retain the potency of incense, spices and medicine.

 

The paper is made from the bark of one of several species of the shrub Daphne, mainly Daphne papyracea, that grow in forests at an altitude of 6500 to 9500 feet (2000 to 3000 metres) in the Mount Everest region of Nepal. Lokta plants thrive in the under storey of both coniferous and broad leaved forests. They reach a mature height of 10 to 15 feet with a basal diameter ranging from 2 to 3 inches. Lokta leaves grow 2 to 4 inches long and 0.5 to 1 inch wide and the flowers are white with a sweet smelling scent. Nepali handmade paper is made from the inner fibrous bark of this plant.

 

How Lokta paper is made

Nepali handmade lokta paper is an environmentally friendly and sustainable resource that is harvested and produced naturally. The bark of lokta is harvested by hand without destroying the plant and the Lokta bush naturally regenerates, reaching full maturity again in six to seven years.

 

The making of Nepali handmade lokta paper is an ancient skill passed down through generations, and starts with villagers gathering the lokta inner bark in the forest. They carry the bark back to the village, where local paper makers wash it in a stream. The fibre is then put into large oil drums and the inner bark is boiled.

 

The softened bark is washed and cut into small pieces and cooked again. The soft, cooked bark is placed on a flat stone and beaten to a fine pulp with wooden mallets. Water is then mixed with the pulp to form a homogeneous emulsion. The whole process is done by hand, as there is no electricity in the villages.

 

When the pulp is ready, it is sent to a village close to Kathmandu. This pulp mixture is then diluted and poured over a fine cotton mesh screen that floats on a pool of water. The frame is gently shaken to spread the pulp evenly and then set to dry in the sun. Once the mixture has dried, the sheet of paper is peeled off the frame.

 

History of Lokta Handmade Paper in Nepal

Lokta handmade paper has been crafted in Nepal for at least 800 years and probably for over 1000 years. The sacred Buddhist text 'Karanya Buha Sutra' in the National Archives in Kathmandu, is written on Nepali handmade paper in the Lichchhavi script. Since the book was written in this form of script we can guess that it was written sometime between the first and ninth century A.D. This shows the strength and life of Nepali hand made paper. Lokta paper has excellent durability and continues to be used in legal documents in Nepal.

 

An Eco-friendly paper supporting rural communities

This paper is free from any chemical treatments and no bleach or chlorine is used in its making. It is totally natural. Lokta paper is wood free and can be recycled. Lokta paper is not made from recycled or waste paper materials. And it gives work to many mountain villages who prepare the fibre for papermaking.

About the author:
Teresinha Roberts is a Brazilian-born textile artist with an MS in Biology and a City & Guilds in Embroidery. She specialises in handmade paper and natural dyes and is a member of the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. Teresinha is regularly invited to talk to weavers, spinners, dyers, embroiderers, botanical and environmental groups, amongst others.

Visit our website at http://www.wildpaper.co.uk today to buy lokta computer paper, gift wrap and artist papers.

Percussion Mallets: More Than Just Sticks

When I hear the term "drumstick," I visualize precisely that-a stick that is used to strike a drum (unless, of course, I'm hungry, in which case I go another direction altogether). Simple, right? Wrong. A drumstick, or more accurately, a percussion mallet, is any object used to strike a drum or other percussion instrument in order to produce sound. This means that the category of percussion mallets includes items like beaters and brushes as well as the ubiquitous drumstick. Of course, it is fortunate for us that so many different types of mallets do exist, as they make possible the amazing variety of sounds that can be produced from a simple drum.

The basic drumstick, which is usually about 0.5 inches in diameter and 16 inches long, is recognizable to almost everyone. While they do vary in length and material, the shape is usually standard enough that there can be no doubt about the item's name. All drumsticks can be divided into four basic segments: the tip, which is used to beat the drum; the shoulder, which tapers out from the tip to the shaft; the shaft, which is of a regular diameter running from the bottom of the shoulder to the butt; and the butt, or the rounded portion at the bottom of the stick. Major producers of drumsticks include Vic Firth, Malletech, Vater, Regal Tip, Zildjian, Pro-Mark and Ahead among others.

Within the category of drumsticks, there is a subcategory specifically for those used with snare drums. Snare drumsticks are usually made of wood, often hickory, oak or hard maple, but they can also be of aluminum, fiberglass, nylon, acrylic, plastic or carbon fiber. While the tip of a drumstick is traditionally made of the same material as the shoulder, shaft and butt, snare drumsticks sometimes have nylon tips, which prevent fast wearing and produce a brighter sound on cymbals. It should be noted that snare drumsticks may be specifically designed for particular types of performances. Those intended for orchestral playing are often smaller in diameter or balanced farther toward the tip, which allows for fine control and soft dynamics. But snare drumsticks designed for drums in marching bands are usually thick and weighty in order to create as loud a sound as possible.

A mallet is also a sort of stick, but it is comprised of a head connected to a thinner shaft. The head may be wrapped or unwrapped depending on its intended use. Unwrapped mallets are usually used on instruments made of more durable material, whereas wrapped mallets are used on softer instruments. The heads can be wrapped in a variety of materials, including nylon, acrylic and yarn. Not surprisingly, different mallets produce different sounds and timbres.

Finally, a brush is a set of bristles shaped like a fan and connected to a handle. The bristles are can be metal or plastic, the handle various materials including wood, aluminum and rubber. Brushes are most often seen in jazz or blues music performances. Thanks to their construction, brushes add texture and create sounds not achievable with a stick or a mallet.

About the Author

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, keyboards, sheet music, guitar tab, and home theater audio. You can find the best marketplace at these sites for drums, drumstick, mallet, brush , sheet music, guitar tabs, and subwoofers.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 6:40 am and is filed under Hammers Pullers Extractors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.