music of vanuatu - Alexandre Francois

35 Pages·2013·7.75 MB·English

MUSIQUES DU VANUATU
Fêtes et mystères
MUSIC OF VANUATU
Celebrations and mysteries
François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013
MUSIQUES DU VANUATU | MUSIC OF VANUATU
Fêtes et mystères | Celebrations and mysteries
(cid:2)1. Guimbarde / Jew’s harp— West Gaua.............................................................................0’42”
(cid:2)2. Jeux d'eau / Water games— West Gaua..........................................................................1’31”
Danses pour une grande fête | Celebration in the village
(cid:2)3. “Le Cyclône”/ “The Hurricane” (leng)— West Gaua..........................................................1’35”
(cid:2)4. Sowahavin, danse des femmes / A women’s dance— Central Pentecost........................1’46”
(cid:2)5. Sawagoro— Ambae..........................................................................................................1’19”
(cid:2)6. Sawagorode levée de deuil / End-of-mourningsawagoro— Maewo.............................2’27”
(cid:2)7. Sawagoro longo— North Pentecost..................................................................................1’24”
(cid:2)8. Sawakode mariage / A weddingsawako— Central Pentecost........................................3’41”
(cid:2)9. Jeu satirique des femmes / A women’s joke song(barate)— Central Pentecost............0’39”
(cid:2)10. Mirliton / Kazoo— Merelava..........................................................................................0’27”
(cid:2)11. Bambous pilonnants / Bamboo stamping tubes(nombo) — Merelava.........................1’13”
(cid:2)12. Sowahavin, danse des femmes / A women’s dance— Central Pentecost......................2’50”
(cid:2)13. Ka, danse des hommes / A men’s dance— Central Pentecost.......................................2’23”
(cid:2)14. Danse de mariage / A wedding dance(noyongyep)— Motalava..................................2’34”
(cid:2)15. Danse de mariage / A wedding dance(noyongyep)— Motalava..................................1’02”
(cid:2)16. Chant “Le Râle à Bandes”/ “Rail bird”song(namapto)— Motalava.............................1’20”
Promenade en forêt | Walking in the bush
(cid:2)17. Ensembles de sifflets gove(garçons)/ Govewhistles (boys)— Maewo.......................1’19”
(cid:2)18. Berceuse “Les échassiers”/ Lullaby “The Tattlers”— Hiw, Torres....................................1’03”
(cid:2)19. Comptine / Rhyme“Tangorere” — North Pentecost.......................................................0’32”
(cid:2)20. Jeu de feuille de manguier / Playing a mango leaf— West Gaua.................................0’26”
(cid:2)21. Comptine / Rhyme“Tutubwau”— North Pentecost......................................................0’32”
(cid:2)22. Arc musical / Musical bow— Hiw, Torres.......................................................................0’56”
(cid:2)23. Berceuse / Lullaby— South Pentecost............................................................................1’09”
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Les chants titi, poèmes à danser | Titi songs: dancing to poetry
(cid:2)24. Prélude aux chants titi/ Prelude to titisongs(nawha yong) — Motalava.....................0’51”
(cid:2)25. “Pluie” / “Rain” (nawha titi)— Motalava........................................................................3’04”
(cid:2)26. “En écorçant les cocos” / “Husking coconuts” (titi) — Vanua Lava....................................1’45”
(cid:2)27. “Fleur de liane” / “Liana flower” (nawha titi)— Motalava...............................................3’04”
(cid:2)28. “Le mégapode” / “Scrubfowl” (titi) — Vanua Lava............................................................0’59”
(cid:2)29. “Volcan” / “Volcano” (nawha titi)— Motalava................................................................3’15”
Hommage aux Grands Hommes | A tribute to Great Men
(cid:2)30. Ensembles de sifflets gove(femmes) / Govewhistles (women)— Maewo..................1’48”
(cid:2)31. Passage de grades / Grade-taking ceremony (bilbilan)— South Pentecost..................1’48”
(cid:2)32. Passage de grades / Grade-taking ceremony(mantani)— North Pentecost................0’58”
(cid:2)33. Tambourinage pour un grand homme / Drumming for a great man– Motalava........0’21”
(cid:2)34. Chant d'entrain pour un grand homme / A song for a great man – Motalava............1’17”
Le grondement sourd des Ancêtres | The muffled roar of Ancestors
(cid:2)35. Rhombe / Bullroarer— Merelava...................................................................................1’05”
(cid:2)36. Danse des Esprits / Dance of the Spirits(utmag)— Merelava......................................1’07”
(cid:2)37. Danse des Esprits / Dance of the Spirits(neqet) — Motalava........................................1’29”
(cid:2)38. Chant des Esprits / Songs of the Spirits(newe-t)— Hiw, Torres.....................................1’16”
(cid:2)39. Chant des Esprits / Songs of the Spirits(newe-t) — Lo, Torres.......................................4’32”
(cid:2)40. Chant des Esprits / Songs of the Spirits(newe-t) — Lo, Torres.......................................6’47”
(cid:2)41. Pleurs des Esprits / Cries of the Spirits(newertiang)— Merelava.................................4’37”
Collection fondée par Françoise Gründ et dirigée par Pierre Bois
Enregistrements (Vanuatu, 1997 à 2010), texte et photographies, Alexandre François(CNRS–LACITO,
ANU) et Monika Stern(CNRS, AMU-CNRS-EHESS, CREDO). Illustration de couverture : masques des
esprits dans la danse mag(Jōlap, Gaua) et carte, Alexandre François. Traduction anglaise, Brenda
Prendergast François et Alexandre François. Prémastérisation, mise en page, Pierre Bois.
Financements : Ministère Français de la Recherche (ACI Jeunes Chercheurs 2004-2007), LACITO, CREDO.
© Conseil National Culturel du Vanuatu (VNCC) pour les œuvres enregistrées. © Alexandre François
et Monika Stern pour les enregistrements, textes et photos. 2013 Maison des Cultures du Monde.
INEDITest une marque de la Maison des Cultures du Monde (fondateur Chérif Khaznadar – direction Arwad Esber).
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François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013
18
22
38
Répartition géographique des pièces musicales 3490
Geographical distribution of the musical pieces 141516
24252729
333437
26
28
1
2
320 1013154316
6
17
30
5
47 193221
8 12
9 13
31
23
Le regard du Maraw, esprit de la danse mag / The eye of the Maraw, spirit of the magdance (Jōlap, Gaua) – © AF
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François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013
Utmag, danse des initiés / dance of initiated men (Merelava) – © MS
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Une fête newēt/ A newētparty (Yaqane, Hiw) – © AF
Page 68: Danse du serpent de mer / Seasnake dance (Lahlap, Motalava) – © AF
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François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013
MUSIC OF VANUATU
Celebrations and mysteries
Vanuatu’s unknown treasures poetic forms and styles used in the songs
The Melanesian societies of Vanuatu form a themselves, Vanuatu still harbours treasures
mosaic of languages and cultures that have worthy of being brought to light.
become quite different, from island to
island, over the course of history. Such a The diversity of Vanuatu
diversity is particularly conspicuous in The 41 pieces presented here encompass
musical arts – through aesthetic and social nine different islands, covering the two pro-
practices which are highly sophisticated, yet vinces TORBA (Torres–Banks) and PENAMA
still go largely undocumented. To this day, (Pentecost–Ambae–Maewo), in the northern
Vanuatu’s Melanesian music has been acces- half of the country. This sample should pro-
sible mostly through recordings by Peter vide a fair idea of the wealth of the archipe-
Crowe (1994) in Maewo and Ambae, and a lago’s overall musical heritage.
record of a cappella songs produced by the Vanuatu societies cherish the diversity of
Vanuatu Cultural Centre (Ammann 2000). A their cultures and languages. The country
recent book describes the musical forms of holds the world record in terms of linguistic
Vanuatu with a special focus on the world of density, with 106 different languages – not
secrecy and the supernatural (Ammann counting the dialects – for a population of
2012). However, whether in the detail of 240,000. No less than 26 languages are still
instruments, melodies and rhythms, or the spoken in the TORBA and PENAMA pro-
This CD brings together the best recordings made by two field researchers between 1997 and 2010. Alexandre
François, linguist (Langues et Civilisations à Tradition Orale, CNRS; Australian National University), studies the
languages and oral literature of Vanuatu, especially those of the Banks and Torres islands in the north of the archi-
pelago. The ethnomusicologist Monika Stern (Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l’Océanie) explores
the social and musical practices of northern Vanuatu. The two researchers have travelled across the archipelago,
separately or together, and have combined their efforts in a research project entitled Rythmes à danser, poèmes
à chanter en Mélanésie: Esthétique, transmission et impact social des arts musicaux au Vanuatu. This project gave
birth to a documentary produced by Éric Wittersheim, The Poet’s Salary, which was awarded the 2009 Bartók
prize by the Société Française d’Ethnomusicologie. Whereas the film was centred on the island of Motalava, the
present musical anthology covers a broader area.
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François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013
vinces alone, and as many distinct micro-
communities. The diversity of the musical
styles is commensurate with this linguistic
variety: certain musical styles, certain
dances, certain instruments, are sometimes
known to just one village, and unknown
elsewhere. This being said, these microdiffe-
rences stand out from a shared cultural
background. Due to common origins as well
as to a long tradition of economic and cul-
tural exchanges, numerous similarities are
also found from one island to another. A coastal village (Yugemëne, Hiw, Torres) © AF
The present selection of recordings
attempts to reflect the richness of Vanuatu’s Ocean, village, forest
musical arts. Besides geographical scope, Vanuatu was first populated about 3200
emphasis has been put on the diversity of years ago, when the navigators of the Lapita
genres, instruments, musical or poetic civilisation, sailing southeast on their large
styles. By giving preference to live perfor- canoes, colonised insular Melanesia – from
mances, we aim to place musical forms in the Solomon Islands to New Caledonia and
their social and anthropological context. Fiji. The first people to settle on the archi-
From one piece to another, the listener pelago’s islands, most of which are volcanic
moves on from one village to another, and fertile, cultivated the land – whilst
changing from one universe and atmosphe- maintaining a strong link with the sea. The
re to another, on a journey that is both aes- immediate social unit became the village or
thetic and cultural. hamlet, sometimes perched high up in the
The present booklet aims to guide the liste- island’s hills, but most often set up along
ner through this journey. After touching the coasts.
upon the importance of music in the socie- This lay the foundation of the typical land-
ties of Vanuatu, we will describe their musi- scape of Vanuatu societies. A few dozen
cal instruments and decipher the art of family dwellings of bamboo walls and leaf
song poetry. Listeners will be able to follow roofs, forming a circle around the central
the album and its 41 recordings in detail as village clearing – the agora for encounters,
they discover the musical universe of the the focal point of festivities. A few yards
archipelago. downhill, a sandy beach, the coral reef, the
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lagoon and finally the ocean – the source of enters into a whole new world, unknown
marine food, but also the hub of exchange and daunting, a green maze haunted by
between islands, the horizon from whence ancestral spirits, where it is so easy to get
future encounters will be made. lost. Stories and poems evoke those ambiva-
On the other side of the village, walking lent solitary moments: pleasure of walking
uphill further inland, one enters the ambi- through the woods, august respect for the
guous world of the forest. forces of nature – but also fear of the unk-
The forest is first and foremost the familiar nown, with this sudden urge to return home
route to the gardens of yams and taros, to one’s village.
known since early childhood, the precise
limits of which are transmitted down Music and custom
through the generations. This is where fami- For almost two centuries, Vanuatu islanders
liar plant resources are to be found: wellli- have been able to learn about the Western
ked fruit; firewood; solid tree trunks for world. The northern part of the archipelago
making canoes or beams; bamboos that will was Christianised by Anglican missionaries;
become rafters, water bottles or sharp Catholics, Presbyterians and other churches
blades; but also various leaves that will have shared the islands further south. With
cover the house, wrap food as it is baked in ships visiting from Australia or New
stone ovens or be plaited into a mat for the Caledonia, and later through institutions of
bedroom. As we shall see, these same plants the Anglo-French Condominium, the
will be transformed into musical instru- people of the New Hebrides – the former
ments: a leaf will be made into a Jew’s harp name of Vanuatu – became familiar with
or bullroarer; dried fruits will become ankle both English and French, the two languages
rattles; a thick root may turn into a percus- still taught today in schools. To these colo-
sion board; solid logs will be hollowed and nial languages, they added Bislama – origi-
carved into massive slit gongs; the trunk of nally an English-based pidgin which spread
a sago tree will serve as the body of a headed quickly during the 20th century, and today
drum; and bamboos of all sizes will become serves as a lingua franca throughout the
slit drums, stamping tubes, bamboo flutes or archipelago. Now an official language of the
whistles… The sounds of all these instru- country, Bislama is taking over from the ver-
ments are the voices of the forest reaching nacular tongues, especially in urban areas.
out to the village. These last two centuries have given rise to
But should one venture into the dark slo- new musical landscapes. Anglican church
ping forests in the night hours, then one choirs introduced vocal polyphony which
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François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013
was previously unknown, and is now widely All in all, these two musical universes
appreciated in Vanuatu churches. Those coexist without really mixing. Guitars com-
who were recruited to work on the sugar monly played in churches or in string bands
plantations of Queensland, at the end of the never participate in “custom dances”. The
19th century, were able to hear guitars and contrast is also found in the language: whe-
other chordophones. This discovery of new reas religious or string band songs are often
sounds, later renewed with their exposure to in Bislama or English, this is never the case
American soldiers during the war in the with customary songs: whatever the style,
Pacific, gave birth to “Stringbands” which their lyrics are always composed in the local
have become so popular today in Vanuatu. tongue, or sometimes even in an archaic,
In addition, the record industry has develo- poetic language. These styles, typical of
ped over the last twenty years. For the ancient music, preserve their distinctive
young urban generations, music is now lar- identity even in contemporary creations: as
gely dominated by reggae – and we observed in 2005 in
to a smaller extent, by hiphop, Motalava, when a new kastom
dance music, and R&B. song is born, it is always com-
In spite of these new trends, posed in the “language of the
inherited musical styles still thri- ancestors”.
ve in most of the islands. In the This contrast between “local”
absence of electricity, rural areas music and music felt to be exo-
of Vanuatu seldom listen to the genous, may sound surprising,
radio or commercial CD's. Until given the constant circulation
mobile phone technology was of musical styles among com-
introduced in the late 2000’s, munities, which often travel
they had remained largely cut from one island of the archipe-
off from urban music. In most of lago to another. In other words,
A stringband session in
the archipelago’s villages, three the village (Jōlap, Gaua) © AF music referred to as “from
main styles are in use today: here”, associated with “cus-
church songs; string band songs; plus every- tom”, are often musical styles coming from
thing else, grouped into a vast category refer- some other island across the seas. And yet,
red to as “local music” or “our music” – in people will still draw a contrast between
contrast to music from afar. In Bislama, one “custom” music and styles which will never
often speaks of kastom tanis, literally “custom really be part of custom (string band, church
dances”, or kastom singsing“custom songs”. songs).
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Women and children during festivities in Bunlap (South Pentecost) © MS
A key element could possibly explain this on the category of music styles described as
dichotomy between these two categories of local or customary. Due to space limitations,
music: namely, the islanders’ capacity to it does not include church hymns, string
control the full chain of production. bands, or reggae songs, all of which would
Customary music – even when it circulates warrant CDs of their own.
from one island to another, and is thus not In spite of the watertight categories present
“local” strictly speaking – will always involve in popular representations, subtle influences
instruments and techniques that can be rea- can sometimes be unveiled between styles.
dily reproduced from local resources; in For example, in recording (cid:2)12, the begin-
these conditions, it is easy for the islanders nings of polyphony can be heard in the
to learn new styles and enrich their inherited middle of a Sowahavin dance, no doubt
repertoire. By contrast, music of European influenced by church choirs. Also, certain
origin often implies the use of materials forms of musical crossings can be observed
(metal, plastic…) and foreign instruments in urban settings, as songs from the traditio-
that can be harder to recreate locally. nal repertoire are occasionally adapted with
Taking on the perceptions of the musicians string band or reggae arrangements (Stern
themselves, the present anthology will focus 2000, 2007).
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François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013
Voices and gestures of the Ancestors by men. In Hiw, legend has it that a child,
In Vanuatu, musical arts form not only a left alone in the village by adults going off
link between past and present, but also, by to work in their gardens, was visited regular-
extension, between the living and the dead, ly by a spirit who secretly taught him songs
between humans and spirits. This dimen- and dances in the new(cid:2)t style [(cid:2)38–40]. A
sion will be apparent in our analysis of song very similar myth in Motalava explains the
poetry, in both its linguistic and stylistic origin of the nawha titi [(cid:2)24–29]. Other
aspects. But the same notion can be obser- similar stories are to be heard in Gaua,
ved in many other aspects of the region’s Vanua Lava, or Toga, reminding us of the
musical experience. strong ties forever present between music
In spite of Christianization, ancestral spirits and spirits.
continue to play a central role in the spiri- One context in which music also formalises
tual and cultural landscape of Vanuatu the bond between the living and the dead
(François 2013). This is especially true of is that of secret societies (Vienne 1984,
musical arts, many aspects of which recall 1996). Boys of a same age group gather
their sacred origin. The poetic language is together, somewhere in the forest, under
called “language of the spirits”, “language of the aegis of a protective divinity, and learn
the gods”, or “language of Qet” (after the from their elders a number of songs, dances
name of the mythical creator of the Banks and instruments reserved to the initiated.
Islands). Likewise, if a poet is in search of At the end of this period of reclusion, these
inspiration when writing a new composi-
tion, he will turn to the spirits: after swallo-
wing the sap of leaves charged with magic
powers, he will communicate with the spi-
rits of ancestors, at night or during a solita-
ry walk, and wait to be inspired with the
words or the melody of a new song.
Several myths, of great literary and anthro-
pological significance, relate how a particu-
lar dance, or a musical instrument, were
long ago transmitted to men by ancestral
spirits. In Pentecost, Maewo and Ambae,
one hears stories of how the sawagoro dance
[(cid:2)5–8] was one day stolen from the spirits The spirit of the Urchin, neqetdance (Lahlap, Motalava) © AF
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young men come and dance on the village [photo p.74] – certain leaves of sacred
ground, their heads covered with sacred plants, patterns of body painting, or designs
headdresses or masks corresponding to on mat clothing. A fair proportion of musi-
their initiation rank. Whether by the cal forms in Vanuatu are bound by the oath
shapes and colours of these headdresses, of secrecy and are the exclusive property of
the lyrics, rhythms or choreographies, each a few men, by virtue of their privileged ties
aspect of these ceremonies remind the with the world of the Ancestors. Some
noninitiated of their powerful ties with the songs, dances, instruments, rhythms or
ghosts of their ancestors. melodies are therefore inaccessible to chil-
dren or to women, or to any other person
Music and graded societies who has not acquired the relevant rights.
The sacred dimension is also present in the In sum, the people of Vanuatu strongly
political system of chiefdom, closely linked associate their heritage music with the
to the world of spirits. On the three islands ancient world of “custom” – albeit one that
Pentecost-Ambae-Maewo – just as in Malakula is constantly reinvented through encoun-
or Ambrym, further south – the rank system ters and creations. This link with the
still rules society today, and everyone is ancient world takes various forms, which
meant to take part in this political competi- we will now describe. To begin with, mate-
tion. rial techniques perpetuate the exclusive use
From his early years, a boy is introduced of natural materials, as much for making
into the system in a small ceremony where the instruments themselves as for the
he acquires his first grade. The higher the dance costumes and masks made for special
rank, the more the gradetaking ceremonies occasions. In addition, the link between
will be enhanced with dancing, singing and traditional music and olden times appears
drumming. We recorded some of these in the poetic form of the songs – an
rhythms in Pentecost during initiation cere- archaic, cryptic language, constantly ridd-
monies [(cid:2)31–32]. led with nostalgic references to the dream
If music plays such an essential role in these world of yesteryear.
ceremonies, it is also because certain grades
imply access to a sort of “customary right” Instruments
over a specific musical rhythm. This rhyth- All instruments used in traditional music
mic pattern is an integral part of the attri- come from the natural environment sur-
butes specific to this grade, along with cer- rounding the musicians: the forest or the
tain ornaments – such as curved pig tusks sea.
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François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013
The ocean supplies the conch shell, which is nowadays, it can be made of almost any
blown to hail crowds or send out a signal. wooden plank.
Also, the islanders of Ureparapara some- Between three and twelve musicians stand
times create ankle rattles using the spines of around the percussion board. Each one
pencil sea urchins. Apart from these rare holds one or two sticks which are light in
examples, almost all other instruments used weight, measure from 3 to 6 feet long, and
in traditional music are of vegetal origin. are made out of bamboo or wood; some-
Three types of instrument can be differen- times the paddle of a canoe does the job. As
tiated. Firstly, musical instruments proper, the dancing begins, the musicians hit the
the use of which is codified, and which are board in rhythm, producing muffled
played to accompany singing or dancing. sounds. The group remains synchronised by
Secondly, various objects which are not ins- following a leader, who decides how the
truments, yet are occasionally exploited for rhythm should progress, and when it’s time
their sound properties, for personal enter- to stop.
tainment, independently of any sung or In the Banks Islands, the percussion board is
danced performance. Lastly, we will see that the central piece of musical moments – quite
certain instruments have paramusical, literally in fact, since it is placed in the
semiotic or mimetic functions. middle of the village clearing, and forms the
Following the Hornbostel–Sachs classifica- central point around which the circles of
tion of musical instruments, we will distin- musicians and dancers evolve. A key element
guish between idiophones (by far the most
common), chordophones, aerophones and
membranophones.
Idiophones
The percussion board
An idiophone widely used in Vanuatu, espe-
cially in the northern islands, is the percus-
sion board. A pit, approximately 50 cm in
diameter and 20 cm deep, is dug out of the
ground, and will serve as a resonator; a fair-
ly massive, flattish slab of wood is placed
over it. Traditionally, this slab was cut out of
a broad, flat buttress root from certain trees; The percussion board tiyit r̄ër̄ë(Hiw, Torres) © AF
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of the orchestra (called nawha in the lan- technical terms illustrates, if need be, the
guage of Motalava), this instrument accom- local existence of a local “musical theory”
panies village dances [(cid:2)14–16] or titi sung (see Zemp 1979).
poems [(cid:2)25–29]. In the Torres Islands, the
percussion board supplies the leading osti- Large slit wooden gong
nato of new(cid:2)tsongs [(cid:2)38–40]. By far the most imposing idiophone, both
The name of the instrument differs conside- in terms of its dimensions and its social
rably from one language to another: ne tiyit prestige, is a large wooden drum, hollowed
r(cid:3)(cid:4)r(cid:3)(cid:4) (literally “tree root”) in Hiw; ne v(cid:4)n m(cid:2)le- out from a tree trunk, and slit lengthwise.
pup (“thick slab”) in Lo-Toga of the Torres A similar type of carved drum is found in
Islands; ntaqap in Löyöp of Ureparapara; the central islands of Vanuatu, where it is
naqy(cid:2)n(cid:3) malbuy (“thick club”) in Mwotlap of played in an upright position; its celebrity
Motalava; lalöbur in Vurës of Vanua Lava; has made it a national emblem. However, in
diovin Dorig of Gaua; m(cid:2)pli rain Lakon, and the Banks Islands, as well as in Maewo,
so on. Ambae and the north-central areas of
The languages also have names for the sticks Pentecost, the same drum is presented hori-
used to beat the board (generally the same zontally, laid directly on the ground.
term as “bamboo”, even if other wood is The large drum is often played by several
used), as well as technical terms for specific musicians, producing a polyrhythm.
actions associated with this instrument. For Throughout most of the archipelago, it
instance, the person leading a group of per- comes in a group with a number of other
cussionists, followed by the others, has a drums (Crowe 1996), each played by a single
special name (in Mwotlap: avus, in Dorig: musician. In the Banks Islands, by contrast,
ran(cid:3)kr(cid:2)b(cid:5)). Each language has at least one several musicians beat the same drum –
verb for striking the board (hër in Lo-Toga, which alone suffices to produce a poly-
didiin Mwotlap, etc.) – often the same verb rhythm.
as the cookery term “to pound”. The Hiw In the islands of Motalava and Gaua, this
language has no less than four verbs – two heavy hollowed tree trunk measures about
synonyms (sor(cid:3) and yop) for the general mea- 5feet long for a diameter of 18 inches. Placed
ning, and two more specific terms belonging on the ground, it is played by three seated
to the new(cid:2)t genre: puye “strike the board musicians [photo at the top of p.74]. The
marking an accent every two beats” andr(cid:3)ug man in the middle hits the centre of the
“strike the board marking three accents drum with thick coconut palm petioles, pro-
every four beats”. The precision of these ducing the bass (b(cid:5)l in the Mwotlap l anguage
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François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013
of Motalava, t(cid:2)n(cid:3) in Lakon); the two drummers
each side of him play with hard, lightweight
sticks, producing a higher and more powerful
sound (belegin Mwotlap, vuhin Lakon). The
pattern is thus polyrhythmic, with each
musician striking a different ostinato.
In the islands of Pentecost, Ambae and
Maewo the slit gong has preserved its origi-
nal tie with graded societies, an institution
still very much alive today. Among the attri-
butes associated with certain grades are pre-
cisely certain drumming rhythms: these are
always played on a group of several wooden
Slit gong nokoy(Motalava) © AF drums of varying sizes [photo below]. In the
Grade-taking ceremony in Bunlap (South Pentecost) © MS
–78–
Banks Islands, the instrument has become a
rare object, but it is brought out on impor-
tant occasions. As an example, the nokoyin
Motalava was played in December 1997 at
the wedding of the Anglican bishop’s son
[(cid:2)33–34].
Unlike the percussion board, the name
given to the large slit gong is very much the
same in most of the northern languages:
Hiw ne k(cid:5)r(cid:3), Löyöp nkoy, Mwotlap nokoy,
Lemerig kër, Mwesen wokor, Mota kore, Dorig
wakor dun(cid:3), Lakon kee, etc.
Small slit drums Bamboo slit drum (Motalava) © AF
Much more common is the individual slit
drum. It measures between 8 and 31 inches, kee, and the little one qal(cid:2) laklake (literally
and is made either of bamboo [photo] or of “bamboo internode for dancing”).
carved wood [photo p.104].
When light enough, the drum is held in one Stamping tubes
hand by the musician, who strikes it with a Generally, the percussion board is struck
stick held in the other hand [photo p.94]. At with bamboos: in many languages, the long
other times, the drum is played using two percussion tubes are indeed simply called
sticks, in which case it is stabilised in “bamboos”. However, they are sometimes
various ways: placed on the ground and kept replaced by simple wooden sticks, since the
in position with the feet; held by a second part that vibrates is the struck board.
person; or supported above the ground ver- In the absence of a board, the vibrating ele-
tically. This widely used drum instrument ment is the tube itself as it strikes the
can be heard in many of our recordings: (cid:2)4, ground. In this case, the instrument is
(cid:2)11–16; (cid:2)25–29, (cid:2)36–40. necessarily made of bamboo; it is known as
This little slit drum always has its own name a bamboo stamping tube – a common
in the languages of northern Vanuatu, to enough instrument in Oceania, particularly
differentiate it from its big brother, the large in New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands.
wooden slit drum. For example, the Lakon In the small island of Merelava, bamboo
language of west Gaua calls the large drum stamping tubes are played in a special genre
–79–
François & Stern – Music of Vanuatu – cd+ebook – MCM2013