Details
Shaping Bamboo

For the 'Are'are people of the Solomon Islands, the most valued music is that of the four types of panpipe ensembles. With the exception of slit drums, all musical instruments are made of bamboo; therefore the general word for instruments and the music performed with them is "bamboo" ('au). This film shows the making of panpipes, from the cutting the bamboo in the forest to the making of the final bindings. The most important part of the work consists in shaping each tube to its necessary length. Most 'Are'are panpipe makers measure the length of old instruments before they shape new tubes. Master musician 'Irisipau, surprisingly, takes the measure using his body, and adjusts the final tuning by ear. For the first time we can see here how the instruments and their artificial equiheptatonic scale-seven equidistant degrees in an octave-are practically tuned.

Back to main page

Shaping Bamboo

January 1, 1979
0
ratings
0
reviews
0
video reviews
N/A Not available

Crew (1)

Directing

Hugo Zemp
Director

Writing

No data available

Production

No data available

Sound

No data available

Art

No data available

Camera

No data available

Costume & Make-Up

No data available

Crew

No data available

Editing

No data available

Lighting

No data available

Visual Effects

No data available