Maori music
Encyclopedia
Te Pūoro Māori or Māori Music is music
composed or performed by Māori, the native people of New Zealand
, and includes a wide variety of folk music
styles, often integrated with poetry
and dance
, as well as modern rock and roll
, soul
, reggae
and hip hop
.
, Richard Nunns
and Brian Flintoff have unearthed a rich tradition of wind, percussion and whirled instruments known by the collective term Taonga pūoro
or musical instruments which were tools used mainly by Tohunga (Maori Expert)
for communication between the temporal and spiritual realms.
Songs (waiata) were sung solo, in unison or at the octave. Types of song included lullabies (oriori), love songs (waitata aroha) and laments (waiata tangi). Traditionally all speeches usually follow with a song and the group of supporters would usually join in. Some of the smaller wind instruments were also sung into, and the sound of the poi (raupo
ball swung on the end of a flax cord) provided a rhythmic accompaniment to waiata poi.
Captain Cook reported that the Māori sang in "semitones" and others reported that the Māori had no singing/vocal music at all or sang discordantly, but this is incorrect. Europeans could not hear the microtones the Māori were singing. A pre-European song could have a range of as little as a minor third
but with several more than the four notes of European music within that range. A song would repeat a single melodic line, generally centred on one note, falling away at the end of the last line. It was a bad omen for a song to be interrupted, so singers in groups would cover for each other while individuals took breaths. It was missionary
influence that led to the harmonisation of modern Māori music. Through the 19th and 20th centuries the compass of new songs in traditional style gradually increased, so that it is possible to date a song approximately by its range.
An important collection of traditional song lyrics is Ngā Mōteatea by Sir Apirana Ngata but it was Mervyn McLean, in "Traditional Songs of the Maori", who first notated the microtones of a significant number of them.
As part of a deliberate campaign to revive Māori music and culture in the early 20th century, Ngata virtually invented the "action song" (waiata-a-ringa) in which stylised body movements, many with standardised meanings, synchronise with the singing. He, Tuini Ngawai
and the tourist concert parties of Rotorua
developed the familiar performance of today, with sung entrance, poi, haka ("war dance"), stick game, hymn, ancient song and/or action song, and sung exit. The group that performs it is known as a kapa haka, and in the last few decades, competitions within iwi (tribes) and religious denominations (notably the Kotahitanga sect), regionally and nationally, have raised their performances to a high standard.
While the guitar
has become an almost universal instrument to accompany Maori performances today, this only dates from the mid 20th century. Earlier performers used the piano
or violin
. Some modern artists have revived the use of traditional instruments such as Hinewehi Mohi, Tiki Taane, Maisey Rika and Taisha Tari.
Ngata and Tuini Ngawai
composed many songs using European tunes, to encourage Māori pride and, from 1939, to raise morale among Māori at home and at the war. Many, such as "Hoki mai e tama mā" and "E te Hokowhiti-a-Tū" (to the tune of "In the Mood") are still sung today. More recently, other styles originating overseas, including jazz
, swing and rock have been incorporated. In the 1980s and 1990s, Hirini Melbourne
composed prolifically in an adapted form of traditional style (His Tīhore mai te rangi seldom ranges outside a major third
, and Ngā iwi e outside a fourth
) and groups like Herbs
created a Māori style of reggae
.
In 1964, Te Matatini O Te Ra or in other words, the Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Festival was founded, though the board did not actually schedule its first concert until 1972, with the express purpose of encouraging the development of Māori music.
The Karanga is also used for the responses from the visiting party/group to the ceremonial call from the tangata whenua (people of the land). It follows a format which includes a series of discussions (such as whaikorero, mihi and whakawhanaungatanga) and addressing and greeting each other and the people they are representing and paying tribute to the dead, especially those who have died recently. The purpose of the occasion is also addressed during this time. Traditionally, this was a time where the tangata whenua could determine whether the visiting party were visiting in peace or for purposes of war. Skilled kaikaranga are able to use eloquent language and metaphor and to encapsulate important information about the group and the purpose of the visit.
(Maori priests) seemed to be exclusively used as a “cell phone” or an oral flux between Ira Tangata (man) to Ira Atua (the Divine/Gods) or the temporal and the spiritual, which is why the Maori held them with awe and respect because they were profoundly regarded in the tapu (sacred/taboo) domain as items of use from the Tohunga. When used for entertainment and for recreation, it was a hidden and private practice.
Music later on, in a western sense, had veered away from the spiritual sense although largely hymn singing had become very important to the Maori people in the 19th Century but it veered away from the spiritual and Taonga Puoro became a pastime of recreation, something you do when you had nothing more important to do.
Much of these musical traditions had been lost over time but sensitive researchers and enthusiasts such as Dr. Richard Nunns, Hirini Melbourne and Brian Flintoff have done considerable restorative work and provided a wealth of knowledge and information around the sounds, history and stories of these taonga, ensuring their preservation for future generations.
See videos of these beautiful taonga puoro (musical instruments) and waiata (song) - Video of Te Hekenga-a-Rangi (Excerpt 1) and
(Excerpt 2)
The kōauau
is a small flute, ductless and notchless, 10cm to 20cm (4 to 8 inches) long, open at both ends and having from three to six fingerholes placed along the pipe. Kōauau resemble flutes the world over in tone quality and in the range of sounds that can be produced by directing the breath across the sharp edge of the upper aperture. Māori kōauau players were renowned for the power it gave them over the affections of women (notably illustrated by the story of Tūtānekai, who, by playing his kōauau to cause Hinemoa to swim to him across Lake Rotorua
). Kōauau are made of wood or bone. Formerly the bone was of bird bone such as albatross
or moa
; some instruments were also of human bone and were associated with chiefly status and with the traditional practice of utu
.
The nguru is a small vessel flute in the Helmholtz oscillator class, like an ocarina
or xun
. It is made of wood, soapstone or bone and shaped like a whale's tooth. Sometimes it is made from a whale's tooth. It is from 5cm to 15cm (2 to 6 inches) in length, wide at the blowing end and tapering to the lower where it is slightly turned up. It has two or three fingerholes and an extra hole bored on the underside, near the curved end, through which a cord could be passed so that it could hang round the owner's neck. It is played in the same way as a kōauau and produces a similar pure flute-like sound. The nguru is sometimes classified as a nose flute perhaps because the word nguru means to sigh, moan, or snore. This is unlikely because the large end is too wide for a nostril and, if the curved end were placed in that same position, the flute would lie at an impossible angle for the player to reach the fingerholes.
A long flute with a closed top and a transverse blowing hole and finger holes like a pōrutu.
A long flute with a notched open top which is the blowing edge and a single finger hole near the end - the instrument was chanted through and was traditionally played over the fontanelle of an infant to implant songs and tribal information into the child's subconscious.
The pūtōrino
is known for its wide range of voices including a male voice (trumpet) and a female voice (flute). The pūtōrino varies in length from 20cm to 50cm (9 to 20 inches) and has an uneven bore, swelling out to the centre and diminishing evenly towards the lower end, where the pipe is narrow, and has either a very small opening or none at all. The outer shape is carved from a solid piece of wood, split in half lengthwise, hollowed out like two small waka and then lashed together again with flax cord or similar subtitute for binding. At the widest part of the pipe there is an opening shaped like a grotesque mouth. The finest specimens are decorated at both ends with carved figures, and the open mouth is part of a head which is outlined on the flat surface of the pipe. It can be played with bugle technique, with closed lips which are set in vibration by the rapid withdrawal of the tongue. Small variations of pitch can be produced by moving the forefinger over the centre opening.
Example of the Pūtōrino
The pōrutu is a long version of the kōauau, usually measuring from 38cm to 57cm long (14 to 22 inches). The playing quality differs depending on the material it is made from. New Zealand native hardwoods such as mānuka, mataī, or black maire are suitable for a clean resonating effects. Like the pūtorino, it has 2 voices, the male (trumpet) and female (flute). The female voice can produce up to 5 harmonics depending on the bore.
The Pūkaea is a traditional Maori trumpet made of wood. There are several differing designs and lengths within the Pūkaea genre. Pūkaea were used to announce relay signals at times of conflict and were also used to announce the rituals associated with the planting of kumara (sweet potato) and other crops. The function of this instrument is to herald spiritual pathways. As a war trumpet they were used in announcing an oncoming war-party and were dedicated to Tumatauenga (god of war). In the announcement of harvest they were dedicated to Rongomatane (God of agriculture, arts and peace). Today they can be heard heralding the visitors onto the marae or at the opening and closing of important ceremonies.
Example of a large Pūkaea
A traditional Maori conch shell trumpet which had a variety of roles from signaling to ceremonial and ritual use.
Example of the Pūtātara (second instrument only)
This Maori musical instrument is made of wood and a jade/greenstone gong and was used in the whare purakau (house of learning). Part of it is made of the jaw bone of the upokohue (pilot whale) and the striker is made from akeake, a native hardwood.
The Purerehua can be made of bone, wood or stone, they are blade-like and swing on a long cord producing a loud, deep whirling that can be heard from a distance. A rapid spinning motion will start the music of the Purerehua'a song as it rotates and flutters. Uses vary from luring lizards, summoning rain, communicating and attracting a soul mate.
Example of a non-traditional Pūrerehua
This Maori musical instrument was used as a bird lure. It was made by hollowing a gourd, drilling holes on either side and attaching a cord by which it could be swung around the head creating a whistling, chattering voice that attracted birds.
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
composed or performed by Māori, the native people of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and includes a wide variety of folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
styles, often integrated with poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, as well as modern rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.
History
Pre-European Māori music was predominantly sung, but researchers Hirini MelbourneHirini Melbourne
Hirini Melbourne was a Māori composer, singer, university lecturer, poet and author. He was from Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungunu Maori tribes.He is known in New Zealand for his work surrounding the revival of Māori culture...
, Richard Nunns
Richard Nunns
Richard Nunns QSM is a Māori traditional instrumentalist of Pākehā heritage. He is particularly known for playing the Taonga pūoro and his collaboration with fellow Māori instrumentalist Hirini Melbourne. Since Melbourne's death, he is regarded as the world's foremost authority on Māori...
and Brian Flintoff have unearthed a rich tradition of wind, percussion and whirled instruments known by the collective term Taonga pūoro
Taonga pūoro
Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand.Taonga pūoro were revived over the past thirty years by Hirini Melbourne, Richard Nunns and Brian Flintoff. The instruments previously fulfilled many functions within Māori society including a call to arms,...
or musical instruments which were tools used mainly by Tohunga (Maori Expert)
Tohunga
In the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, religious or otherwise. Tohunga may include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, builders, teachers and advisors. The equivalent term in Hawaiian culture is kahuna...
for communication between the temporal and spiritual realms.
Songs (waiata) were sung solo, in unison or at the octave. Types of song included lullabies (oriori), love songs (waitata aroha) and laments (waiata tangi). Traditionally all speeches usually follow with a song and the group of supporters would usually join in. Some of the smaller wind instruments were also sung into, and the sound of the poi (raupo
Raupo
Raupo may refer to:*Typha orientalis, a New Zealand wetland plant*Typha muelleri, a New Zealand wetland plant *Raupo, a fictional town in the Footrot Flats cartoon...
ball swung on the end of a flax cord) provided a rhythmic accompaniment to waiata poi.
Captain Cook reported that the Māori sang in "semitones" and others reported that the Māori had no singing/vocal music at all or sang discordantly, but this is incorrect. Europeans could not hear the microtones the Māori were singing. A pre-European song could have a range of as little as a minor third
Minor third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor third spans three semitones, the major...
but with several more than the four notes of European music within that range. A song would repeat a single melodic line, generally centred on one note, falling away at the end of the last line. It was a bad omen for a song to be interrupted, so singers in groups would cover for each other while individuals took breaths. It was missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
influence that led to the harmonisation of modern Māori music. Through the 19th and 20th centuries the compass of new songs in traditional style gradually increased, so that it is possible to date a song approximately by its range.
An important collection of traditional song lyrics is Ngā Mōteatea by Sir Apirana Ngata but it was Mervyn McLean, in "Traditional Songs of the Maori", who first notated the microtones of a significant number of them.
Tuini Ngawai
Tuini Moetu Haangu Ngawai was a well-known Māori songwriter, teacher, shearer and cultural adviser. Her iwi is Ngati Porou and her hapu is Te Whanau a Ruataupare. Born at Tokomaru Bay, her twin sister died in infancy, and Moetu was given the name Tuini, a transliteration of twin...
and the tourist concert parties of Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
developed the familiar performance of today, with sung entrance, poi, haka ("war dance"), stick game, hymn, ancient song and/or action song, and sung exit. The group that performs it is known as a kapa haka, and in the last few decades, competitions within iwi (tribes) and religious denominations (notably the Kotahitanga sect), regionally and nationally, have raised their performances to a high standard.
While the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
has become an almost universal instrument to accompany Maori performances today, this only dates from the mid 20th century. Earlier performers used the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
or violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
. Some modern artists have revived the use of traditional instruments such as Hinewehi Mohi, Tiki Taane, Maisey Rika and Taisha Tari.
Ngata and Tuini Ngawai
Tuini Ngawai
Tuini Moetu Haangu Ngawai was a well-known Māori songwriter, teacher, shearer and cultural adviser. Her iwi is Ngati Porou and her hapu is Te Whanau a Ruataupare. Born at Tokomaru Bay, her twin sister died in infancy, and Moetu was given the name Tuini, a transliteration of twin...
composed many songs using European tunes, to encourage Māori pride and, from 1939, to raise morale among Māori at home and at the war. Many, such as "Hoki mai e tama mā" and "E te Hokowhiti-a-Tū" (to the tune of "In the Mood") are still sung today. More recently, other styles originating overseas, including jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, swing and rock have been incorporated. In the 1980s and 1990s, Hirini Melbourne
Hirini Melbourne
Hirini Melbourne was a Māori composer, singer, university lecturer, poet and author. He was from Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungunu Maori tribes.He is known in New Zealand for his work surrounding the revival of Māori culture...
composed prolifically in an adapted form of traditional style (His Tīhore mai te rangi seldom ranges outside a major third
Major third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three...
, and Ngā iwi e outside a fourth
Subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...
) and groups like Herbs
Herbs (band)
Herbs are a New Zealand reggae vocal group formed in 1979 once described as "New Zealand's most soulful, heartfelt and consistent contemporary musical voice". It has been said their debut EP Whats' Be Happen? "set a standard for Pacific reggae which has arguably never been surpassed".-History:Herbs...
created a Māori style of reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
.
In 1964, Te Matatini O Te Ra or in other words, the Aotearoa Traditional Māori Performing Arts Festival was founded, though the board did not actually schedule its first concert until 1972, with the express purpose of encouraging the development of Māori music.
Karanga
This is a formal call, ceremonial call - a ceremonial call of welcome to visitors onto a Marae (traditional Maori pa or tribal grounds), or equivalent venue, at the start of a pōwhiri (welcome ceremony). The Karanga is given by women (or kaikaranga) only as the Maori people believe that a woman's voice is a powerful thing because she is the giver of life. Her karanga calls us from the darkness of Te Po (the night) and takes us into Te Ao Marama (the world of light). Her energy unlocks the pulse of life.The Karanga is also used for the responses from the visiting party/group to the ceremonial call from the tangata whenua (people of the land). It follows a format which includes a series of discussions (such as whaikorero, mihi and whakawhanaungatanga) and addressing and greeting each other and the people they are representing and paying tribute to the dead, especially those who have died recently. The purpose of the occasion is also addressed during this time. Traditionally, this was a time where the tangata whenua could determine whether the visiting party were visiting in peace or for purposes of war. Skilled kaikaranga are able to use eloquent language and metaphor and to encapsulate important information about the group and the purpose of the visit.
Taonga Pūoro (Traditional Māori Musical Instruments)
The use of these instruments, as part of the toolkit of the TohungaTohunga
In the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, religious or otherwise. Tohunga may include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, builders, teachers and advisors. The equivalent term in Hawaiian culture is kahuna...
(Maori priests) seemed to be exclusively used as a “cell phone” or an oral flux between Ira Tangata (man) to Ira Atua (the Divine/Gods) or the temporal and the spiritual, which is why the Maori held them with awe and respect because they were profoundly regarded in the tapu (sacred/taboo) domain as items of use from the Tohunga. When used for entertainment and for recreation, it was a hidden and private practice.
Music later on, in a western sense, had veered away from the spiritual sense although largely hymn singing had become very important to the Maori people in the 19th Century but it veered away from the spiritual and Taonga Puoro became a pastime of recreation, something you do when you had nothing more important to do.
Much of these musical traditions had been lost over time but sensitive researchers and enthusiasts such as Dr. Richard Nunns, Hirini Melbourne and Brian Flintoff have done considerable restorative work and provided a wealth of knowledge and information around the sounds, history and stories of these taonga, ensuring their preservation for future generations.
See videos of these beautiful taonga puoro (musical instruments) and waiata (song) - Video of Te Hekenga-a-Rangi (Excerpt 1) and
(Excerpt 2)
Kōauau
The kōauau
Koauau
A kōauau is a small flute, ductless and notchless, four to eight inches long, open at both ends and having from three to six fingerholes placed along the pipe....
is a small flute, ductless and notchless, 10cm to 20cm (4 to 8 inches) long, open at both ends and having from three to six fingerholes placed along the pipe. Kōauau resemble flutes the world over in tone quality and in the range of sounds that can be produced by directing the breath across the sharp edge of the upper aperture. Māori kōauau players were renowned for the power it gave them over the affections of women (notably illustrated by the story of Tūtānekai, who, by playing his kōauau to cause Hinemoa to swim to him across Lake Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
). Kōauau are made of wood or bone. Formerly the bone was of bird bone such as albatross
Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...
or moa
Moa
The moa were eleven species of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about ....
; some instruments were also of human bone and were associated with chiefly status and with the traditional practice of utu
Utu
Utu is the Sun god in Sumerian mythology, the son of the moon god Nanna and the goddess Ningal. His brother and sisters are Ishkur and Inanna and Erishkigal....
.
Nguru
The nguru is a small vessel flute in the Helmholtz oscillator class, like an ocarina
Ocarina
The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body...
or xun
Xun
The xun is a globular, flute-like, Chinese musical instrument. The xun is made of clay or ceramic, similar to an ocarina but without a fipple mouthpiece. Other Chinese flute-like instruments, such as the Wudu and Taodi, however, include a fipple....
. It is made of wood, soapstone or bone and shaped like a whale's tooth. Sometimes it is made from a whale's tooth. It is from 5cm to 15cm (2 to 6 inches) in length, wide at the blowing end and tapering to the lower where it is slightly turned up. It has two or three fingerholes and an extra hole bored on the underside, near the curved end, through which a cord could be passed so that it could hang round the owner's neck. It is played in the same way as a kōauau and produces a similar pure flute-like sound. The nguru is sometimes classified as a nose flute perhaps because the word nguru means to sigh, moan, or snore. This is unlikely because the large end is too wide for a nostril and, if the curved end were placed in that same position, the flute would lie at an impossible angle for the player to reach the fingerholes.
Rehu
A long flute with a closed top and a transverse blowing hole and finger holes like a pōrutu.
Pūmotomoto
A long flute with a notched open top which is the blowing edge and a single finger hole near the end - the instrument was chanted through and was traditionally played over the fontanelle of an infant to implant songs and tribal information into the child's subconscious.
Trumpet/Flute
Some of the following instruments can be blown as a trumpet as well as a flute, as you would play a kōauau.Pūtōrino
The pūtōrino
Putorino
Putorino is a small settlement in northern Hawke's Bay, in New Zealand's eastern North Island. It lies on State Highway 2 between Tutira and Mohaka.Putorino is at the border for the Hastings and Wairoa Districts, within Hawke's Bay....
is known for its wide range of voices including a male voice (trumpet) and a female voice (flute). The pūtōrino varies in length from 20cm to 50cm (9 to 20 inches) and has an uneven bore, swelling out to the centre and diminishing evenly towards the lower end, where the pipe is narrow, and has either a very small opening or none at all. The outer shape is carved from a solid piece of wood, split in half lengthwise, hollowed out like two small waka and then lashed together again with flax cord or similar subtitute for binding. At the widest part of the pipe there is an opening shaped like a grotesque mouth. The finest specimens are decorated at both ends with carved figures, and the open mouth is part of a head which is outlined on the flat surface of the pipe. It can be played with bugle technique, with closed lips which are set in vibration by the rapid withdrawal of the tongue. Small variations of pitch can be produced by moving the forefinger over the centre opening.
Example of the Pūtōrino
Pōrutu
The pōrutu is a long version of the kōauau, usually measuring from 38cm to 57cm long (14 to 22 inches). The playing quality differs depending on the material it is made from. New Zealand native hardwoods such as mānuka, mataī, or black maire are suitable for a clean resonating effects. Like the pūtorino, it has 2 voices, the male (trumpet) and female (flute). The female voice can produce up to 5 harmonics depending on the bore.
Pūkaea
The Pūkaea is a traditional Maori trumpet made of wood. There are several differing designs and lengths within the Pūkaea genre. Pūkaea were used to announce relay signals at times of conflict and were also used to announce the rituals associated with the planting of kumara (sweet potato) and other crops. The function of this instrument is to herald spiritual pathways. As a war trumpet they were used in announcing an oncoming war-party and were dedicated to Tumatauenga (god of war). In the announcement of harvest they were dedicated to Rongomatane (God of agriculture, arts and peace). Today they can be heard heralding the visitors onto the marae or at the opening and closing of important ceremonies.
Example of a large Pūkaea
Pūtātara
A traditional Maori conch shell trumpet which had a variety of roles from signaling to ceremonial and ritual use.
Example of the Pūtātara (second instrument only)
Pahū Pounamu
This Maori musical instrument is made of wood and a jade/greenstone gong and was used in the whare purakau (house of learning). Part of it is made of the jaw bone of the upokohue (pilot whale) and the striker is made from akeake, a native hardwood.
Pūrerehua
The Purerehua can be made of bone, wood or stone, they are blade-like and swing on a long cord producing a loud, deep whirling that can be heard from a distance. A rapid spinning motion will start the music of the Purerehua'a song as it rotates and flutters. Uses vary from luring lizards, summoning rain, communicating and attracting a soul mate.
Example of a non-traditional Pūrerehua
Poiawhiowhio
This Maori musical instrument was used as a bird lure. It was made by hollowing a gourd, drilling holes on either side and attaching a cord by which it could be swung around the head creating a whistling, chattering voice that attracted birds.
See also
- List of folk music genres including the Māori styles: HakaHakaHaka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment...
, OroOroOro means gold in Italian and Spanish.Oro may refer to:Places* Oro, Estonia, a village in Estonia* Orø, an island in DenmarkIn music:*"Oro" , the Serbian entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest...
, Patere, WaiataWaiataWaiata is the sixth studio album by New Zealand New Wave band Split Enz, released in 1981. Its Australian release was titled Corroboree. Waiata is the Māori term for song and singing, while corroboree is the Aboriginal term. According to Noel Crombie the intention was to name the album using a word...
. - Kapa hakaKapa hakaThe term Kapa haka is commonly known in Aotearoa as 'Maori Performing Arts' or the 'cultural dance' of Maori people...
- Music of New ZealandMusic of New ZealandThe music of New Zealand is the expression of the culture of New Zealand. New Zealand's music is influenced by the culture of the indigenous Māori and immigrants from the Pacific region, though its musical origins lie predominantly in British colonial history, with contributions from Europe and...
External links
- Lyrics and translations of Maori songs
- MĀORI MUSIC - Musical Instruments - 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
- Research in New Zealand Performing Arts - a free online research journal that discusses Maori music and related performing arts.
- Traditional Maori-music from New-Zealand
- http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/arts/music/musicarchive/NZInfo.htmldead link Aug 2009
- Maori musical instruments
- waiata.maori.org