💡 Tip: If one source doesn't work, try another. Each source may have different availability.
Loading player...
Note: If the current source doesn't work, try switching to another source above. The player automatically adjusts security settings to ensure compatibility. Some sources may show popups - this is normal for free streaming services.
💡 Tip: If videos won't load, try disabling your ad blocker and refresh the page.
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.