Details

Latitude

-4.27763

Longitude

152.237

Start Date

1993-09-04

End Date

1993-09-04

Tape #1: Musical Experience and Journey of Esmund Tade Side A&B: Esmund Tade was born in the 1920s'and comes from Vunamami village in Kokopo District. His musical experiences include making and playing a unique Tolai traditional instrument, traditional songs and dance and also the introduced guitar stringband music. The Tolai traditional instrument called tinbuk or tutupele in other parts of the Gazelle Peninsula which is percussion instrument, kind of like a two note vibraphone but played in a unique fashion. The tinpuk (tutupele) is made of two pieces of carved wooden sticks tuned to two different notes and beats when tapped against each other to particular rhythms to producing unique sounds. The use of the tinbuk (tutupele) was traditionally for the purpose of generating a musical message of the stillness of the night calling a woman of interest to the man playing the instrument who has the desire and has the mission to get her to fall in love with him. The tinbuk (tutpele) sends the sounds of particular birds known to be associated with magical spells controlled or induced by the men targeting that particular woman in her sleep. The effects are the women will start thinking about the man and be restless and will one day come to the man's house or meet him at whatever situation to join up with his as his partner in relationship or marriage. The types of birds locally known that the tinbuk (tutpele) imitated with the unique tunes and beating rhythms are "giligil, kurkur, piriu, kuuk. The tinpbuk (tutupele) is played in the bushes far away from the village boundaries as its intent and purpose is attracting women who are at their parents houses so the magical spells are specific to the particular woman of interest by the man playing it solo and not in a group. In modern times, men who still make and play the tinbuk (tutpele) are for general relaxation in a man's house only away from family homes. The other Tolai percussion type instruments that are used for traditional songs and dance are "tidir" made of bamboo carved pieces as two beating sticks and "pakupak" as a slit hallow bamboo drum beating with wooden sticks for its sounds. The "tilotilo" similar to the tinbuk is another percussion instrument used by women for singing songs to the rhythms of a particular traditional dancing song. Esmund also explains that the use of special magical powers in dreaming and composing songs and dances like "pinpidik, wutung, parpari, kulau, tapialai" come from people who are passed onto from forebears called "tena buai" and can be of different types and forms like buai na malagene" or "buai na pepe" or "buai na pinitit" for the traditional songs and dances. Esmund later learnt and played the guitar in five-key, three-key, blue mountain key and later spanish key and involved with earlier stringbands. (Steven Gagau, February 2020)

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