Voices of the Mai Spirits

Two men singing each in one tube of bamboo, which act as voice-alterers. The mai spirits are represented by men in masks who hide the bamboo tubes under their costumes. Always paired, the young initiated men wore such masks during a ceremony, which had practicaîly disappeared by the 19605. The text mentions the Sepik River and the floating logs that come down it, as well as men with scarifications. » Hugo Zemp, cf. p.48 of booklet
Edited Title
en Malimalila
Archivist's Original Title
en Voices of the Mai Spirits
Original description
en Two men singing each in one tube of bamboo, which act as voice-alterers. The mai spirits are represented by men in masks who hide the bamboo tubes under their costumes. Always paired, the young initiated men wore such masks during a ceremony, which had practicaîly disappeared by the 19605. The text mentions the Sepik River and the floating logs that come down it, as well as men with scarifications. » Hugo Zemp, cf. p.48 of booklet
Time duration
en 0:00:49
Recording date of the original material
en 1962
Acquisition Date
en 1996
Population
en Iatmul
Place of the cultural origin
Country Name
Recording place
en Yentchan, East Sepik Province
Resource Language
en Iatmul
Comment
en Voice CD II - Techniques (continued): Voice and musical instruments a. Singing in the instrument
Archivist Category
en Music (Vocal and instrumental)
Recording context
en Published record
Instrument, Original Archivist Data
en Singing voice
Name of original Collection
en Voices of the World, an Anthology of Vocal Expression (CD)
History of ownership
en From the disc "Music of the Middle Sepik", track B14; Musicaphon collection (Musica of Oceania) BM 30 SL 2700, featuring recordings by Robert MacLennan, Fred Gerrits and Gordon Spearritt
Holding Institution of Original Materials
Copyright Information
Public Domain
Copyright Notice
For any use, please contact the CREM-LESC (CNRS, Nanterre University, France): see information at https://archives.crem-cnrs.fr
Physical format
en Magnetic tape
Preservation State of Physical Object
en Copy
Original item number
en CNRSMH_E_1996_013_001_002_020
SEAH Identifier
en SEAH_CNRSMH_E_1996_013_001_002_020