 | |
| Other instrument | |
|---|---|
| Developed | as a local custom, among Onabasulu people of southern highlands of Papua New Guinea, and the Telefomin area |
A hugu is a sago-palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) in Papua New Guinea that has been used by men of the Onabasulu people as a musical instrument. The musicians pin the beetle onto a sharpened stick and hold the beetle up to their mouths, spinning the stick and beetle. If they do this during daylight, the beetle will beat its wings and provide a buzzing sound. The musicians' mouths act as a variable resonance chamber, in the same way as it does for a musician playing a Jew's harp or musical bow. By opening and closing their mouths and changing the shape, musicians can raise and lower the pitch, and make the music louder or softer.
This technique has been documented and made available by ethnomusicologists.
References
- Eraldo Medeiros Costa-Neto (2003). "Entertainment with insects: singing and fighting insects around the world. A brief review" (PDF). Etnobiología. 3. Asociación Etnobiológica Mexicana AC (AEM): 21–29. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow; Kenichi Nonaka; Somkhit Boulidam (2008). "More Feared than Revered: Insects and their Impact on Human Societies (with some Specific Data on the Importance of Entomophagy in a Laotian Setting)" (PDF). Entomologie Heute (Translation: Entomology Today). 20. Freundeskreis Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum: 6, 8–9.
The use of the weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus or, to be precise, its buzz as a musical instrument (Fig. 2), amongst the men folk of the Onabasulu cannibals of the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea has been documented by MEYER-ROCHOW (1973a, 1982b) and is also known from tribals in the Telefomin area of New Guinea.
- V. Benno Meyer-Rochow (January 1978). "The diverse uses of insects in traditional societies". Ethnomedizin (Ethnomedicine). Hamilton, New Zealand: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato: 291.
- Zemp, Hugo (1996). "CD 2, track 33, recorded by B. Juillerat". Les Voix Du Monde - Une Anthologie Des Expressions Vocales. Paris, France: Musée de l'Homme. pp. 155, 156.