Just what kinds of musical surrogate languages are out there? What instruments are used? And what are people even saying? In this episode, I take you around the world in five traditions: Bora slit log drumming in the Amazon, Yoruba talking drums in Nigeria, Hmong mouth organs originally from Southeast Asia, Huli and Wiru jaw harps and mouth bows in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, and finally whistled Spanish in the Canary Islands. This range of instruments and continents provides a glimpse of the diversity of traditions that are out there, as well as common threads that tie them together.
Just what kinds of musical surrogate languages are out there? What instruments are used? And what are people even saying? In this episode, I take you around the world in five traditions: Bora slit log drumming in the Amazon, Yoruba talking drums in Nigeria, Hmong mouth organs originally from Southeast Asia, Huli and Wiru jaw harps and mouth bows in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, and finally whistled Spanish in the Canary Islands. This range of instruments and continents provides a glimpse of the diversity of traditions that are out there, as well as common threads that tie them together.