BY DR. TONY M. MONDA
Indigenous folk musical instruments in Zimbabwe were originally made from natural materials from plant and animal sources.
Whilst most cultures have developed their own principals of harmony, depending on usage and tradition, the indigenous people of Zimbabwe have developed a unique musical harmony, based on the ideophonic patterns of speech and language in their traditional indigenous aerophone instruments.
Apart from the well-known Hwamanda, favoured by Shona royalty, during the Zimbabwe Mutapa Eras, -used to inform people of cultural gatherings, assembly or military expeditions, a range of other traditional instruments unbeknown in contemporary Zimbabwe, were made from animal horns.
Prior to the introduction of Western orchestral horns made in brass, most aerophones were originally made from animal horn.
Animal horns were, and are still used as trumpets in many cultures; in Zimbabwe, the hwamanda of the Shona or umphondo of the Ndebele is made from a kudu horn with a small opening cut into the side of the narrow end of the horn used for blowing into to create sound.
There are numerous aerophone instruments of indefinite varieties which reflect the cultural musical life of traditional local communities. The music produced by aerophones was normally a sweet, melodious, soft sound known as minanzi or mimhanzi – a term which in contemporary times means popular music in general.
Aerophones were traditionally used to create music associated with work, cultivation, hunting, weddings, funerals, religious rites, and personally for recreation and meditation.
The Munhumutapa Empire founded around 14 AD., by the Korekore in the Dande region of the Zambezi Valley under Prince Mutota, has been “the site of production of many musical instruments and a great variety of songs and discourses in praise of the king in very high sonorous voices”, – according to a document written by Portuguese missionary Father Joao dos Santos, when he visited the Utete (Korekore) Kingdom between 1586 and 1589 in the North of Zimbabwe.
Amongst these Late iron -age instruments discovered by archaeologists and explorers was an unusual and unique Shona Korekore horn instrument known as the Parapanda made from the horn of the royal sable antelope, known as mharapara.
A similar aerophone is the Nyele; a Zimbabwean Tonga aerophone, made from the horns of small antelope such as duiker or klipspringer. In contemporary time’s goat horns or the tip of cow horns are used to make this iconic instrument. A related instrument known as nyere, made by the Korekore people of Zimbabwe, is a similar single end-blown flute, with a distinct high pitched sound and a range of polyphonic variations.
The mystical pan pipes, originating from the Zambezi, Dande, Mutoko, Budya, Pfungwe, Murehwa and Zvimba is known as Ngororombe. These indigenous Shona Pan pipes consisted of a set of 2, 5 or 7 end-blown pipes made of bamboo, water-reed or hollowed twigs. A dance of the same name, particularly to the site of Great Zimbabwe and other parts of Masvingo, derives from the music of this native musical instrument.
Equally popular during the Mutapa era was a set of 14 end-blown reed pipes, not unlike the smaller pan pines, known as mukwati wenyere.
This instrument was used for early folk music without accompanying human voices. It was largely a meditative instrument played in the early evenings-said to be used to relief stress. Music produced by Shona musicians’ with these unique aerophone instruments has since become extinct and very few rare surviving indigenous recordings were made in the 1960s and early 1970s in pre-independent Zimbabwe.
The Ndebele people, known for their intricate reed dances that celebrate the female coming of age, have their side-blown reed flute known as hlanga or umhlanga. A comparable instrument consisting of an end-blown flute with dried fruit shell attached to a reed bearing finger holes is known as umhlati, which is reportedly used for celebrating harvest and courtship by the Nguni sect of the Ndebele people.
The Ocarina is the generic term for a series of globular vessel flutes. In Zimbabwe, traditional ocarinas were made of hollowed fruits or from clay. The sound of the ocarina is normally associated with people that lived along rivers, such as the Save, Hunyani and Zambezi Rivers.
The instrument is also found in the lower Zambezi region – i.e.: Zambia and Mozambique. Today the Lozi people of Zambia still use this soothing musical instrument as an accompaniment to the silimba (Marimba instrument of the Lozi people).
The Ombwe, also known as the chigufe, in Classical Shona is a vessel flute made of a hollowed fruit usually monkey oranges /matamba. The instrument is designed to fit in the palm of the hand, has two finger-holes for notes and a single central mouth hole. The instrument produces an eerie sound, reputed to draw the attention of small antelopes, birds and monkeys.
A now rare side-blown reed flute, originally made by the Korekore people and played by both male and female musicians, is known as a Kanyenge. It is also reputed to be played by shepherds and herd boys to call in their stock.
A similar flute, known as the mutoriro, made of cane or hollowed wood and sealed at both ends, with 2 or 3 holes, creates a sound not unlike a penny whistle of southern and central Africa. It is unfortunate that in Zimbabwe today, the name of this beautiful organic flute is used to describe the notorious synthetic drug Chrystal meths.
The Ndau people of Zimbabwe created the gorwe a vessel flute made from a hollowed fruit shell, usually matamba or a clay bowl that acted as a resonator while the musician blew into a pipe attached to it.
Melodious sound is produced using these instruments- via the reeds which vibrate when the air is directed past them or when air is blown though them. Wind instrument is a general term for aerophone instruments. Generically the sounds made by aerophone instruments are of a high pitch such as the flute, whistle or horn which is known in Shona as tsuri .
Several indigenous Zimbabwean aerophones have become extinct over the years. Apart from the singing voice and tribal distinctions, aerophone instruments in Zimbabwe are made from a variety of natural materials, each of which has a distinctive sound quality which human voices are unable to produce. Zimbabweans should safeguard the unwritten history, heritage and cultures associated with our unique and beautiful traditional aerophone musical instruments. They constitute -a vital component of our indigenous material culture.
Dr. Tony Monda holds a PhD. in Art Theory and Philosophy and a DBA in Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. E-mail: tonym.MONDA@gmail.com
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