Although it is now a French administrative département, the island of Mayotte remains remarkable for its multi-ethnic, traditional musical culture, which is closely related to migratory movements within the Comoros Archipelago which it is part of. This geographical area – located north of the Mozambique Channel between Zanzibar and Madagascar – shares a common identity, and Mayotte’s musical practices intersect African, Malagasy, Persian, Yemeni, Indian and European influences. There is a very wide variety of musical instrument types on the island, and this is reflected in their different materials, shapes, craftsmanship, playing techniques and sounds. Born of the makers’ ingenuity, these instruments from Mayotte have developed unique characteristics that we invite you to discover through four articles each focusing on a different group of musical instruments: membranophones, idiophones, chordophones, and aerophones.

The aerophone family consists of musical instruments whose sound comes from blowing air that vibrates, either by the air breaking on an edge, by using a reed, by the vibration of the player’s lips, or by rotating the instrument itself. In Mayotte, five traditional instruments are aerophones. Of these five, whistles and accordions are made industrially, while the flute (firimbi), oboe (ndzumari), and conch (baragum) are still made traditionally according to local – even regional – craft techniques, but which are now in decline on the island. This is an alarming situation, since these three instruments are no longer played. There is however a glimmer of hope for the firimbi and ndzumari through ongoing reacculturation such as making new instruments, training instrument makers and musicians, outreach, etc.

Baragum

 The giant triton is a seashell found worldwide (e.g.: Tibet, Japan, Haiti, India, Sicily, Oman, etc.), especially in France (ancive) and on Indian Ocean islands such as Madagascar (antsiva), Reunion (lansiv), or Mauritius and Rodrigues (lanbik). Mayotte’s baragum (made from Charonia tritonis which is also called “Triton’s trumpet”) is a member of the sea conch or air-blown horn family, and is end blown. While blowing, the musician vibrates their lips that act as a reed when pressed against the mouthpiece. Sound pitch is varied by the musician’s right hand which can obstruct the opening of the resonance cavity to a greater or lesser degree. In the Indian Ocean, sea conch use seems to be related to signalling purposes and sacred rites. In fact in Mayotte, it was originally used to announce the arrival of dhows. Later, as was also the case in Grande Comore, it was used to provide music during burial ceremonies, accompanying the deceased’s departure toward the afterlife. Today it is no longer really played on the island, although a few specimens can still be found.

Firimbi

Also named fluti in the Comoros Archipelago, the firimbi is a straight tubular flute similar to the sodina of Madagascar. It consists of a pipe with no notches or bevels, but with a slightly thinned upper edge. Firimbi were traditionally made from bamboo or a hollow papaya stem (Carica papaya), but today are becoming more varied with the use of PVC pipes for example. A firimbi is set in vibration by blowing air that hits the edge. Inherited from the Arab world, firimbi are called ney in Tanzania and Zanzibar, where they are one of a range of seven flutes. The name of each one depends on the tuning scale: rast in C, doka in D, bousalek in E, gaharka in F, nawa in G, houssayni in A, and mahour in B. The length and diameter of the pipe, as well as the spacing of the seven holes, vary according to the key, however the workmanship remains similar from one model to another. Although the firimbi has become an extremely rare instrument in Mayotte since the 2000s, it is now being made again on a small scale, inspired by Tanzanian expertise. This reacculturation process is encouraging and should see the firimbi being played once again at ceremonies such as the madjiliss, during which the flute accompanies the kassuida (poems of praise to God). 

Kordom

The diatonic accordion – of European origin and industrially made – was imported at the end of the 19th century to Indian Ocean islands such as Madagascar (gorodora, taralila), Reunion (ralé-poussé, fouet fouet) and even Rodrigues (kordeon).

It is a free-reed instrument with a button keyboard. Its use in Mayotte is mainly due to its role in ritual practices such as rumbo, and could be explained by the Malagasy origin of most accordionists in Mayotte. A sacred instrument in ancestor worship, it makes possible communication between the world of the living and dead through melodic, rhythmic phrases played over and over again, causing a trance state. The kordom seems to have completely disappeared from popular practice within the last ten years.

Whistle

Although, depending on culture and use, whistles are not always considered a musical instrument, in Mayotte they have been part of the contemporary instrumental line-up since the 1980s. Often used as a warning signal, they also take on a musical component at most traditional festivities. Producing a single note by introducing air via a bevel, they signal and mark each change of repertoire and choreographic movement. The ball whistle is very common on Mayotte. It belongs to the globular flute family and is industrially made. Sometimes called ndzumari, it gradually seems to have replaced the oboe at madjiliss and shigoma ceremonies. Its piercing sound allows it to be heard above loud noise, just like the ndzumari.

Ndzumari

The ndzumari is an oboe, or more precisely a beating reed wind instrument belonging to the woodwind family. Of Arab-Persian origin, it is found in Tanzania (zumari), in Madagascar (kabiro), and in the Comoros islands (ndzumari). Its presence has been recorded on Lamu (a Kenyan island) with the Wagunya ethnic group and on the three islands of the Zanzibar archipelago since the 14th century.

The ndzumari of Mayotte consists of three interlocking parts: the mouthpiece (shaba in Swahili), body (tandaa), and bell (tako). The mouthpiece is made of a double reed (kitete), a disc (a piece of sanded coconut shell), a copper tube used as a crook, a cork, and some twine to attach the reeds. The body – which has seven holes (six on the front and one at the back) – and the bell are carved in lightweight wood such as tamanu (Calophyllum inophyllum). The reeds are cut from ilala palm leaves (Hyphaene coriacea). In order to ensure the three sections fit together well and that sounds is free from vibrations, one end each of the tako and tandaa are covered with a strip of fabric. Currently undergoing reacculturation and inspired by Tanzanian expertise, this oboe – which had disappeared from traditional use since the 1980s – is being made once again, and taught in music schools to new generations.

Fanie Précourt

Traduction réalisée par Catharine Cellier-Smart (Smart Translate)