The moutya is one of national music and dances of the Seychelles Islands and the Moutya Drum-tambour moutya -is the soul and essence of the moutya. This post is the third in a series of posts on the moutya. To get an understanding of the background to this post, please read the first and second post.
Traditionally, in Seychelles, a moutya dance consisted of a gathering at night, usually on a Saturday after work, around a bonfire made from coconut leaves. As the drums were warmed, the male members of the crowd would call out various ‘themes’ to which the female dancers responded with very high-pitched voices. These were usually social commentaries, which could feature stories, the day’s events, scandals between spouses and… many lamentations.
Through the moutya, early African and Malagasy slaves brought to the Seychelles articulated their sorrow, their yearning for home and their means of adapting to a new environment. Like other forms of cultural expression, the moutya also functioned as a pressure valve at times of great tension, distress, and oppression.
How did the slaves adapt their musical heritage to their new environment?
These first slaves showed ingenuity in the way they adapted their musical heritage to the local context. To accompany their chants, usually performed at night in their camps, they had the ingenuity to transform objects used in their everyday lives and elements from their surrounding environment into musical instruments. These instruments were however often confiscated and destroyed. Fortunately, they were relatively simple: goatskin drums, coconut shells or rattles made from wooden boxes with dried seeds inside, metal triangles, and cooking pots and utensils, and were easily replicated.
The two Prototypes of the Moutya Drum
In this post we will discuss the two drums that were/are used to perform the moutya otantik. One of the drums was made from a hollowed-out tree trunk and is now not used any more and the other one is the circular framed drum, currently locally known as the tanbour moutya. The circular framed drum is still being used, but it is slowly being replaced by drums with synthetic skins…….
The Hollowed-out tree trunk drum
The coconut trunk was the preferred tree to be used to make the drum. There are many reasons for this, and these are:
The coconut trunk is a hard wood and is ideal for the resonance of the drum because soft wood tends to soak up the sound of the drum. It is also able to resist attacks of fungi and worms; it is straight and has no knots and rarely cracks. Furthermore, there was an abundance of fallen trees already seasoned and there was therefore no need to wait for the tree trunk to season or dry before use.
Another tree that was also used was the breadfruit tree, but that tree was rarely cut down because it provided food security for the settlers.
How was the tree trunk prepared?
The hollowing of the trunk
The tree trunk was inspected for any rot or any other defects and a section was cut off. The bark was peeled away, and the section was cut in half and the two halves were hollowed using tools like the adze or lerminet (fr. herminettes ). The adze is a tool like an axe and has an arched blade at right angle to the handle. Another tool that was used was the gouge or gouz, which is a type of chisel with a concave blade. Most of the inner part of the trunk would be removed leaving only a shell of about 4 cm thick.
The finishing of the hollowed out trunk
Once the two sides have been cleaned up, they were placed back together, glued with fresh Takamaka (Calophyllum inophyllum) resin and tied tight to look like a rough wooden pipe. One end is chosen to become the top of the drum and that end was rounded off and all sharp bits removed. The bottom of the drum was left open. The next step was to attach the prepared skin.
Attaching the skin to the prepared tree trunk
The prepared skin was cut to size, with an overlap and fitted over the ronded end. Regularly spaced holes were made in the overlapped part of the skin to accommodate the tautening cords that will be used to tighten the skin on the drumhead. Sennit braids were used as tautening cords. Sennit is a type of cordage made by plaiting strands of dried fibre or grass. In most cases the sennit was made with the bark of the bwa var (Hibiscus tilliaceus).
There were different ways used to tighten the skin and one of the simplest ways was to place skin on the drum top and thread the cords through the rows of holes made in the skin overlap. More braids were then passed over and under the threaded cordage and attached to pegs that were placed in a horizontal line midway along the drum base. Sometimes instead of pegs, small holes were made at the base of the drums through which the cordage was threaded and tightened until the correct tone was reached.
The Circular Framed drum-The Tanbour Moutya
The hollowed-out tree trunk did not survive the transition because it was bulky and was quite difficult to make. It required very sharp tools, because the wood of the coconut trunk is very tough and would easily blunt any soft tools. On other hand, the circular framed drum survived and is still being used to-day, in one form or another, and is commonly refered to as the tanbour moutya.
The circular frame drum is basically made of a circular frame on which a skin of animal origin is glued. It is acclaimed that the world’s oldest known drum, having first appeared in the archaeological record around 5600 BCE was found in the village of Catal Hoyuk ( now modern Turkey). It was played in the ancient Middle East (chiefly by women), Greece, and Rome and reached medieval Europe through Islamic culture.
A short Historical trivia
The circular frame drum- tambour moutya– was introduced to Rodrigues Island and Mauritius by the ‘Breton’, the settlers from Brittany, France, and then introduced to Seychelles not long after settlement. This type of drum is also found in most of the islands of the Indian Ocean: the tanbour malbar in Réunion, the ravann in Mauritius, the tanbour on Rodrigues and Agalega Island
The Traditonal making of tanbour moutya
Preparing the frame
The frame of the tanbour moutya was traditionally constructed from a local softwood called bwa var (Hibiscus tilliaceus) , which is a coastal shrub. It is easy to plane and turns well and is can be bent without snapping, making it ideal for the drum frame. Bwa zozo ( litsea glutinosa) was also used. The timber is made into strips of about 1.25 cm thick, folded to form a hoop.
To secure the ends , they were glued and held together with clamps until it dried, typically taking at least a few days, ideally up to two weeks. Traditionally, in order for the wood to take on a nice circular shape, a template with nails planted in a piece of wood was prepared, in which the frame of the drum was inserted. Or, as shown in the photo, pegs were placed on the ground to form the template.
One side of the frame is usually flat and one side was rounded. The rounded side is for comfort of the drummer. And the flat side is the side that the hide is glued on.
The modern method to make the frame
Most tanbour moutya made in Seychelles today are made from plywood. Four thin slats, about 3 millimeters thick are superimposed to obtain a frame approximately 1.25 centimeters thick.
Preparing the skin
The type of skin used for both types of drums were the same and underwent the same preparation process.
The types of skin
There were different types of skin that were used as membrane for the drum. These included:
- The cattle hides, although they were not that readily available.
- The Tiger shark’s rumen or pans. The belly of the tiger shark was carefully cut open and the whole stomach or rumen was removed, cleaned and filled with sand and hung. The weight of the sand would slowly stretch the rumen and after about three days, the rumen was cut open and cleaned and stretched flat out on a board to dry;
- The skin of the manta ray or dyabdemer ( Fr. Diable de mer). To ensure that no damage was done to the skin the ray was harpooned on its head and the skin carefully removed , stretched out for a few days and then rubbed with sand and lime using a coconut brush to remove all the tiny scales and other rough spots.
- The most popular skin was was the goat skin. Goat was quite plentiful on the islands in the early days of settlement and therefore the goat skin was easily accessible.
A little of historical trivia regarding the introduction of the goat in Seychelles
When the first settlers arrived, on 12 August 1770, on board Le Telemaque they would have brought with them some livestock including goat. The goats must have thrived in their new environment because when, in January 1771, two ships were sent to the new colony to check on the settlers and offer any required assistance , they took goats back with them to Mauritius. The two ships were L′Heure de Berger under the command of Chevalier Duroslan, and L’Etoile du Matin under the command of Chevalier d’Hercé . They stayed up until end of March. When they went back to Port-Louis, Mauritius, L’Heure du Berger carried among other things 80 goats and L’Etoile du Matin carried 60 goats. Furthermore in October 1771, L’Etoile du Matin, on another trip, took back to Mauritius a further 100 goats.
Chagossian Tambour
The Seychellois share similar musical tradition with the Chagossian and we also consequently shared the same drum making method. This short video, below, made by France Bertrand and Joseph Bertrand originally from Chagos Archipelago, a group of coral islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, describes how they prepared the different animal skins to be used as membrane for their drums.
How was the goat skin prepared?
When the goat was killed, the hide was carefully removed. The flaying process was very crucial because if the hide was cut or damaged in any way it could end up being useless.
The hide was soaked by placing it in a large container of water in which ash from the hard wood fire was added. Ash was plentiful because all meals, in the early years were cooked over wood fire and the byproduct of wood fire is ash. The water and the ash made a type of weak lye. The hide was left to soak for a week or two and was monitored almost daily because if left to soak for too long the skin would disintegrate. They may not have known this, but the ash makes a low pH (alkaline) bath that assists in the releasing of the fur or hair from the skin.
Sometimes, in order to remove the hair quicker, the hide was stretched and covered with sand and then brushed with coconut fiber or labour koko ,or pumice stone or pyerpons (French ‘pierre ponse’) and sea water. The pumice stone is a very light and porous volcanic rock formed when a gas-rich froth of glassy lava solidifies rapidly. It is very abrasive and was found in abundance on the shores of most islands. Once the hair was all removed the skin was washed, then stretched and air-dried.
Sticking the skin on the frame.
Which side of the hide is placed on the frame was a matter of personal preference. Some preferred the side on which the hairs were removed to face the inside of the drum, while others would reverse it. At the end, I do not think it made any difference to the ultimate sound generated by the drum
The Gluing of the skin
Before the arrival of industrial wood glue on the islands, the glue that was used in the early years were rice or cassava glue. The cassava or rice was cooked to a thick porridge consistency. The outside of the frame, as well as the edge on which the skin was to be fixed, was completely covered with the glue. The hide was soak in water, drained and then cut to size allowing for the thickness of the frame plus a little bit extra. Small holes were then punched on the edge of the hide which was then deposited on the frame and stretched.
The securing of the skin
A small rope is threaded or laced through the holes from one end to the next, criss-crossing the frame and tightened. This ensured that the hide adhered well around the frame. It was then left to cure for at least two days. By then the hide would have been securely attached to the frame and gone very tight. The hide contracts when it dries. The rope was then removed and the protruding skin was cut with a sharp blade and sometimes small copper tack nails, locally called broket (fr. broquette) were used to further secure the hide to the frame.
The jingles
The final step was to make three incisions in the frame at three equidistant points to insert steel jingles. The cuts are about 4 centimetres wide and 1.5 centimetres thick .Two small metal discs with a hole in the center were inserted parallel to the drum skin. They were fixed with a small nail planted in the border of the frame and crossing them. It is worth noting here that the authentic tambour moutya did not have jingles. They were late additions
The three drums
The moutya otantik was traditionally performed with the three tanbour moutya, all of varying sizes producing making three varying sound. The first drum, which was the largest, was called, manman, the mother, the second one which was of medium size was called papa , the father, and the smallest one was called piti meaning child. Each of the drums had a different role to play. I will discuss this further in a future post.
Why is it rare to find an authentic tambour moutya?
There are a few reasons why we hardly find our musicians playing an authentic tambour moutya. Is it because there is shortage of goat skins? Probably yes, but there is a belief that it is more of a lack of motivation and / or time to recover and prepare skins, the latter task consisting of work that can sometimes be difficult.Also, fewer and fewer individuals still have the knowledge and know-how related to the manufacture of these drums.
Another reason for musicians to abandon tanbour moutya is , that because the moutya (moutya modern) is now mostly played in hotels and there is no possibility to light a fire to heat the instruments, they have to opt for other types of modern drums with synthetic membrane.
Alternatives to the authentic tambour moutya
Seychellois musicians have a few options to replace the tambour moutya. Unfortunately, all these instruments are imported. The first is to buy or have someone bring a goat skin ravann from Mauritius. Thus, it can keep a sound close to that of tanbour moutya, but the problem of heating the drum is not resolved. The second option is to buy a ravann with a synthetic membrane, which the musician does not need to heat. The third option is to play on another type of drum to an animal skin membrane that does not need to be heated, and the preferred choice is the djembe.
The Djembe
A Djembe (pronounced JEM-bay) is a skin covered hand drum, shaped like a large goblet, and meant to be played with bare hands. It originated in West Africa and is an integral part of the region’s musical tradition and culture. It is is now popular all over the world.
Keeping the tradition alive
All is not lost. In fact, it was reported in the Nation Newspaper that the National Heritage Research & Department Protection Section is now conducting a five-day workshop teaching young and old alike, how to make the traditional moutya drum.
“We have seen that there is a need to educate people on how to make moutya drums the old fashion way and we wanted to share and transfer that knowledge to other people that were interested. We need more youths to be involved so that in the future they can carry on with such traditional craft, and also share that knowledge that they will gain from the workshop,” said Sophia Rosalie, a research officer at the National Heritage Research & Department Protection.
The workshop leader is Jude Ernesta, who used to work at the Seychelles National Heritage Research & Department Protection Section. This is a very good initiative that The Creole Melting Pot will give exposure to.
Sources
Jean-Claude-Pascal (“Zan-Klod-Paskal”) (Anthropologist/Political Scientist)
Virtual Seychelles
The Seychelles Nation Newspaper
Marie-Christine Parent– Le Moutya à l’épreuve de la Modernité Seychelloise-Pratiquer un genre musical emblématique dans les Seychelles d’aujourd’hui (Océan Indien)
Personal experiences on Praslin Island and surrounding islands- Jean-Paul Barallon
Any suggestions or comments about this post?
LEAVE A COMMENT
Your email address will not be published
