Middle Sepik music and musical instruments in the context of Melanesia

Abstract

The ceremonial lutes and the large slit drums are the most signiicant musical instruments of the Sepik River region. The sculptures and decorations on the instruments link them to the mythical world and their sounds represent the voices of ancestor spirits. Furthermore, a detailed music analysis reveals the miscellaneous and complex ways of how the ceremonial music represents this society's structure and its driving force. This contribution is based on the indings from a short ield trip in the 1980 and the study of relevant publications.