pūtōrino

Wooden wind instruments of the Māori, made from two split pieces of wood, hollowed, and bound together. At one end is a mouth piece through which the performer exhales into, while at the other extremity is either a solid end-point, or a small pierced hole. The putorino has no series of note-stops, but rather a single oval aperture in the centre of the instrument, usually forming the mouth of a carved face, which the performer uses to regulate the sound. The putorino has a feminine voice representing the female ancestor Hineraukatauri, who pesonifies flute music. It's sound has been described as the sound of water being poured from a gourd, 'Me te wai e utuutu ana'.