Overview
More and more New Zealanders are recognising the exciting sound of the tini kā‘ara (drum kit) because of the appearance of these drums at various Kiwi sports events.
There are six drums in the tini kā‘ara – two skin covered drums – and four wooden slit drums.
The smaller of the two skin drums is the pa‘u mangö. It used to have a sharkskin membrane but nowadays animal skin is used. It is made of tamanu wood and is beaten with the bare hands. In the past, it was used in civil and religious ceremonies and was also beaten to announce peace.
The pa‘u is a larger skin drum. It is the lowest pitched drum and along with the tökere provides the basic beat patterns – just like a bass drum in a rock drum kit. When it is used in dancing the pa‘u directs the hip and leg movements.
Tōkere are wooden slit drums and form part of the main ‘beat’. When used in dancing they direct body and hand movements.
There are three different types of tōkere - the smaller the drum, the higher the pitch. They are: tōkere-taki or tōkere-‘atupaka (largest slit drum), tōkere-tāngarongaro (medium slit drum) and tōkere-mamaiti (smallest slit drum). The tōkere taki is used in villages to call people to church or ‘uipā‘anga (meetings).
The kā‘ara is the largest drum in the group and is about twice the size of a tōkere.
A tōkere is made by cutting a hardwood branch or tree trunk and removing the bark. A number of holes are drilled in a straight line, then the bits between them are chiselled out to form a long opening. The most important part of the process is working out how much wood should be hollowed out from the centre slit as this, along with the shape of the opening, determines how high or low the pitch of the drum will be.
The pa‘u keeps a basic one-pitch beat interrupted between beats by the higher-pitched pa’u mangō. Similarly, the tōkere taki takes the leading role, with the higher-pitched tōkere-mamaiti supplementing the overall rhythm.
Meanwhile, the kā’ara plays a syncopated (off-beat) rhythm to add strength and texture to the overall sound. The tini kā’ara is used to accompany dances called ‘ura pa‘u and kapa rima.
The rhythms and skills involved in playing each of these drums are so different that specialised training is necessary for each.
Text originally published in Tai Awatea, Te Papa's onfloor multimedia database (2003)