Highland Region of Papua New Guinea

The east—Eastern Highlands, Chimbu, the eastern areas of Western Highlands—emphasizes initiatory ceremonies, in which boys learn secrets of paired, side-blown bamboo flutes, played by initiated men. Players vary pitches by overblowing; by opening and closing the far end of these instruments with the palm of a hand, they produce the harmonics of closed and open tubes. Paired players sound their flutes in quick alternation, paralleling performance in the central Mamose Region. Though such flutes may...