Je Akanuya, the plunger water flute and funnel-bell. An acoustic instrumental bet for the continuous.
Keywords:
cultural studies, water flute, musical instruments, Hornbostel-Sachs system, non-human soundsAbstract
The plunger and funnel-bell water flute is a new wind musical instrument. Several of its sounds resemble different vocalizations of various species of birds, amphibians, mammals and insects. Its proper name is Je Akayuna (a term from the Iku language). This article reflects on the cultural contexts in which the design and construction of this instrument is framed, and describes its instrumental commitment to continuums. Initially, it briefly describes the classification of the instrument in the Hornbostel-Sachs system and explains its technical characteristics; then, it clarifies some problems of the notions of music, musical instrument, and human being/nature; then, from the sonorities of this flute, it proposes to broaden the perspective of cultural studies of musical instruments. It also addresses the disciplinary, cultural and territorial contexts surrounding its creation, its design. This flute is an acoustic instrumental bet on continuums: it wants to reintegrate the different roles of builder/creator/performer, to invite to musical performance in unconventional spaces, to offer another palette of heights beyond equal temperament and to propose a continuum of sonorities between the human and the other.
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