The eleaotua is a
musical bow played in
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, also spelled ''eluaotuas'', ''eleaotuchan'', and ''elimau-tuyan''. This gourd-resonating musical bow likely has common roots with the
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian
berimbau, due to constant trade between
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
in the nineteenth century, during which the instrument may have been introduced to the
Chamorro people
The Chamorro people (; also CHamoru) are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, signif ...
.
[{{cite web , url=http://www.guampedia.com/belembaotuyan-2/ , title= Belembaotuyan , last=Pangelinan, first=Therese Q. Crisostomo, date=July 14, 2014 , website=guampedia.com, publisher= , accessdate=2015-01-22] The instrument also resembles various zither/boat lutes found throughout Southeast Asia (esp. in the Philippines) called
kutiyapi.
Description
The ''eleaotua'' has traditionally been part of wedding and other ceremonies in Guam, such as the Chamorro Month celebrations in schools, though it has lost popularity in recent times.
The name of the instrument comes from the words ''eleao'' ('swaying of the trees' in
Chamorro Chamorro may refer to:
* Chamorro people, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific
* Chamorro language, an Austronesian language indigenous to The Marianas
* Chamorro Time Zone, the time zone of Guam and the Northern Mari ...
) and ''tuyan'' (Chamorro for 'stomach') "tua" for short. Similar to other gourd-resonating musical bows, such as the
berimbau or
hungu, the gourd can be made to resonate by pressing it against one's stomach cavity and the player can create a vibrato by moving the gourd towards and away their body.
Construction
It is made by attaching a string to a long flat wooden stick, on top of which is a resonating gourd. The string is usually made of metal wire or hard string, and similar material is used to keep the resonating gourd in place, stopping the string which allows to produce two pitches (lower and higher) by hitting the longer or shorter sides of the stopped string respectively. At the ends of the wooden stick are placed seashells in order to produce a clearer sound. The length of the wooden stick can be between 4 ft (1.2m) and 9 ft (2.7m) long.
As heavy wire was not easily found in Guam in the past, instrument makers would use wire from rubber tires. The wood used for the body of the instrument has usually been
Pacific Rosewood or
hibiscus tree, both of which grow locally. Wood of young trees has been preferred, as it is more flexible and easier to bend, and a wider body is used to produce a better sound.
The gourd has usually been made of
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
or
tagua, and they produce different sound: though coconut shells are easy to handle, they are much smaller, harder, and are prone to cracking.
The thin hitting stick is made out of bamboo and is usually about a foot (0.3m) long. The string used on the instrument has traditionally been made of wild pineapple fibre, whereas now it has been replaced by metal wires, which produce a louder and brighter sound.
See also
*
Musical bow
*
Berimbau
References
Guamanian musical instruments
Musical bows
Zithers