Taonga Pūoro - Māori musical instruments

By Georgie Watts | Posted: Thursday May 12, 2022

Dr Jen Cattermole from Otago University came to visit the Music Tech class on Tuesday to demonstrate some of the Taonga Pūoro, and allow them to record some samples for their music project.

They were able to see and hear some beautiful instruments and record the haunting sounds for their project creating soundscapes to accompany the story of Tane and the Stars in time for Matariki.

We recorded Pūkaea, Karanga weka, Pūtōrino, Kōauau, Kōauau pongihu, and the Poi āwhiowhio.

We were excited to learn and hear that Taonga pūoro can be made from pretty much anything you can find in nature, from stones with holes in, to the smallest of pipi shells and even a barnacle as shown in the picture!  It will be exciting to see if we can replicate some of these sounds in our own contexts! 

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