clarinet, bínakũ̀

Clarinet system used by the Nupe people of Nigeria, described in Blench (2010). The instrument itself (bínakũ̀ in Nupe) is a “cornstalk transverse clarinet” roughly 30cm long, with an open end (fingered with the thumb) and another fingering hole on the instrument’s side (Blench 2010:12). Covering either or both apertures produces a total of four pitches, though the fully open note “is of poor quality and rarely used” (12).The language is tonal, with L, M, and H register tones, as well phonemic falling and rising contours (4).In the surrogate system, the melody of a phrase “follows the tonal contours fairly closely” (12). Typically, it is used by “unmarried boys and men ... [to] reproduce the speech-tones of the names of girls the boys wish to praise” or between boys to communicate in the field (12).

Blench, R. (2010). Oral literature genres of the Nupe of Central Nigeria. rogerblench.info