horn

Horn system used by the Hutu people of Rwanda, described by Gansemans (1988). The instrument itself (ihembe in Kinyarwanda) is a transverse horn fashioned from the horn of an antelope, severed at the narrow end to form a fingering hole; when closed, the horn's fundamental frequency is raised roughly two semitones (104).Kinyarwanda is tonal, with H and L tones. But, messages in the surrogate system appears not to reflect the language's tone patterns: "Nous avons l'impression que l'intelligibilté des 'messages' est surtout basée sur une succession de formules standardisées plutôt que sur l'imitation correcte du langage parlé. [We believe that the intelligibility of the 'messages' is based overall on a succession of standardized formulas of the two tones produced on the instrument rather than on an exact imitation of the spoken language]" (106). Content includes long-distances announcements, including invitations to work parties and gatherings, calls for help, wartime communication, and hunting calls.

Gansemans, J. (1988). Les instruments de musique du Rwanda: Étude ethnomusicologique. Leuven University Press.