Slit-Log Drum Trio

Slit-log drum system used by the Falam Chin-speaking Zanniat people of Myanmar, described in Stern (1957) (as a “gong xylophone”). The instrument itself is a set of three distinctly-pitched wooden slit-log drums. The system encodes tone:“One form [of slit-log drumming], the scurrilous chant, adheres closely to the intonation of normal speech, and the names of individuals may be inserted at the proper places to give point to the performance” (142).Syllable structure is also encoded: “a two-stroke measure falls regularly upon vowels phonemically characterized by a two-mora quantity” (138).The lowest pitched drum can be played concurrently with the medial and highest-pitched drums, forming “two-gong chords”; in this case, stressed syllables are variably encoded with an accompanying heavy strike on the low drum (139).Context of use and content is not indicated, though the system likely shares similarities with the Teddim Chin slit-log drum system.

Stern, T. (1957). 5. Drum and Whistle “Languages”: AN Analysis of Speech Surrogates. In T. A. Sebeok & J. Umiker-Sebeok, Speech Surrogates: Drum and Whistle Systems. 1976. (pp. 124–148). De Gruyter Mouton. https://www.degruyter.com/view/book/9783110804416/10.1515/9783110804416.124.xml