An Interview with Charles Maimarosia, A Aussie based SI Artist and Musician
BY ALEX DADAMU
CHARLES Maimarosia, a Solomon Islands –Australian based musician and song writer who is from the Are’are region in Malaita Province recently spoke with Tourism Media Solomon Islands about Are‘are culture with regards to music.
Based on his account, there are two main forms of panpipes music in Are ‘are culture.
‘’One of the traditional panpipes music is called, ‘Au rerepi’ in Are’are mother-tongue.
“This form consists of 8 pipes per set and can be played by 8 people. These pipes comes in different sizes, all of them are in pentatonic scales and can be played whenever there is a feast or ‘Houra’ in Are’are dialect.
‘’Another form is called, ‘Au tahana’. This form of traditional pipe music is the most difficult to play in Are ‘are.
“Its cords progression is in jazz chord like progressions and can be played by 4 people.
The songs played on ‘Au-tahana’ have names like for example; Naratani kirori, or the cry of the parrot, Naratani hata or the cry of an eagle. This is usually played during marriages events,” Charles said.
He further said that in Are’are each clan has its own wooden drum or Parani O’o but with different names. Those can be used to communicate and transfer messages from one remote community to another.
According to Charles, these are wooden drums (Parani O’o) are made from specific wood from the forest and it comes in different sizes weighing around 130kg.
‘’Parani O’o has a long history in Are ‘are culture. In the past Are‘are people used it as an alarm if there is a threat to any of their communities, each rhythm means something.
‘’ Some rhythms means good news, other bad news for e.g. a death of another member of the clans. Other beats can mean an invitation for celebrations or any big events in the community,’’
He revealed that nowadays these drums can be used to welcome guest or important people on important occasions.
“Fine examples when the drum was last used was on the arrival of Prince Charles, as well as on the arrival of Prince William and Princess Kate on their recent tour to Solomon Islands,” Charles said.
In the meantime, Charles pointed out that every country in the world acknowledges their heritage, culture, arts, music and it’s all documented, their stories are in films, books etc.
“That is why I do what I do as musician, to inspire my Solomon islanders.”
