Wisisi (also called iniki one) is a musical tradition of the Lani and Dani people of the Papuan highlands. Though it takes its instrumentation from the Melanesian string band tradition, wisisi's brilliance is in its radical deconstruction of this form. Homemade guitars (ejo gitar) are strung with anything from four to twelve strings and plucked with an open tuning like zithers - each instrument plays a different pattern which coalesces into a soothing whole. Each piece is actually a medley of stories tracing the small dramas of life in the highlands: one is about a man's second wife being jealous of his first; another is about trekking through the mountains to a far off village, only to have to spend the night under the trees.

Hear and learn more about wisisi at the new Aural Archipelago post here:
https://www.auralarchipelago.com/aura...

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