This chapter contains texts and recordings of all known Ma-yawa wangga, a repertory of songs given to songmen by the Marri Ammu ancestral ghosts known as Ma-yawa.1 In the days before the advent of the tripartite ceremonial system at Wadeye (discussed in chapter 1), it seems that this repertory was frequently performed at Wadeye, but once the Marri Ammu adopted the Walakandha wangga as the repertory to be used for ceremonies for their kin—and all evidence suggests that this goes back to the 1960s at least—the use of the Ma-yawa wangga in the major ceremonies of burnim-rag and circumcision declined. We only ever heard the Ma-yawa wangga repertory performed for minor ceremonies such as graduations (at Batchelor College) or bravery awards, as when the Administrator of the Northern Territory presented such an award to a boy at Peppimenarti in 1998.

All but one of the Ma-yawa wangga songs were composed by the senior Marri Ammu law man and artist Charlie Niwilhi Brinken (c. 1910–1993), but so far as we know, no recording was ever made of him singing. Maurice Tjakurl Ngulkur (Nyilco) (1940–2001), the Marri Ammu songman who inherited the repertory and added one of his own songs to it, passed away in November 2001, and since that time the songs have rarely been performed. To our knowledge no Marri Ammu singer has emerged to take over this repertory, but in recent years some of the songs seem to have been assimilated into the Walakandha wangga repertory. Two Marri Tjavin singers, Frank Dumoo and Colin Worumbu Ferguson, performed one of the songs for Marett in 2008; and another Marri Tjavin man, Ngulkur’s son-in-law

356Charles Kungiung, also performed a number of Ma-yawa songs alongside Walakandha wangga songs at a burnim-rag ceremony recorded by Barwick and Treloyn at Batchelor in 2009.

The Ma-yawa wangga repertory holds a unique place within the corpus. No other repertory focuses as strongly on the Dreamings (ngirrwat) and Dreaming sites (kigatiya) of the owning group. The repertory deploys a potent metaphor for the mixing of the living and dead in ceremony: this is the wudi-pumininy, a freshwater spring that flows into the salt water at high tide below the cliffs at Karri-ngindji in the north of Marri Ammu country. There are also songs about the Mayawa dead dancing on the top of the cliffs at Rtadi-wunbirri, and references to the specific Ma-yawa ancestor, Tulh.

But in addition to these references to the Ma-yawa dead, there are many songs in the repertory that refer to other totemic ancestors. Here we have explicit and revealing statements about the actions of Dreamings (see for example ‘Tjerri’ (song 5, track 13)), and the incorporation into song of creation stories (see for example ‘Wulumen Tulh’ (song 12, tracks 28–29)). Five songs concern Marri Ammu Dreamings and four are about Dreaming sites (though the distinction may be a little forced in that it is impossible to refer to one without the other). The remaining three songs are about the human world rather than Dreamings, though in each case there is an association with ceremony or ghosts: ‘Watjen-danggi’ (Dingo) (song 6) is probably about a boy being led away into seclusion prior to circumcision; ‘Na-Pebel’ (song 11) is about a particular sand bar that, according to Ngulkur, although not a Dreaming site per se is nevertheless a place where Ma-yawa congregate; and ‘Walakandha Ngindji’ (song 1) concerns Walakandha, the Marri Tjavin ancestral dead, who also manifest as Dreamings.

In another distinctive feature not found to this degree elsewhere in the wangga corpus, the singer articulates relationship to his country and its associated Dreamings and Dreaming sites by the use of melody. The Ma-yawa songs about Dreamings use only two melodies, which come to be emblematic of the Marri Ammu and their ancestors.2 357

Notes on the recording sample

Ngulkur’s repertory comprised only twelve songs. These make up the total surviving repertory for the Ma-yawa wangga current at Wadeye in the period between 1998 and 2000.3

In all, we have access to five performances of the Ma-yawa wangga. The first was elicited by Marett at Wadeye in October 1998. The second was made the next day at Peppimenarti, in the context of a ceremony at which the Administrator of the Northern Territory conferred a bravery award on a boy from that community. In 1999 a third recording was made by Marett at Ngulkur’s initiative in order to add another song, ‘Na-Pebel’ (song 11), which he had forgotten to perform in 1998. In 2000 a fourth recording was made by Mark Crocombe, again at Ngulkur’s initiative, to add another previously omitted song, ‘Wulumen Tulh’ (song 12). We have also included a performance of a single Ma-yawa wangga song performed in Darwin for Marett, Treloyn and Treloyn’s students at Charles Darwin University in 2008 as part of a wangga documentation session. Somewhat to everyone’s surprise, Frank Dumoo and Colin Worumbu Ferguson sang the Ma-yawa song, ‘Thalhi-ngatjpirr’ (track 24). Ferguson commented afterwards that he had learnt the song by listening to a CD recording given to him by Marett.4

The twelve Ma-yawa wangga songs are listed in table 9.1. The first, ‘Walakandha Ngindji’ (track 1), was composed by Maurice Tjakurl Ngulkur (Nyilco) and the remaining songs (2–12) by Charlie Niwilhi Brinken. 358

Because Ngulkur’s performances of some songs were quite varied and because the recorded repertory is so small, all available recordings have been included here, including one or two of less than ideal quality. Often we need to hear more than one example of a song in order to get a sense of the limits of its form and content. As was pointed out in chapter 2, when songs are not regularly performed in ceremony singers tend to play around more with their texts, introducing interesting variations as they go. 359

TRACK 1 (Mar98-14-s01)

Song 1: Walakandha Ngindji

This song, whose title translates as ‘a certain Walakandha’, was composed by Maurice Ngulkur, and is an adaptation of ‘Walakandha No. 2’ from the Walakandha wangga repertory (chapter 8, track 23). The text, originally composed simultaneously by Thomas Kungiung and Terence Dumoo, is about Terence Dumoo living alone at Kubuwemi for a whole year following a move back to his traditional country from Wadeye. Here Ngulkur adapts the Walakandha wangga text by singing it to a melody widely used in the Ma-yawa wangga repertory, modifying the melody in various ways so as to accommodate structural features typical of Marri Tjavin song (see further details in the music analysis section of this chapter). For a more detailed discussion of the ways that Ngulkur evokes in song the common, yet separate, interests of the Marri Ammu and the Marri Tjavin by balancing different formal elements in this song, see Marett, 2005, pp 137–50.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

A certain Walakandha is living here for a whole year

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

All he has is a solitary house with a white roof

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even) 360

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

A certain Walakandha is living here for a whole year

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

A solitary house with a white roof is here Brother! Walakandha!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 2 (Mar98-14-s02)

Song 1: Walakandha Ngindji

In his second rendition of ‘Walakandha Ngindji’, Ngulkur rearranges the text of vocal section 1 from the previous version, adding new material—a series of calls to Walakandha and to country—in text phrase 2. Marett has argued that textual instability of this sort occurs most frequently in songs, such as these, that are not regularly sung in ceremony (Marett, 2005, p 200). Because of the linguistic closeness of Marri Ammu and Marri Tjavin (see chapter 3), and perhaps also because of his long familiarity with the Walakandha wangga repertory as a dancer, Ngulkur has no difficulty in improvising on the text. Indeed, the song demonstrates Ngulkur’s especially close relationship to Marri Tjavin people and country. 361

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

All he has is a solitary house with a white roof

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother! My dear country! Kubuwemi! Brother! 362

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

A certain Walakandha is living here for a whole year

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

A solitary house with a white roof is here

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 3 (Mar98-16-s01)

Song 1: Walakandha Ngindji

In this version of ‘Walakandha Ngindji,’ recorded at a bravery award ceremony at Peppimenarti the day after tracks 1 and 2 were recorded at Wadeye, Ngulkur further elaborates the text by adding a third text phrase in vocal section 1. During the didjeridu introduction Ngulkur says that he is going to take up the subject of a certain old man or Walakandha. 363

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

A certain Walakandha is living here for a whole year

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

All he has is a solitary house with a white roof

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother! Nadirri at Kubuwemi

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

A certain Walakandha is living here for a whole year 364

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

All he has is a solitary house with a white roof

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother! Old Man! He is always here

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACKS 4 and 5 (Mar98-14-s03, s04)

Song 2: Wulumen Kimi-gimi

This song is an assertion that Marri Ammu ceremonial performance rests upon ancestral precedent. The verb kimi-gimi has a broad semantic field, which in this case embraces all forms of ceremonial activity—singing, dancing, playing the didjeridu. This is what the Ma-yawa ancestors, referred to here as wulumen (Aboriginal English for Old Man), laid down as the foundation of law at the beginning of time.

Various stylistic elements in this song—including the use of a melody that is shared with seven other Ma-yawa wangga songs, the uneven quadruple clapstick pattern, and isorhythm (the repetition of the same text with identical rhythm)—are typical of the Ma-yawa wangga.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

This is what the Old Man [Ma-yawa] has always done [i.e., danced, sung, played didjeridu]

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 6 (Mar98-16-s02)

Song 3: Rtadi-wunbirri

366Like ‘Wulumen Kimi-gimi,’ this song asserts that ceremonial performance rests on the precedent laid down by the Ma-yawa ancestors, here referred to by both the Aboriginal English term wulumen (old man) and the Marri Ammu word vindivindi (old man). The verb kimi-gimi (do) is understood but not sung. The place where the ancestors performed, and continue to perform, is at the dance ground at Rtadi-wunbirri, a flat area on the top of the cliffs at Karri-ngindji, near Tjindi in Marri Ammu country.

This song uses a melody that it shares with only one other Ma-yawa wangga song, ‘Wulumen Tulh’ (tracks 28 and 29). Ngulkur performed this song at the Peppimenarti bravery award ceremony.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

This is what the Old Man [Ma-yawa] has always done [i.e., danced, sung, played didjeridu]

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

At Rtadi-wunbirri, like this

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He has always done it like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even) 367

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

This is what the Old Man [Ma-yawa] has always done [i.e., danced, sung, played didjeridu]

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 7 (Mar98-16-s03)

Song 3: Rtadi-wunbirri

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

This is what the Old Man [Ma-yawa] has always done [i.e., danced, sung, played didjeridu]

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Country! Rtadi-wunbirri! Like this! 368

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He has always done it like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

This is what the Old Man [Ma-yawa] has always done [i.e., danced, sung, played didjeridu]

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Country! Rtadi-wunbirri! Like this!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 8 (Mar98-16-04)

Song 3: Rtadi-wunbirri

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

This is what the Old Man [Ma-yawa] has always done [i.e., danced, sung, played didjeridu]

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

At that country which is Rtadi-wunbirri

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He has always done it like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

This is what the Old Man [Ma-yawa] has always done [i.e., danced, sung, played didjeridu] 370

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

At that country which is Rtadi-wunbirri

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He has always done it like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 9 (Mar98-16-05)

Song 3: Rtadi-wunbirri

In this version, Ngulkur employs an old-fashioned style of clapstick beating (rhythmic mode 5*) for instrumental section 1. This pattern, in which a passage of fast doubled beating is followed by a passage of fast even beating, is typical of the early Walakandha wangga (see chapter 3, chapter 8). Note that the didjeridu drops out briefly in the final instrumental section.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

This is what the Old Man [Ma-yawa] has always done [i.e., danced, sung, played didjeridu] 371

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

At that country which is Rtadi-wunbirri, like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5*

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

This is what the Old Man [Ma-yawa] has always done [i.e., danced, sung, played didjeridu]

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

At that country which is Rtadi-wunbirri, like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACKS 10 and 11 (Mar98-14-s05 and s06)

Song 4: Menggani

The Dreaming site (kigatiya) for the butterfly, Menggani, lies in the jungle inland from Tjindi. On both tracks 10 and 11, you can hear the sound of the late afternoon wind blowing the leaves of the surrounding trees. As is often the case when there is no dancing, the instrumental sections are very short. 372

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

This is what Menggani has always done [i.e., danced, produced butterflies]

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 12 (Mar98-14-s07)

Song 5: Tjerri

‘Tjerri’ refers both to the Dreaming (ngirrwat) for Sea Breeze, which is addressed as ‘elder brother’ (mana), and to its Dreaming site (kigatiya), a beach not far from Pumurriyi in the south of Marri Ammu country. During the didjeridu introduction, Ngulkur announces, ‘Now I’m going to take up “Sea Breeze.” It’s our Dreaming.’ In this rendition of the song, Ngulkur focuses on the waves that break at the creek mouth as a result of the action of this Dreaming. Notice how the song text emphasises both the immediacy of the Dreaming in the present moment—‘All along! In this place here! Just like this’—as well as the aspect of ancestral power deposited in that place at the beginning of time—‘It is always breaking right here at the creek’ (literally ‘it lies here [from the beginning] breaking right along the creek’).

Here the dominant Ma-yawa wangga melody is rendered in an unmeasured and elaborated, often melismatic, form, which is fitted to the highly variable text in the moment of performance. 373

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Sea Breeze!

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The wave is breaking at the creek

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

All along! In this place here! Like this!

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Sea Breeze!

Text phrase 5

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It is always breaking at the creek 374

Text phrase 6

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The sea! Like this!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Sea Breeze!

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

In this place here, brother! It is breaking at the creek

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Sea Breeze!

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It is always breaking at the creek 375

Text phrase 5

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The sea! In this place here! Like this!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 13 (Mar98-14-s08)

Song 5: Tjerri

In the second rendition, Ngulkur shifts the emphasis squarely onto the immanent, self-creating aspect of the Dreaming (ngirrwat). TGH Strehlow maintained that the core meaning of altjira, the Arrernte term cognate with ngirrwat, is ‘that which derives from … the eternal, uncreated, springing from itself,’ or ‘that which has sprung out of its own eternity’ (Strehlow, 1971, p 614). The way that the Murriny Patha at Wadeye spoke to Stanner about the Rainbow Serpent Dreaming (Kunmanggurr) resonates with this. Kunmanggurr was said to be a kardu bangambitj, a ‘self-finding’ person (that is, ‘self-creating and self-subsistent’) (Stanner, 1989 [1963], p 249).

In text phrase 2, vocal section 1 of ‘Tjerri’ we have an expression that points directly to this self-creating aspect of the Dreaming while at the same time referencing the intersection of the present moment and the eternal, ‘Right here and now, he is always manifesting himself.’ The idea of self-manifestation is expressed by the verb kinyi-ni, which combines the third-person singular form of the intransitive verb ‘he moves’ or ‘he is active’ (kinyi) with the third-person masculine reflexive suffix (ni) to mean ‘he makes himself active.’ The notion of the Dreaming springing out of the eternal is carried by the auxiliary verb kavulh, ‘he lies’ or ‘he has done it forever’ and the fact that this happens in the present moment by kagan-dja, ‘right here and now’ (Marett, 2005, pp 27–28). Indeed, the intersection of the eternal and the present is here underscored even more strongly than in the previous item.

This is the item transcribed and discussed as an example of the formal conventions of wangga in chapter 2. 376

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Sea Breeze!

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Right here and now, he is always manifesting himself

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Sea Breeze!

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He is always manifesting himself right here and now

Text phrase 5

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The sea is always breaking at the creek, right here, like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even) 377

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Sea Breeze!

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He is always manifesting himself

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Sea Breeze!

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He is always manifesting himself

Text phrase 5

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The sea is always breaking at the creek, right here, like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled) 378

TRACK 14 (Mar98-14-s09)

Song 6: Watjen-danggi

Although wangga songs are sung in circumcision ceremonies as well as for mortuary rites, it is rare for a song to address the theme of circumcision directly. Since circumcision is seen as being analogous to death (the boy dies to childhood and is reborn as a man), the death-related themes are as appropriate in this context as in mortuary rites. This song is an exception in that it seems to refer directly to the initiation process. When a boy is removed from the society of women and taken on a ritual journey and seclusion prior to the circumcision rites, he is referred to as a wild dog (watjen danggi in Marri Ammu, ku were in Murriny Patha). This song, then, is probably about a boy being taken into seclusion in Marri Ammu country. As he walks up the beach towards from the cliffs at Karri-ngindji to Yilhyilhyen beach (see track 15), the wild dog looks back, just as a boy will look back to the relatives that he has left behind. Ngulkur told Marett that this song is one of the few in the corpus that does not refer to a Dreaming or a Dreaming place, but this statement seems to be contradicted by the announcement that he makes during the didjeridu introduction: ‘I’m going to take up “Dingo running across the sand.” It’s really my Dreaming.’ This was perhaps a slip made in the heat of the performance.

The construction of this song, while not unique in the wangga genre, is somewhat unusual. It comprises a series of statements about the wild dog, strung together in sequence. The melody and the rhythm are also unusual. No other Ma-yawa wangga uses this melody, which is quite distinct from the two associated with Dreamings (perhaps indicating that the song is not about a Dreaming). The use of beating in a moderate tempo is also rare at Wadeye. While it occurs in a number of the early songs of the Walakandha wangga repertory—songs that are no longer sung—it has not been used for any other Wadeye wangga for several decades (see chapter 8 and Marett, 2007). In Ngulkur’s repertory this mode also occurs in the internal instrumental sections of ‘Tjerri’ (tracks 12–13) and ‘Karri ngindji’ (tracks 20–21).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Brother! He was making footprints as he went 379

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

He looked behind as he went

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Dingo was making his prints

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Brother! He deliberately looked back

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

watjen-danggi
dingo

Dingo!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even) 380

TRACK 15 (Mar98-14-s10)

Song 6: Watjen-danggi

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Brother dog! He was making his prints all along

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

He looked right back all along, dingo

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Brother! He was making his prints, dingo

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Towards Yilhyilhyen 381

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Brother! he was making his prints behind

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Towards Yilhyilhyen

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

TRACK 16 (Mar98-14-s11)

Song 7: Malhimanyirr

Tracks 16 and 17 are about malhimanyirr, the junglefowl (Megapodius freycinet), a large ground-dwelling bird that creates its nest by piling soil into a mound, continually scratching and turning the material. It is common in coastal areas of the Northern Territory. Its Dreaming site is at Anggaleni in the south of Marri Ammu country. This bird was Maurice Ngulkur’s personal totem, a fact that he repeatedly makes explicit in the rendition on track 17. Kanyi-ngin is short for kanyirra-ngin (literally, ‘my Dreaming,’ or ‘my totem’). 382

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Junglefowl is always making her nest and calling out

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

In the dense jungle, she is always piling up [earth for her nest] and calling out

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 17 (Mar98-14-s12)

Song 7: Malhimanyirr

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Junglefowl is always making her nest and calling out

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

In the dense jungle, my totem

Melodic section 3

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

My Dreaming, junglefowl is making her nest, my totem!

Melodic section 4

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

In the dense jungle, my totem

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple) 384

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Junglefowl is always making her nest and calling out

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

In the dense jungle, junglefowl, my totem

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 18 (Mar98-14-s13)

Song 8: Ma-vindivindi

The items on track 18 and 19 describe a Ma-yawa, here referred to simply as ‘Old Man,’ at his Dreaming site above the cliffs at Karri-ngindji in Marri Ammu country (see also song 9, tracks 20–21). He is depicted both standing up and lying down asleep in the posture known as ‘number four leg,’ that is with one leg bent with the foot crossing or against the knee of the straight leg. The Marri Tjavin and the Marri Ammu frequently depict their song-giving ancestors (Walakandha or Ma-yawa) in this position; and there is an association of this posture with the giving and receiving of songs.5

The melody is the one used for the majority of songs about Marri Ammu Dreamings, and the fast uneven quadruple rhythmic mode is the most commonly used in the Ma-yawa wangga corpus. 385

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother is standing up in number four leg

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

On the headland [at Karri-ngindji], he is always [standing] in number four leg like this

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother keeps making number four leg

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Deep sleep! He makes himself lie in number four leg

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple) 386

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother is making himself lie in number four leg

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother is making himself lie in number four leg

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 19 (Mar98-14-s14)

Song 8: Ma-vindivindi

There is some digital noise on this track, but we have included it for comparison with the previous track. 387

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother is making himself lie in number four leg

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Deep sleep! He makes himself lie asleep in number four leg, sleep

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother is making himself lie in number four leg

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Deep sleep! He makes himself lie in number four leg

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple) 388

Brother is making himself lie in number four leg

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Deep sleep! He makes himself lie in number four leg

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 20 (Mar98-14-s15)

Song 9: Karri-ngindji

Karri-ngindji, the line of cliffs just south of Tjindi Creek in the north of Marri Ammu country, is the Dreaming site (kigatiya) for the Ma-yawa ancestors. They are referred to in a number of Ma-yawa wangga songs. A Ma-yawa ancestor is described in this song (tracks 20 and 21) as ‘a brother [that is, a Dreaming] in human form’ (meri-gu mana).

At the foot of the cliff is a freshwater spring (wudi-pumininy) that flows into the sea at high tide, but is exposed at low tide. This is where the Ma-yawa like to sit. Marett has written extensively about two important contexts in which the world of the living and the world of the dead interpenetrate: one is when deceased ancestors appear in the dreams of the living to give them songs; the other is when humans perform the songs, dances and ceremonies given to them by the dead. In Marri Ammu songs and paintings, fresh water represents the living; salt water the dead. The flowing of the freshwater spring into the saltwater ocean therefore symbolises these processes and the liminal space (whether that be dream or ceremony) in which they occur (see further Marett, 2005, p 17).

Because the text phrases of this song are rather long, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish words that occur at the end of the phrase, when the singer’s breath is at its weakest. This situation is not helped by the fact that the two singers do not always agree. This is inevitable when song texts are as unstable as they are here. 389

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother! Our man [Ma-yawa] is sitting at the foot of the cliff

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The Ma-yawa is sitting at the freshwater spring 390

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother is sitting right here where it [the cliff] stands up, like this

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It’s brother in human form who is right here like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

VOCAL SECTION 3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother! The tide is coming in on me right here

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Our Brother is at the cliff! Many people! Freshwater spring 391

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 21 (Mar98-14-s16)

Song 9: Karri-ngindji

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother [i.e., Ma-yawa] is right here at the spring

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother [i.e., Ma-yawa] is right here at the spring

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother [i.e., Ma-yawa] is at the spring 392

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother! Fresh water and salt water! Like this!

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother is at the spring

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACKS 22–23 (Mar98-14-s17, s18)

Song 10: Thalhi-ngatjpirr

Thalhi-ngatjpirr is a fish Dreaming site near Tjindi in the north of Marri Ammu country. Senior Marri Ammu frequently complain about the non-Aboriginal fishermen, both recreational and commercial, who fish there, and this is the interpretation that Ngulkur offered. It should be noted that the wide semantic field of the verb kirrimi leaves the song open to other interpretations with regard to what it is that is done at Thali-ngatjpirr. 393

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Lots of people like to go to country that is just for us

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

As for us, we say, only we do it [i.e., fish] at Thalhi-ngatjpirr

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 24 (Tre08-01-s17)

Song 10: Thalhi-ngatjpirr

In 2008, Sally Treloyn recorded Frank Dumoo, backed up by Colin Worumbu Ferguson, singing a version of ‘Thali-ngatjpirr.’ Dumoo slightly alters the word order in the first text phrase of each vocal section, as well as the form of the song, replacing the couplet form of the original with the AAB text form most characteristic of the Walakandha wangga. There are a number of other alterations, including a change of melody (which probably simply results from the didjeridu being too high). 394

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Lots of people like to go to our country, which is just for us, like this

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

As for us, we say, only we do it [i.e., fish] at Thalhi-ngatjpirr

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5c

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Lots of people like to go to our country, which is just for us, like this

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

As for us, we say, only we do it [i.e., fish] at Thalhi-ngatjpirr

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5c 395

TRACKS 25–27 A General Introduction

Song 11: Na-Pebel

Na-Pebel is a sandbar in the shape of a dilly bag (pebel) near the mouth of Tjindi Creek. In the first two items (tracks 25 and 26), the singer asks his brother—perhaps a Dreaming, since the term ‘brother’ is often used to address Dreamings—to point out Na-Pebel to him, as indeed Ngulkur did for me, the first time I visited his country (figure 9.7). In the third item (track 27) the singer asks to be shown the thing that is like Na-Pebel. By this he probably means the dilly bag from which the place derives its name and thus underscores the co-referential relationship between place and object. Like ‘Watjen-danggi’ this song has its own individual melody, which is distinct from the two melodies used elsewhere in the Ma-yawa wangga repertory for songs about Dreamings.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

TRACK 25 (Mar99-01-s01)

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother, stand up and show me the country at Pebel

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 26 (Mar99-01-s02)

Song 11: Na-Pebel

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother, stand up and show me the country at Pebel

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 27 (Mar99-01-s03)

Song 11: Na-Pebel

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother, show me the thing that is like Pebel

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

VOCAL SECTION 3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Brother, the thing that belongs to Pebel

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple) 398

TRACK 28 (Cro00-01-s07)

Song 12: Wulumen Tulh

The song on tracks 28 and 29 relates to the story of the Ma-yawa ancestor known as Wulumen Tulh (‘Old Man Tulh’) and the Dreaming Tjiwilirr ‘Hairy Cheeky Yam’. This song, together with its associated myths and paintings, is discussed in detail in Marett, 2005, pp 15–23 (see also Ford & Nemarluk, 2003). 399In brief, the story relates how Old Man Tulh came back from hunting to his camp at Pumurriyi to find that his wives had not prepared any food. He therefore ate some raw hairy cheeky yam (tjiwilirr), which is toxic when uncooked. He was so angry that he threw it everywhere, which is why it now grows prolifically at Pumurriyi.

The quality of the original recording of this song was poor. Nonetheless, because the song is so important, we have included it here.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

This is what made the old man angry, Old Man Tulh

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

It made Old Man Tulh angry

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

It was the tucker [Hairy Cheeky Yam] that made him angry

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

It was the tucker that made Tulh [angry] like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)400

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

It made old man Tulh angry, like this

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

It made Old Man Tulh angry, like this

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

It was the tucker [that made him angry] just like this

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

This is what made him angry

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

VOCAL SECTION 3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Old Man Tulh, it made him angry like this 401

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Old Man Tulh, it made him angry like this

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

It was the tucker that did it, just like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

TRACK 29 (Cro00-01-s08)

Song 12: Wulumen Tulh

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

This is what made Old Man Tulh angry

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It was the Hairy Cheeky Yam, just like this

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He kept throwing it away

Text phrase 5

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It grows everywhere like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It made Old Man Tulh angry

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It was Hairy Cheeky Yam just like this

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It made Old Man Tulh angry

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It was Hairy Cheeky Yam like this 404

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 5

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He kept throwing it away

Text phrase 6

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It grows everywhere like this

Text phrase 7

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He kept throwing it away

Text phrase 8

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

It grows everywhere like this

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

MUSICAL ANALYS IS OF MA-YAWA REPERTORY

Song structure overview

Perhaps because every track in the chapter is from an elicited recording, all items have either two or three vocal and instrumental sections in roughly equal numbers (greater numbers of vocal and instrumental sections tend to appear in ceremonial or tourist performances).

Text structure overview

The repertory exhibits a much larger proportion of textual instability than any other. In five songs (‘Wulumen Kimi-gimi’ (tracks 4–5), ‘Menggani’ (tracks 10–11), ‘Malhimanyirr’ (tracks 16–17), ‘Thalhi-ngatjpirr’ (tracks 22–24) and ‘Na-Pebel’ (tracks 25–27), the texts, usually consisting of a couplet or a 405repeated single text phrase, tend to stay relatively stable from one vocal section to another within an item (though it may vary from one item to another, as it does in the third item of both ‘Malhimanyirr’ and ‘Na-Pebel’). It is these more stable texts that tend to have three vocal sections per item. In the other seven songs, texts vary considerably from one vocal section to another, and from one item to another.

The Ma-yawa wangga repertory is also remarkable for using no ghost language in its texts.

Rhythmic mode overview

It can be seen immediately from table 9.2 that vocal sections of most Ma-yawa wangga songs are in one of two rhythmic modes: either rhythmic mode 1 (unmeasured) or, if the song is measured, rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple). The exception is ‘Watjen-danggi’, which uses rhythmic mode 4a throughout.6 Ngulkur never uses the slow measured tempo band.

Presenting the same text in different rhythmic modes in successive items

One song, ‘Wulumen Tulh’ is performed first in a measured (rhythmic mode 5c) version (track 28) and then in an unmeasured (rhythmic mode 1) version (track 29). This may point back to the days when the Ma-yawa wangga probably coexisted alongside the early Walakandha wangga of Stan Mullumbuk.

Presenting the same text in different rhythmic modes in different vocal sections within an item

In two items of ‘Walakandha Ngindji’ (tracks 1-2), a vocal section in rhythmic mode 5c is followed by one in rhythmic mode 1. Marett has argued elsewhere (Marett, 2005, p 141) that this is a matter of balancing the dominant rhythmic mode of the later Walakandha wangga (rhythmic mode 1) with the dominant rhythmic mode of the Ma-yawa wangga (rhythmic mode 5c).

Distribution of rhythmic mode between vocal sections and instrumental sections

Songs in rhythmic mode 1 use either 4a (moderate even) or 5a (fast even) for non-final instrumental sections, and rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled) for final instrumental sections. These patterns are also found in the repertories of Jimmy Muluk and the Walakandha wangga. It may be significant that the two songs that use rhythmic mode 4a for internal instrumental sections (‘Karri-ngindji’ and ‘Tjerri’) share a dorian mode melody, while the two songs using 5a in this position (‘Rtadi-wunbirri’ and ‘Wulumen Tulh’) share a major mode melody (see discussion of melody below). As is almost always the case across all wangga repertories, songs that use rhythmic modes 4a and 5c in their vocal sections use the same mode throughout all vocal and instrumental sections.

Distribution of rhythmic mode between internal and final instrumental sections

Songs in rhythmic mode 1 use several different rhythmic modes in their internal instrumental sections, which can be in 4a (moderate even), 5a (fast even) or 5* (mixed doubled and even beating), but they all use rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled) for their final instrumental section.7 Songs in rhythmic modes 4a and 5c use the same rhythmic mode in both internal and final instrumental sections.

Mixing of rhythmic modes within an instrumental section

In one and only one internal instrumental section of ‘Rtadi-wunbirri’ (track 9) Ngulkur uses the complex 5* pattern found in some of Stan Mullumbuk’s early Walakandha wangga (see chapter 8), which consists of a stretch of fast doubled beating (rhythmic mode 5b), followed by a stretch of fast even beating (rhythmic mode 5a), followed by the ‘Walakandha wangga cueing pattern’

Cueing patterns in instrumental sections

Ngulkur uses the Walakandha wangga cueing pattern in the instrumental sections in rhythmic mode 5a and 5b, but his usage is slightly different from that found in the Walakandha wangga. For example, whereas the Walakanda wangga non-final instrumental sections always have two sequences of beating in rhythmic mode 5a, each followed by the Walakandha wangga cueing pattern, in ‘Rtadi-wunbirri’ there is only one sequence of beating in rhythmic mode 5a followed by the Walakandha wangga cueing pattern. In all the other non-final instrumental sections that follow vocal sections in rhythmic mode 1, the double sequence used in the later Walakandha wangga is followed, but the cueing pattern at the end of each phase of beating is truncated to simply It is as if Ngulkur is in effect using the same form of non-final instrumental section as the Walakandha wangga, but finding ways to make it

407individually his. The final instrumental sections are, however, performed just as they are in the later Walakandha wangga.

Melody overview

As table 9.3 shows, only four melodies are used in the repertory. Eight songs share a single melody in the dorian modal series, while two share a melody in the major modal series. All songs that share a melody, except ‘Walakandha Ngindji’ (song 1, which uses the dorian series) concern Marri Ammu Dreamings or Dreaming sites. We cannot know now what the significance was of using the major (rather than the dorian) mode melody for the Dreaming sites and Dreamings mentioned in ‘Rtadi-wunbirri’ and ‘Wulumen Tulh’. We may speculate that since in other wangga repertories melodies are associated with lineages or families, and one of the inherent features of families is shared relationships to Dreamings, this melodic difference may once have reflected different family interests in these two Dreamings. As Marett has pointed out in Songs, dreamings and ghosts (Marett, 2005, pp 79–80) in much of Aboriginal Australia there is a strong association between melody and ancestral Dreamings. In some places, melodies are even referred to as the ‘taste’ or ‘scent’ of a Dreaming (C Ellis, 1984, p 171; C Ellis, et al., 1978, p 74; RM Moyle, 1979, p 71)

We regard it as significant that two of the songs that are not about Dreamings and Dreaming sites (‘Watjen-danggi’ and ‘Na-Pebel’) each have their own unique melody, and these melodies are quite different from the two used for songs about Dreamings and Dreaming places.

The third song that is not about Dreamings, ‘Walakandha Ngindji’, shares the dorian mode melody (numbered 1 in table 9.3) that is otherwise used for most of the Marri Ammu Dreamings and Dreaming sites mentioned in the Ma-yawa wangga. Marett has argued that this is a deliberate gesture by its composer Ngulkur, who, in adapting this song from ‘Walakandha No. 2’ (chapter 8, track 23), balanced elements of form signifying Marri Ammu and Marri Tjavin interests. Thus, while the text remains essentially the same as in the Walakandha wangga and the principles for rhythmicising its text are also essentially Marri Tjavin, Ngulkur uses the most characteristic melody (and the most common rhythmic mode) of the Ma-yawa wangga to mark the song as his own composition.

Notes on selected tracks

‘Walakandha Ngindji’ (tracks 1–2)

The rhythmic mode used in vocal section 1 of track 1, rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple), is the mode most commonly used in the Ma-yawa wangga. In vocal section 2 Ngulkur presents the song 408text in rhythmic mode 1, the most common rhythmic mode of the Walakandha wangga. Marett argues that this is a gesture to acknowledge the derivation of the song from that repertory (2007, p 141).

In track 2 Ngulkur rearranges the text of vocal section 1 so that the second text phrase of item 1 becomes text phrase 1 of item 2, but he maintains the rhythmic modal characteristics of each vocal section, using fast uneven quadruple beating (rhythmic mode 5c) for the first vocal section, and the unaccompanied rhythmic mode 1 for the second vocal section.

‘Tjerri’ (track 12)

The first vocal section is performed over two melodic sections, whereas the second vocal section covers a single melodic section, as do both vocal sections of the following item (track 13). In both items, the first instrumental section is in rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even), while the final instrumental section, performed in rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled), is performed significantly more slowly than usual in Ngulkur’s repertory, at about crotchet = 130bpm.

‘Wulumen Tulh’ (tracks 28–29)

In the first rendition (track 28), Ngulkur presents the song in rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple), the most common rhythmic mode used in the Ma-yawa wangga. In the second (track 29) he sings the vocal sections in rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks).