For the last thirty years or so, the Walakandha wangga, a repertory composed by Wadeye-based Marri Tjavin singers, has been the most prominent wangga repertory performed there. Initiated at Wadeye in the late 1960s by Stan Mullumbuk (1937–1980), the Walakandha wangga repertory has come to function as one arm of the tripartite ceremonial system organising ceremonial life at Wadeye, in complementary relationship with its sister repertories djanba and the muyil lirrga. As discussed in chapter 1, one striking common feature of these three new repertories is their high proportion of text in normal human language: Marri Tjavin in the case of the Walakandha wangga, Marri Ngarr in the case of the Muyil lirrga and Murriny Patha in the case of djanba.

The dominant themes of the Walakandha wangga repertory are related to the Walakandha—the Marri Tjavin ancestral dead—and their activities as givers of wangga songs and custodians of the living descendants. Several specific ancestors, the deceased kin of living Marri Tjavin involved in creation and performance of the repertory, are named in songs. These include Munggum, Berrida, Wutjelli, Munggumurri and Tjagawala, as well as an oblique reference in ‘Yendili No. 5’ (track 29) to the mother of Frank Dumoo, the recently deceased Marri Tjavin ritual leader. Songs refer, often by metaphorical means, to death, which is likened to the going out of the tide or to being hit by a breaker (this oft-used metaphor can also symbolise more general misfortune). In ‘Karra Yeri-ngina’ (track 34), the song-giving Walakandha expresses his sadness at leaving his children behind as he goes back to his totemic home at Pumut. There are also numerous references to ceremony, one of the most explicit of which occurs in ‘Yenmilhi No. 1 (track 20). One song, ‘Nginimb-andja’ (track 4) also refers to the role that Walakandha play in keeping their descendants safe from strangers.

282Longing for return to Marri Tjavin ancestral country, which lies to the north of Wadeye, is another common theme. Many songs contain the expression nidin-ngina ‘my dear country’. Many specific places are named. Foremost amongst these is the important hill, Yendili. Other songs name the Marri Tjavin outstation Nadirri, located at Kubuwemi, and various coastal places nearby, such as Truwu beach, the headland Rtidim, the mouth of the Moyle River at Dhenggi-diyerri and the Kinyirr Dreaming site at the end of the airstrip. Inland sites near another Marri Tjavin outstation at Perrederr include: Yenmungirini (the Pumut (Headache) Dreaming site); the hill Yenmilhi where Walakandha ancestors dwell; the billabongs at Lhambumen; the ceremonial grounds at Pelhi and Ngumali and so on. There is even mention of one Marri Ammu site, Pumurriyi (song 24), underlining the fact that although the Marri Tjavin compose these songs, the Marri Ammu form company with and dance alongside their Marri Tjavin countrymen in ceremony.

Notes on the recording sample

The tracks included in this chapter contains the texts of all known Walakandha wangga songs and are set out in table 8.1.1 At least one performance of each song is included on the CD; where songs exist in a number of versions (for example with different rhythmic modes or with different melodies), each version is included. While there must have been other songs that were never recorded, particularly in the 1970s and early 1980s, what survives here is a substantial and important corpus of thirty-four song compositions. Most of the songs set out in table 8.1 have been discussed in earlier publications: the early and transitional wangga were discussed in Marett (2007) while many of those from the golden age to the present were discussed in Songs, dreamings and ghosts (Marett, 2005).

We divide our discussion of the Walakandha wangga repertory into five parts:

A: the early period songs, composed by Stan Mullumbuk (1937–c. 1980) in the period from the early 1960s to about 1980;

B: a performance by Thomas Kungiung (1934–1993) which we consider as transitional, containing four Stan Mullumbuk songs and two early compositions of his own;

C: the main body of Walakandha wangga songs, created by a number of different composers during a ‘golden age’ that spanned the years between 1986–1996;

D: a body of songs composed by Philip Mullumbuk and Les Kundjil that came to the fore after Kungiung’s death in 1993; and

E: two miscellaneous songs that have a somewhat tangential relationship to the Walakandha wangga tradition.

284We should point out that there are some important differences in the corpus discussed in this chapter compared to the songs used as the basis for Marett’s previously published discussions of Walakandha wangga songs (Marett, 2005, 2007). First, Marett’s discussion of the early and transitional wangga included eight versions of the song ‘Yene yene’ (each in a different rhythmic mode) recorded by Michael Walsh in 1972 (Marett, 2007). Unfortunately the quality of these recordings was too poor to warrant their publication and these performances are therefore not included in our analysis below; the interested reader can consult the publication. Secondly, the group of ‘golden age’ songs discussed here includes five more songs than were analysed in Songs, dreamings and ghosts (Marett, 2005, chapter 5). The five additional songs from this period (tracks 24–28) come from a 1986 recording by Frances Kofod that was not available at the time that Songs, dreamings and ghosts was written.2 Thirdly, for the sake of completeness we have included two miscellaneous songs ‘Wedjiwurang’ (track 38) and ‘Tjinmel’ (track 39), but because of their marginal status within the Walakandha wangga tradition (to be explained further below), neither will be included in the music analysis section at the end of the chapter.

Performance and recording history of the Walakandha wangga

In this chapter, we have organised the track-by-track notes into the five groupings discussed above, with additional notes on each grouping preceding discussion of the relevant tracks.

A: The Early Period. Stan Mullumbuk’s repertory (tracks 1–5)

It was during the mid- to late-1960s that Stan Mullumbuk composed the first Walakandha wangga songs (Marett, 2007, p 65). The earliest recordings of Stan Mullumbuk’s corpus were made in 1972 by Michael Walsh and in 1974 by Lesley Reilly (Marett, 2007, p 66). In addition, Frances Kofod recorded Thomas Kungiung and others singing one of the songs from this period, ‘Walakandha No. 8,’ in 1986. By 1988 none of Stan Mullumbuk’s songs were still being sung ceremonially, though a video made by SBS in 1994 of a Roman Catholic baptismal ceremony recorded on Airforce Hill near Wadeye shows Martin Warrigal Kungiung singing some of the older songs (Wadeye Aboriginal Video Archive WAVA236). In 1999, Allan Marett recorded Ambrose Piarlum singing one of Stan Mullumbuk’s songs (track 5) for the purpose of documentation.

Four additional Stan Mullumbuk songs sung by Thomas Kungiung on tracks 6–9 are discussed together with two of Kungiung’s own early compositions below under section B. 285

TRACK 1 (Kof86-03-s07)

Song i: Walakandha No. 83

According to Frank Dumoo, this was the first Walakandha wangga song ever composed, probably sometime in the late 1960s (see chapter 1). Like most songs from this period, the text asserts that songmen have always received songs from Walakandha, and—since the Walakandha appear unbidden in their dreams—that there is no way for them to resist this. The songman’s lack of agency in this process is indicated by the adversative pronominal, -nginanga (see chapter 3). There is nonetheless considerable evidence that once a living songman has been given the germ of a song, he does a significant amount of compositional work in order to render it suitable for the ceremonies of the living (Marett, 2005, p 45).

We do not have a recording of Stan Mullumbuk himself singing this song. The performance on track 1 is by Thomas Kungiung and others, and was recorded by Frances Kofod in 1986. This performance uses beating accompaniment that shows influence from Belyuen singers (see music analysis section for further details). Marett (2007, pp 70–72) has suggested that a number of stylistic features of the early Walakandha wangga can be traced back to the songs of Muluk in particular (chapter 5). Two earlier recordings of this song by Kungiung are included below at tracks 6 and 7 (see further discussion there).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–4

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

The Walakandha has always sung to me and I can’t stop him

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–4

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple) 286

TRACK 2 (Rei74-01-s15)

Song ii: Walakandha No. 64

Like ‘Walakandha No. 8’, this song underlines the fact that songmen have no say in whether they receive songs or not. Lying with one leg crossed over another in ‘number four leg’ is a posture associated with song-creation.5 The ‘jungle’ mentioned in the song lies behind Truwu beach near the Nadirri outstation. The part of speech ‘-wurri’ simply means ‘toward the speaker.’ It is sometimes glossed as ‘[singing] to me’ and sometimes as ‘[facing] towards me.’ The vocable text in text phrase 1—yene yene—reproduces the sung utterances of the Walakandha. Spirit-language texts that contain very similar vocables occur not only in other Mullumbuk songs but also in Belyuen singer Billy Mandji’s ‘Duwun Crab Song’ (chapter 6, track 7). Some rhythmic characteristics of this song resemble the stylistic practice of Jimmy Muluk (see further details in the music analysis section).

This is the first of three songs sung at a circumcision ceremony at Wadeye in 1974, recorded by the lay missionary, Lesley Reilly (née Rourke).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–4

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Aa yene yene

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Aa, the Walakandha always manifests himself 287

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3 (non-final)

Rhythmic mode 5*

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4 (final)

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 3 (Rei74-1-s16)

Song iii: Wutjelli No. 26

Wutjelli always manifests himself, lying down with one knee bent over the other and singing to me (or facing me) in the jungle Wutjelli, a ‘grandfather’ of Philip and Stan Mullumbuk (Marett, 2005, p 47), is mentioned in a number of Walakandha wangga songs. Here he appears as a Walakandha, lying down in ‘number four leg’ position, a pose associated with song-giving.

The text of this song is closely related to that of ‘Walakandha No. 6’ (track 2), with the word ‘Walakandha’ being replaced by ‘Wutjelli’ in text phrase 2. The substitution of one text phrase or word for another within a textual template is a time-honoured compositional means for generating new songs, and is found frequently in the Walakandha wangga repertory. Here despite the textual similarity, and as if to underline the innovation, we find that the musical treatment, in particular the rhythmic mode, differs significantly from ‘Walakandha No. 6’ (see further details in the music analysis section). The precise number of repetitions of the vocable yene sung in text phrase 1 varies.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–5

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 2 (slow even)

Yene, yene, yene, yene, yene, yene, yene, yene, yene, yene, yene, yene (number of repetitions varies) 288

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 2 (slow even)

Wutjelli always manifests himself,

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1-5

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

TRACK 4 (Rei74-01-s19)

Song iv: Nginimb-andja7 (Two items)

In this song, a Walakandha expresses suspicion about an approaching stranger. One of the duties of the Walakandha dead is to protect their living descendents, and they are notoriously hostile to outsiders who have not been properly introduced to them or their country. Interlopers are likely to be physically or sexually assaulted, or to have unfortunate accidents visited upon them.

In this track two items are dovetailed, that is, the didjeridu begins item 2 before the stick beating for item 1 has been completed. The non-final instrumental sections have the same form as in ‘Walakandha No. 6’ (track 2).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

Item 1

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–4

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Aa yene, yene

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

aa
SW

Aa 290

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3 (non-final)

Rhythmic mode 5*

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4 (final)

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

Item 2

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Aa Yene, yene

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

aa
SW

Aa

and don’t recognise me? 291

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2 (non-final)

Rhythmic mode 5*

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3 (final)

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 5 (Mar99-04-s18)

Song v: Walakandha No. 78

This song by Stan Mullumbuk was sung to Marett by Ambrose Piarlum in 1999, explicitly as a historical curiosity rather than an item in the current repertory. In a subsequent rendition (not included here), a number of singers added text to the second text phrase, but in a rather chaotic and unsatisfactory manner. One of the versions of text phrase 2 is karra walakandha kiminy-ga kavulh, which means ‘Walakandha always sing like this.’ Frank Dumoo suggested that this is the correct form of the text, and that the form sung here is an abbreviation.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Yene, yene, yene, yene, yene, yene, yene

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Walakandha 292

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

karra
SW

Karra

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

B: The transition from the early period to the golden age (tracks 10–11)

In 1998, Gemma Ngunbe, the daughter of John Dumoo, gave Allan Marett a cassette tape that she had found in a storeroom at the Wadeye school. Marett (2007, pp 67, 73 [footnote 15]) has concluded that it probably belongs to a collection of recordings recorded by Bill Hoddinott in 1982.9 The singer is Thomas Kungiung. Several of the songs (tracks 6–9) are early period compositions by Stan Mullumbuk, and others (tracks 10 and 11) are early compositions by Thomas Kungiung himself. The recording appears to document the transition from the early period, in which Mullumbuk was the dominant songman, to the golden age, when Kungiung emerged as the pre-eminent songman. In this recording Thomas Kungiung contrasts two approaches to rhythmic mode, the first typical of Stan Mullumbuk’s practice, the second of his own. Juxtaposing consecutive song items with minimal variation is a strategy deployed by singers in many different Australian song traditions to draw attention to particular facets of song meaning and structure. Barwick has suggested that this approach to structuring a song performance fosters the development of inductive modes of musical learning (Barwick, 2005, 2006).

Kungiung begins by presenting Mullumbuk’s practice of singing a song in a number of different rhythmic modes, which may have been a feature borrowed by Mullumbuk from the Belyuen singer Jimmy Muluk (see chapter 5). Kungiung first sings two versions of Mullumbuk’s ‘Walakandha No. 8’ (see also track 1) in two different rhythmic modes.10 He then sings two versions of another Mullumbuk song ‘Walakandha No. 9’, again contrasting rhythmic modal treatment,11 and also introducing a contrast in melody between the two versions. Kungiung’s presentation of two different Mullumbuk songs given contrasting musical treatments draws attention firmly to that aspect of their musical structure.

Kungiung then presents two of his own compositions, ‘Yendili No. 6’ and ‘Yenmilhi No. 2’ (tracks 10 and 11), consistently singing each vocal section in one, and only one, rhythmic mode. It seems that the practice of always singing songs in a single rhythmic mode was an important innovation introduced when Kungiung took over from Mullumbuk as the main Walakandha songman. Marett has concluded that Kungiung deliberately simplified rhythmic modal practice in this way in order to facilitate the participation of a greater number of dancers from a wider range of language groups (Marett, 2007).

Neither of these Kungiung compositions (‘Yendili No. 6’ and ‘Yenmilhi No. 2’) survived into the golden age (1986–1996). We may assume therefore that these are early compositions, and the closeness

293of their structure to those of the Mullumbuk songs supports this (see further discussion on this point below). One feature of these songs not found in the later Kungiung repertory is a small degree of text instability. Perhaps this is because the songs had not yet been subjected to the rigours of ceremonial performance, which usually requires the texts of songs to become fixed.

TRACK 6 (?Hodd82-s01)

Song i-a: Walakandha No. 8a12

Here Thomas Kungiung performs the text of ‘Walakandha No. 8’ (see also track 1) in the first of two different rhythmic modes—the songs are thus labelled 8a and 8b. The listener can easily perceive the differences in tempo and organisation of clapstick beating between the two songs presented here and in track 7 (see further details in the music analysis section of this chapter).

In both tracks 6 and 7, renditions of text phrase 2 descend into the lower octave. This is another feature typical of Kungiung’s style of performance here and into the golden age.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

The Walakandha has always sung to me and I can’t stop him

Melodic section 2 (descends to lower octave)

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)

Walakandha!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple) 294

TRACK 7 (?Hodd82-s04)

Song i-b: Walakandha No. 8b

In this version of ‘Walakandha No. 8’ the text is very slightly modified by the addition of a final focus marker -gu, which slightly shifts the meaning from ‘the Walakandha has always sung …’ to ‘this is what the Walakandha has always sung …’. We saw similar subtle shifts of meaning brought about by minute adjustments to the text in consecutive couplets of Jimmy Muluk’s song ‘Wörörö’ (see chapter 5).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

This is what the Walakandha has always sung to me and I can’t stop him

Melodic section 2 (descends to lower octave)

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Walakandha!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1-3

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even) 295

TRACK 8 (?Hodd82-s02)

Song vi-a: Walakandha No. 9a13

In tracks 8 and 9 Kungiung performs the text of ‘Walakandha No. 9’ in two different rhythmic treatments (the two versions of the text being thus labelled 9a and 9b), and with two different melodies. The melody of track 8 is shared with Kungiung’s own song ‘Yendili No. 6’ (track 10).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 4a (var) (moderate even with beating initially suspended)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Walakandha’ to me

Melodic section 2 (descends to lower octave)

Text phrase 2 (lower octave)

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even)

Walakandha!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even) 296

VOCAL SECTION 4

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Walakandha’ to me

Melodic section 2 (descends to lower octave)

Text phrase 2 (lower octave)

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 9 (?Hodd82-s03)

Song vi-b: Walakandha No. 9b

Reflecting its different melody, the text here is preceded by an additional text phrase consisting of the sole untranslatable song-word karra (see chapter 3).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

karra
SW

Karra 297

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Walakandha’ to me

Melodic section 2 (descends to lower octave)

Text phrase 3 (lower octave)

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5*

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 10 (?Hodd82-s06)

Song vii: Yendili No. 614

This is one of Thomas Kungiung’s early compositions. The text is clearly based on the model established by Stan Mullumbuk, but it is restructured into an AAB pattern in which the final B text phrase is often a vocable sung to a melisma.15 At this early stage, Kungiung sometimes used Marri Tjavin, rather than vocable text for the final text phrase (see vocal section 2). 298

Here Kungiung uses the same melody as used for Stan Mullumbuk’s song ‘Walakandha No. 9a’ (track 8). When the other three composers (Wagon Dumoo, Les Kundjil and Philip Mullumbuk) later took up the AAB form, each adopted a new melody of his own. The instrumental sections of this song follow a pattern of beating that typifies the Walakandha wangga to this day, and differ in key respects from the pattern usually followed by Stan Mullumbuk (see the music analysis section for more details).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Yendili’ to me

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

aa
SW

Aa

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1-–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Yendili’ to me 299

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Walakandha’ to me

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

VOCAL SECTION 3

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Yendili’ to me

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

aa
SW

Aa

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled) 300

TRACK 11 (?Hodd82-s08)

Song viii: Yenmilhi No. 216

This is the second of Thomas Kungiung’s early compositions contained on the recordings attributed to Hoddinott, and like ‘Yendili No. 6’ it uses the AAB form. Here there is some variability in the last text phrase of each vocal section, where the singer switches between ‘Wutjelli’ (the name of an ancestor of Stan Mullumbuk) and ‘Walakandha.’

Here the beating pattern adopted for the instrumental sections is the same as used in Mullumbuk’s songs in the same rhythmic mode and differs from the pattern adopted in the Kungiung’s own song ‘Yendili No. 6’ on the preceding track (see music analysis section for more details).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Yenmilhi’ to me

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Wutjelli’ to me 301

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5*

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Yenmilhi’ to me

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Walakandha’ to me

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5*

VOCAL SECTION 3

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Yenmilhi’ to me

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Wutjelli’ to me

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled) 302

C: The golden age of the Walakandha wangga (tracks 12–29)

The decade from 1986 to 1996, now looked back on as a ‘golden age’, is a period in which there were a large number of active songmen, all of whom composed. These included Thomas Kungiung (1934–1993), Wagon Dumoo (1926–c. 1990), Martin Warrigal Kungiung (1935–c. 1997), Les Kundjil (1935–2009) and Philip Mullumbuk (1947–2008). There was also a strong body of dancers, many from other Marri language clans—who included Frank Dumoo (Marri Tjavin), Ambrose Piarlum (Marri Ngarr), John Chula (Matige), Edward Nemarluk (Marri Ammu) and Maurice Ngulkur (Marri Ammu)—and several excellent didjeridu players, foremost amongst whom was John Dumoo (1922–1997).

During this period the Walakandha wangga tradition was at its peak. Marett made recordings in 1988 and further recordings in the collection of the Wadeye Aboriginal Sound Archive were made by Michael Enilane, who was a teacher at the school from 1992 (tracks 12–23).17 The earliest recordings for this period were made by Frances Kofod in 1986 (tracks 24–28), including five songs that by 1988 had apparently fallen out of the repertory: Stan Mullumbuk’s first song ‘Walakandha No. 8’ (track 1),18 ‘Pumurriyi’ (track 24), ‘Thidha nany’ (track 25), ‘Dhembedi-ndjen’ (track 26), ‘Tjagawala’ (track 27) and ‘Karra’ (track 28). Although Kofod’s recording includes many songs that were also recorded by Marett in 1988 (including ‘Kubuwemi’, ‘Yendili No. 1’, ‘Walakandha No. 1’ and ‘Nadirri’), only Marett’s recordings of these songs are included here. There is also a single recording (track 29) that was discovered in the Wadeye Aboriginal Language Centre archive. Although the recording is undated, with no information as to who made it, the style of performance suggests that this song also belongs to the golden age. 303

TRACK 12 (Mar88-23-s02)

Song 1: Kubuwemi19

Wagon Dumoo composed this song about Kubuwemi, the site on which the outstation of Nadirri now stands. Like a number of other songs, it asserts that Walakandha are an eternal source of songs about country (see also Marett, 2005, p 127). The recording, like those of the following three tracks, was made by Allan Marett at a circumcision ceremony at Wadeye on 17 May 1988 and the excitement surrounding the ceremony is palpable in the performance.

The text as given is the standard spoken form, and the same construction appears in earlier songs (tracks 10 and 11). Here the sung version seems to consistently omit the final syllable (whereby the perfective suffix ‘-a’ is added to ‘kavulh’). In everyday speech, this omission would change the meaning from ‘he has always sung’ to ‘he always sings’, but our consultants always included the -a in their explanations of this song. Marett has argued that the sung text is a truncated form of the standard spoken text (Marett, 2005, pp 146–47). The next track, ‘Yendili No. 1’ (track 13), using a parallel construction, also omits the suffix.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–4

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 2 (slow even beating)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Kubuwemi’ to me

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

aa
SW

Aa

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 13 (Mar88-23-s03)

Song 2: Yendili No. 120

Wagon Dumoo composed this song, which is clearly modeled on ‘Kubuwemi.’ In this case the song is the topic is Yendili, an iconic hill where there are a number of important Marri Tjavin Dreaming sites. 305

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–4

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 2 (slow even beating)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Yendili’ to me

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

aa
SW

Aa

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 14 (Mar88-23-s08)

Song 3: Yendili No. 221

This song was composed by Maudie Attaying Dumoo, who gave it to her husband Wagon Dumoo to perform. Because Attaying is Marri Ngarr, not Marri Tjavin, the text is in Marri Ngarr language. This is a rare example of a wangga song composed by a woman.

The most common explanation of this song is that the words of the text were originally spoken by the song’s composer to her children as she and her husband were leaving their house at Nadirri to go back to Wadeye. A second, deeper meaning is that the song is a call from the ancestral dead to their living descendants urging them to look after their country (see further discussion of this song in Marett, 2005, p 66). The melody is shared with ‘Yendili No. 3’ by Les Kundjil and ‘Yendili No. 4’ by Philip Mullumbuk. 306

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–4

Melodic sections 1–2

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Yendili! Yendili! Look after it!

Melodic section 3

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Aa, my dear children/my dear descendants

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 15 (Mar88-24-s02)

Song 4: Walakandha No. 122

Nobody can remember who made this song, or of two other songs using the same melody, ‘Nadirri’ (track 19) and ‘Karra’ (track 28).

Even in so simple a text, the communicative function is complex. Because of reciprocal use of the term ‘Walakandha’ by the dead to call the living, and by the living to call the dead, the vocative text karra walakanda simultaneously constitutes a call from the dead to living Walakandha in the act of song creation, and, when sung in ceremony, a call of the living to dead Walakandha. The reciprocal use of the term articulates and enacts themes of intimacy between the two orders of being, so that the song functions as two-way communication—from the dead to the living, and from the living to the dead (see further discussion of this song in Marett, 2005, p 65). 307

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 16 (Mar88-39-s02)

Song 5a: Truwu [Truwu A melody]23

This most popular and enduring song of the Walakandha wangga repertory was composed by Thomas Kungiung. It refers to a specific Walakandha, a deceased ancestor called Munggum (the father of Bruno Munggum Berrida), who flourished around the turn of the twentieth century (also mentioned in ‘Walakandha No. 4’ [track 35]). Here Munggum stands behind a beach hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus) at Truwu beach and regards his descendants—whom he refers to as ‘Walakandha’ (see the notes to the previous track)—being battered by the waves. Waves in this case stand for the exigencies of life. When sung in the context of a mortuary ritual the song stands as an expression of ancestral sympathy for the pain being suffered by the living as they mourn a dead relative. This performance was recorded by Allan Marett at a burnim-rag ceremony held at Nadirri on 19 June 1988, and is discussed in detail in Songs, dreamings and ghosts (Marett, 2005, pp 112–16).

The text of ‘Truwu’ is sung to three different but related melodies. Marri Tjavin people whose traditional estates lie at the coast (such as Thomas Kungiung, heard here) perform the song to the

308Truwu A melody. This was the most frequently used melody for this song during the golden age (see further Marett, 2005, pp 117–20). The other two melodies, Truwu B and Truwu A/B, can be heard in tracks 17 and 18 respectively.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha! The waves are crashing on them

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Munggum! He stands behind a beach hibiscus and peeps out

Melodic section 3 (lower octave; vocal section 1 only)

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1-2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even) 309

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 17 (Mar99-02-s14)

Song 5b: Truwu [Truwu B melody]24

The text is the same as for track 16, but here ‘Truwu’ is sung to the Truwu B melody. This melody is used by Marri Tjavin people (such as Les Kundjil, heard here) whose country lies inland. It is not unusual in Aboriginal music for melodies to represent an association to particular tracts of country and their associated Dreamings. Just as the people who live near the coast are closely related to those who live immediately inland, so too are the melodies. Marett argues that this close relationship is symbolised in the fact that the different pentatonic scales used for Truwu A and Truwu B both derive from a common heptatonic series in the dorian melodic mode (see further Marett, 2005, pp 117-20).

Although strictly speaking this performance by Les Kundjil lies outside the golden age (having been recorded by Allan Marett during a procession at a funeral at Wadeye on 9 July 1999), there can be little doubt that this melody was also performed during earlier times.

TRACK 18 (Eni92-s08)

Song 5c: Truwu [Truwu A/B melody]25

This performance of Truwu, sung by Thomas Kungiung, Les Kundjil and Philip Mullumbuk, was recorded by a local schoolteacher, Michael Enilane, during a circumcision ceremony at Wadeye in 1992. Here ‘Truwu’ is set to the Truwu A/B melody, which takes the notes of the pentatonic Truwu A melody (as sung by Kungiung in track 16) and combines them with those of the pentatonic Truwu B melody (as sung by Kundjil in track 17) so as to produce the heptatonic melody in dorian mode that underlies them both. This version emphasises the commonalities, rather than the distinctions, between inland and coastal Marri Tjavin people.

TRACK 19 (Mar88-30-s15)

Song 6: Nadirri26

For the Marri Tjavin, tide is a metaphor for the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Here the ebbing tide symbolises death, as a song-giving Walakandha sings of the death of one of his descendants.

310This song, by an unknown composer, is performed by Martin Warrigal Kungiung in an elicited performance recorded by Allan Marett at Peppimenarti on 6 June 1988. The backup singers included Warrigal’s ‘father’ (father’s brother) Thomas Kungiung, and the didjeridu player is Raphael Thardim. The tune is shared with two other songs by unknown composers, ‘Walakandha No. 1’ (track 15) and ‘Karra’ (track 28).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Walakandha! The tide has gone out at Nadirri and I couldn’t stop it [I couldn’t stop him dying]

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Ah, the tide has gone out at Nadirri and I couldn’t stop it

Melodic section 3 (optional; vocal section 1 only)

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Ah, the tide has gone out at Nadirri and I couldn’t stop it

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1-2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)311

TRACK 20 (Mar88-54-s03)

Song 7: Yenmilhi No. 127

This song was composed by John Dumoo. The story goes that John Dumoo was crossing the Moyle floodplain and got lost. He lay down and went to sleep and then heard this song, in which the Walakandha dead invited him to accompany them to a ceremony at the ceremony ground at the site Pelhi. This elicited performance by Martin Warrigal Kungiung and others was recorded by Allan Marett at Peppimenarti on 20 November 1988.

Unusually for the Walakandha wangga of the golden age, the song uses fast even beating (rhythmic mode 5a) throughout. Today most men at Wadeye do not know how to perform the dance for this song.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–4

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even beating)

Brother!

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even beating)

Let’s all go now; let’s all go now 312

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even beating)

Pelhi is there, there behind Yenmilhi Hill

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even beating)

Brother, there are clapsticks for all of us

Text phrase 5

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even beating)

Come with us!

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 6

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even beating)

ee
SW

Ee

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–4

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even beating) 313

TRACK 21 (Marett88-40-s11)

Song 8: Mirrwana28

This song was composed by Martin Warrigal Kungiung, who performs it here. The first three text phrases of this song contain an utterance by a ghost: one of the Walakandha dead notices a living descendant lying under a cabbage palm and seizes this opportunity to give him a song. In the final text phrase, performed in the lower octave, the focus seems to switch to an observation added by the singer.

The text phrase structure differs significantly in the two vocal sections, though the two Marri Tjavin text phrases appear in each. This elicited performance was recorded by Allan Marett at a burnim-rag ceremony at Batchelor on 11 September 1988.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

karra
SW

Karra 314

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

A [living] Walakandha has laid himself down at the foot of a cabbage palm tree and there is nothing that you and I can do about it

Melodic section 3

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

karra
SW

Karra

Melodic section 4 (lower octave)

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The [dead] Walakandha always sings to me

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

aa
SW

Aa315

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

A [living] Walakandha has laid himself down at the foot of a cabbage palm tree and there is nothing that you and I can do about it

Melodic section 3 (lower octave)

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The [dead] Walakandha always sings to me

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 22 (Eni92-s11)

Song 9: Wutjelli No. 129

This song was composed by Thomas Kungiung. Wutjelli, mentioned also in ‘Wutjelli No. 2’ (track 3) and ‘Yenmilhi No. 2’ (track 11), was a ‘grandfather’ (grandfather’s brother) of Philip and Stan Mullumbuk (Marett, 2005, p 47). Here he stands in the number four leg pose marking him as one of the dead, watching the waves crashing down on his descendants from his vantage point at Rtidim, the headland to the north of Truwu beach. As in ‘Truwu’ (tracks 16-18), the waves here are a metaphor for the exigencies of life.

This performance was recorded by Michael Enilane at a circumcision ceremony at Wadeye in 1992, where the singers included Thomas Kungiung and Les Kundjil. As he often does, Kungiung sometimes repeats the beginning of text phrase 2 at the lower octave before moving to the instrumental section. 316

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Wultjelli is standing with one leg crossed over the other Rtidim! My dear country!

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha! The lonely waves are crashing on them Truwu! My dear country!

Melodic section 3 (lower octave; vocal section 1 only)

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha! Waves

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled) 317

TRACK 23 (Eni92-s06)

Song 10: Walakandha No. 230

This song, composed by Thomas Kungiung, is about Terence Dumoo living alone at Kubuwemi for a whole year following his move from Wadeye (Port Keats) to an outstation on his traditional country. The song-giving Walakandha uses the expressions ‘a certain Walakandha’ to refer to Terence; as mentioned previously, ‘Walakandha’ is used reciprocally by the dead to refer to the living and by the living to refer to the dead. The song is said to have been received in dream by Terence Dumoo and Thomas Kungiung simultaneously.

As in the preceding track, Kungiung sometimes repeats the beginning of text phrase 2 at the lower octave before moving to the instrumental section. This performance was recorded by Michael Enilane at a circumcision ceremony at Wadeye in 1992. A version of this song, re-composed by Maurice Ngulkur, is also included in the Ma-yawa wangga repertory (chapter 9, tracks 1 and 2).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

A certain Walakandha is living there for a whole year, Kubuwemi! My dear country!

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

There is a solitary house with a white roof there, Kubuwemi! My dear country! 318

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 24 (Kof86-01/2-s15)

Song 11: Pumurriyi31 (Two items)

Pumurriyi is an important and well known site of the Marri Ammu people32 and the performance of a song about Pumurriyi acknowledges that the Marri Ammu are also participants in the Walakandha wangga repertory. Here the impact of death on the singer is likened to being hit by a breaker.

Two items, the first with four vocal sections and the second with three, are sung without a break. Because the text is stable from performance to performance, only the first item is included in the song structure summary. The arhythmic stickbeating at the very end of the track is a signal that a performance session has concluded.

This and the following four tracks were recorded by Frances Kofod at Wadeye on 16 June 1986. This song—one of those that seem to have fallen out of use by 1988—is sung to the same melody as ‘Mirrwana’ (track 19).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–4

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother Walakandha, it [a breaker] hit me at Pumurriyi and I couldn’t stop it 319

Melodic sections 2–3

Text phrases 2–3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Ee brother, it [a breaker] hit me at Pumurriyi and I couldn’t stop it

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 25 (Kof86-01/2-s11)

Song 12: Thidha nany33 (Two items)

Here a Walakandha is comforting the bereaved, whom he addresses as ‘Walakandha,’ by asserting that his or her deceased father is not alone but in the company of deceased relatives.

This song, probably composed by Thomas Kungiung, is sung to the Truwu A melody and presumably predates Kungiung’s later composition, ‘Truwu.’ Once again we have two items sung without a break, the first with four vocal sections and the second with three. Only the first item is included in the song structure summary.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–4

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha, your father is not alone 320

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

I am sitting facing him

Melodic section 2

Text phrase (lower octave)

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–3

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 4

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 26 (Kof86-01/2-s12)

Song 13: Dhembedi-ndjen34

A Walakandha, in the course of giving Martin Warrigal Kungiung this song, tells him that both the living and the dead now need to bring the song into the world (by rendering it as a wangga song fit to be performed in ceremony). This is a perfect description of how the living and the dead collaborate to produce songs. 321

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandha, let’s all get going now

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

aa
SW

Aa

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 27 (Kof86-03/4-s10)

Song 14: Tjagawala35

Wagon Dumoo made this song for his deceased grandson, Tjagawala, whose name means ‘frigate bird.’ As in Pumurriyi, death is likened to being hit by a breaker. This is vividly confirmed by the final text phrase, ‘Grandson! Dead! It’s hit me.’ 322

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section

Text phrases 1-2

Rhythmic mode 2 (slow even)

Tjagawala! A breaker has hit me

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Grandson! Dead! It’s hit me

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 28 (Kof86-03/4-s09)

Song 15: Karra36

This text, by an unknown composer, consists simply of the word ‘karra’ sung to the same tune as ‘Nadirri’ (track 19) and ‘Walakandha No. 1’ (track 15). Another point of similarity to the latter song is the economy of its text, which in the case of ‘Walakandha No. 1’ consists only of the words ‘karra walakandha.’ 323

TRACK 29 (WASA23-s06)

Song 16: Yendili No. 537

This song is about the death of Honorata Ngenawurda, the mother of Frank, Wagon, Terence, Claver and John Dumoo, all of whom are or were key figures in the Walakandha wangga tradition. Here, her spirit appears in a dream to her son, Wagon Dumoo, announcing that because of her death, she has to close down a particular Dreaming waterhole at Yendili, causing it to dry up. As in ‘Walakandha No. 4’ (track 34), we see the country itself responding to death.

The date, occasion and recordist of this performance, which is in the collection of the Wadeye Aboriginal Sound Archive, are unknown.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Yendili, Yendili, Yendili, Yendili!

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Hill, Yendili Hill!

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

My child, I have to tell you something bad 324

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

I have to close down the spring at Yendili

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

D: The Walakandha wangga in the decade 1996 to 2006 (tracks 30–37)

By the mid-to-late 1990s, the singer/composers Thomas Kungiung, Wagon Dumoo and Martin Warrigal Kungiung, as well as many of the dancers and the didjeridu player John Dumoo, had either passed away or ceased to be ceremonially active. In the early part of this period, Les Kundjil, a singer who had played a key role both in the initial creation of the Walakandha wangga and its blossoming in the golden age, emerged as the senior songman, but he was already quite old and his powers were dwindling. Before long Philip Mullumbuk, the much younger brother of Stan Mullumbuk, eclipsed Kundjil as the most active songman, composing many complex and beautiful songs and taking on the main ceremonial role, which he continued until his death in 2008.

325Thomas Kungiung’s son Charles is now emerging as the leading singer in this tradition. We have some recordings of him leading a ceremony in 2009 but have not yet had a chance to work on these with him.

TRACK 30 (Mar98-15-s06)

Song 17: Yendili No. 338

This song was composed by Les Kundjil. While its text follows the AAB structure found in numerous Walakandha wangga songs, it is unusual in a number of ways: it contains no verbs—just exclamations—and the song word karra, which normally begins a text phrase, occurs both initially and in the middle of the text phrase (see further Marett, 2005, p 126). The melody is the same as Maudie Dumoo’s song ‘Yendili No. 2’, which also shares several text elements.

This recording was elicited by Allan Marett at Wadeye on 15 October 1998. 326

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic sections 1–2

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Yendili! Yendili! Brother! My dear country!

Melodic section 3

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Ee brother! My dear country!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 31 (Mar99-04-s16)

Song 18: Lhambumen39

This song by Les Kundjil (like Wagon Dumoo’s songs ‘Kubuwemi’ (track 12) and ‘Yendili No. 1’ (track 13), with which it shares a melody and text structure) affirms that Walakandha ancestors are an eternal source of songs about country (see also Marett, 2005, p 127). Lhambumen is one of two billabongs on the Moyle floodplain (the other is Lhambudinbu). This is where the Wallaroo, Wedjiwurang, jumped to from Yederr when he was fighting with the Emu (see Philip Mullumbuk’s song ‘Wedjiwurang’ on

327track 38). The translation assumes that, as in previous songs, the final perfective marker is suppressed in text phrases 1 and 2.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He [a Walakandha] has always sung ‘Lhambumen’ to me

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

aa
SW

Aa

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 32 (Eni92-s24)

Song 19: Yendili No. 440

Philip Mullumbuk composed this song. While Philip himself regarded this as a discrete song, others argue that it is a version of Maudi Dumoo’s ‘Yendili No. 2’ (track 14), on which it is clearly based (it also shares a melody and some text with Les Kundjil’s ‘Yendili No. 3’ on track 30). This is the first time we hear Philip’s uniquely delicate and flexible style of singing, in a recording made by Michael Enilane at a circumcision ceremony in 1992.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic sections 1–2

Text phrases 1–2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

We all have to walk to Yendili 329

Melodic section 3

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Aa, my dear children/descendants!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 33 (Mar99-04-s07)

Song 20: Walakandha No. 341

In this song by Philip Mullumbuk, a group of Walakandhas (in this case, the ancestral dead) find Kubuwemi deserted and ask where everyone has gone. They are told that everyone (here ‘Walakandha’ refers to the living) has gone to another coastal estate. This song refers to an occasion on which Wagon Dumoo, Les Kundjil and Philip Mullumbuk went south to the estate of the Murriny Patha-speaking Yek Nangu clan, to perform ceremony. Perhaps this was the burnim-rag ceremony for Johnny Ninnal held in Nangu country sometime around 1990, which gave rise to a djanba song describing an encounter between performers of wangga and wurltjirri songs (Barwick, et al., 2010, djanba 65).42

Formally the song shows Philip Mullumbuk’s love of long, grammatically elaborate text phrases, each of which is often sung to the same melody. We will see this pattern repeated in the following song. 330

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Walakandhas! They are saying, ‘where has everyone gone?

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The Walakandhas [i.e., Dumoo, Kundjil and Mullumbuk] are wandering around at a certain other coastal estate

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled) 331

TRACK 34 (Mar99-04-s08)

Song 21: Karra yeri-ngina43

This song was given to its composer Philip Mullumbuk by the ghost of Wagon Dumoo following his death. Wagon’s spirit has returned to Yenmungirini, the site of his Dreaming, Pumut (Headache), where he must remain. He can see his male descendants only faintly as they gather at the mouth of the Moyle River. At this time the Dumoo family were living in Philip Mullumbuk’s country at Nadirri near the Moyle mouth, some distance away from their clan estate near Perrederr.

The recording was elicited by Allan Marett at Wadeye in 1999.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

My dear children!

They keep appearing in the distance behind me at the mouth of the Moyle River, my dear country! 332

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

You boys, come here

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 35 (Mar99-04-s10)

Song 22: Walakandha No. 444

Here a Walakandha sings of two other Walakandha ancestors: Berrida (Bruno Munggum Berrida, the son of Munggum);45 and Munggumurri, grandfather of Philip Mullumbuk, the composer of this song. They are looking over their shoulders at Yendili Hill, where the trees and grasses are standing up like hairs on the back of a dog in response to a death. The final text phrase affirms that like the tide, life and death are in constant flux.

333Formally this is the most complex of Philip Mullumbuk’s wangga. Text phrases 1 and 2 are sung to one melodic section, repeated for text phrases 3 and 4. The poignant final text phrase is set to its own melody.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–2

Melodic Section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

A certain Walakandha is always singing to me beside the beach hibiscus and I can’t stop him

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He says, ‘Berrida and Munggumurri are both standing looking at the top of their hill [Yendili] and I can’t stop them

Melodic Section 2

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

They are standing, looking behind them [over their shoulders]

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

He says, ‘[The trees and grasses] on the top (head) of Yendili Hill are standing upright, brother’ 334

Melodic Section 3

Text phrase 5

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The tide is always coming in on me, [brother]’

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 36 (Mar98-15-s21)

Song 23: Walakandha No. 546

In this song, another composed by Philip Mullumbuk, a Walakandha who is standing at Ngumali, the men’s ceremonial ground near the mouth of the Moyle river, watches a group of Walakandha (probably living Marri Tjavin men) coming back from the high inland country to the northwest, calling out ‘wuuu’ as they go.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The Walakandhas keep calling out 335

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

wuuu
SW

‘Wuuu!’

Melodic section 3

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Oh, Ngumali, my dear country

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5*

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

TRACK 37 (Mar99-04-s21)

Song 24: Kinyirr47

336This song by Philip Mullumbuk is about the making of the airstrip for the Nadirri outstation, during which operation the Leech Dreaming site, Kinyirr, was damaged by a bulldozer.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTIONS 1–3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Look to Kinyirr brother, you should have told those two people [who are making the airstrip] to make it clear with the Dreaming [Kinyirr is a Leech Dreaming site]

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Kinyirr, brother, my dear country

INSTRUMENTAL SECTIONS 1–2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

E. Miscellaneous songs (tracks 38–39)

For the sake of completeness, we decided to include in our corpus two songs that are somewhat peripheral to the Walakandha wangga repertory. Philip Mullumbuk’s song about the ancestral Wallaro, Wedjiwurang, does not conform to the normal conventions of wangga and there is some question about whether it is really a wangga at all (Ford, 2007). Similarly, Ambrose Piarlum’s song about the Seagull Dreaming, ‘Tjinmel’, is not, strictly speaking, a Walakandha wangga—since it was composed without the assistance of the ancestral dead—but it is included here because of his close association with the thanggurralh ‘company’ group of Walakandha wangga performers. 337

TRACK 38 (Croc04-01-s01)

Song 25: Wedjiwurang48

This song about the Marri Tjavin totemic Dreaming Wedjiwurang (‘Wallaroo’) is structurally quite unlike other Walakandha wangga songs. In its verse-and-chorus structure it is more like an English ballad (Ford, 2007, p 76). Vocal sections comprising narrative text about the activities of Wedjiwurang in the ancestral period alternate with a chorus that asserts over and over that the ancestral Wallaroo lives at Namadjawalh. This text phrase, ‘He lives at Namadjawalh, Namadjawalh,’ is repeated isorhythmically with a single melodic section. The text phrases on the vocal section are, in contrast, more like those of

338other Walakandha wangga. Each text phrase is sung to a melodic section comprising only two notes. Each move from a vocal section back to the chorus is cued by the sung phrase, ‘I’m going back again’ or ‘I’m going back.’

Another unusual feature, also encountered in the songs of Jimmy Muluk, is that in some of the narrative vocal sections, the singer starts singing without clapstick beating, then introduces a very quiet tapping that gets gradually louder throughout the vocal section.49 It is possible that Mullumbuk learnt this technique from recordings of Muluk that were circulating in the community.

Even though the quality of this recording is less than ideal, we have included it because it represents the only record we have of this extraordinary song. Despite a number of attempts, we were unable to make another recording before Philip Mullumbuk’s unexpected death in 2008. Ford has written about this song in considerable detail elsewhere (Ford, 2007, pp 76–89).

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

CHORUS

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–5

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

He lives at Namadjawalh, Namadjawalh

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

The animal is our totem

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

It was the Wallaroo that went down there 339

Melodic section 3

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

Alone again, to Kanbirrin over yonder,

CUE [sung on tonic]

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

I’m going back again

CHORUS

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–5

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

He lives at Namadjawalh, Namadjawalh

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

Then at Yimurdigi

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

He peeped out [from the bushes] 340

Melodic section 3

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

A black man is coming towards him

CUE [sung on tonic]

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

I’m going to go back

CHORUS

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1-5

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

He lives at Namadjawalh, Namadjawalh

VOCAL SECTION 3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

Then, he kept coming out of the swamp to him (Emu)

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

The two of them had a stick fight 341

Melodic section 3

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

As for that fellow, Emu, his head [got hit by Wallaroo]

Melodic section 4

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

Emu grabbed the same stick and hit Wallaroo on the top of the spine

CUE [sung on tonic]

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

I’m going to go back

CHORUS

Melodic section 1

Text phrases 1–5

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

He lives at Namadjawalh, Namadjawalh

VOCAL SECTION 4

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

As for that fellow, Wallaroo, 342

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

He was still jumping

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

He went back yonder to that place

Text phrase 4

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

That place Namadjawalh over yonder, which is his true place

Text phrase 5

Rhythmic mode 5a (var) (fast even, clapsticks getting louder)

That is where he died.

INSTRUMENTAL CODA

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even) 343

TRACK 39 (Mar98-07-s11)

Tjinmel50

 

Tjinmel (‘Seagull’) has its Dreaming site at a wudi-pumininy (freshwater spring) in the sea at Yederr in Matige country. Although this song is not strictly a Walakandha wangga, since it was composed by Ambrose Piarlum without spirit assistance, it has been included here because of Piarlum’s close association with the group who sing Walakandha wangga.

344Because each vocal section is different—the text formulae are arranged in a different order from one vocal section to another—each is written out in full. The instrumental sections follow the patterns common for Walakandha wangga of the golden age.

SONG STRUCTURE SUMMARY

VOCAL SECTION 1

Melodic section

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Karra, mm

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The solitary seagull kept soaring above Rtadi-wunbirri

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Karra, mm

Melodic section 2

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Above Rtadi-wunbirri the solitary seagull is soaring

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 1

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even) 345

VOCAL SECTION 2

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Karra, mm

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

The solitary seagull kept soaring above Rtadi-wunbirri

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Karra, mm

CUE

kagandja
here

Here!

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 2

Rhythmic mode 5a (fast even)

VOCAL SECTION 3

Melodic section 1

Text phrase 1

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Karra, mm 346

Text phrase 2

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Brother, right here above Rtadi-wunbirri he soars alone

Text phrase 3

Rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks)

Karra, mm

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION 3

Rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled)

MUSICAL ANALYSIS OF THE WA LAKANDHA REPETORY

Song structure overview

The early and transitional Walakandha wangga follow the normal pattern for wangga: an introductory instrumental introduction is followed by a series of paired vocal and instrumental sections. The majority of songs have between three and four vocal and instrumental section pairs. None have fewer than three, and one song ‘Wutjelli No. 2’ (track 3) has five.

Text structure overview

Twenty-three of the thirty-four texts in the Walakandha wangga repertory are through-composed, with no repetition of text phrases within a vocal section (these are listed as group 1 in table 8.2). These include all of Stan Mullumbuk’s repertory, and a substantial proportion of songs by other composers. The texts of most of Stan Mullumbuk’s songs take one of two forms: they are comprised either of a single through-composed text phrase in Marri Tjavin, or of two text phrases, the first in ghost language and the second in human language (Marri Tjavin). Vocal sections of the second type are also found in the songs of Jimmy Muluk, which, as we have argued elsewhere, had a considerable influence on Mullumbuk’s early songs.

Eleven songs have some repetition of text phrases within the vocal section (listed in group 2 in table 8.2). Ten of them have the text form AAB, in which two identical text phrases in Marri Tjavin are followed by a third, contrasting text phrase, which in many cases is in ghost language (see a more elaborate discussion of text form in this repertory in Marett, 2005, pp 125–27). Texts using this pattern proved very popular in the golden age (1986-96) and into the subsequent decade. The remaining song ‘Pumurriyi’ (track 24) has the text form ABB. 347

Rhythmic mode

For comparative purposes, we discuss rhythmic mode in the early and transitional period songs separately from the later songs composed in the golden age and afterwards.

Early use of rhythmic mode in the Walakandha wangga

The early and transitional songs (tracks 1–11) are quite varied in rhythmic modal treatment, in ways that resemble the Muluk repertory in several respects (see table 8.3). Four different tempo bands were represented in this group of songs, although rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks) was the most commonly used for vocal sections.

Presenting the same text in different rhythmic modes in successive items

Two songs—‘Walakanda No. 8’ and ‘Walakanda No. 9’—were performed in two modes. To this we can add the evidence from Walsh’s recordings (not included here), which contain a performance of one song—‘Yene yene’—in no fewer than seven different rhythmic modes (Marett, 2007, p 67).

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

‘Walakandha No. 9a’ (track 8) is the only song in this group to present the same text in different rhythmic modes, with the first two vocal sections in moderate even (rhythmic mode 4a or 4a [var]), and the third vocal section in rhythmic mode 1. This has a flow-on effect into the following (final) instrumental section, which uses rhythmic mode 5b, in conformity with the practice adopted in the five songs with all vocal sections in rhythmic mode 1.

Distribution of rhythmic mode between vocal sections and instrumental sections

As in other wangga repertories, songs with vocal sections in the unaccompanied and slow tempo bands use moderate or fast tempi in their instrumental sections, while songs with vocal sections in the moderate and fast tempo bands tend to use the same tempo throughout the whole song.

Mixing of rhythmic modes within a vocal section

In ‘Walakandha No. 9a’ we see an unusual suspended form of rhythmic mode 4a (rhythmic mode 4a [var]) where the beating is suspended for the early part of the text phrase as in Muluk’s ‘Piyamen.ga’ (tracks 10–12), except that here the clapsticks recommence in the middle of the text phrase rather than at the end.52

Mixing of rhythmic modes within an instrumental section

The majority of songs with vocal sections in rhythmic mode 1 use internal instrumental sections with the same complex beating pattern as was found in Jimmy Muluk’s rhythmic mode 4* (that is a period of doubled beating is followed by a period of even beating which is followed by the Walakandha wangga cueing pattern), except that here the tempo is fast rather than moderate. Marett sees this as one of several pieces of evidence that indicate that in creating the new Walakandha wangga repertory, Mullumbuk was influenced by Muluk (Marett, 2007, pp 70–71).

Use of rhythmic mode in the later periods of the Walakandha wangga

In the golden age and the later period of the Walakandha wangga, almost all songs used the same rhythmic mode in their instrumental sections. Marett has speculated that this developed because the Walakandha wangga is performed by a wide range of language groups compared to most other repertories, so that simplifying the dancing (and therefore the system of rhythmic modes that underpins dancing) allowed for better and stronger unisonal dancing (Marett, 2007, p 72). 349

Distribution of rhythmic mode between vocal sections and instrumental sections

Despite the relative lack of measured songs in this sample, the principle still holds true that songs with vocal sections in the unaccompanied and slow tempo bands use moderate or fast tempi in their instrumental sections, while songs with vocal sections in the moderate and fast tempo bands tend to use the same tempo throughout the whole song. Table 8.4 shows that here most songs (18 out of 24) have vocal sections in rhythmic mode 1, with a further five songs in a combination of rhythmic mode 2 and rhythmic mode 1. All 23 of these songs use fast rhythmic modes in their instrumental sections (see further below). Only one song, ‘Yenmilhi No. 1’ (track 20) does not fit this model. It conforms to a pattern found quite often in other wangga repertories, namely, using fast even beating (rhythmic mode 5a) throughout, in both vocal and instrumental sections.

Mixing of rhythmic modes within a vocal section

As already mentioned, five songs use mixed rhythmic modes within the vocal section: they use rhythmic mode 2 for the first two text phrases (AA) of the vocal section and rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks) for the third (B).53 All five songs use Wagon Dumoo’s melody ‘Kubuwemi’ (see discussion of shared melodies below).

Distribution of rhythmic mode between internal and final instrumental sections

The twenty-three songs wholly or partly in rhythmic mode 1 have identical practice in their instrumental sections, namely that non-final instrumental sections are performed using rhythmic mode 5a, while final ones use rhythmic mode 5b. All use the Walakandha wangga cueing pattern to mark the ends of instrumental sections.

Melody overview

In Songs, dreamings and ghosts, Marett was able to show that all the Walakandha wangga melodies from the later period used one of two melodic modal series, dorian or major (Marett, 2005, p 118). In table 8.5 we have updated this analysis to include the additional songs in the present corpus. 350

Songs that share a melody

As can be seen from table 8.5, sharing melodies is quite common in the Walakandha wangga repertory. Only nine of the thirty-four songs have a unique melody, while twenty-five songs share their melody with at least one other.54 A total of nine melodies are shared amongst these twenty-five songs. Although it

351is common for a melody to be re-used by its original composer, there are numerous instances in which a melody is shared across different composers. Two songs (‘Mirrwana’ and ‘Truwu’) are sung to more than one melody, adding a further three melodies to make a total of twenty-one melodies altogether.

Four songs use the dorian-mode Kubuwemi melody, which was almost certainly composed by Wagon Dumoo (with ‘Dhembedi-ndjen’, a potential fifth song in the group, placed in brackets), because it is perhaps to be classified as closely related rather than identical to the Kubuwemi melody). Another large group comprises the four songs using the major mode ‘Karra Yeri-ngina’ melody.

As mentioned, two songs, ‘Truwu’ and ‘Mirrwana’, are sung to more than one melody. Although we do not know the circumstances that gave rise to the use of two different melodies (A and B) for ‘Mirrwana’ by Thomas Kungiung and his ‘son’ Martin Warrigal Kungiung,55 we do know that in the case of ‘Truwu’ the two melodies (‘Truwu A’ and ‘Truwu B’) represent different affiliation to country on the part of their singers (Marett has called the former the coastal melody and the latter the inland melody), and that ‘Truwu A/B’ was a compromise arrived at when singers with different affiliations sang together (Marett, 2005, pp 117–21).

Songs sharing a melodic mode

Two different melodic modal series, dorian and major are used in the repertory. There is a clear tendency for songs by a single composer to use the same melodic mode.

Dorian-mode melodies include all Stan Mullumbuk’s early songs, all compositions by Wagon Dumoo (or his brother John) and most compositions by Thomas Kungiung (or his brother Martin Warrigal), together with one song by Les Kundjil.

Melodies using the major modal series include all of Philip Mullumbuk’s known compositions, two other melodies by an unknown composer and by Maudie Dumoo (the latter borrowed by Les Kundjil and Philip Mullumbuk), and a joint composition by Thomas Kungiung and Terence Dumoo, ‘Walakandha No. 2’ (track 23).

Les Kundjil’s compositional output, which uses both dorian and major modes, seems to constitute an apparent exception to the convention linking composer with melodic mode, until we realise that all three songs were closely based on models by other composers. The two dorian mode songs (a different melodic setting of Kungiung’s song ‘Truwu’ [track 17] and ‘Lhambumen’ [track 31]) were based on melodies composed by Thomas Kungiung (‘Truwu’, track 16, identical also in text)56 and Wagon Dumoo (‘Kubuwemi’ and ‘Yendili No. 1’, which share a melody and textual template with ‘Lhambumen’). Kundjil’s major mode song ‘Yendili No. 3’ shares melody, topic and some textual formulae with Maudie Dumoo’s ‘Yendili No. 2’.

The other apparent exception to the usual convention is ‘Walakandha No. 2’, the only major mode song attributed to Thomas Kungiung, but he is not the only composer, since the song is supposed to have been dreamed simultaneously by Kungiung and Terence Dumoo. 352

Further notes on selected tracks

Tracks 1,6 ‘Walakandha 8a’

This is one of only two songs in the entire Walakandha wangga repertory that uses rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple)—the other is ‘Walakandha No. 7’ (track 5), which was also composed by Mullumbuk. This rhythmic mode is prominent in the repertories of the Belyuen singers, Jimmy Muluk and Tommy Barrtjap, who, according to Frank Dumoo, frequently performed at Wadeye in the period immediately before the establishment of the Walakandha wangga repertory.

Track 2 ‘Walakandha No. 6’

Non-final instrumental sections have a form that is peculiar to songs of the early period: a passage of fast doubled beating (rhythmic mode 5b) is followed by a passage of fast even beating (rhythmic mode 5a) which is in turn followed by the cueing pattern typical of the Walakandha wangga. We designate this ‘rhythmic mode 5*’. The final instrumental section, as in all Walakandha wangga songs with vocal sections in rhythmic mode 1, comprises only fast doubled beating (rhythmic mode 5b) followed by Walakandha wangga cueing patterns (see further chapter 2).

Tracks 6–7 ‘Walakandha No. 8a’ and ‘8b’

The performance in track 6 is in rhythmic mode 5c (fast uneven quadruple) (the same rhythmic mode used for this song in track 1), while the clapstick accompaniment in track 7 is in rhythmic mode 4a (moderate even). The different tempi for each track are easily perceived by the listener: track 6 has fast stick beating at a rate of 127 beats per minute, whilst track 7 has moderate tempo beating at 113 beats per minute. The different clapstick beating patterns are likewise easily perceived (uneven quadruple in the first track, even beating in the second).

Tracks 8–9 ‘Walakandha No. 9a’ and ‘9b’

In track 8 the first three vocal sections are sung in rhythmic mode 4a (var), in which the stickbeating is suspended for the first part of each vocal section, with moderate even beating (117 beats per minute) normally beginning on the final melismatic syllable -a of text phrase 1.57 Rhythmic mode 4a is then maintained throughout text phrase 2 (which is sung at the lower octave) and the instrumental section. The deployment of suspended beating at the beginning of vocal sections is also found in Jimmy Muluk’s wangga (see for example Muluk’s song 6 ‘Piyamen.ga’). In Kungiung’s performance, the final vocal section is sung entirely in the unaccompanied rhythmic mode 1, and the final instrumental section is in rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled beating).

In track 9 Kungiung sings the entire text in rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks), and using a different melody. As seems to be standard for Stan Mullumbuk’s songs in this rhythmic mode, the non-final instrumental sections use rhythmic mode 5* (fast doubled moving to fast even beating, see also tracks 2 and 4), while the final instrumental section is entirely in rhythmic mode 5b.

Track 10 ‘Yendili No. 6’ and track 11 ‘Yenmilhi No. 2’

These two compositions by Thomas Kungiung use different approaches in the internal (non-final) instrumental sections. In track 10 they are performed in rhythmic mode 5a (fast even beating) with final instrumental sections in 5b (fast doubled beating), both with the cueing patterns typical of the golden age. This is the pattern of beating that typifies the Walakandha wangga to this day.

353In track 11, the beating used for the instrumental sections of ‘Yenmilhi No. 2’ is the same as used for Mullumbuk’s songs in rhythmic mode 1 (‘Walakandha No. 6’, ‘Nginimb-andja’ and ‘Walakandha No. 9b’, tracks 2, 4 and 9), that is, rhythmic mode 5* in the internal instrumental sections, and rhythmic mode 5b (fast doubled) for the final.

Track 26 ‘Dhembedi-ndjen’

With its AAB text form, which we first encountered in ‘Yendili No. 6’ (track 10) and ‘Yenmilhi No. 2’ (track 11), this song is related to other songs from this period such as ‘Kubuwemi’ (track 12), ‘Yendili No. 1’ (track 13), ‘Tjagawala’ (track 27) and ‘Lhambumen’ (track 31) (see also Marett, 2005, pp 126-27). The melody is related but not identical to other songs from the golden age that use this form, but the rhythmic mode is different: whereas the four above-mentioned songs use rhythmic mode 2 (slow even) for the A text phrase and rhythmic mode 1 (without clapsticks) for the B text phrase, this song uses rhythmic mode 1 throughout the vocal section.

Track 27 ‘Tjagawala’

In terms of textual form, melody and rhythmic mode, this song is very similar to ‘Kubuwemi’ (track 12), ‘Yendili No. 1’ (track 13), ‘Tjagawala’ (track 27) and ‘Lhambumen’ (track 31). As in these songs, the final perfective marker is suppressed in text phrases 1 and 2 (see the notes to track 12).

Track 31 ‘Lhambumen’

Somewhat unusually for songs that take the AAB text form, Kundjil performed the first vocal section entirely without clapsticks, only adopting the slow even beating for vocal sections 2 and 3.

Track 36 ‘Walakandha No. 5’

Here Philip Mullumbuk uses for non-final instrumental sections the old fashioned form of beating (rhythmic mode 5*) favoured by his brother Stan Mullumbuk.354