Senufo (Senoufo)

rhombe(s)

rhombe: French term for bullroarer.

When a Poro man is buried, the men of the initiation society file out of the sacred grove carrying its hidden instruments. Hugo Zemp taped the scene at Kongobanadougou in 1965: a friction drum growls the voice of the Kluklo mask, and players swinging rhombes and blowing antelope-horn megaphones stride one after another over the cloth-wrapped body, while the women press close, weeping, folding pieces of yam into the dead man's hand.

Joueurs de trompes et de rhombes marchent en enjambant le corps.

Horn and rhombe players walk while stepping over the body.

Hugo Zemp, Musique du Poro, CREM-CNRS item CNRSMH_I_2001_003_005_21

Particulars

Object

Rhombes played with Poro horns in a Senoufo Djimini funeral for a Poro member at Kongobanadougou.

Function

Poro men come out of the sacred grove with Poro instruments for a member burial; horn and rhombe players step over the wrapped body while women mourn and place yam pieces in the dead man's hand.