A ''Lali'' is an idiophonic

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an drum of the wooden

slit drum A slit drum, or slit gong, is a hollow percussion instrument, often made out of wood or bamboo. In spite of its often being called a drum, it is not a true drum, because it lacks a ''drumhead'', the membrane (made out of animal skin or plastic) ...

type similar to the

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

an Pate of

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

found throughout

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

. It was an important part of traditional Fijian culture, used as a form of communication to announce births, deaths and wars. A smaller form of the Lali drum (''Lali ni meke'') is used in music. Lali drums are now used to call the people of an area together, such as church services; the Lali is also used to entertain guests at many hotel resorts. The Lali drum is made out of wood and played with hands but, is most commonly played with sticks (''i uaua'') which are made out of softer wood so as not to damage the Lali. Historically, a larger and smaller stick were used together when playing the Lali. Lali drums were traditionally made from resonant timbers such as ''Ta vola'' (''

Terminalia catappa ''Terminalia catappa'' is a large Tropics, tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae, native to Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Madagascar and Seychelles. Common names in English include country almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, ...

'') and ''Dilo'' (''Calophyllum inophyllum'') or in the case of sacred drums for spirit houses, ''Vesi'' (''

Calophyllum inophyllum ''Calophyllum inophyllum'' is a large evergreen plant, commonly called tamanu, oil-nut, mastwood, beach calophyllum or beautyleaf. It is native to the Old World Tropics, from Africa through Asia to Australia and Polynesia. Due to its importance a ...

''). Portable war drums (''Lali ni Valou'') had two or three resonating chambers and sent complicated signals over the battlefield. Frequently Lali occurred in pairs, one smaller than the other, and were played together, in counterpoint. This rarely occurs in contemporary usage. Sometimes special structures known as ''Bure ni Lali'' (lit. ''house for Lali'') are constructed to keep the rain from filling the Lali and wetting the drummers.Ewins, R. 1982. Fijian Artefacts; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection.

Gallery

File:Pair of Lali drums.JPG, Lali drums at the Westin Hotel Resort and Spa, Denarau, Nadi. File:Lali drum.JPG, Lali outside a shop in Vatukarasa village, Coral Coast, Fiji. File:Lali drum in Suva Museum.JPG, Lali drum in Fiji Museum, Suva. Formerly used by Wesleyan Methodist Church in Suva.

Further images

Man playing Lali (historical photograph)Man playing Lali-ni-Meke dance drum (historical photograph)

References

Fijian musical instruments Drums {{Idiophone-instrument-stub