Nose Flute - New Zealand

New Zealand

Historically in New Zealand, the Māori carved nguru from wood, the stem of a gourd and whale's teeth. Nguru were often adorned with very elaborate carvings, befitting what is considered a sacred object. Although Nguru are commonly known as nose flutes, it is only the smaller instruments that can be played with the nose, more commonly Nguru are played with the mouth.

The Māori kōauau ponga ihu, a gourd nose flute, was also part of the nose flute tradition; note that a similarly constructed gourd nose flute, ipu ho kio kio was also used in Hawaii. The maker would form a nose hole in the neck (or stem) of the gourd, by cutting off the neck at a fairly small cross section. This small hole is placed under the player's nostril, in order to generate the flute-tone. The "kōauau ponga ihu" functions as an ocarina in its acoustic principles. Several notes of a scale can be obtained by drilling fingerholes into the "bowl" of the gourd.