These large slit drums are found throughout Vanuatu, formerly called New Hebrides. “It should be noted that the ancestral faces on these slit drums lack a mouth. The slit which is beaten is the mouth and the sound is the voice of the ancestors, who speak in coded rhythms across large areas, sending messages back and forth. The complex drumming rhythms are performed by drum orchestras during rituals in Malakula, Ambae, and Pentecost, among other places.” (Kirk Huffman in Newton 1999: 293)
