Recording Resources Page
…gside some amazing musical technicians, videographers and ethnomusicologists. However, it has taken us time to really work out the best processes for working effectively out in the field. With that in mind, we have created some resources for other groups to use for working in the field. Please feel free to use the below resources for your field trips in whatever region you are based, and please do reach out to us. We love to meet others who are pa…
Support Singing Wells Page
…unt you give will help the Singing Wells project bring the music of East Africa to more and more people. We guarantee that your donation to the project will be spent in East Africa helping traditional music groups get on the world music map. Please note, the Singing Wells project is funded by the Abubilla Music Foundation, the below link will direct you to make a donation to the Abubilla Music Foundation: — CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW — Donate your t…
FAQ’s Page
…group or a whole field recording day during our next field visit in East Africa. Or you could sponsor one of our annual CD/DVD collections. Either way, we guarantee that your money will be spent on the ground in Africa. (Note: representatives of Abubilla Music who work on the project are either volunteers or are personally funded. No third party donor money is used to support their expenses). Who owns the Singing Wells recordings? The ownership of…
Our Sponsors Page
…heir continued support in the Singing Wells project. You can sign up for a free Soundcloud account which will give you the ability to comment on our recordings. To find out more about Soundcloud, go to: http://www.soundcloud.com Nebulo Strata Type of sponsorship: discounted services Nebulo Strata have been on board from the start of The Singing Wells project, helping to design and put into practice our ideas for our website. Our website is the m…
Day Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…k almost an hour for the two to figure out Akwabi’s unorthodox, expressive free style for most of his songs before the actual recording began at 2:00pm. After a few false starts we finished the recordings of Peter Akwabi at 4:00 PM with his latest song which is a tribute to D.O. Misiani, the maestro of benga music who died in the lakeside city in May 2006. Next on stage was Olith Ratego, a musician whose unique dodo style is one of the oldest form…
Page
…ging Wells has always been to preserve the rich musical heritage of East Africa, whilst also promoting the importance of introducing this music to a wider audience so that this heritage doesn’t get lost. So many of our favourite moments, as you have read over this Top 20 series, have been when we stumbled upon something unexpected and managed to record, on film or in the studio, a performance so that it’s legacy may live on. It is truly not lost o…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…these youngsters have managed to gain music scholarships so they can get a free education at their local schools. This project is not only providing a future for this instrument, but for the young people involved. Aside from this, Mr Mukadisi has a personal connection to this cross-generational project. His father was a builder of the Entongooli, and didn’t teach all the skills he needed to learn to play. In fact, none of the great players passed…
Martin Fredrick Muyeshi Staff Profile
…racing Kenya’s Funk Music, Retracing Songs of Protest and the book Shades Of Benga: The story of Popular Music in Kenya, to which he contributed his photos. His work has also featured on Voice of America’s “Music Time In Africa” under the Host Heather Maxwell as well as the Singing Wells project, which focuses on archiving traditional music in Africa, among other projects….
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…ording session, we will also capture alternative takes; these are called: ‘Freestyle’: We work hard to give our groups the space and freedom to sing and dance as they would during a village performance, but there are constraints. Typically we want the group to be seen by our wide camera and many of the musicians have an attached microphone. While generally this isn’t a problem, there are times when the group is constrained. So, we often do another…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…ons. Another possibility was to sell tickets with the use of online access codes that admit ticket holders into the virtual performance. The result was that a number of live streaming studios where performers book sessions to perform and stream their concerts sprung up in Nairobi. Some venues also adapted to hosting online performances, directly streaming shows to mobile devices and computers of audiences wherever they may be. With the prevailing…
Day 5 – Wednesday 5th July 2017 Story
…me in Nyahera location, not far from Kisumu town, and conducted a long yet free of form type of interview. Although a Luo himself, Ayub had never learned how to play the nyatiti in a traditional setting. He picked it up later in his career and studied from a player/teacher at the national cultural centre of Bomas of Kenya in the 1980s. He remembers he had gone for 6 lessons (at a 100 shillings) only and then continued practicing and experimenting…
Ayub Ogada Group
…me in Nyahera location, not far from Kisumu town, and conducted a long yet free of form type of interview. Although a Luo himself, Ayub had never learned how to play the nyatiti in a traditional setting. He picked it up later in his career and studied from a player/teacher at the national cultural centre of Bomas of Kenya in the 1980s. He remembers he had gone for 6 lessons (at a 100 shillings) only and then continued practicing and experimenting…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…ed on training potential musicians for the palaces. This patronage was not free, however, and the resources to fund the palaces and their music ultimately came from the same villages, through taxation and food contributions. Moreover, these musicians were not empowered to create, to lead rich musical lives, to become artists, to use the palace as a stepping stone to develop their art further. They were brought into these palaces as young boys, and…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…Video 1’s location. This is a balance. We want to give the groups complete freedom to perform as they would normally do, without our intervention. But we also need a good recording – and too often the groups will stray far off camera and far away from the mics. Or, as often can happen, the leader will plant him or herself directly in front of Video 1, meaning we don’t get a take of the groups. Finally, we use lapel mics on the lead singers so ther…
Central Uganda: Day 0 – Nairobi/London to Entebbe Story
…great to see our old friends at the hotel. We had a quick dinner and a few free drinks (we had charmed some flight attendants on the plane to contribute to Singing Wells with a few whiskeys). Most of us then went to bed for the night, deciding to have one final evening free of our London friends. Patrick, however, woke up in time to be a ‘greeting party’ to the London arrivals. Message from Abubilla Music Foundation Team Representing the AMF are J…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…ound the world, with the expansion of Putumayo International into South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania Putumayo World Music Hour, the first commercially syndicated world music show now heard internationally on 170 commercial and non-commercial stations. It is fantastic to see a World Music Label with such far reaching success, not only proving that traditional music in Africa, and around the world, can be commercially viable but also acting as…