Nyatiti Instrument
…go’ metal ring on the toe, which is tapped against the edge of the nyatiti to form a beat. Nyatiti players will also typically sing during their performance. There is symbolism in the 8 strings of the Nyatiti in that the lower 4 string represent the first 4 days after a male’s birth and the upper 4 strings represent the first 4 days after a male’s death. Notable players Ayub Ogada, who played on our 71 Hours to Monday re-mix, spent time in the UK…
Day 9 – Sunday 9th July 2017 Story
…ists of two arms and a cross‐bar.” Through a group interview, we attempted to compare them in: size (size of resonator; length of arms and per extension of strings); materials of fabrication (types of wood); body parts (any specific additional parts and why); strings number; playing techniques (position of instrument; hands positioning and fingers involved in playing; plucking techniques); tuning and sound (central string, sound spectrum, twin str…
Days 6 to 8 – Thursday 6th July 2017 to Saturday 8th July 2017 Story
…a music instructor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. Day 8: Saturday 8th July 2017: Recording of an in‐depth interview with John Otieno ‘Rapasa’, our fixer who had previously travelled to Lake Region with us. In this interview he explained his personal journey to becoming a professional nyatiti player, instrument maker and teacher….
Ayub Ogada Group
…g techniques are very much different from the traditional nyatiti players. He says he created his own style of music and learned to “adapt in order to survive”….
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…est hits, songs that any Kenyan can easily identify with: “Kweli Ndugu”; “Mtoto si Nguo”; “Sengula Nakupenda”; “Kunywa Kidogo” and “Watu Wanasema Uongo”. Fadhilee’s reaction to this last session was worth the wait, as he discovered the author of “Kweli Ndugu”, a song he had done a cover of years ago. Therefore, we recorded one last Influences with Fadhilee playing the song alongside Mukabi. The day was closed with a photo session ringing together…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…freestyle recording’ – what we mean here is we allow our three camera operators to ‘roam’ and to ‘release the band’ to dance. We are trying to overcome the somewhat artificial nature of ‘archiving’ where the band is constrained into a single shot. Magic Moment: We loved the percussion and wanted to capture this as magic moment. https://youtu.be/u7xcXahAlzI Group 2: Upendo Jazz: The group is from the Murangi Village in the Mara Region and their c…
The Kalenjin of Kenya Album
…rs and the Kewamoi Women Dancers both featured. The latter – a nice addition to the lineup, as the field day coincided with World Women’s Day. Eddie Grey was part of the team for the recordings, and he joined a number of groups to join them for Influences recordings. Two of these have been included on the album – his guitar playing accompanying The Elimu Cultural Promoters and the Kewamoi Women Dancers….
Albums Introduction Page
…borate with the groups we record. In the event that we have invited one of the musicians back to the Ketebul Studios in Nairobi to record, we will also include these recordings. The albums are available to download through our Bandcamp store in your choice of formats. The proceeds from the sale of our albums will be fed back to the musicians involved in the recordings, wherever possible. CDs may also be available in the future. Join the mailing li…
The Singing Wells podcast #3 Podcast
…Here is podcast number 3. In this podcast, we look at the development of Abubilla Music – one of the partners in The Singing Wells project – from initial idea, to music label. There are interviews with members of the SMCC, and music from the SMCC, Louise Calf, Gus Warriner, Tati Kalveks, Chris Kozlowski and Ketebul artist Winyo. Click here to download the podcast….
3. Background of the Naizungwe drums Story
…strative units that culminated into the eleven chiefdoms that later united to form Busoga [kingdom]. When the central government abolished kingdoms in 1967, the bigger administrative structures were weakened. Clans remained because they represent people’s birth, life and death. The larger more political structures [ie. the eleven chiefdoms] were demonized by the central government and all meetings at that level stopped. When the top structures die…
Page
…ibes, as they gradually built on the percussive/bass sounds of the Nyatiti to form something more bluesy. Here’s a short extract from Ketebul Music about Benga: “Benga’s most distinctive feature is its fast-paced rhythmic beat and bouncy finger-picking guitar technique. Indeed, the core of benga is the lead guitar, which essentially follows the track of the vocals. Without exception, the singing is at some point separated from the climax—the instr…
Jackie Akinyi Group
…n 1998, she started singing with Jambo Star Band of Mwanza Town, and while with them, she composed her song known as “Wawili Wawili” in the year 2000. After this song did very well on the Kenyan market, she decided to move to Kenya. It was during the years 2004 and 2005 that she met Tabu Osusa (a music producer), who invited her to Ketebul Studios, where she recorded her first album titled KUNDI, featuring 8 tracks….
Day Zero: February 15, 2020 – Assemble in Zanzibar Story
…d Pemba. Soon the islands joined the Mainland Tanganyika and were subsumed to form Tanzania. Today, the population of the islands is over 98% Muslim. Second, one of our main partners for our trip was the Dhow Countries Music Academy. The “Dhow” is a traditional sailing vessel. We saw many on the waters around Zanzibar. The “Dhow Countries” are all the countries that have blown to Zanzibar and left their musical instruments, styles and infl…
Conclusion: Challenges and Recomendations Story
…and economise on filming time. From a methodological point of view, for us to be able to build on the original concept of the series and remain scientifically both pertinent and correct, a proper research preparation should be put in place as a standard. The ideal approach to pre‐recording preparations should thus include: short pre‐interviews with identified interviewees (this would later allow better and easier data collection and create a certa…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…eptember 2009 these youngsters each went their own way but later regrouped to form the Otacho Young Stars. Having come of age, they have appropriately dropped the Young Stars tag and are now simply Otacho Stars. For several years the group held regular shows at the Kamus bar in Ranen Centre before Covid 19 interrupted live shows, as in most places. Presently, they only perform on demand. On this live recording Dave Otieno played the guitar while F…
Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…local nyatiti players; ‐ Discussion on whether a good nyatiti maker needs to be able to play the instrument as well; ‐ Names of currently best nyatiti makers in the area, according to Meshack and mention of several masters who passed away; ‐ Discussion on playing positions (traditionally played while seated on a stool, some contemporary artistes play while standing as well) and its cultural and symbolic importance; ‐ The practice of praising peop…