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…f, preparing them for manhood. In some cases they are taught that they can no longer live with their mother and must never enter the kitchen again, as this was the place for women and children. They are also taught what will be expected of them on the day of the ritual and after as they start their lives as men. On the day of the circumcision, they are woken very early and taken as a group down to the local river and they are covered in mud. This…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…. We reached Kisumu City just before dusk and settled down for dinner at Kalongolongo restaurant, run by a close friend. After a meal of fish and ugali (the local staple made from corn), we were entertained by our very own artiste Makadem (also known as Ohanglaman) who was touring the lakeside city at the time. We listened to one more act by an upcoming nyatiti player Kent Mudenda before we continued with our journey to Josephine Garden in Ilesi,…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…80 years old and have not gone through the ritual of circumcision, you are not a man and cannot sit at the adult table. If you are a two year old and have been circumcised, for us, you are an adult.” Julius Ngoma (also called engoma or ng’oma or ingoma) are musical instruments used by certain Bantu populations of Africa. Ngoma is derived fromthe Kongo word for “drum”. Different Bantu-inhabited regions have their own traditions of percussion, with…
Bigwala Cultural Group Group
…m. “Mperekera Omwana Womurembe”: When you are walking with someone by your side they are the special one and you don’t look at anyone else. “Mwene Wamwenda”: When you love someone even if they are poor, lame, sick or blind, you just stay with them. Further reading UNESCO: Bigwala, gourd trumpet music and dance of the Busoga Kingdom in Uganda. Inscribed in 2012 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. Click here f…
Day Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…erforming and Creative Arts Centre where he directed music activities for another 12 years before finally retiring to his village in Ebuhongo were he currently resides. During this recording he was accompanied by his younger brother Silvanus Anyangu (vocals), Ben Mukabwa (bass) and Fiston Lusambo (guitar). They were also joined by Brian Nyamanga and Thelma Lukachia both members of Loko Band, the resident band at Dunga Hill Camp. DAY 3: Wednesday,…
Otieno Aloka Group
…he string used to be made from fibers of the sisal plants but is now made from a variety of repurposed materials, including bicycle brake cables. When played with a bow, orutu creates different notes determined by finger pressure against the central stick. It provides a fast-moving, melodic accompaniment, similar to the fiddle in folk and country music….
Support Singing Wells Page
…be used to provide for two field-recording engineers from Ketebul Music, a non profit organisation in Nairobi and our project partners. Your donation will also provide for gratuity payments to the individual music groups, which they can use to help them continue practicing and performing in the future. The songs and videos we record from your sponsored day will be archived and published, giving the groups further opportunities to gain an income fr…
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…and celebrate how music in the modern age can transcend global barriers. Alongside our partners, London record label, Abubilla Music, and Kenyan music studios, Ketebul Music, we are launching our Global Influences Project. We have curated a series of musical loops, taken from our field recordings across East Africa over the last decade, and are looking to commission several artists, producers, dancers, videographers and songwriters to show how th…
Day 4 – Tuesday 4th July 2017 Story
…ed on the change in community perception of nyatiti players. Previously, it used to be a symbol of respect and prestige, since “nyatiti was something good”. Nowadays he regrets it is no longer the case. We closed the interview with his tuning techniques and confirmed previously mentioned names and associations of strings….
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…style, where the group encourages the audience to get up and dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRmP_vEbiMI&feature=youtu.be Group 2: Kidedeya: From Kagera, this group was formed in 2005 or 2009, and performs in the Omusingero style. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums) and Nyimba (Shakers). This was a group of wonderful dancing and costume changes. Every song a new and wonderful outfit. We recorded six performances: Omusingero: A song abou…
The Northern Tribes of Uganda Album
…long drive out west brought us to Fort Murchison and Pakwach. We went on further to Widianga village and the Alur Kingdom Troupe. Later that day we were treated to Cieng Dwong back at Fort Murchison – darkness descending as we recorded. A travel day to Soroti was followed by another Likembe band – the Macedonia band, before the long drive back to Kampala. One night in Kampala was followed by a recording in Naguru, recording the Adungu Cultural Tro…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…art of the Singing Wells project. These musicians are now in their 30s and no longer answer to the name Young Stars and are appropriately simply known as Otacho Stars. For a long time Otacho Stars were based at Kamus pub in Ranen but following Covid 19 challenges, and when a new team took over the management of the pub, they stopped having regular shows at the venue. By 9:30pm we concluded the recordings with Otacho Stars and formally ended Travel…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…aving been part of the Singing Wells project for many years. Hence, it did not take long for our sound team to determine the best site for the stage within the well-groomed homestead and in less than an hour we had the mobile studio all set. Normally, our preferred device for capturing sound on these trips is the Zoom digital recorder, having started with H4 before upgrading to Zoom H6. On this occasion we opted to record directly to the laptop. A…
Liwambwe Group
…called the Siganga. They also had a pair of drums called the Likuti and a long drum called the Msondo, and a very long thin drum called a Neya. In the dance they had a character in a mask called a Lipiko, who wore a vest called a Mjuga. They played five songs: Malala Kujunga: Essentially means ‘be calm and quite, we are about to perform and need you to be quiet’ Nchakacha: A dance with the Lipiko (masked character) Tumpete Mwana: ‘Soothing the ba…
Day 2 – Sunday 2nd July 2017 Story
…the tuning techniques vary from player to player, as well as the fact that not all know how to do it correctly. Meshack Okoth Okumu K’orengo then played for us, accompanied with a choir of 5 men of different age, 3 tunes on his nyatiti. The tunes were recorded as follows: Koblo gi long maratong’ Owino Konjwang’ Ojung’ Kogera The recording of songs was followed by a short interview. Probably the most interesting finding of this session was the fact…
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