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…d Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda is a “Batwa-directed, community-based organisation headquartered in Kisoro, Uganda. UOBDU was created in the year 2000 with the help of the UK-based Forest Peoples Programme. Their sole purpose is to assist the Batwa in improving their lives so they may live on equal footing with all Ugandan citizens.” Two of the UOBDU staff accompanied us on our first trip to visit the Batwa in 2011, and were incredi…
What We Do Page
…ican music to a new generation of musicians and listeners who might not consider it relevant today. So we have developed the Influences series: new compositions comprising a fusion of traditional and contemporary styles, themes, harmonies and instruments. Influences is led by musicians from Ketebul Music or singer/songwriters from the areas we are travelling to during our field visits. “Singing Wells can’t be just about archiving. We can’t be foss…
Day Five: January 22, 2019 Mwanza Continued Story
…ded four performances: Wachumba Walya: A song about someone who is too mean-spirited to support his community even though he has lots of money, it is about a man “who eats along, without his brother’ Ntelela Engoma: A song about living with respect to traditional ways Basigazi Fura Emyende: A song about overcoming all of life’s challenges by working together Mwije Tuzane: We filmed this freestyle, where the group encourages the audience to get up…
Ekhunjwe Musical Group Group
…formed in April 2008 with common focus on using music as a tool for community development. The group promotes traditional African values and acts in both education and local economy. Members also engage in traditional crafts like basket weaving and jewellery making for exhibition and sale. Their Chairman Mr. Bwire also chairs the County Culture Committee and says he is “biased towards ethnomusicology” because “that’s where the beauty of the music…
Adagha Nalya Drama Group Group
…is about a proverbial Waiswa of old who used to shy away from women. It is a common folk song. “Omuntu Kyakola”: When someone is jealous about what someone else is doing; when some one works hard, others want to bring you down. “Yoyenda”: The one you love. The song invites everyone to show who they love to the rest of the community. Performed at introduction ceremonies – a traditional party where a girl introduces the man to her parents. “Nsomesa…
Day 9 – Sunday 9th July 2017 Story
…de segment focusing on the orutu ‐ a one‐string fiddle from the same community. Because of time limitations, this could not be done fully; yet the idea of instrument comparison remained and was reintroduced through an instrument comparison forum held on day 8 at the GoDown Arts Centre in Nairobi. We compared five instruments as follows, each represented by a master musician: Nyatiti – represented by Samson Otieno of Bomas of Kenya; Obokano – repre…
Otieno Aloka Group
…urposed 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….
Bigwala Cultural Group Group
…m. 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 for the link to the UNESCO website….
The Northern Tribes of Uganda Album
…2012 trip to record the music of the Northern Tribes of Uganda. We began with a base in Gulu, with journeys to Acet and Paibona. In Achet on our first day of recording, we were blessed with a recording location in the shade and 6 groups who turned up to perform their Acholi dance music. Day 2 found us in Paibona, with our first introduction to Likembe music provided by the Rubanga Kingom Awach Boys. The youthful energy of Ker Kel Kwaro followed,…
Ayub Ogada Group
…the name nyatiti, which he translated from the Luo word nyar as queen and titi, making it “the queen of the clan”. The most interesting points Ayub had made were on the difference between playing at home, in an informal or traditional setting and playing in a foreign setting (notably in Europe). He said: “When I’m home, I’m free, I don’t care about my tuning…When I’m playing in Europe, now the violin wants to come in, the guitar wants to come in,…
Day Two: 8 March 2022 (Ilesi) Story
…n hour the skies cleared and we were able to resume the recording session. However it took a bit of time for the group to get some of their traditional instruments, including the adeu deu, in tune in with the guitars that were to back them up. One of the band members played the harmonica but it was only in the C key and so it was left out of the recordings of songs on different keys. Guest musicians Fiston, Ben and Gido also had to take a little t…
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Andy Patterson Staff Profile
…ld. He also works on the post production back in the UK and is responsible for the Singing Wells podcasts. For more information, please check out Andy’s site at: http://www.andypatterson.co.uk or follow him on Twitter – @aandypatterson…
Day 2 – Sunday 2nd July 2017 Story
…onally) compose new tunes, but replicate existing old ones. Within the nyatiti tradition, tunes remain the same, whereas the lyrics can change, evolve. They are the fruit of a specific player’s imagination and can be adapted to the occasion and/or to tell the praise of a different person. The fact that Meshack picked up the instrument only once his father had passed away brought about several hypothesis on the meaning of this generational gap and…
Bukaala Twesitule Troupe Group
…uencing the spread of HIV and how the community can come together to deal with it. Very tragic song telling the story of deaths with man sobbing at one point. “Akabira” (Worship Song): Means a small forest where spirits tend to run, deep in the trees and high in the mountains. But they are not always well cared for and they then tend to cause havoc with the rest of family members. “Omwenge” (a local brew): This is about how the local brew is made…
Conclusion: Challenges and Recomendations Story
…he benefits of this practice. This should thus be considered a reminder of its vital importance. If we look closer at the original concept for Masters of the Nyatiti, we expected to film all of the following stages of the instrument manufacturing: Showing us the trees where the wood for the instruments are extracted from; Where possible, felling of the tree; Preparation of the wood from the tree: trimming the bark, treating etc.; Carving and shapi…