Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…eld visit is when we visit a specific region of East Africa and record musical groups in villages. On average, we do one field visit a year, recording roughly 20-25 groups, and a 100-125 performances. We have roughly 1,000 videos online. Our general setup for a recording is: a) Steve is in charge of audio and we typically have two general mics for the group and 5-6 specific microphones for singers and musicians, b) we have three video cameras oper…
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…0 weeks of highlights and memories, East Africa is a treasure trove of musical talent, instruments and styles. The stories that we have heard, through song or interviews, have far exceeded our expectations for the project. What started as a tiny experiment into recording a few groups performing in their villages has grown into something far beyond what we imagined. What we have captured in our videos and audio recordings is extraordinary artistry…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…t the ability of performers to earn a living is quickly shifting to a dependence on access to Internet connectivity and online streaming services. This solution works well for urban-based performers where the infrastructure exists and is relatively easy to access, but does not apply to those based in peri-urban areas and villages with limited or no access to the relevant infrastructure. Bearing in mind these challenges facing rural-based musicians…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…, we passed through Rodi Kopany, a small center with an interesting historical background. The name Rodi Kopany was derived from the words ‘Road Company’ because back in the day a campsite for the laborers building the tarmac roads in the region was located there. It would appear the full name of the company in English was too much of a mouthful and the locals simplified it to ‘Rodi Kopany’. When Ben Mukabwa returned to Kakamega after our last rec…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…tebul Music have just launched Episode 2 of their online series Shades of Benga Online, to go alongside their book ‘Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya 1946 -2016’. You can watch the latest episode below, and also find out more at their website here. Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music in Kenya delves into the foundations of modern Kenyan music, examining external influences from the English waltz to Afro Cuban Rumba and…
Meeting Ketebul: an interview with Tabu News
…nd contemporary. Our problem with artists in Kenya is that they lack that identity. Being good is one thing but being unique is another. We see a lot of copycats, so when someone comes along that has a genuinely unique sound that is influenced by traditional roots we get very excited. What kind of challenges do you think Singing Wells faces? One of the biggest challenges we face is that we don’t get our artists to perform enough to build their ide…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…nterested and is not restricted to academic or research purposes. The physical archive at Rhodes University is open normal business hours, unless special arrangements are made. 2. Global Music Archive This archive is housed within the Anne Potter Wilson Music Library in Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, which is located in Nashville, Tennessee, and was founded in 2003 by Gregory Barz, Associate Professor of Musicology (Ethnomusicology…
Archiving Guidelines News
…provide guidelines for the archiving and storage of both digital and physical sound files. Online Sound Archiving The International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) released the second edition of an online publication – Guildines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects (IASA-TC 04) – in 2009, which is described as ‘an accepted authority on digital audio preservation in the sound archiving field.’ It is info…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…music – with its complexity of rhythms, flair for storytelling and historical richness – was worth preserving. Hugh Tracey 1903 – 1977 Arriving in Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe – in 1921 with his brother, who had been awarded land after his efforts in World War 1, the young man of only 18 years old had the foresight of a wise elder. He was surrounded by disdain for African culture from the Christian missionaries, who forbade the playing of the mbira, d…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…the launch for a new initiative by the Cape Verde government. It has been calculated that music is their biggest export and so has set up the African Music Forum to make it easier for musicians to make a living – from visas and flights to financial support. It is an exciting time, and seems to chime in with what Eddie Hatitye announced for Music in Africa. Members of the Music Producers Guild led a discussion on ‘What do producers actually do?‘ –…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…ebul Music, Tabu recruits and develops musicians committed to the rich musical cultures of East Africa. His goal is not simply to preserve this music, but bring it back to life with contemporary musicians putting a modern stamp on traditional music. A few thousand miles north of Nairobi, our band of musicians at Abubilla Music in London had similar concerns. Some of us had travelled through East Africa and we were astounded by the quality of the t…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…eas we visit, we want to know as much as possible about the tribal and musical structure of East Africa. Over the last few months The Abubilla Music Foundation worked with Tati Kalveks and Rosie Balfour-Lynn to do this research. It was directed using WorldMap, an interesting way of visually displaying data. Here is a shot of the map below, the highlighted regions are the areas in which layers of information have been embedded. When accessing the m…
Singing Wells – Origins News
…ebul Music, Tabu recruits and develops musicians committed to the rich musical cultures of East Africa. His goal is not simply to preserve this music, but bring it back to life with contemporary musicians putting a modern stamp on traditional music. A few thousand miles north of Nairobi, our band of musicians at Abubilla Music in London had similar concerns. Some of us had travelled through East Africa and we were astounded by the quality of the t…
Andy’s cover of Boys of Summer News
…inception back in 2010 but when he isn’t working on the project or producing music for various clients he actually finds time to write and record his own material and is also a member of Abubilla Music’s house band, The Saturday Morning Canasta Club. You can listen to more of Andy ‘s music online at his website: click here but before you go over there have a listen to his brilliant cover version of Don Henley’s Boys of Summer, recorded this summe…
How to Map 2: The Map Outline News
…ailable for free download from this page, such as elevation and population density, but for our purposes we’re only interested in administrative areas, i.e. the regions and districts of a country (though these may have other names, such as aimags in Mongolia). Clicking OK will take you to a page which displays the data you are about to download – an outline of the United Kingdom. Click Download. This will download a .zip file called, in this case,…
Congratulations Singing Wells! News
…collaborative efforts at recording, archiving and disseminating music ethically are so important. I met Tabu Osusa and Bill Odidi while doing some training on audiovisual archiving in Kenya as part of a British Library World Collections Programme initiative. It was a great pleasure and it is wonderful to see these fruits of their expertise and enthusiasm. Janet Topp Fargion, Lead Curator World and Traditional Music, British Library website: http:…