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…o #6 – Meeting the “Philosopher” of Basoga Music: Nathan Matta Nyende Play Video A Truly Great Songwriter When deciding with the team who needed to be in our top Singing Wells moments, the story of Bakuseka Majja Matta came up multiple times. A man who’s reputation preceded him, and then was blown out of the water by seeing him perform in the flesh. Nathan Matta Nyende is a legend of Ugandan music and a truly masterful songwriter. We were first in…
Patrick Ondiek Staff Profile
…photography. On graduating, he worked in computer software before founding Foxhole Entertainment with some school friends which focused on making videos, studio recording and renting out PA equipment to DJs. Music has always been a major influence in Pato’s life and he grew up listening to Joseph Kamuru and Ochieng’ Nelly but it was on joining Ketebul Music and following the ‘Spotlight Series’ when he began to really love tribal music. So when the…
Influences songs from Singing Wells Group
…a new generation of musicians and fans who might not consider it relevant today. So, we have developed the Influences series – a fusion of traditional and contemporary styles. Each time the Singing Wells team embarks on a field recording visit we are joined by a talented musician who works with us on ‘Influences’ songs. They work with us in the field and also in the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi to produce this new material. We believe our Inf…
Day Five: February 20, 2020 (DCMA) Story
…opana (guitar, kalimba (hand held thumb piano), lead singer), Heri Kombo (drums) Songs: Mwaludeja – Kirundo group started with this song they had composed. Tarajazz joined in. Nyumbani – Tarajazz started and Kirundo joined in. They improvised together. It was wonderful to see the combination of traditional instruments such as the Tanzanian drums, Kaliba, shakers and sticks along side more Western instruments such as the piano, saxophone, cajon…
The Singing Wells podcast #5 Podcast
…Edition 5 of the Singing Wells podcast is here – with a bit of a catch up on the latest news from the past 12 months of the Singing Wells project. Click here to download Podcast 5…
Fadhilee Itulya Staff Profile
…nted to listen to the news on radio. After high school he worked as a construction worker to fend for himself. Meanwhile he mastered his guitar, volunteering to teach kids music at the neighbouring Soweto slums. He continued offering private guitar lessons even after joining the University of Nairobi, where he is studying International Relations and Diplomacy. His first break in professional music was at the 2008 edition of Spotlight on Kenyan Mus…
Original Chuka Drummers Group
… Original Chukka Drummers, led by Eustace Mjuki Bundi. They are 30 males who all play drums except for their banner waver. They were formed in 1930 and have spawned so many imitations that they had to add the word ‘original’ to their name. They are Ameru, of Tharakanithi County. The group plays on all occasions, during harvests, births, weddings, marriages. The play the Mwinjira (Drums) and Biringi (Whistle)….
Conclusion: Challenges and Recomendations Story
…ruments; Preparation of the material used to attach the bridge; Final construction and assembly of the instrument. All of these stages are evidently impossible to do and/or film in one day, and we had to therefore substitute the demonstration of some of them with their description in an interview. If we had done detailed preparations for the field and a recce, we could have informed the makers of all the stages we wish to record and have them prep…
Filimbi Instrument
…A whistle. The word filimbi is Swahili for ‘Whistle’, ‘flute’ or ‘pipe’. – so the instrument name ‘Filimbi’ could refer to any whistle or flute type instrument. We heard this Filimbi in use by a member of the group Zaire Ndindingwara on our field trip to record the music of the Mijikenda in 2011, played alongside percussion – as a bed for the vocalist in the group….
Day Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…leader, on violin, Kheri Mizaka Aliy on African Bass, Makame Ali Juma on drum, Buruhami Makame Haji on 2nd drum, Mgeni Seleiman Makame on sticks, Said Ame Othman on shakers, Aikazija Abdala Ame -dancer, Mirianaharus Juma Hamis – dancer. All sang but Mohamed Othman Faki was lead singer. Sanduku , the bass, was a homemade bass made of a large box with a small hole cut out in the front. It had a large stick which the player held perpendicular to th…
Ayub Ogada Group
…g to hear his theory of 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 g…
Mission Page
…is legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences. As a group of sound and video engineers, producers and musicians, we set out on this mission not to become ‘fossil collectors’ and store the recordings in inaccessible archives. We work with musicians to make sure their music traditions continue to be practiced, can be shared amongst the widest audiences and become a source of inspiration for new musicians. Aims of the Singing Wells Project East A…
What We Do Page
…frican Music During our field visits we collect a vast amount of audio and video recordings. Our mobile studio allows us to record audio via up to 8 different professional quality microphones and video with three HD cameras. Following each visit, this material is post produced to provide an archive of audio tracks and videos. We are in contact with The British Library about adding the Singing Wells collection to their archive of World and Traditio…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…tyles and background, instruments and songs. In almost every village, we struggle with spellings of songs and instruments as these can differ by village and by band. We fully recognize that there are multiple spellings out there, but we defer to the band leader in almost all cases. During a recording 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 dan…
Here for Research? Page
…a. This database is constantly evolving as we discover and record more instruments. The instruments are tagged by their ethnicity, their recording location and the type (simply broken down into stringed, percussion or wind at present) Groups Detailed information about each group we meet on our Field trips. Head here to browse through groups by Location or Genre, or to search directly for a Group that we have met. Each page has information about th…
Pius Wafula Group
…play the following instruments: LITUNGU – a 7-string traditional lyre; ISIRILI – a one-string fiddle; LUENGELE– a percussive idiophone, they use a wooden stool struck with wooden sticks; ENG’OMA – a generic term for drums, they use a plastic water container also struck with wooden sticks; CHISASI – shakers made out of gourds. We recorded five of Pius’s original compositions and were amazed with his rough yet mellow voice….