Victoria’s reflections on the music of the Batwa Story
…ourse, it’s also about providing a new source of income for them. And there was no better place to witness the impact of the Singing Wells project than with the Batwa communities we visited. The Batwa have very little of any material value but they have their songs and dance which give them strong spiritual values. Their music binds them together. It gives them an identity and allows them to keep something of the forest they have lost. Victoria No…
How to Map 2: The Map Outline News
…line source for spatial data at http://www.diva-gis.org/. To get your spatial data you click on Free Spatial Data in the top-right corner. On the Free Spatial Data page click on country level data. On the Download Data by Country page, select the country you need and make sure the Subject is Administrative areas. There is other data available for free download from this page, such as elevation and population density, but for our purposes we’re onl…
Return of the Batwa @ Ketebul Music Studios Story
…voice. She has been a revelation this weekend, with the strongest lead vocals by far. She also happily does back-up vocals for a lot of the songs we’re recording. Jovah Nyiramajoro Jolly (and baby Byaruhanga) Jolly sings with Francis and his two wives. She does some of the most outstanding backing harmonies we’ve encountered. We’ve asked her to sing lead on a couple songs and love her voice. She lives up to her name and is always up for anything;…
Day 4: Discovery of the Young Stars… Story
…l ring (Kengele in Swahili and Ongeng’ in Luo) and a very happy backing vocalist (who also played the Nyangile). Let us tell a bit more about the Nyangile: Below is more detail on the Nyangile and we’ll try to explain how it works. The musician holds two ogeng’, one in his right hand, one in his right big toe. Both are placed on the box. With his left hand he hits either ring (with different sounds), or the side of the box or the top of the box (w…
Day 3: Homa Bay and the Kochia Dancers Story
…the studio we recording the visually spectacular Kochia Dancers. We drove from Kisumu to Homa Bay; we’re on Lake Victoria now at Homa Bay (still 1PM on your Lake Victoria dial) but a little more south and a little more west, on the south shore of the Winam Gulf. After a long drive, we set up at the hotel in a beautiful field against the lake – we’re surrounded by camels and pelicans, which is frankly a bit off putting. The pelicans are big enough…
Day 2: Focus on the Nyatiti, Orutu and DRUMS! Story
…ingwells · Nyatiti Group – Ywak https://youtu.be/M91Fq4BsnRA Okumu Korengo also played all instruments, accompanied by dancers and back up vocals; here he is performing….and posing for a portrait: He gathered a big audience….and The Singing Wells team poses with his band: https://youtu.be/9lnuEPTo1No https://youtu.be/RfDGq0WpDMk https://youtu.be/CyAm45yHzE0 https://youtu.be/JY0a4W0-8ME https://youtu.be/8canGj0fxXo The Village as ‘set’ We try hard…
Day 1: The music of the Luo – starting at Rang’ala Village Story
…The Sega Sega Band Led by Osumba Rateng. This is Benga style, originating from the Luo tribes, as they gradually built on the percussive/bass sounds of the Nytati to form something more bluesy; it morphs later into Rumba, which combines Benga and also Congolese music which is in turn heavily influenced by Cuban music. The big guy in Luo Benga was Daniel Owino Misiani who developed the style in the 60’s. A big reason to return to Luo-lands is to t…
From Kisoro to Nairobi to Lake Victoria Story
…’s hands. The genocide was primarily the Hutu’s against the Tutsi’s, but really all that is a nonsense. While the tribal names had been around for centuries, the modern ‘brand’ of Tutsi and Hutu was established in 1930’s by the occupying Belgians. If you had ten cows or more you were labelled a Tutsi. Less, you were a Hutu. The Belgians relied heavily on the Tutsis, who ended up with all the power and positions under the colonial regime. This is w…
Day 6: The Studio @ Traveller’s Rest Hotel, Kisoro Story
…ural clapping and it suddenly all came together again. Once we have the female vocals recorded, Winyo joins the ladies for the full ‘Influences’ set. And all the time the babies stay close to their mothers and are perfectly behaved during the long session. A favourite photo – note the baby and the lapel mic. We are fairly certain this is a rare occurrence. Then we shifted to an ‘Influences’ session with Francis. He started by teaching…
Day 5 (PM): The ‘Togetherness Group’ from Kanyabukunga Story
…, with the right opportunity, Batwa children can achieve the same educational goals as any other child. Here are the videos which include a Batwa song called ‘Abagyeni Beza’ which is in praise of visitors to the community, telling them that they are beautiful. A lovely song for us to hear! https://youtu.be/MIxv2AOZ7XU https://youtu.be/iYuE_b8lzF8 https://youtu.be/bApTXsrdZ3A https://youtu.be/nh9LxM8OrfE https://youtu.be/CPJ5H7XvdT0 https://youtu.b…
Day 5: Recording the Mperwa Dancers Story
…after a relatively short climb this time, we reach our destination… The small village consists of a handful of traditional thatched huts, some with fires burning inside…. More and more people arrive….and find our cameras and recording equipment interesting… The Singing Wells audio team – Nick, Andy & Willie – start to set up the mixing desk while Patrick and Steve place the mics… The group gathers in place and the lead vocalist starts her captiva…
Day 4: UOBDU and the Birara Dancers Story
…s. Along the way, we picked up an 80 year old member of the tribe who was walking from town back to her village. Yes, she walks the 46 kilometer round trip 3-4 times a week, often carrying goods to market or returning with food for the village. This was our first introduction to ‘Batwa Fitness.’ Along the way to the village we passed beautiful lakes nestled amongs the green hills – here’s one that we effectively drove completely around to get to t…
Day 3: From Nairobi to Kigali to Kisoro Story
…with it all!). We then took Kenyan Airlines (new plane with movies!) to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, population roughly a million. We were met by our drivers Arun and John and drove through heavy rains to the Rwanda-Uganda border crossing near Kisoro. After a rather lengthy crossing, we then drove on to our final desitination – the Traveller’s Rest in Kisoro. Five quick things: Rwanda: Beautiful country known positively for its gorillas, green h…
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…Sound Engineer on day Trainee: Supports Assistant Engineer and takes tutorial from Chief Engineer during session. Chief Video Engineer: In charge of Stationary Camera and placement of Roving Camera 2 Roving Camera 1: In charge of secondary shots of tribal dance. Roving Camera 2: In charge of ‘Making of’ video, plus all interviews, stills of village and logging of all performances (names, songs, background, performers) Here’s a picture of what we…
Photos from the pilot phase Story
…We promised a final set of pictures and some further reflections. And we deliver. …
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…the groups were very large, but because of budgets we could only bring a small number. We had good production but we couldn’t get the whole band in their element . Gargar was an example. Huge women’s group with lots of culture things – women’s rights … we could only work with four. We realised it would be better to take the studio to them. We would get a better view and get a more authentic sound. Then Abubilla Music contacted Tabu for a project a…