Hitching a ride Story
…icture on our journey from Kisoro to the Birara community while we were in south west Uganda documenting and recording the music of the Batwa. It’s about 35kms by road, most of which is uphill, following the winding road through the stunning, lush countryside. This guy was lucky enough to have a bike and took advantage of the passing lorry. Most people seemed to be on foot and many of the Batwa make the arduous journey to town three times a week,…
Current Leading Figures News
…ol services, annual university graduation ceremonies to a crowd of over 40,000 people, and perform every Wednesday to each other during a recital hour. However, when asked if they record their own music, James says “We lack good equipment to record the music professionally but it is an idea that requires serious and immediate consideration. ” NACOFU, which he is a member of, is attempting to address this problem – to document folk music – but is c…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…training in performance of African music. Diane Thram became Director in 2005 and, under her leadership, an online listening library has been created, in line with the cutting edge of content access, to allow anyone to listen to Hugh Tracey’s recordings, with work currently being done to also make the Dave Dargie and Andrew Tracey Collections available for online access. There are over 12000 30 second recordings from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The a…
A History of Recording East African Music News
…Fellowship grant to study South Rhodesian music, with which he made over 600 recordings, and inspiring traditional English musicians, Ralph Vaughn Williams and Gustav Holst, at the Royal Academy of Music, who urged him to “discover every chord” of traditional African music, Tracey ran out of funding. He became a broadcaster, utilising every opportunity to promote African music. However, he could not stay away from Africa long, and in 1946 realise…
Tracey Instrument Collection News
…t it ‘plays the lead in several drum ensembles among Bantu speakers in the southern part of Uganda. Sharp crackling sound contrasts with warmer cowhide sound of the laced ‘Uganda drums’.’ It is made from legavaan, or rock monitor (a large type of lizard found in South Africa), skin which gives it the ‘crackling’ sound. The legavaan is now actually endangered in Uganda, as it is demanded so much for drums, lyres and fiddles. Endara log xylophone Th…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…particular suprise here – in a population of 1.2 billion, 50 % are under 30 and consuming music. In Africa – 60% have electricity whereas 86% have a mobile phone. This is again another area in which the Singing Wells project may be interested in the future – mobile phones and ring back tones as a method of delivery for music. Mike and I also attended the African music networking session which became the launch for a new initiative by the Cape Ver…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…c Our first recording day will take us to Masaka in Central Uganda about 140 kms south west of Kampala. Here we will record two Baganda music groups: Kika Troupe and Bukala Troupe (from the town of Rakai). These groups were identified by James Isabirye who will be our local liaison contact while we are in Uganda. Steve met James following a chance meeting with an old friend while in Kampala for the ‘recce’ trip. Here’s an extract from Steve’s note…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…still counting! It’s not a meaningful number in itself (like a nice round 100,000 – our next target) but it does mean more and more people are finding us and enjoying what we are all about – bringing the more traditional sounds of East Africa to an enthusiastic audience. Thanks for watching! Our top 3 video hits In third place, this is the Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club from Sita Village, Gede in Kenya’s Malindi District. It was the very first vide…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…write and….gulp…. survived. To re-cap the journey so far. We set out at 1300 for Soroti to Kampala, promised to arrive before dark. We were chased back to Soroti with a broken right wheel spring on one of our vans. Some fast welding and we set out at 1530 promised an hour and a half of night driving. The road was rougher than predicted and arrived on the Nairobi road at about 1845. At 1930, the same van has the back left tire go. We are now off a…
How music archives can help communities News
…the community we recorded for the Singing Wells project back in November 2011 (click here for field reports). In the mid 1960’s an ethnomusicologist called Peter Cooke recorded oral histories of the Batwa tribe in Uganda, who were, at that time, a community of forest dwelling hunter-gatherers. Cooke’s recordings were subsequently archived at the British Library. The recordings were recently found by Chris Kidd, a Ph.D. student who was working for…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…e changing, however. Since the Female Genital Mutiliation or ‘FGM’ Act in 2009 the practice has been on decline, but this year in particular Pokot men have come to women’s aid by rejecting the practice. There were reports in February of this year of men demonstrating with large placards against FGM. One man, Mr Lotolim, a resident of Jumbe village in Amudat District, reported that Pokot men often only resort to polygamy because their first wives h…
Northern Uganda: Day 1 – Entebbe to Gulu Story
…ked lunch. We drove. We drove. And we raced faster and faster to make it to Gulu before DARK, our true horrible enemy on drives. Darkness just fell as we hit Gulu, which was fine, as we slowed right down and joined the chaos of the Gulu city center. We pulled into our hotel at around 1910, only 10 minutes or so after our target time. We pulled into the Acholi Inn, unloaded all the equipment to our rooms and quickly feel into a dinner of Nile Speci…
Background on the Music of Northern Uganda News
…Certainly, in the documentary ‘War Dance’ by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix in 2007, people in the North dealt with the scars of the recent attacks by the Lord Resistance Army thorugh playing and making music together. This transcends any past tension between tribal groups. In parallel, music is a fantastic way of holding on to tribal identity, as many villages were evacuated and millions were moved into displacement camps. Being away from home, the tr…
Acholi Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…ist movement lead by Joseph Kony that ravaged Northern Uganda in the late 20th century and early 21st, and has since moved on. As a consequence, the Acoli are now emphasizing the importance of musical, dance and festival tradition, in an attempt to rediscover their cultural glory. Language: They speak a Southern dialect of Luo. Origins: Folklore states that Luo was the first man, and sprung from the ground, son of Jok (God) and Mother Earth. His s…
Victoria’s reflections on the music of the Batwa Story
…s like Jimmy suffered the biggest attack) and the studio is set-up for a 9.00am start. Things run a little late (we’re becoming accustomed to delays) as we wait for people to arrive and when they do we start another full day of recording. As we are at the hotel, some of the other guests gather to see what’s going on outside under the verandah where we have set up the ‘studio’. They can hardly believe their eyes – and ears – and are delighted to wi…
Day 3: Homa Bay and the Kochia Dancers Story
…session with Winyo and Jesse on guitar: And that concluded the afternoon with the Kochia Dancers. The Singing Well Team 30 November 2011…