Day Five: Ilesi, Khayega to Kisumu Story
…d the song tells people to come toward the smell and honour the man. Don’t run from this, confront it and honour his memory. The Mayo Procession – this is about bullfighting. The songs include: Lukumili: This is about the moment the horns lock between the two fighting bulls and the context really begins. Ing’ombe: This is about the bulls (I can’t read my handwriting here!) Iminyi: This is a type of bird that hides in roofs and is difficult to find…
Discovering the lost music of the Ugandan Kingdoms Gallery
…lost music and musicians. We’ve been posting regular updates about our journey which you can read on our Field Reports section. Including: Some background and the beginning of our journey to discover the lost royal drums of the Buganda Kingdom Context on the Entenga royal drums we’ve been searching for The story of Musisi – a drummer from the royal palaces and the fall of the Buganda Kingdom Some information on the progress of the Bigwala trumpet…
Bigwala Instrument
…y, accompanied by a specific dance. A typical performance begins with one trumpet; other trumpets then join in followed by drummers, singers and dancers in that order. The singers and dancers move in a circular formation around the five drummers, swaying their waists gently and raising their hands with excitement in time with the music and rhythms. Women spectators ululate as the performance nears its climax. Bigwala plays a significant role in co…
FAQ’s Page
…we also benefit from the voluntary help of the Abubilla Music Foundation trustees and UK Project Managers. How long have you been working on the project? We made our first field recording on the Kenyan coast in March 2011. The Abubilla Music Foundation was granted charitable status in June 2011.We are currently preparing for our 10 year anniversary, and are doing a countdown of our Top 20 Singing Wells moments here. How do you discover the music…
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…
Group 2: Sophie Nzayisenga Story
…d instrument) since she was six years old, and she has played all over the world. Tabu, Kathy and Daisy had time to interview Sophie as the crew set up. She is the only professional female inanga player in Rwanda. Her mother died when she was four; as a result, she spent time with her father and grandfathers, all of whom played the inanga professionally (her paternal grandfather even played for the king’s palace). She was born in a village in the…
Privacy Policy Page
…el this is the best way to do it. You’ll also notice that all sites are starting to do it. The directive says that functions that are essential to the site are exempt, so sites with shopping carts that remember what you have added etc. won’t have to ask you, but sites like http://www.bbc.co.uk do – and you will notice them asking you about it. The ruling was passed a few years back, and they gave a grace period which expires on the 26th May 2012…
Stories Page
…our ongoing projects and some of the incredible people we have met. Music Read some of our articles and stories behind the Music of East Africa. Dive into musical genres, different instruments and the musicians keeping these traditions alive. Picture We manage to take some beautiful photos on our trip. Find out the stories behind some of our favourite pictures we have taken on the field. Community Get to know some of the inspiring communities we…
Kijaruba Group Group
…Kijaruba Group are a group part of the larger Bigilia Group. We met them on our 2017 field trip to Tanzania. You can read more about them on the Bigilia page here….
Likembe Instrument
…create lower notes. The sound is very similar to that of a calypso steel drum band. The Rubanga Kingom Awach Boys are a full likembe band, with about 8-10 likembe players in each performance. Their likembes range from 6 to 20 inches, with the largest played on an over turned tub so that the bass notes resonate. They play songs about war and disease which so often affected their communities in the recent past. We next came across the likembe when…
Group 6: Sudi Mavenge Story
…was twelve (and indeed was taught by him to play), but who also sings and today he played percussion. Sudi’s other guitarist also used a set of drumsticks as his own percussion, tapping them together for a beat. We recorded the following songs: Ku Minini – this is a story about a boy who loved a girl, but they lived far apart – she was in Ku Minini and he was in Rwesero. The boy wouldn’t choose anyone local but instead would travel far to Ku Mini…
Visiting the Ketebul offices in Nairobi Gallery
…On Monday I took a trip to visit the Ketebul guys at their studio in Nairobi. Tucked away in an unassuming street, Ketebul is situated in the Go Down Arts Centre, a graffited music enclave of made up of some seriously hip outlets. I was visiting to interview Tabu, you can read the interview here….
The Kalenjin of Kenya Album
…the album with the track ‘Kamitol’) and secondly the Takar group – their Korutan and Chepo Mining making it through past technical difficulties on set. The very visual performances of the and the Sagat group (their image is on the cover) and the Embolet are both represented on the album. The final field day of the trip was spent recording the Tugen. The vocal harmonies of the performances have been captured well, with The Elimu Cultural Promoters…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…we made to them on ways of improving their performances. Most of them were ready to experiment with new ways of playing their traditional musical instruments, as well trying to devise standard tuning for them. Furthermore, we appreciated the fact that our intentions were well received and that the musicians did not consider us to be some arrogant city slickers trying to teach them their own cultures and traditions. Our goal was to build resilience…
Our Sponsors Page
…included accommodation at the Airport Guesthouse and the use of their 4×4 truck and wonderful driver, Musa. www.gorillatours.com Anne Wright, The Wright Approach Type of sponsorship: Field Recording day in Kenya, Music of the Kalenjin, March 2012 Thank you to Anne for her kind and generous donation to towards our 2012 field recording visit to Kenya. Read all about it here. http://www.annewright.com/index.asp Institute of International Educatio…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…submission from Kenyan techno artist, Makossiri. Describing herself as “A true rebel from the outerworld who defies boundaries through her genre bending sound grounded in African rhythms with a futuristic twist”, we loved how she took these beats and created something truly unique. Talking about her process, she said “I used the Aloka ohangla drum solo loops for this track. I usually like to start my music creation process with layering drums and…