2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…24 drums of big, small, medium and small sizes. We decided to make many because we would like to have enough drums for training a new generation of players. However, the basic number includes: 1 large Uganda drum (played with short heavy beaters) 3 smaller drums (played with long curved sticks) 1 medium drum (played with sticks) 1 long drum (ngalabi – hand-beaten) All together, 6 drums. Therefore, we are making four sets of naizungwe drums mainly…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…ages and all the women talked about their importance to the culture and education of young girls entering adulthood. All expressed sadness that these traditions are dying. The dancing was wonderful. In this case we were reminded of Uganda, where all ages participated and you had a feeling that the young people still really enjoyed the traditional dances. Here, the women are discussing how best to perform their dance for Sophie: And that was day tw…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…e wasn’t normal. He plays his drums like a guitar. You have to listen very carefully to realize not only is he keeping the beat, but he’s also carrying a melody. And he uses 10-12 drums, sometimes more. This is not normal. Every drum was a note for him. He picked the skins for the drums and made them himself, finding in each the perfect tone. I have studied his music over years and I still can’t believe what he could do.” In Dar es Salaam we talke…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…he lives in Kiboga which was about three hours away. She gave me his son’s number and Musisi’s and we called. I talked to him! My only thought at the time was: GET MUSISI TO KAMPALA. I could not lose another teacher. So I agreed I would send money for Musisi to meet with me. I gave him a job to teach students how to play the drums. I was so relieved to have found a drummer. He arrived in Kampala and we set out to teach. But very quickly it was cle…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…fading fast, and we are two teams in two cars chasing after it, trying to capture as much as we can. But as a Kenyan I am frightened that we are devoting so little to this. Where is the supply of talent to help us go further and deeper? Where are the funds? And where is the demand? This is not as easily digestible – there are not a lot of people ready to consume it. You have to care, you have to want to know the music. SW: Why isn’t there more fo…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…e success with their accordion music, but it soon paved way for what the locals called a ‘box guitar’, which truly appealed to the Luo ear. Interestingly the accordion had a far greater appeal and impact amongst the Kikuyu people of central Kenya. In the late 1940s individual guitar players began plucking away at the chords as they would the nyatiti, all the while singing in the language of the lake shore people. Traditional Luo dance forms and so…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…n’t even have a bicycle not have houses. We are showing you can have a musical career. We are growing our knowledge and getting better at representing the culture. Now we have city in Sweden that is starting to partner with us to advance cultural exchanges.” Tabu asked James, “Why did you want to do traditional music?” James answered, “We love traditional music of any ethnicity I understand it now in the context. We started with our music from our…
Central Uganda: Day 4 – Jinja Story
…ly. Steve, Patrick, Jacinta, Nick and Robert voted fish and went off the local casino for ‘the best fish in Uganda.’ Tabu was smartest of all, of course, and convinced the kitchen to cook fish in the traditional Kenyan style AND went to sleep early. We loved recording at the hotel so much that we convinced tomorrow’s group, the Nile Beat, to meet us in the hotel gardens tomorrow morning so we could record them before packing up for Kampala. That’s…
Singing Wells in Numbers…. News
…Andy did a litte homework for this one: Number of recordings of groups: 374 (this does not include other recordings like Magic Moments, Influences, etc…) Number of groups recorded: 83 Number of hours of music: 27 hours and 30 minutes. …
Report from Womex 2013 News
…o be sited next to New Zealand across the way and next door were South Africa! Podcast Andy recorded a few snippets of audio for an upcoming podcast – which will feature on the site soon. The Team A big thanks to Mike and Louise who were marvellous evangelists for the project over the course of the 4 days. Here is a picture of us all at our stand: And Finally… We were intrigued by the two fellas with a load of equipment at the end of one of th…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…hones 2 Shure mics & stands 2 Rode Lavalier omni-directional mics 2 Rode NTG-1 condenser Shotgun mics 1 Matched Pair of AKG C414 XL Microphones 1 Matched Pair of Rode NT5 Microphones 2 Rode professional boom pole 1 K&M telescopic mic stand/boom 1 Canon EOS 7D 1 Canon EOS 60D 1 Canon EOS 5D 1 LED video camera lights 1 Flip HD video camera ThinkTank sun screens (for the laptops) Various Canon zoom and fixed lenses Plus at least 9 Sandisk memory card…
A new type of city Story
…hat the capital would be like; this image speaks a lot about the city. The number of ‘proper’ buildings were few and in only the small centre. It was hilly and most of the roads were not built for vehicles. The shops were small shacks mostly and at night stayed open, lit by candle light. There were animals everywhere and make-shift houses, which starkly contrasted to the taller office buildings you could see in the distance. Despite this unconvent…
The Boy with the Headphones Story
…y invited them to listen to a playback of one of the songs through his headphones and this particular boy overcame his shyness to have give it a try. We could see how hard life is for the Batwa, living on small pieces of borrowed land on the fringes of society but the performance of the Mperwa Dancers did not portray this – it was full of pride and happiness. Once again, we witnessed how important the songs and dances are to the whole Batwa comm…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…ls YouTube channel……73,603 views and 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…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…neer, Patrick Ondiek, adds, ‘I love producing the final videos and getting phone calls from my friends asking me ‘how did you find these musicians?’ I feel like I’m on the cutting edge of music, bringing these talented musicians to my Nairobi friends.’ In addition to our field visits, we have developed an online Music Map of East Africa that charts the tribes of the region, their music, their instruments and influences. The map also shows where we…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…ue and it took a while to check in our 23 bags and convince them to let us carry our 11 carry on bags… Once checked in we then waited in visa line. No issues. By this time the flight is calling for boarding… There’s another line at the gate to go through Kenya security. Big queue and one very angry mzungu who was fed up. We all had to take off our very dirty boots which was unpleasant. Final line up to go through boarding gate which was a walk dow…