Makunga Group
…a (Wooden water troughs, played on ground like calabash, which was used in last song). The group started their performance with the most extraordinary set of customs – human shakers! We recorded seven performances: Intro, Freestyle recording of their entrance. Masasi: the celebration song after circumcision completed Nindo: Song on social issues Muhene: Song during girl ceremony where she reaches puberty and now must be hidden from village for 40…
Kithara Group
…ter that due to noise. We hope to have this group come to the hotel on our last recording day. We felt bad that they only were able to perform one song but they took it graciously. Performers: Rajab Suleiman (qanun and director), Mohammed Hassan (accordian), Fum Faki (bongo and tabla), Tatu Khamis Haji (singer) Songs: Chungu – means Pot, composed by Said Ali 10 years ago Usikhofu – means “Don’t Worry” Composed by Rajab 8 years ago Pendo Langu Ledh…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…ified it to ‘Rodi Kopany’. When Ben Mukabwa returned to Kakamega after our last recording in Kisumu, Dave Otieno joined us in Rongo and teamed up with Fiston Lusambo to continue our experimental fusion of contemporary elements with traditional sounds of Western Kenya region. Dave and I go back a long way as we worked together on several musical projects under the Nairobi City Ensemble. Other notable projects with Dave were during the period of Spo…
Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…mping about a foot off the ground with each ‘kick’ – this went on for four minutes. You can learn more about the group here. You can watch the full visual performance of this song on our Youtube channel by clicking here. Download the loop singingwells · SW Samples – Ohangla Drum Solo 146BPM singingwells · SW Samples – Rubanga Kingdom Awach Boys 127BPM Rubanga Kingdom Awach Boys – 127BPM The Rubanga Kingdom Awach Boys are from Awach in Northern Uga…
Day Three: 9 March 2022 (Kisumu) Story
…ng session went uninterrupted and was completed shortly before 6:00pm. The last group to be recorded was the newly formed Asego Ensemble. These musicians travelled all the way from the southern side of the lake and had to wait for the whole day for their turn to record. By the time they came on stage at 8:00pm, they were rather fatigued but started their show with cover songs of other established groups and switched to their own compositions at ou…
Aynu Traditional Group Group
…the gazelle had broken out all animals followed from her womb. Man was the last to come out. The first human beings are said to have been twins: Arube and O’duu. Arube was a boy while O’duu was a girl. These twins, unlike their parents Gboro-Gboro and Meme, were believed to have been ordinary human beings and tradition asserts that they were born in the ordinary way. Meme died immediately after giving birth to the twins, who then grew up to marry…
Biluli Dutwa Group
…orms in the Busumabudo style. Lake the Snake Dances we recorded during our last trip, this group is part music, part circus, part acrobatics. A wonderful crowd pleaser! We recorded eight songs with them: Balogi Wa Ngamboshi: This is about the Wizards of Balogi, where wizardry is perceived as a negative thing, evoking witch doctors and snake oil salesmen. Simiyu: A song for praise for the region. Bahuni ba ng’wanza: A song referring to local women…
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…musical loops, taken from our field recordings across East Africa over the last decade, and are looking to commission several artists, producers, dancers, videographers and songwriters to show how this “traditional” music is still relevant into today’s modern world. Below you will find links to the musical loops we have selected that are available to download for the project, If you are interested in joining the Global Influences Project, you can…
Imachina Group
…themselves after the village where they live. As with many groups over the last two days, most of their songs are for processions, like weddings, funerals, bullfights or rites of passage. So they tend to play 3-4 songs in a row to match the procession. We asked them to pick their favourite processions and then play a couple songs within these. They played: The Shirembe procession, which is a special funeral for a very big local hero, where you mig…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…ession of the day than it started drizzling. Fortunately, the rain did not last long and by 7:00pm we were back on track with Julius Itenya and his Super Phoenix Band on stage. They were a well-rehearsed team and all went according to plan until a group of mourners appeared from nowhere with a coffin of a dead relative that had just recently arrived from Nairobi. Although the burial was planned for the following day, the emotional villagers were a…
Conclusion: Challenges and Recomendations Story
…ecording mission is quite satisfactory. Considering the limited time and a number of challenges encountered, I believe we managed to accomplish most of the set objectives and bring back an extensive amount of data and video/sound materials of very good quality. However, there is space for improvement. I think that team work was successful, although division of roles, more particularly on the data collection part on the project, was initially blear…
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…) the better! Muwewesi Xylophone Group Unsurprisingly for the Muwewesi Xylophone Group, the Xylophone is the star of the show. A giant xylophone lays across the floor, played by 8 musicians, alongside vocalists, pipe flute players and tube fiddle players. Based in Nakisenye, East Uganda, we visited the group in 2013, and when we arrived we found that the band had been there since morning preparing – they had dug the pit for the xylophone, with the…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…I – leg rattles; EFIRIMBI – a metallic whistle; OLWIKA – antelope horn aerophone; LIKHANGO – another aerophone made out of a reed attached to a wild goat horn; MUTINDI – flat two-skin drum played using two wooden sticks. Their props included spears (lifumo), shields (esikhumba), fly whisks (mukia) and clubs (eskong’o). They were wearing hats and tops made out of leather, leaves and feathers, and most original skirts which were in fact recycled umb…
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…s group, from the Sukuma community, was formed in 2010 and performs with a number of styles: Bukomia Lume, Buchheye, Wigashe. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums), Pembe (animal horns, large impala), Firimbi (flute), and Njuga (shakers). We recorded five performances: Ntale Atabihyala: ‘The boss, who is always wrong, wants to be always right. Just accept it’ Ba Tanzania (Malima): Praising country, encouraging farmers and hard work – this song h…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…ians via M-pesa and Pay-Pal contributions. Another possibility was to sell tickets with the use of online access codes that admit ticket holders into the virtual performance. The result was that a number of live streaming studios where performers book sessions to perform and stream their concerts sprung up in Nairobi. Some venues also adapted to hosting online performances, directly streaming shows to mobile devices and computers of audiences wher…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…e look at how to shape these trees to create and tune each note on the Xylophone. From Embaire to Entongooli: Part 2 In this video, we continue to learn about the process of building the Embaire, also known as the xylophone, to help educate our young music scholars about music, melody and instrument building. We are shown how they finish off their Embaire and then talk to some young students about what they have learned. What is clear from our tri…