Day 2: Nairobi to Kitale & an interview with Pato Story
…as in Nyanza at the home of Josef Kokeyo. “Our fixer had accidently picked up the wrong group – they were terrible and didn’t care about the music and performed songs which are just performed for tourists. Not real music and not good. I knew the second it started. I was so glad it started raining and we could get out of there.” [Editor note: we did not include this group in any Singing Wells materials.] So here is Pato’s favourite Singing Wells tr…
Day 1: In Nairobi, packing and talking to Tabu Story
…morning to get ready for our trip tomorrow. Ketebul is buzzing with people getting everything packed up. Steve, project manager, was cracking the whip. Pato, head of Video, was quickly learning how to use the new lighting kit (SW 4), but he was constantly distracted by the new Singing Wells Flip Camera. Nick focused on learning the Clapperboard. And Willie joined Jimmy in the studio with Johnnie, the guitarist, to lay down some guitar tracks for t…
Victoria’s reflections on the music of the Batwa Story
…sion – sounds 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 del…
Return of the Batwa @ Ketebul Music Studios Story
…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; the first in the studio and the last…
From Kisoro to Nairobi to Lake Victoria Story
…g to smoke near the back door of the plane while we were refueling. Nice. 1-2-3 Clap: We have three cameras and 6 mics. When we mix a DVD, all those elements needs to be synched up, which is quite a complex operation. An easy way to help is to have a ‘clap’ at the beginning of the take so that Pato can line up the three videos and audio. We talk to the musical groups and explain that Pato will say “1, 2, 3” and then clap. They are then able to sta…
Day 6: The Studio @ Traveller’s Rest Hotel, Kisoro Story
…t two vans early in the morning to pick them up and suggested that each group bring up to 8 people to sing and dance. They each brought over 20. In two vans. Both groups were fantastic, the first was the Gatera Community: https://youtu.be/ab4ZEqPNYpE https://youtu.be/yMq_r9XSXM0 https://youtu.be/lrowXUbwTSU https://youtu.be/lu1YXMKnJts https://youtu.be/BulZceL6gXs Kabahenda Batwa Community We now think we know where James Brown got “the act” fro…
Day 5: Recording the Mperwa Dancers Story
…resting… 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 captivating performance.. This older gentlemen joins the performance and takes the lead in most dances… While spectators from every generation take a seat for the performance… Here are the videos: https://youtu.be/zFjbdw9j1io https://youtu.be/W_VV8xEYziM ht…
Day 4: UOBDU and the Birara Dancers Story
…d Steve. And the SWP team pose at UOBDU proudly wearing our Singing Wells t-shirts We picked up the UOBDU generator and headed to the Birara Dancers, 23 kilometers up in the hills. 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 introduct…
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…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 and we discussed the idea of a mobile recording studio. From that discussion, we established Singing Wells. We thought something might happened because Tabu was pretty sure – but it was odd to get this e mail out of the blue. But then Andy came down in October 2010. First time…
More Ketebul voices…Steve reports from the field News
…ere also trying to get some recording done before sun down so we wanted to get up and running ASAP. On location in the river bed… Supaki Kalazi played 4 songs in the Mwanzele style. Every now and then, a motorcycle would ride past, and we would all cringe knowing the sound would definitely leak into our recording. Supaki Kalazi Then came what turned out to be everyone’s favourite group on the trip, Sengenya, led by Munyaka Chimenga. This group was…
More on the launch of the Ketebul Music website News
…vered a great site right on brief and within a tight budget which is a big bonus for the Singing Wells funds. Here are a few words from Wesley Burden about the challenge we gave them…… “Ketebul Music required a website design that delivered a strong sense of the colourful music of East Africa and the traditions that their non-profit organisation aims to help preserve. Using our experience from working with Abubilla Music and Sideways Recordings we…