Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…songs. We also recorded Magic Moments with Ekhunjwe instrumentalists only. DAY 2 – Sunday 18th February 2018 Our second day in the field was quite busy, as we recorded three groups in three different locations of the Teso sub-county in Busia County. It was all about Teso traditional music. The Iteso (people of Teso) are Nilotes who live mainly in Eastern Uganda and in Western Kenya. The Iteso of Kenya are about 500,000, the majority of whom live i…
Ayub Ogada Group
…original and pertinent for our Masters of the Nyatiti story. We spent the day at his home in Nyahera location, not far from Kisumu town, and conducted a long yet free of form type of interview. Although a Luo himself, Ayub had never learned how to play the nyatiti in a traditional setting. He picked it up later in his career and studied from a player/teacher at the national cultural centre of Bomas of Kenya in the 1980s. He remembers he had gone…
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…music. If you look at most circus troupes that are touring in the world today, a huge number of the acrobats and clowns are Tanzanian.” Singing Wells Influences: Kahithe One of our recent Singing Wells Influences was dancer and researcher, Kahithe. She has extensive experience in ethnographic research and fieldwork management, as well as 8 years of experience in ethnomusicological research in East Africa, with a special focus on dance traditions…
What We Do Page
…allows us to record audio via up to 8 different professional quality microphones and video with three HD cameras. Following each visit, this material is post produced to provide an archive of audio tracks and videos. We are in contact with The British Library about adding the Singing Wells collection to their archive of World and Traditional Music but we also endeavour to make our recordings accessible to the widest possible audience of musicians…
Ketebul Music Group
…ral identity and also recognizes the special role that artistes play every day in people’s lives. History of Ketebul Music Ketebul Music was established in early 2007 with the ambitious vision to carry out research and promote the diverse fusion of traditional sounds of Kenya and East Africa through the documentation and archiving of the work of musicians who have shaped the various genres of music from the region over the past six decades. In bro…
The Luo of Kenya Album
…shores of Lake Victoria at the Homa Bay Hotel is also included. The final day of recording on the trip saw us head to Rongo – and the settings of Dinky’s Resort Club. The Otacho Young stars, whose image graces the album cover, are featured, as are the Kanindi Jazz Band and Josey Kokeo, performing a special collaboration. As an added extra, also on the album are ‘influences tracks’, recorded in the field. Ketebul Music artist Winyo collaborated du…
Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…emony where she reaches puberty and now must be hidden from village for 40 days (song acts out how girl learns to reject the advances of men, represented by two men playing shakers) Muziki: A song to gain support of the people for the music and dance Muziki: Freestyle Muhongwa: another song from the circumcision ceremony, named after the instrument used (the wooden trough) Group 2: Nyati Muchoya (also spelt Mchoya): From Nzali, the group is from…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…vocals (it was a long night) I later mixed and mastered the track the next day. I wanted a loop that was mostly made up vocals so that I could use it for the hook. The other two loops had an undeniable groove that brought great movement to the different sections of the song making them a perfect fit. My initial intention was for the song to be solely an instrumental, but it felt a bit empty, so I decided to add my vocals to it. It turned out great…
Our Sponsors Page
…ntral Uganda in November 2013. The donation was dedicated to our recording day in Mbale. Click here to read our field report from that day. We were also delighted to welcome Brad Gibbs from Mara to our recording session in Entebbe on our last day in Uganda – click here. Click here to find out more about Mara and the projects supported by The Mara Foundation in East Africa. Bain Capital Type of Sponsorship: Sponsor of Music Groups, Uganda 2013 Th…
FAQ’s Page
…ording gratuity on the day of the recording. This amount varies based on a number of factors such as the number of members in the group and the number of songs we record. In the event of any music we record making money directly (through sales, sync licensing or performance royalties) we will endeavour to channel this money back to the original performers. Can I buy the music you have recorded? A selection of our music is available to download fro…
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…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…eight children and presently lives in the Marura suburbs of Eldoret town. DAY 1: Monday, 07 March 2022 Act Two Artiste: Julius Itenya and Super Phoenix Band Genre: Maveka (Lipala) Location: Kibukosya’s Gazebo – Mukumu Field Notes: The drive to the next location (Kibukosya’s Gazebo) took less than 15 minutes but no sooner had we set up our equipment for the second session of the day than it started drizzling. Fortunately, the rain did not last lon…
Day 2 – Sunday 2nd July 2017 Story
We started day two with a visit to Meshack at his late father’s home in Umala village, Alego constituency (Siaya County). His setting up for playing brought about a discussion and interesting notes on the accompanying “equipment” traditionally used when playing the nyatiti. These include: badiz (a piece of cloth tied to the player’s ankle as background for bells); gara (series of bells; should be a minimum of 8 in a string) and oduong (a foot rin…
Bungoma Roots Band Group
…g’ and showed up at any events that were being held. The band members held day jobs, mostly in construction, and then would gig in the evening, often in clubs filled with drunkards. However, after years of hard work and managing to record multiple records, they needed to bring in other musicians to form a much bigger band. They then produced their third CD in 2013, Namusia, again with Soundcheck in Kisumu. They started performing all over Kenya. T…
Day Two: 8 March 2022 (Ilesi) Story
…ne Garden – Ilesi Field Notes: We woke up to a misty morning on the second day of our recording. The plan for the day was to record the Obasie Palnyang band. Seeing the dark clouds hanging over the horizon we decided not to take any chances of being rained on so we arranged for Spade to pick up the musicians from Malaba and bring them to Josephine Garden in Ilesi. Like the Omutibo Stars and the Super Phoenix Band that we recorded the previous day,…
Day Three: January 20th, 2019 Story
…, we then drove a little over three hours to Mwanza, and stayed at Malaika Beach hotel, where we would stay for two days….