Day 1 – Saturday 1st July 2017 Story
…mu, who was to be our fixer in the area. Son of late Okumu Orengo, a well‐known nyatiti master previously recorded for SW, Meshack took up the nyatiti after his father’s death. His discussion with Rapasa and Ketebul’s Tabu Osusa brought up several interesting points, including: ‐ Differences between the two most commonly used trees for nyatiti resonator – ngowu (oak tree) and poch ondero (fig tree); ‐ Trees used or arms and head of the instrument…
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…
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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…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…atives across the global for our #GlobalInfuencesProject – Submissions are now closed for any further entries. L3GS X OTACHO YOUNG STARS//NYATITI GROUP//JOGINDA BOYS Our final submission for this years Global Influences Project comes from a producer trio from Nairobi named L3GS. We loved the mellow vibes of this track and it’s amazing how well they have incorporated the loops to create a contemporary sounding beat. “It was great working with the s…
2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…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 to facilitate learning.” Below is a video documenting the progress of the drums thus far. https://you…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…ing for three reasons: We had the whole day so were able to record a large number of songs and do an “Influences” session. This gave the village children time to get to know us and understand our mission. By the end they were singing along to all the songs. In addition to being a professional musician, Leo also teaches music to school children so he is a natural with kids. On all the songs that he did, he had the whole village singing and laughing…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…lowed Singing Wells, you will know that we’ve been working for seven years now in Kenya and Uganda. We thought we would have covered more countries by now, but we have been blown away by the richness of the traditional music in these two countries, so we kept going back. We are very excited now to start our work in Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo on this trip but also recognize this is tip of the iceberg. We think we will be spending next 3-4 years com…
Our journey to the Royal Drums: in the words of James Isabirye Story
…f identity how can you know where you’re going as a society? If you don’t know your roots, how do you know who you are? This matter has concerned a circle of my friends deeply since around 2003 and we’ve all tried to deal with it. I have a circle I talk to all the time about this, including Julius Kyakuwa, Centurio Balikoowa, Haruna Walusimbi, Sarah Mukyala and Cornelius Mwima. We all understand that without intervention, somehow, all this music –…
Singing Wells Approaches 5 Million Views News
…few months we have almost doubled our views on our Youtube channel and are now approaching 5 million total views across our videos. When we started Singing Wells almost ten years ago, we set an aim to bring the traditional music of East Africa to a wider audience. It amazing to see the Youtube algorithm agreeing that this is a project worth showing people! We can’t wait to bring more songs and stories to the world. Keep an eye out on the Singing W…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 2 – Flutes Story
…I committed to restoring the Buganda Royal Drums. Left: Richard Sewanyana, Right: Albert Ssempeke Albert is here this time to record the Royal Flutes, the Endere. He then followed the Bigwala Model and has worked with Richard Sewanyana. Now, keep up here, remember we met Richard on December 2, in the village of Bamusuta B Kimuzula. His was the amazing story of his father pretending to play the flute to stay in the palace only to be discovered by h…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…set up we described here, Abass made the three standalone drums on the far right of the set up. We interviewed Abass on the steps of drum making. These are: 1. Preparing the wood “You cut a tree and then you cut individual pieces – long for long drums, short for short drums. Then you bore the hold into the log,” (the tool used is Ekifumu) “you then let the wood dry in the sun.” Here Abass showed us a wooden ‘pail’ that had the rough outline of a s…
Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
…. And then I got a call to revive the drums and I thank God for that. I am now so happy and they call me The Professor because I’m teaching these drummers how to play the Royal Drums and I want to do nothing more with my life than to help this music be heard.” Musisi’s work: drummers setting up to perform And we’ll stop there. We will report more on Musisi as the week goes on, but we felt this was the right place to start, the telling of his last…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…d us he never thought he’d hear the music again, and his only goal in life now is to teach the teachers so the drums will live. Albert Ssempeke couldn’t believe they were back. And the drummers loved it, telling us this is the most sophisticated, complicated, beautiful music they have ever played. Most of the drummers are teachers and are now committed to teaching this music to others. According to their leader, Shaban, “the music is back.” But th…
The Return of Bigwala News
…died out. When the kingdoms were restored in 1990, very few players with knowledge of constructing and playing the bigwala remained alive. James Isabirye, a Lecturer at the Department of Performing Arts of Kyambogo University in Kampala, has been striving since 2012 to restore knowledge of the instrument, receiving help from UNESCO, on their List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, to preserve the instrument. https://w…
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…are from the listeners’, not the players’ perspective. Starting on the far right, you see the three standalone drums. The player of the 14th and 15th drum, the ones on the far right and the biggest of the three, is called the NAKAWOMBE and he has two big sticks. He provides a lot of flourish on the loud parts, as he’s playing the two biggest drums of the Entenga. The player that works with him, playing the 13th drum, is referred to as the OMUTEMYO…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…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 focus on this? GT: I don’t know and it makes me angry. No offence to our partners from the Abubilla Music Foundation, but why it is that you guys needed to step in to make this happen? I’m grateful, but where were we? Why isn’t this our problem? I am concerned that the Kenyans aren’t doing it for themselves. Without AMF, we wouldn’t b…