What people say about Singing Wells News
…e future.” PSN Europe Magazine Read the review of Singing Wells here. Mark Totokwa via YouTube “This is good stuff – a good example of a sustainable project both in context and content. A big thank you to those behind this project and most importantly to the resourceful musicians. A job well done!” (Posted on YouTube here) Atesh Sonneborn, Associate Director, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings “Andy, It was a real pleasure to speak with you this morn…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…e really pleased that so many people are enjoying the music videos on the Singing Wells 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 plac…
A new type of city Story
…n the distance. Despite this unconventional type of city,I loved it. There was certainly a lot going on and during the week Akello told us many stories of the vibrant buzz in Kampala. Every night there’s music to listen to somewhere in the packed hub of 180,000 people . The image above of the tin houses and the Uganda House of Commons in the background was one of the first pictures I took on the trip….
The Boy with the Headphones Story
…ng and wonderful, joyous singing. By the end of the session everyone was joining in with the performance. We had attracted a large audience of local people who had gathered on the hillside, including, of course, this group of three young Batwa boys who were intrigued with all our recording equipment. Andy 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 t…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…mals have had their fill the herdsmen climb from their wells and disappear into the bush. The songs tell stories of Samburu traditions and help the herdsmen keep a steady rhythm while they lower and raise their buckets. These ‘singing wells’ illustrate the importance of traditional songs in the life of the Samburu tribes people. We think that Singing Wells is a very good name for our project which aims to preserve, celebrate and share the unique m…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…straightforward except we had 34 bags. There was then a line waiting to go into airport. The security guard monitored how many people could enter at one time. While waiting we read the warning signs that pointed out what different kinds of bombs look like. We eyed each other more warily… Once in airport we queued up to put all 34 bags through a detector and walk through another detector ourselves (#2) Once through this line we lined up for Kenya a…
Day 7 (pm): Recording at the Airport Guesthouse, Entebbe Story
…d walked past ‘stage.’ There’s a pretty classic routine here. Folks wander into shot and turn in our direction. First look on their face is one of contentment as they have a very good position to watch the music. Their second look, however, is one of realisation as they face three cameras and 8 mics and 12 people all shouting, “cut.” Cows never react and are far better backdrops. Watmon Cultural Troupe (Link to Music Map) Introducing the band… Nye…
Day 7 (am) – back to Kampala: Naguru to Entebbe Story
…This morning we encounter a perfect urban setting, with the square carved into a hill, with rows and rows of streets below us, and an equal number of streets and houses piled up above us. There were cars, motorbikes and taxi’s driving past and planes flying overhead. Everything was for sale by everyone who walked by. No sleeping cattle. No flower beds. But, as always, there was wonderful music. The first group was the Adungu Cultural Troupe, mast…
An Evening with Mserego Mwatela Group News
…tomorrow for the last day of this trip. We have asked the leader and his grandson back tomorrow for more discussions given they represent exactly what Singing Wells is trying to achieve. Until tomorrow then… Jimmy (Ketebul Studios)…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
…lfour and the Kenya Tourist Board continue to be wonderful ambassadors of Singing Wells, introducing us to interesting and interested people who we can talk to about the project. Earlier this month I was their guest at the World Travel Market at Excel and I met representatives from a number of organisations and companies in the travel and tourism industry operating in the East African counties we are visiting during our field recording trips. I me…
A day in the field with Singing Wells News
…Rest Hotel in Kisoro, Uganda!) We can also combine the two recording units into one to increase the number of inputs, while still working off battery power. The laptops use Avid ProTools recording software – an industry standard for recording and music production. The microphones we have chosen are industry standard models used in studios the world over but, most likely, not seen in the villages of East Africa. The equipment has been carefully sel…
Northern Uganda: Day 1 – Entebbe to Gulu Story
…ar stopped to pick up Akello, a lovely Ugandan singer/songwriter, who is joining the group as our Influences artist. The Emmanuel car headed into Kampala to pick up our press badges. We then headed off to Gulu at around 2PM (yes, we tend to spend a lot of time getting mobile phone cards!) and headed out on a 360 km drive to the town of Gulu in Northern Uganda. Within minutes we were deeply immersed in the ‘classic’ East African road scene: big tal…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
To help us gain as much insight into the role of music in the areas we visit, we want to know as much as possible about the tribal and musical structure of East Africa. Over the last few months The Abubilla Music Foundation worked with Tati Kalveks and Rosie Balfour-Lynn to do this research. It was directed using WorldMap, an interesting way of visually displaying data. Here is a shot of the map below, the highlighted regions are the areas in whi…
Day 5: Recording the Marakwet Story
…1,000 Kenyan runners train here and the roads are filled with athletes training for London 2012. In addition, over 300 foreigners train here, mostly from Europe. We went to the main training centre and interviewed a project manager about why so many people travel all this way to train on the red dirt roads around Iten. She answered: “First, the altitude (roughly 2300 meters) is perfect – right at the peak of natural altitude where you can still t…
Singing Wells – Origins News
…mals have had their fill the herdsmen climb from their wells and disappear into the bush. The songs tell stories of Samburu traditions and help the herdsmen keep a steady rhythm while they lower and raise their buckets. These ‘singing wells’ illustrate the importance of traditional songs in the life of the Samburu tribes people. We think that Singing Wells is a very good name for our project which aims to preserve, celebrate and share the unique m…
Bill Odidi reporting on Singing Wells from London News
Bill Odidi travelled to London in August as part of Ketebul Music’s ‘Kenya @ 50’ music documentary. He teamed up with Andy Patterson while he was here and together they conducted a number of interviews with Kenyan musicians who are now based in the UK. They also had the chance to visit Kenya House in Stratford as a guest of our friends at the Kenya Tourist Board. Here’s Bill’s article published in Business Daily Africa: http://www.businessdailyaf…