A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…e 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 selected so it can easily fit into a few holdalls and four rugged peli-cases which protect everyt…
Group of the Month – Watmon Cultural Group News
…s well as recordings made in both Naguru and at the Entebbe Airport Guesthouse, where due to the generosity and patience of the manager Jan Willem and the other guests, we set up a recording studio in the garden. You can join us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/singingwells and on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/singingwells – if you do tweet any links, please use the hashtags – #gotm and #singingwells We’ll update this page with an…
Kampala traffic jam Story
…plan the itinerary for our field recording trips so that we make the best use of the limited time we have. Steve K from Ketebul Music is our Africa Project Manager and he does an amazing job in the weeks prior to the trip, contacting music groups, booking local accommodation and arranging vehicles and drivers to transport us to some very remote destinations. But even Steve’s meticulous planning could not help us avoid the infamous Kampala traffic…
Day 9 (AM): Ketebul Studio – Influences session for Cheri Story
…with extraordinary sound and video quality. Our second mission is then to use these visits as inspiration for new artists to write music inspired by their tribal heritage. We now have developed a pattern – each field visit involves about 9 days in the field recording new groups AND then we return to Nairobi to work in the studio with tribal musicians discovered previously. Yesterday we worked with Mwenzele-Nyerere wa Konde Music Club on five stud…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…inking a group and song to the ‘bounce’ (final audio) and the three videos used in that take. Time signatures are vital here and as we keep our take list, we keep a record of when the videos stopped and started so we can recover quickly. Fourthly, we need to run our blogs and Facebook entries ‘live’ during our trips, when we get the most interest in Singing Wells. This requires the refilling of all photos to groups and villages so these can be use…
An Evening with Mserego Mwatela Group News
…ormed with his father’s group and then he founded this group in 2007. They use a number of styles, most notably Sengenya, which we covered fully in our March 2011 field recordings in Malindi. We interviewed Swalhe Mwatela Massai and his grandson, Ali Tungwa : Q to the grandfather: In contrast to Uganda, we have seen many villages in Kenya where the traditional music is only played by the older generation. And yet your group is so young and vibra…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…th English names, ferrying folks up and down the highway. They are fun because each is covered with decidedly random words, like Gorgeous, Amen, Big Mama, Jesus Love, Go! Go!, etc… Motorbikes are everywhere, mostly on the side of the road with someone lying beneath them repairing something. In Uganda,, on most of the roads we travelled, there wasn’t a huge problem with ‘passing’ because the roads were not that crowded. Then there are night roads….
A day in the field with Singing Wells News
…esthetically, based on what is available. Other considerations include any useful shelter (it can rain suddenly and heavily) along with the direction of the sun and any sources of noise. Once we have set up for the next group, we begin again by doing a sound check to set the mic gains and the record levels. We then name our audio files so that the take numbers continue from the last performance. We are careful that each take has its unique and con…
Northern Uganda: Day 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…by a percussionist who will also pound the tub for the kick drum and then use a little metal brush as a tom. There are then lots of men with big sticks with metal on them which sound like a snare. All the men sing back up and become a beautiful chorus. 20 folks playing Likembe give you the soft rhythms of Calypso, but as Tabu pointed out, it is more accurate to say Calypso sounds like the soft rhythms of a good Likembe band. Here’s a quick sound…
Northern Uganda: Day 2 – from Gulu to Acet Story
…ation of a bit of Yang: “Once upon a time, when we were still children, we use to play games and go to the harvest with our parents…” Pajoto Youth Group Quite appropriately, after a song about youth, we brought the youth band forward, Pajoto and their instrumental song Dingi Dingi. Here’s the video: Umuny Jubi Ite Yaa They were followed by Umuny Jubi Ite Yaa (essentially the name of their camp plus Ite Yaa, meaning gathering under the Yaa tree). T…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…s you can understand it easily. Looking at a map of where an instrument is used makes a lot more sense than looking at a table of regions and what instruments are used there. As we’ve put the data on a map where you can choose which layers of information you’d like to see, the map is useful for a huge variety of different topical questions, unlike one single chart. It also makes it more accessible to someone coming to this field of study for the f…
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
…andan Adungu played today and the Egyptian arched harp, particularly one housed in the British Museum. It’s dated 1534-1296 B.C and was found in the tomb of Thauenany, Western Thebes (right). Some scholars have rejected the theory that African harps and lyres today were originated from the instruments that were created first thousands of years ago, although there is strong evidence to suggest they were, not only due to their likeness, but because…
Day 1: In Nairobi, packing and talking to Tabu Story
…to bring them to Nairobi to our studio they are much more comfortable because they already know us. We did this last year with the Batwa – bringing them from Kisoro, through Kampala to Nairboi by bus to spend the weekend recording. They created amazing music and had the time of their lives.” Tabu puts a lot of effort into finding the true traditional music. He feels politics and tourism have affected the music we usually hear from the tribes. He…
Victoria’s reflections on the music of the Batwa Story
…e Batwa think it is good that people come to see the mountain gorillas because they pay money to do this and the government can use the money to develop Uganda. They hope that one day the Batwa will benefit from this money. Another is in praise of the President, asking him to work with the Batwa to develop their country. Others are in praise of God thanking Him for having given the forest to the Batwa. (Christianity has been largely adopted since…
How To (Arc)Map News
…and replicate it. To that end, Singing Wells will be blogging about how to use ArcMap 10 and what exactly we’re doing with it, so anyone with access to it can understand and follow along (and that includes members of the Singing Wells team itself). Watch this space for future posts, and if you’re interested in ArcMap, you can find out more here. You can also check out their non-profit organisations’ scheme, which allows registered charities access…
The Batwa Trail News
…on about the living, the medicinal plants, hunting methods… that the Batwa use(d). When I think about the darkness in the Garama Cave and then the sudden singing and dancing, I am still deeply touched. After that in front of a beautiful panorama the singing and dancing continued. I am very happy to have experienced this on my travel and recommend it for all Kisoro visitors. I would be honoured If you use my video on your website. Warmest regards,…