Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 4, Part 1 – Reflections Story
…endangered list. Contemporary Ugandan musicians are incorporating the xylophone into contemporary songs. We do need to record the best village players and make sure others can find them, but there is probably a ‘market.’ Bigwala trumpets At the other extreme, the Bigwala horns of the Busoga kingdom or the trumpets of the Buganda kingdom are unlikely to enter the musical mainstream. They are ceremonial instruments and in some sense need a king – t…
Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 2 – Interviews with Musicians of Uganda’s Royal Palaces Story
…ace his father there was a panic and a desire that I go to the palace to replace my grandfather. So I played in the place of my grandfather for about two months, but then there was suddenly chaos. There was no other schooling for me or other musicians– this was my education and job. One day the Prime Minister, Mayanja Nkangi, came into the palace. He said all the village chiefs of the king, including Buddu, had been arrested. And he warned us and…
Ketebul Music presents Shades of Benga Online News
…les largely shaped the present Kenyan sound, with the Benga playing a dominant role. Currently, you can get advance copies from Ketebul Music Studios or place your order by contacting them directly. #shadesofbenga #legendarykenyans …
Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
…e Singing Wells team has been travelling through Tanzania in search of the best groups to record during our upcoming field visit in February. We are struck once again by the amazing talent this country has to offer, and can’t wait to capture some amazing moments with these artists when we visit again with the full team in a few weeks time. Thanks to the good people at Dhow Countries Music Academy for helping us with the information and contacts fr…
Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
…an 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 night at the palace, the last moments the Entenga were played at the palace of the Buganda Kingdom….
Singing Wells Youtube Channel hits 2.5Million views News
…n engaged audience. Here’s a few of the highlights from our channel. First place on the view count – at 272,000 views, goes to our awesome session with Otieno Aloka in his Luo village. Performing with a traditional band, this video of the famous singer of ‘Kanungo Eteko’ is a great example of the Singing Wells project in action; a modern artist connecting to his musical heritage as he plays the traditional orutu, whilst also inflecting it with his…
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…cks much thicker than the Enga. These drums are tuned like the Ugandan xylophone, each with a different note, following the pentatonic scale. Within the set of 12 drums, the third drum from right, the third smallest, is the home note, the ‘1’ for any key. Initially, tuning requires endless adjustments of the ropes that tie down the drum skins. But on a minute by minute basis, the drummers are fine tuning through a combination of water on the skins…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11:An Interview with Gregg Story
…olks roads, modernise them. But Singing Wells has discovered in fact – the best sustainable development is to keep folks rooted in their villages and the best villages are those with a vibrant musical community. This puts the soul, the software at the top of the developmental agenda. Have folks realised this? SW: What is your advice to us? GT: In the context of the vital importance of this, I ask myself ‘what is the future of this?’ What if there…
The History Of Benga Music: A Report by Ketebul Music Story
…nd, which she co-founded with the late Elizabeth Chepkorir, is perhaps the best known non-Luo benga musician in the Rift Valley. But her success was midwifed by the work of earlier musicians such as the Kipsigis musicians Kipchambai arap Tapotuk with his band Koilonget Band, Chebaibai who sang the song “Dot.com” and the famous Kipchambai arap Butuk. Although some young Luo musicians have lately switched their allegiance to rumba, there are others…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…raditional music – but I kept telling them I was taking their music to new places. We knew we were on to something big because everyone responded well to it. I think it is fine to be creative and innovative and rebel – but be a rebel with a cause. Too often kids rebel without a cause – they aren’t rooted. I was a session musician at AGS (African Gramophone Studio) and CMS (Capital Music Studio) studios, both on River Road. I formed Sega Sega and w…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 4 – Nkubu to Mukuuni to Nairobi Story
…et to record because they are such vibrant performers, racing all over the place. When we tried to contain them to get good vocals, we lost the explosive force of the drums. When we let them run wild it was pretty difficult to get a good vocal or audio take. Also, we were accidentally constraining them by asking them to go through their songs one by one, when in fact, what they loved to do was race through all the songs at once, in a single act. W…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…nts and vocals that will be used and make sure these have appropriate microphones and will be seen by the video team. The purpose of Video 2 is to zoom in on these performances so we want our ‘leads’ stationed close to Video 2 if possible. Song Length Our first job is to record the song as written no matter the length. But it is very common for the groups to honour the Singing Wells team by extended their songs – this is a huge complement to the a…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 2 – Muranga to Kangema to Nkubu Story
…sical styles. While this is being done, the video team picks the site (for best visual impact, performance area, quietness) and then audio and video set up as a single team. Song Recording The interview team then gives the gives ‘Mr Clapperboard’ the song list and introduce the group to the audio/video team. Mr Clapperboard then confirms each song with the group leader, writes down all group/song/take information, and kicks of song. In order, audi…
Central Uganda: Day 7 – A Magic Day in Entebbe Story
…Our best day. We never leave the hotel but create new music with wonderful vistors: Matia Kakumirizi, Passy and Charles from the Kika Boys Cultural Troupe, Jovah and Jacinta….
Central Uganda: Day 6: Kampala to Entebbe Story
…rp, where there are only 3 master players) and the endongo (Bow Lyre). His best moment was playing for Ronald Mwenda Mutebi’s wedding in 1998. The band members include: Kigozi Daudi: Emburtu (big drum) Steven Ssebuufu: Amadinda and endingidi Kyakonye dodovic: Engalabi (long drum) They played seven songs: Ggangalwa: A king servant tried to play with the princess. All women in the palace, however, are controlled and possessed by the king. He was pun…
Central Uganda: Day 5 – Jinja to Kampala Story
…the cultural association in my university. During her school life she was best dancer in 2007 and 2010 in high school, and best dancer in her university in 2010 and 2011. Musoke Meddy: He is a senior member of Nile Beat and the treasurer in group. Meddy was voted the best dancer in the Uganda in 2004 and in 2008. The Group performed five songs: Ikobo Kobo: The name is a type of herb. It is a song about a girl who is very bitter because her mother…