Northern Uganda: Day 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…t dancing. Here’s Lutino Achii: Here’s Laywer: Anyim Lac But sandwiched in between these two wonderful dance bands was something truly special – Anyim Lac. This was a band made up of 5 women and a male flutist. The lead was an ancient and gorgeous woman who sang and played a single string Adugu (shaped like a bow) in a ‘Tik Tik’ style (which means ‘Chin Chin’ because she ‘frets’ the Adugu to change the note with her chin). She would start each son…
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…
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…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…data? When displaying data it’s no secret that people often understand it better when it’s interesting visually; this is why we often use charts and diagrams rather than bodies of text nowadays. Most people’s brains aren’t able to see patterns in data easily, especially when the data set is huge, so representing it in this manner means you can understand it easily. Looking at a map of where an instrument is used makes a lot more sense than lookin…
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…
Background on the Music of Northern Uganda News
…is seems to demonstrate how traditional music has created a sense of unity between many different tribes in one area. These tribes are grouped tightly together in the North, as shown on the map below, and situated in an area that has previously been a war zone. This might have meant that their tribal differences became obsolete. Certainly, in the documentary ‘War Dance’ by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix in 2007, people in the North dealt with the scars…
Day 6: Recording the Tugen & back to Nairobi Story
…ppropriate given it is International Women’s Day. The Music Elimu Cultural Promoters Our first group was the Elimu Cultural Promoters from the Tugan tribe. They are a collection of women from little villages scattered around the Kabarnet area and they want to promote good values of culture and education. They were all dressed in brown, almost terracotta, outfits looking like the red clay we love so much. They make all their own costumes and sew on…
Day 5: Recording the Marakwet Story
…et’ : this is the name for the grass they wear around their necks. This is used to bless all ceremonies. The song is used as an entrance song. ‘Seen’ : this is the name for a traditional cup in which is put a special honey drink called Kipketin. ‘Cheruto’: this is a lady who is married elsewhere and was given cows as a dowry. She refused the cows which is highly unusual and hence she is the subject of a song. ‘Nyarika’ : about a man who left home…
Alur Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…Nyapiri, in revenge, also demanded that his own bead be given back. He refused all the possible substitutes. Left with no alternative, Labongo handed over the child to Nyapiri to open and retrieve his bead. Nyapiri killed the child and got out the bead. This caused a separation of the three brothers. Tiful having been impressed by Nyapiri’s story of a good country beyond the river, moved with his followers including Lendu and Okebu to the highlan…
Acholi Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…Uganda. History: They came to northern Uganda from Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan. In the late seventeenth century, they developed a socio-hierarchical system, in which communities, or chiefdoms, were run by Rwodi (rulers). They were traditionally hunting communities, whose economies revolved around hunting and breeding livestock. In the British colonial period, the Acoli comprised the majority of manual laborers and military. This damaged the econ…
Day 1: In Nairobi, packing and talking to Tabu Story
…ongs performed for tourists. He wants to archive the traditional music because otherwise it will be lost. Young Kenyans in the cities are ignorant of the traditional music and are surprised when they hear quality and uniqueness of the tribal music. In addition to archiving the music, Tabu feels Ketebul’s role is to make the music widely accessible and to empower the tribes. If the tribes’ music becomes better known then they will be invited to pla…
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 Map 2: The Map Outline News
…al data at http://www.diva-gis.org/. To get your spatial data you click on Free Spatial Data in the top-right corner. On the Free Spatial Data page click on country level data. On the Download Data by Country page, select the country you need and make sure the Subject is Administrative areas. There is other data available for free download from this page, such as elevation and population density, but for our purposes we’re only interested in admin…
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…
Day 6: The Studio @ Traveller’s Rest Hotel, Kisoro Story
…sion with Winyo. Here, they put down their track. Not at all phased by the use of headphones and mics, they take everything in there stride, performing a number of takes as the song develops. We start by giving them a simple click to follow the beat but quickly realised that their tempos are far more subtle than this. Francis comes back to set the rhythm with their natural clapping and it suddenly all came together again. Once we have the female v…
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,…