Group of the Month – Watmon Cultural Group News
We are pleased to announce a new project at the Singing Wells. Group of the Month sees us take one of the 50 groups we have recorded in the field since the beginning of the Singing Wells project, and feature recordings, stories, videos, interviews, and other content we have gathered in East Africa. Our first group of the month is the Watmon Cultural Group. We have videos from our Uganda 2012 trip, as well as recordings made in both Naguru and at…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…village. But they went to the village and the village elder came out, explaining that he was a member of the Macedonia band, and proceeded to lead the village men in singing Uganda Land of Freedom, some of them playing the Likembe. The government forces in frustration spared the extended band and went to the next village. Again, the elder led the village men in a rendition of Uganda Land of Freedom. They went to village after village and everyone…
Day 9 (AM): Ketebul Studio – Influences session for Cheri Story
…rt requiring a different bass and guitar for part of the song. They rushed into the control booth to offer something (remember, the leader is someone we discovered in the coast and recorded for the first time in March 2011 and now he is re-writing bass and guitar lines in Pro Tools). Their words are mainly about love so strong that they are willing to give her anything. They see her and want to give her the clothes offer her back. Macadem was then…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…right 3 or 4 repeatable models that will drive our success. If we can get into the right routines, we can learn more and more from each trip and get better and better. For the March Pilot in 2011, simply getting audio equipment to work in the field was the most important routine. Don’t underestimate the learning required to set up 8 mic recording session in the dirt, surrounded by cows. By Kisoro and the recording of the Batwa, audio was fully so…
An Evening with Mserego Mwatela Group News
…feel the rhythms and I try to teach them what I’m doing, but I also adapt to how they feel the music. I let them take the music where they want to take it as long as it is rooted in our traditions. I just watch them dance and move and create the linkages. Q to the grandson: Why are you doing this? Are you viewed as cool by your friends, or somewhat ‘out of touch’? A: Maybe it’s the friends I pick, but I’m viewed as a role model by my friends. I p…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Obuell-Lira to Soroti Story
…ar these villages were under rebel control from 1989-1992. The rebels came into the village to kills the men and seize the boys to take into the bush to fight. But the Macedonia band began to play Uganda Land of Freedom and the rebels started to gather round, starved for music and a chance to relax. An argument broke out amongst the rebels – most wanted to continue the raid and kill the musicians but a small group started to argue that the band co…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…then laid down to dry, looking like long carpets. They are then bundled up into long packets, about 6 feet long and 18 inches thick. The bundles are tied with ropes made of other plants. Each woman then pops one on her head and marches into the local market to sell a packet for about 2,000 Ugandan shillings ($1). By our calculation, that is a 15-30 kilometer round trip the market, giving her time to make two runs. Most of the women carry empty bot…
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 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…Here’s a video of their ‘magic moment’: Their first song was Kica Watimon Nining, which is a song of forgiveness. Two men start the song fighting (and it is a pretty good tussle) before they are encouraged by the band and woman dancers to calm down, solve their differences and forgive. Given the recent wars in Uganda and given that we are in formally held Kony territory, this song is pretty important. https://youtu.be/_u4-hVbcVV0 In the same vein,…
Northern Uganda: Day 2 – from Gulu to Acet Story
…ick up a generator, a bunch of electric cables and Big Jimmy our Acet Coordinator, below). It was a beautiful day with stunning blue skies and we drove for about 80 kilometers in glorious sunshine through village after village until we reached Acet, where we will meet Acholi musicians (hundreds, in fact). We landed in a field, pock marked with cement block buildings. Not the best site. But in the middle of the field was the most stunning tree that…
Northern Uganda: Day 1 – Entebbe to Gulu Story
…ning at the Airport Guest House in Entebbe with pretty flowers and strange guinea fowl pottering about. The two groups were united around 10 with our two drivers William and Emanuel and set off for Kampala. As promised Kampala traffic was a nightmare. The William Team (Jimmy/Pato and Hannah) tried to take a short cut, but the road was closed and we ended up winding through some very poor areas around Kampala with a truck not designed for essential…
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…
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
…hed round the neck of the instrument, one to each string, which are pushed into position just close enough below the string to let it vibrate against the ring. The rings are made of banana fibre sewn into lizard skin. A small wooden wedge was then inserted between the ring and neck to make the fitting of the ring easier and to prevent it from shifting. The position of the rings also played a part in the tunings, along with tuning pegs which the Af…
Lugbara Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…a soldier though this was not a permanent duty. Language: They are divided into many mutually intelligible dialects, but mainly they speak their own Lugbara language. Origins: The came into Uganda at the end of the 16th century. They were originally known as the Madi, their current name perhaps came to be used after the intrusion of the Khartoum Arab slaves in the second half of the 19th century. Their origins are described in relation to their be…
Day 6: Recording the Tugen & back to Nairobi Story
…at this recording business and have learned a lot. We have divided things into seven key roles, 3 on audio, 3 on video and one interviewer. All play secondary roles, the most important of which is our Influences artist who must be either a second assistant for audio or video. We have written a second blog on lessons – we felt it is important that if others want to launch a Singing Wells project of their own they benefit from our learning. The Sce…
Day 3 continued – an interview with Steve Kivutia Story
…bu because of his legendary status within Kenyan music. Tabu invited Steve into a meeting where he brought some songs he had worked on. Steve was still a big Hip Hop fan and loved R Kelley. He also liked Salif Keita, an afro-pop singer/songwriter from Mali, his only ‘African music’ influence. Steve’s first job at Ketebul was as an intern working with Jesse and Gabriel on the Spotlight on Kenyan Music series. His feature artist was Makedem who ‘ble…