How To (Arc)Map News
…map of East Africa, using an piece of software by Esri called ArcMap 10. Singing Wells is intended to be a pilot project, demonstrating to other groups how traditional music can be recorded and archived, so we want to make sure anyone can understand what we’re doing 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 al…
Day 4: Discovery of the Young Stars… Story
…t the Nyangile: Below is more detail on the Nyangile and we’ll try to explain how it works. The musician holds two ogeng’, one in his right hand, one in his right big toe. Both are placed on the box. With his left hand he hits either ring (with different sounds), or the side of the box or the top of the box (with different sounds). He also has the option, and this is where it begins to sound more like a bass, to slide the rings along the top as he…
Day 3: Homa Bay and the Kochia Dancers Story
…of opportunities to wash and you’ll notice a lot shots of us in the same Singing Wells t-shirt – but luckily not yet fish. Fish would turn their noses at us. Our set, below, with recording equipment set up under the bar and the dancers ready to do their stuff… The Kochia Dancers Today is all about dances, so our videos will be much better than still photographs. Let us introduce you to the dancers; here in full glory are the Kochia Dancers who da…
Day 2: Focus on the Nyatiti, Orutu and DRUMS! Story
We are based in Kisumu, at the Nyanza Club, deep into Luo-land tribal music. Today we are focusing on some of the best Nyatiti and Oruti players around. And we discovered the Keith Moon of Luo drumming. Woke up at the Nyanza Club, outside Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria. This is the view of Lake Victoria we face in the morning before we set out to the next village, Saiya: As we will do six times on this trip, we pass the equator. We can’t…
The Batwa Trail News
…l this week from Ivy Beccu from Belgium. I’m glad to see that news of the Singing Wells project is spreading far and wide! Ivy has made a great video about the Batwa Trail in Kisoro, Uganda. When the Singing Wells team visited Kisoro last year to record the music of the Batwa (click here to go to our field reports), we didn’t have enough time to do the Batwa Trail but we heard about how it is helping the Batwa people tell the story of their cultur…
From Kisoro to Nairobi to Lake Victoria Story
…for ‘being prepared.’ ‘ Roadside Occupations: We can also divide the roads into various roadside industries. The road to Mombassa is peppered with small villages selling charcoal at the road side – vans travel up and down the road buying big white bags of charcoal. The road from Kigali to Kisoro is dotted with brick makers – you see them dig up the right earth, make the bricks, dry the bricks and ultimately sell them to the passing vans. You ain’t…
Day 6: The Studio @ Traveller’s Rest Hotel, Kisoro Story
…ces’ sessions with Francis, but we love this one, with Jessie and Francis singing together in the gardens of the Traveller’s Rest hotel in Kisoro. Please listen before reading the blog: https://youtu.be/c1XBVlNQL6E We also recorded a beautiful version of Amahoro with Jessie, Francis and the ladies. Francis and the ladies are happy to pose for a series of formal photos (each woman with her baby either cradled or on her back). Tabu and one of our…
Day 5 (much later): The Micyingo Group – guitar and bass! Story
…vering a clay pot that supplied the song. The musician simply ‘beat boxed’ into the pot. And we soon figured out how to mic it (note the green cable). Also, take a look at the shaker in his right hand – a tomato soup can that works as well as any we’ve seen. So, hats off to our wonderful guitarist and his fully home made guitar, with wire strings and frets. And a special thumbs up to the magic bass – a clay pot and a ‘beat boxer’ providing one of…
Day 5 (PM): The ‘Togetherness Group’ from Kanyabukunga Story
…nior School. Everyone is hoping she will be able to continue her education into High School and beyond. She is a wonderful role model for the Batwa and is proving how, with the right opportunity, Batwa children can achieve the same educational goals as any other child. Here are the videos which include a Batwa song called ‘Abagyeni Beza’ which is in praise of visitors to the community, telling them that they are beautiful. A lovely song for us to…
Day 4 (later): Recording for ‘Influences’ with the Birara Dancers Story
…ists and encourage them to incorporate the music traditions of East Africa into modern music. Winyo, one of Ketebul’s key artists, does this everyday with his music, which is why he is such an inspiration: But too many (most) East African musicians want to sound like 50 Cent or Justin Timberlake and too many East African radio stations sound like they are competing on Los Angeles air waves. So the second major goal of Singing Wells is to inspire c…
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…lights, visas, bags and customs and we were greated by Tabu Osusa. Checked into Fairview, had the obligatory fries in a chip basket and crashed. Day 2: 11.11.20 Day in Ketebul Studio: Jimmy and Andy meet the SWP team at Ketebul Studios to coordinate all the gear and prepare for our trip the next day and, importantly, to set out the 2012 Fund Raising Song, which will be a follow up to 71 Hours to Monday, which was our 2011 Funding Raising Song. Her…
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…in the evening we went to slippers to watch Winyo. We pumped some Tuskers into Andy and then relaxed a bit. He opened up more and we liked him. Andy now jumps in with a little more detail… AP: To be clear, that was the first time I’d been out of Europe and I was definitely nervous. The first night in the hotel, I practically curled myself up in the corner with a chair barring the door! I’m from the North and came south in 2001 and spend four year…
Kenya (Coast): Day 2 continued…. Story
…e were much closer to Mombasa in a densely populated town, Junda. We drove into this very densely back ‘village’ going deeper and deeper into the urban jungle on very potted roads, packed with pedestrians, bikes and frankly, a lot of suspicious folks somewhat unwelcoming of our two big trucks. None of us could imagine setting up recording equipment here and we weren’t sure how much we’d end up with if tried… But after a lot of false turns, we met…
Interview with Fifty Cows – fixer for Singing Wells News
…ary and secondary school near there. He says it was a very challenging upbringing, not only because of his obligations to herd cattle and till the fields but also because of ongoing fighting between the Merekwet and Pokot. He often had to take months off from school to work in the community and to fight. From the age of eleven he was obligated to join the men of the village in their raids against the Pokot. He calls this war. The villages would ga…
Nick Abonyo (the ‘clapper-man’) News
…bonyo who is working as an intern at Ketebul Music. This is Nick’s second Singing Wells field recording trip where he is learning how to use the mobile recording equipment whilst also acting as photographer. He is now officially in charge of the ‘clapperboard’ – a role he is relishing. All about Nick Nick was born in 1988 in the village of Mirogi at the Mirogi Mission Hospital. He is Luo and unlike most of the younger engineers and artists at…
The Kalenjin & Kenya’s elite athletes News
…s tribal music in her documentary. She was also impressed by how well the Singing Wells group worked together, especially when it rained and we had to pack up fast! An interview with Jackie Lebo Jackie works alongside Chela at the Content House Education Trust on the documentary about Kenyan runners. Her book ‘Running’ has been published by the Kwani Trust. Jackie is currently awaiting publication in the UK. She spent six year researching and…