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…s and songwriters to show how this “traditional” music is still relevant into today’s modern world. Below you will find links to the musical loops we have selected that are available to download for the project, If you are interested in joining the Global Influences Project, you can download the project brief here or get in touch with us with any questions you may have. SUBMISSIONS FOR THIS PROJECT ARE NOW CLOSED. Click here to access the Global…
Day Zero: 6 March 2022 – Travel To Stream Story
…Spade was our driver. The drive was slow and uninterrupted with only one stop for lunch in Nakuru. We reached Kisumu City just before dusk and settled down for dinner at Kalongolongo restaurant, run by a close friend. After a meal of fish and ugali (the local staple made from corn), we were entertained by our very own artiste Makadem (also known as Ohanglaman) who was touring the lakeside city at the time. We listened to one more act by an upcomi…
Day One: 7 March 2022 (Shikangania and Mukumu) Story
…irges. This dramatic twist of events threw us off guard and we were forced to stop our program temporarily. As required by local custom, we dutifully went to commiserate with the family of the bereaved. We paid our last respects to the unknown dead in the sealed coffin and donated some money to the family to assist with the burial activities on the following day. Seeing that we had appeased the spirit of their departed, the mourners quieted down a…
Global Influences Project: Artist Submissions Page
…and arpeggio and I was really happy with how the rest of the elements came together in this piece.” To hear more work from Ng’at Maler, you can follow him at @ngatmaler MAKOSSIRI X ALOKA OHANGLA We love this brilliant submission from Kenyan techno artist, Makossiri. Describing herself as “A true rebel from the outerworld who defies boundaries through her genre bending sound grounded in African rhythms with a futuristic twist”, we loved how she too…
Field Recording Report by Kahithe Kiiru Story
…is is a set of metal tin drums of different sizes joint on a wooden stand, together with bottle tops and a metal plate. Finally, the ensemble also a metal ring called edongotanditwol– shakers made out of gourds and seeds. The group performed 5 songs accompanied by virtuoso dancers who performed, individually or in pairs, a dance centred on pelvic movements. We also recorded our influences artists – Fadhilee Itulya, performing one of his original c…
Elgon Ngoma Troupe Group
…re: “Isongja”: a pre-circumcision song and dance where boys are challenged to get ready for the ritual. “Kadodi Imbalu Dance”: this is about the circumcision ritual itself and involves the boy being reluctant and getting help from others to be brave. The song closes with a section about the boy having and surviving the ritual. “In our tradition, if you are 80 years old and have not gone through the ritual of circumcision, you are not a man and can…
Here for Research? Page
…stain and celebrate the extraordinary cultural music heritage of the region and to help make this legacy relevant and fresh to today’s audiences.”…
FAQ’s Page
…you could help – be in in drumming up publicity for our cause or offering to perform some post production of our material. Maybe you could help with our fundraising efforts. Please get in touch and let us know how you would like to help. Will you come and record my band? We have a schedule and a plan for the next 3 or 4 field visits to East Africa, so any groups we record would have to be within designated areas where we plan to travel. We’d love…
Day Six: January 24, 2019 From Mwanza to Dodomo to Nzali to Nairobi Story
…njere and Nema Uganga, a song against witchcraft Muheme: a song urging all to get up and dance. Muziki: Msunyunsho: both songs showcasing musical styles of similar names and instruments. Group 3: Ndagwa Msanga( a group comprising of young children): This group of young girls are from Msanga and the Wagogo community. The group was formed in 1994 to encourage the young of the Wagogo tribe to embrace and appreciate their culture. Their style of mus…
Support Singing Wells Page
…ming on one day and your donation will mean that every music group is able to perform and their songs and dance will be recorded by our field team. Funds will be used to provide for two field-recording engineers from Ketebul Music, a non profit organisation in Nairobi and our project partners. Your donation will also provide for gratuity payments to the individual music groups, which they can use to help them continue practicing and performing in…
Day One: January 18, 2019. Assemble in Tanzania Story
…and we typically have two general mics for the group and 5-6 specific microphones for singers and musicians, b) we have three video cameras operating – one wide shot for full performance, one close up to capture details of instruments and one roving camera to provide a second angle on the performance and c) we interview all group leaders to understand group musical styles and background, instruments and songs. In almost every village, we struggle…
Day Four: 10 March 2022 (Rongo) Story
…sounds of Western Kenya region. Dave and I go back a long way as we worked together on several musical projects under the Nairobi City Ensemble. Other notable projects with Dave were during the period of Spotlight on Kenyan Music, which was a collaboration between Ketebul Music and the Alliance Française in Nairobi. Mention should also be made of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2014, a trip that included Onti…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…ooli Part 2 Creating the Base Part 1 Creating the Base Part 2 Stringing it Together Check back soon for more episodes of our Revival of the Entongooli journey! A Musical Education What makes this project so different from any of the other revival projects we have documented, is how focused this project is on young people. Mr Mukadisi, who is heading up this project, is very aware that to continue the legacy of this dying instrument, children and y…
2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…wever, the basic number includes: 1 large Uganda drum (played with short heavy beaters) 3 smaller drums (played with long curved sticks) 1 medium drum (played with sticks) 1 long drum (ngalabi – hand-beaten) All together, 6 drums. Therefore, we are making four sets of naizungwe drums mainly to facilitate learning.” Below is a video documenting the progress of the drums thus far. https://youtu.be/66qF_RYumJM…
1. Introducing the Naizungwe drums Story
…s of high skill to avoid wastage of time. We will listen to the recordings together with the youths. Then we make sense of what is played in the recordings. After that, we will play the rhythms slowly until we can reproduce them. Then we will add the singing. This can be done by any musician who is hard working. We hope the final performance will be a reflection of our musicality and what we hear in the recording.” We will be documenting the progr…
Day 4: Tuesday, February 21st, 2017 Story
…session for a further five. Here’s the full group including Henry, Rajab, Tomato and Leo: Here’s Tabu: Here’s Ndahani: Here’s Grace: Part one: We recorded with Chibite players only: Muheme (the tree to make the best drums). Interestingly, we later had a long conversation with Leo about wooden drums. He said that most drums are now steel, because it takes a whole tree to make one drum and you can’t afford to keep cutting down trees in villages. He…