Central & Eastern Uganda: Day 3, Part 1- Drum Making and Palace Players Story
…ometimes the bottom skin is tied to within an inch of the top skin and sometimes within four inches or so. He creates the stitches by punching an awl through the edge of the top or bottom skin to create a hole to lace the string through and then pulling tightly. At this stage, this is nylon rope. The end result looks like a drum, with the skin tight along the top and bottom and stitched together along the edge. 6. Preparing the cow hide strings “I…
Central and Eastern Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Jinja Story
…ses the xylophone instrument itself. We have recorded a lot of Ugandan xylophones over the years, but this time we really wanted to understand the players themselves as the arrangement mirrors in many ways the royal drums. There are generally six players, 3 on each side, configured very roughly as follows (I say roughly, because the notes each plays depends on the song): Akubaa Obuto: meaning player of the small slabs, this musician plays keys 1-4…
Recce to Tanzania for our 2020 Field Visit News
…s 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 from their database. Getting a private crash course on the ganun from ganun virtuoso and teacher Rajab. In a few previous instances, the importance of Singing Wells is emphasised when someone we record passes on some time after we record them. We were reminded ev…
Musisi’s Story, Part 1: The Fall of the Buganda Kingdom Story
…every room, the King killed soldiers. This lasted for hour after hour. Sometimes a terrible gun fight. Sometimes, silence. Then morning came. It started to rain, and rain hard. It was a mess. The palace was destroyed and now filled with mud and rain. But this was a good thing because the King’s gun still worked in the rain. And the soldiers’ guns couldn’t work in the rain unless they shot straight down so the rain didn’t go in the barrels. And thi…
Rediscovering the lost Royal Drums of the Buganda Kingdom: Day 1, Uganda Story
…, facing the 15 drums and six drummers of an Entenga ensemble. We used our time to record eight songs and interview Musisi, and survived a couple of heavy thunderstorms. In terms of interviews, we will write separate blogs on the drums themselves and Musisi’s time at the palace. In terms of the music, we recorded the following songs today: Ganga Alula Omusango gw’abalere Mubandusa Ekyuuma kya Bboola Veneneka Olugambo olubuulire Sekanyolya The Drum…
The Entenga Drums: Part 1 Story
…essentially plays the melody, but not the bass notes. He is generally the best drummer and we were blessed to have Shaban as our Omukoonezi, a life-long professional drummer who led the group. He also admitted that learning the Entenga was the hardest drumming role he’s ever had. To the left of the ‘starter’, is the OMUNAZI, who plays the 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th and sometimes 5th. And yes, you’ve now noticed. The drummers overlap, playing the drums of…
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
…to make a breakthrough nationally. But in many ways, Benga is caught in a time-warp. Shapers of Benga Perhaps the best known Benga artiste in Kenya and abroad is Daniel Owino Misiani, commonly known as D.O. Many Benga musicians, including those from other communities, regard him and George Ramogi as their greatest influences. D. O’s iconic status stems from his powerful compositions and the numerous controversies generated by his polemical, often…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Days 5-11: Ketebul Studios, Nairobi Story
…formed them for a full year before bringing them into the studio – by that time he knew what worked with audiences and he evolved the song to something he loved. Today, artists go to the studio first – giving birth too early to a work of art. We recorded eight songs with him: Oyango Bwana Ogilo Osare Charles Komora Jaka Beka Okech Maskini Yuni Nyaimbo Jo Seme Wanganangu And Mukonya His full name is Walioshamiri-Mzee Wanganangu and he is a famous K…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 4 – Nkubu to Mukuuni to Nairobi Story
…man. This song challenges the woman to get an education in order to be at par with the prospective spouse. We then wrapped up and took lots of final pictures, including of three children, practically our only children from the trip! We packed for a final time and departed for Nairobi. We made pretty good time to Ketebul music, where we unloaded our gear. Then we headed for the Fairview, a 20 minute drive that took about 90 minutes due to traffic!…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 3 – Nkubu to Mariene to Murungurune to Nkubu Story
…ry rough, getting them ‘toughen up’ for the circumcision. Throughout their time in the hut, they are isolated from their families. Very young girls from the local village will feed them, but otherwise there is no other contact. During their time, they are taught songs and told stories about the ritual itself and preparing them for man hood. In Lewis’s case he was taught that he can no longer live with his mother and must never enter the kitchen ag…
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…
Latest Field Trip – Kenya 2018 News
…We’ve returned from our latest field trip, this time to western Kenya. Field reports coming soon….
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 1 – Nairobi to Kiongwe to Muranga Story
…lks about the President’s call to stop corruption. The call to chase after time comes from the society that won’t condone these malpractices. Kaniini Kaseo The group is led by Mumbi Wambua, in Kyolo style. The group is also from Kamba ethnic community (ukambani wa kitui) and also from the village of Kiongwe. They have 16 members and were formed in 1980. They performed 3 songs, all of which use the Ileve (tin shaker, played by Mumbi Wambua) and Vil…
Central and Eastern Kenya: Day 0 – London/Nairobi Story
…Day 0 is always a day of prep and planes. The Ketebul and Abubilla Music teams, with assorted guests, assemble in Nairobi to launch the first of our 2014 Field Recordings; this time focused on Central and Eastern Kenya. Here’s our team….
Naizungwe Drums News
This June we were contacted by long time Singing Wells partner Prof. James Isabirye about an exciting new project he was hoping to undertake – the revival of the naizungwe drums of the Basoga people in Uganda. James led our revival of the entenga royal drums of the Buganda kingdom starting in 2015 and contacted Singing Wells with the hope that we would support him with funding for his new project. We are excited to announce that we have agreed to…