Global Influences Project: Loop Library Page
…da. They play music in the Kidinda style using the Amadinda, a 22 slab xylophone which was historically an instrument which could only be played in front of the King. You can find out more about the band here. You can watch the full visual performance of this song on our Youtube channel by clicking here. Download the loop Joginda Boys – 116BPM Joginda boys are from Aluny Village, East Alego, Kenya. This play wonderful Nyatiti music, with Organda J…
Day Two: 8 March 2022 (Ilesi) Story
…uding the adeu deu, in tune in with the guitars that were to back them up. One of the band members played the harmonica but it was only in the C key and so it was left out of the recordings of songs on different keys. Guest musicians Fiston, Ben and Gido also had to take a little time to play in sync with the polyrhythmic beats of the Iteso of Western Kenya. When the tuning session was finally figured out the actual recording started at about 17:0…
Day Two: January 19, 2019 From Tarime to Buturi to Bariadi Story
…oaHli19b2U One observation from Day One: These groups have the energy and youth of many of the groups we recorded in Uganda around Lake Victoria, which makes a lot of sense as these groups are from areas very close to Uganda. What you feel when you record these groups is that the music here remains very central to youth culture – these are young, athletic performances full of energy and passion. From Bituri we drove to Bariadi and had dinner and…
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 Two: February 17, 2020 (Stonetown) Story
…end of the string down against the stick. Pretty amazing bass sounds came out of this. The two dancers danced with almost a belly dancing movement where they moved their hips and buttocks completely independently of the rest of their bodies. They wore a sash around their hips to accentuate the movements. Songs: Ewe Mwana Mimi Nakwambia – this means Hey baby, listen to me. A love song telling the woman he loves, Mwana, to be patient Yalait – Lo…
Support Singing Wells Page
…oney will be used to support the Singing Wells project to record the songs of one traditional music group, help us tell their stories and keep their music traditions alive. Your donation to the project will be spent in East Africa, funding the recording session in the field and will go towards a gratuity payment for the music group, which they can use to help them continue practicing and performing in the future. The songs and videos we record fro…
Omong’oluk Traditional Dancers Group
…ngles worn around the ankles Etwoo: A gourd that you blow into for a ‘bass’ beat. The dancers wore “Emukule”, skins of cows and more rarely, Cheetahs. One of the dancers wore a “Amugwar”, a head piece made up of antelope horns….
Day Five: February 20, 2020 (DCMA) Story
…mers: Tarajazz: Suleiman Makame (keyboard, director), Hassan Mahenge (Saxophone, assistant director), Mahsin Basalama (contra base), Christopher Weston (Cajon and high hat), Regina Juma (singer). There was supposed to be a violin player but unfortunately he couldn’t make it. Kirundo: Lukoa Nenes (sticks), Joshua Muyumovela ( shakers), Nyemo Mopana (guitar, kalimba (hand held thumb piano), lead singer), Heri Kombo (drums) Songs: Mwaludeja – Ki…
Day Four: January 21 2019 Mwanza Story
…s group, from the Sukuma community, was formed in 2010 and performs with a number of styles: Bukomia Lume, Buchheye, Wigashe. Their instruments are: Ng’oma (Drums), Pembe (animal horns, large impala), Firimbi (flute), and Njuga (shakers). We recorded five performances: Ntale Atabihyala: ‘The boss, who is always wrong, wants to be always right. Just accept it’ Ba Tanzania (Malima): Praising country, encouraging farmers and hard work – this song h…
Zam Zam Group
…nd celebrations. It was mainly an acapello performance with one flute made out of a bamboo stick. The singers included: Ibrahim Ali Hassan (lead singer, flute ), Issa Ali Hassan (lead singer), Mlenge Ali Hassan, Othman Mlenge Ali, Afann Mlenge Ali, Iddi Abdallah Mohd, Abdillah Salum Juma (lead singer), Fesal Sleiman Mwalim, Saidi Simai Mkanga, Vuai Juma Vuai. Ibrihim Ali Hassan has two brothers and two sons (youngest is 10) in this group. Songs: M…
The Revival of the Entongooli Page
…ts with another fascinating and popular instrument, the Embaire or the Xylophone. The scolars are taught the tunes they need to know on this instrument before transferring these melodies over to the Entongooli. What’s incredible about this entire process is how the children are also taught about building the Embaire as well, creating instruments for themselves to learn on. In this first part, we look at how selecting the correct tree’s are integra…
Unyago Group
…y is very suggestive about a man Sikia Msondo: Listen to the Msondo, which is the tall drum Unyago Wangu: A song about the drums. Magic Moment 1: Sikia Msondo drums only Magic Moment 2: Unyago Wangu, drums only Magic Moment 3: Song with 360 degree camera, Mpanda Waya….
Buganda Music Ensemble Group
…song with the bow harp or Ennanga, a new instrument for us. Albert is only one of 3 master players. It was played in solo performances and the Ennanga player was the advisor to the king, as people would bring him messages for the king that he would turn to song. “Mulirwana”: it means neighbour and the song is about people who don’t trust their neighbours and they believe that anyone that doesn’t trust their neighbours is a witch. “Ssewaswa”: This…
2. Naizungwe Drums – progress report 1 Story
…cut down, the logs have been hollowed out and the skins have been formed. One of the early milestones was finding a tree out of which to craft the largest of the drums, no trivial task given the size and type of tree required. Here is our first video, James Isabirye talking about the tree and introducing the project: https://youtu.be/bZUxKhTGmCA The lead drum maker is called Muhamudu Kaziba (in the left of the video above). He comes from a famous…
Day 2: Sunday, 2017 February 19th Story
…to behave as a wife, and how to be a mother. The women invited Sophie into one of the huts to watch their dance in private. In Uganda and Kenya we have a lot of recordings of rites of passage, mostly around male and female circumcision rituals – happily the songs survive but not the rituals in the places we visited! But we have far less on the theme of ‘women for women’ songs of instruction, or the rites of passages of women preparing for adulthoo…
Day 1: Saturday, 2017 February 18th Story
…ome all corrections as we recognize that there will be mistakes. With that out of the way, let’s begin. We arrived in Dar es Salaam Tanzania at 0815AM (yes, our departure from Nairobi was early!). The full Singing Wells crew is sleepless. The Abubilla Music Foundation Crew (Jimmy, Hunter, Sophie and Elliot) arrived in Nairobi from London the night before. The Ketebul team (Tabu, Steve, Patrick and Nick) spent the evening preparing equipment. After…