How to Map 3: Prepare Your Data News
…nk about when preparing your data: The title of each column must not exceed 14 characters. The shorter the better. E.g. instead of ‘Number of Unicorns’, have ‘unic_no’. None of the cells of your Excel file can contain more than 256 characters. Make sure there are no hidden characters such as spaces or backspaces in any of the data cells. Anything upon which a join will be based, e.g. counties in this example, must be spelled exactly the same in Ar…
How to Map 2: The Map Outline News
…always good to keep things tidy. I have entitled this map HTM1 (How To Map 1) and have saved it in a folder called How To Map 1, so the address where it is saved is C:\How To Map\How to Map 1. To get our country outline into ArcMap we need to Add Data. To do this either click File > Add Data > Add Data or select the Add Data icon. This will open a box; click this icon till you reach ‘Home – Documents/ArcGIS’: From here click on Folder Connections…
From Kisoro to Nairobi to Lake Victoria Story
…– when the slaughter happened it was the decedents of folks with less than 10 cows slaughtering the decedents of folks with more than 10 cows. 250,000 people are buried in mass graves 50 metres from the memorial centre. What is hardest to understand, travelling through Kigali, is that the slaughter started here. This is an urban centre filled with incredibly friendly Rwandans. And yet, when the President’s plane was shot down on 6th April 1994, t…
Music of the Kalenjin: video playlist News
…n long distance runners are Kalenjins, including Kipchoge Keino, chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee and the first African to win an Olympic gold medal (Mexico City 1968 in the 1500m). Video playlist The trip was facilitated by the generous support of donors to our charity the Abubilla Music Foundation. …
Day 6: The Studio @ Traveller’s Rest Hotel, Kisoro Story
…praise of the National Park. The Music Groups Francis Sembargare We did a number of ‘Influences’ 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…
Christine Kamau – “The Jazzist” News
A message of support from Afro-Jazz trumpeter and composer, Christine Kamau….. Hello Victoria! Thanks for getting in touch! I have checked out you project…it’s great that you are dedicated to keeping indigenous music alive..#very best wishes and I hope we can keep in touch. Christine BBC Africa Beats: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17831507 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thejazzist Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com…
Samba Mapangala & Orchestra Virunga News
…ba Mapangala and Orchestra Virunga are touring the UK later this month, in support of Samba’s new album Maisha Ni Matamu (Life Is Sweet) on Virunga Records. We first met Samba in Kenya, on a recording trip as part of The Singing Wells project. He sang as part of a ‘Welcome’ concert put together by our friends at Ketebul, along with Winyo and Ayub Ogada. We’ll bring more news on his new album as we have it, but until then you can view his tour date…
Day 3: From Nairobi to Kigali to Kisoro Story
…reen of the vegetation. It is known negatively, of course, for the horrible 1994 genocide that was launched from its capital. Rwanda is roughly the size of the US state of Maryland, or Wales in Great Britian and has a population of 11.4 million. It’s econony was devasted by the genocide but is recovering; a major source of its recovery is the tourist industry, centred on the famed mountain gorillas. Uganda: Known as the ‘pearl of Africa’ – it too…
Congratulations Singing Wells! News
…Just received this lovely email from Janet Topp Fargion at the British Library in support of Singing Wells……..
Day 1 & 2: Preparing to leave for Kisoro, Uganda Story
…nging Wells Project and met the Ketebul team in the studios for a day . Day 1: 11.11.19, Flight to Nairobi: Jimmy and Andy, Founder and Sound Engineer of Abubilla Music respectively, set out to Nairobi on Saturday for Nairobi. All good with flights, 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 S…
Kenya (Coast): Day 4 – the road back to Nairobi Story
…rth certificate. It said December 15th. So my actual birth date is December 12, but my recorded birthday is December 15th, when my mum actually filled in the forms. Q: How did you get involved with Ketebul and Singing Wells? SK: I set out to be a graphic designer in multi-media. I was in college for Graphics Designs and met a lot of musicians there and started with music production, music software, starting with Fruity Loops. I remember the first…
Interview with Fifty Cows – fixer for Singing Wells News
…as he got older he also had to fight. The fighting was most intense in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. He says it was done in the name of honour or another ‘fictitious’ reason but in fact it was just stealing. The Pokot would retaliate and steal the cattle back. Often the fighting escalated with both tribes losing men and retaliating for their deaths. They did not fight over land. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s the fighting decreased because th…
Music of the Mijikenda: video playlist News
…In March 2011, the Singing Wells team travelled to the coastal region of Kenya for their very first field recording trip. The team recorded music from various groups representing the Mijikenda tribes. Video Playlist The trip was facilitated by the generous support of donors to our charity the Abubilla Music Foundation. …
A Year in Review March 2011 – March 2012 News
…. This was on full display for us at the close of last year when we brought 10 musicians from the Batwa communities of southern Uganda to Nairobi to record some of their songs with Kenyan musicians. Here are three examples of the audio from these sessions with video to follow: 1. Tiny Moses, Challenger and DJ, with the Ketebul Musicans, including Bishop and Winyo: 2. Jovah, with Jesse on Piano: 3. Francis Sembagare from Birara Dancers with Jesse f…
Music of the Luo: video playlist News
…In December 2011, the Singing Wells team travelled to western Kenya on the shores of Lake Victoria to record the music of the Luo tribes. To read the daily field reports from this trip, click here. Video Playlist The trip was facilitated by the generous support of donors to our charity the Abubilla Music Foundation. …
AMF receive grant to fund Batwa recordings News
…news that the Institute of International Education has approved a grant to support the Singing Wells trip to Uganda to record the music and dance of the Batwa people. We are delighted that our proposal was successful and that the IIE agreed with our rationale for taking the project to the Batwa to increase awareness of their unique music and dance traditions. In our proposal, we outlined our rationale as follows: “The overall aim of the Singing We…