Central Uganda: Day 3 – From Mbale to Iganga to Jinja Story
…dle Enkwanzi, pan pipes The performance was simply spectacular. Our search for the best xylophone players in Uganda is declared over! What a group. Obutasoma (Education), with lead singer Muniru Ayubu Obwiire Bukyeire (The Time Has Come), with lead singer Kisubi Eliasa Magic Moment: We loved the xylophone and asked the group to replay a minute of Obwiire Bukyeire, with only the xylophone. We asked Vicki to climb in next to the bass notes, so she c…
Central Uganda: Day 2 – Kampala to Budaka Story
…and changed clothes – each song brought new and more beautiful costumes. Before the performances started we also spent quite a bit of time filming ‘drum tuning’, which involves a lot of fire, a lot of water, some spitting and very careful brick placement. We had two groups. The “first group” started with a drum solo, but then handed over to the second group to give a full performance. So, for story telling purposes, we’ll move the drum solo to lat…
Who’s looking at you? Story
…This little fan joined us along Lake Victoria to record some of the best Nyatiti players in Kenya in November 2011….
Meeting Ketebul: an interview with Tabu News
…ded up soaking Andy. Actually, thinking about it now it wasn’t the worst, it was pretty funny! The worst was driving from Mombasa to Malindi at night, it was dangerous. The road was narrow, unmarked and I didn’t like it. We said after this we wouldn’t do it again. Now we hardly drive at night. As for the best? Every moment is the best when it comes to Singing Wells! What can we look forward to from Singing Wells and Ketebul this year? We’re going…
Ten More Singing Wells Stories News
…orests along the base of the Virunga Volcanoes. They were evicted from the forest to make way for the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park near Kisoro Uganda, which was established to protect the Mountain Gorillas that habitate in the park (travelling back and forth across the Uganda-Rwanda border). The Batwa are a marginalised people, living mostly by tenant farming in scattered villages around Kisoro. They live on the poorest land, and in many cases t…
Current Leading Figures News
…e at Singing Wells were lucky enough to meet Julius and have both bands perform for us on our latest trip to Uganda on Day 3; take a look at our field trip report to hear about Julius’ past and both groups. Here the Elgon Ngoma Troupe are performing Isongja, a song about the circumcision ritual for which the Bagisu tribe are well known. Julius appreciates and is an ambassador for what music can achieve in Uganda. As an orphan himself, struggling t…
Music Depositories and Archives around the World News
…the contract, Smithsonian had to keep nearly all of the albums ‘in print’ forever, for posterity. It honours this through its custom order service: “Whether it sells 8,000 copies each year or only one copy every five years, every Folkways title remains available for purchase.” Their mission, which the legacy of Asch, is ‘to document “people’s music,” spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world’ and is committed to ‘to cultural dive…
Singing Wells in Numbers…. News
…Andy did a litte homework for this one: Number of recordings of groups: 374 (this does not include other recordings like Magic Moments, Influences, etc…) Number of groups recorded: 83 Number of hours of music: 27 hours and 30 minutes. …
James Isabirye and Tabu Osusa Discuss East African Music News
…for aspiring to be an English man, not a Ugandan. She only wanted what is best for me, but this is part of a larger problem we have today. I’ve taught for 20 years now and my concern is that our entire system is training us to be like a white person from England or America, not to be Ugandan. The English and Americans don’t want to know me because I am like them – they know I am not. They want to know me because I am Ugandan, because I am differe…
Report from Womex 2013 News
…ted that music is their biggest export and so has set up the African Music Forum to make it easier for musicians to make a living – from visas and flights to financial support. It is an exciting time, and seems to chime in with what Eddie Hatitye announced for Music in Africa. Members of the Music Producers Guild led a discussion on ‘What do producers actually do?‘ – the answer seems to be ‘everything’. The role of producer has many meanings, but…
SWP Uganda 2013 – our proposed itinerary News
…hrow Down Your Heart: Tales from the Acoustic Planet’ won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album. Day 7 & 8: Music of the Baganda and ‘Influences’ After five days travelling in the field we will head back to the city for our final two days of recording which will focus on the music of the Baganda and also the recording of new newly arranged songs for our Influences series. First, our Baganda musicians. We will be recording Albert…
A recording studio which fits into the back of an SUV Story
…ing with us: 2 Apple MacBook Pro 2 MOTU Traveler MK3 Audio Interface 4 Headphone amps 8 Sony MDR-V600 headphones 2 Shure mics & stands 2 Rode Lavalier omni-directional mics 2 Rode NTG-1 condenser Shotgun mics 1 Matched Pair of AKG C414 XL Microphones 1 Matched Pair of Rode NT5 Microphones 2 Rode professional boom pole 1 K&M telescopic mic stand/boom 1 Canon EOS 7D 1 Canon EOS 60D 1 Canon EOS 5D 1 LED video camera lights 1 Flip HD video camera Thin…
The Key to Sustainable Aid in Africa? Perhaps we should follow the music. News
…ities. And most leading thinkers concerned with African development, argue for efforts to maintain village life, to work with people in a village, with all the support that entails, rather than to work with folks who are already displaced, on the move, entering the big cities for the first time (see the Millennium Village Project and some recent commentary about it – and here) The village is the preferred conduit for aid and support. With good wat…
What people say about Singing Wells News
…the world. I’m also the music editor for our films and now while searching for tracks for our Ugandan film. I’ve found your website – lots of respect for this work!” Josh Courter, Director, The Last Hunger Season “Hi Victoria, a friend, of a friend, of a friend, brought the Singing Wells project to my attention and I decided to reach out. We are producing a documentary film called The Last Hunger Season about 4 Kenyan farmers who are growing their…
Kampala traffic jam Story
We go to great lengths to plan the itinerary for our field recording trips so that we make the best use of the limited time we have. Steve K from Ketebul Music is our Africa Project Manager and he does an amazing job in the weeks prior to the trip, contacting music groups, booking local accommodation and arranging vehicles and drivers to transport us to some very remote destinations. But even Steve’s meticulous planning could not help us avoid…
A quick summary of the Singing Wells Project News
…is music to the next generation, to inspire them to look to their heritage for inspiration before they look elsewhere. We do this with ‘Influences’ artists… Like Winyo, an unbelievable Kenyan musician that was blown away by the music of the Batwa and couldn’t help but joining Jovah in song: 5. Singing Wells is about bringing together tribal music and wonderfully talented young performers like Akello from Uganda… We brought Akello to Northern Ugand…