Tracey Instrument Collection News
…da, as it is demanded so much for drums, lyres and fiddles. Endara log xylophone The xylophone is 263.5cm long, made up of 16 roughly cut keys and tuned to a pentatonic scale. It is played using one beater, which is attached to the xylophone by string and can be played by up to five people at one time. This frame was actually made by Hugh Tracey, after he collected it in 1950, though the original frame was made of two banana stalks with loose keys…
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. …
ILAM, Repatriation and Jimmie Rodgers/Chemirocha News
…nd here the music of Cuba, demanding that we look further into the circles travelled between musicians between the Congo and Cuba, and we listen to Samba drumming and particularly the tambourin only to be reminded of the Watmon Cultural Group’s use of the Calabash. Our heads appropriately spin and we’re happy about that. The tribal music of East Africa is forever evolving. It is wonderful that Jimmie Rogers inspired a new song and it is amazing th…
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…
The Birara Batwa Community Story
…he ancestors. This is Bashitsi Bahire, the welcome song which the group performed for us. This was our first experience of the traditional music of the Batwa people and we were all overwhelmed by the quality of the performance, so before leaving the Birara we invited Francis Sembagare and the three female vocalists, Jolly, Paskazia and Vastina, to join us in Kisoro so that we could record more of their songs with the Ketebul Music artist Winyo….
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…
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…
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…
73,603 views on YouTube News
…more traditional sounds of East Africa to an enthusiastic audience. Thanks for watching! Our top 3 video hits In third place, this is the Nyerere Wa Konde Music Club from Sita Village, Gede in Kenya’s Malindi District. It was the very first video we uploaded to YouTube following our field visit to the Coast Region to record the music of the Mijikenda tribes. Is second place is a video from our field visit to Kisoro in south west Uganda where…
Victoria’s reflections on field trip to Northern Uganda News
…strife Your music your saviour, it once saved your life So sing us your story and dance us your life Your history’s a melody, you keep it alive Sing us your memories, there’s volumes to tell And we’ll capture your story, we are Singing Wells On my last day in Uganda, just before I had to leave the rest of the team and travel back to London alone, Akello recorded one of her songs with the Watmon Cultural Troupe, in the gardens of the Airport Guesth…
A new type of city Story
…hat the capital would be like; this image speaks a lot about the city. The number of ‘proper’ buildings were few and in only the small centre. It was hilly and most of the roads were not built for vehicles. The shops were small shacks mostly and at night stayed open, lit by candle light. There were animals everywhere and make-shift houses, which starkly contrasted to the taller office buildings you could see in the distance. Despite this unconvent…
The Boy with the Headphones Story
…ink below, but for now we will tell you about this little boy with the headphones. It was on our second day in Kisoro when we travelled to the Mperwa Batwa community. Consisting of just a small number of families, the Mperwa have settled on a small area of borrowed land just a few kilometres from the town. At first glance the setting appeared to be spectacular, with the lush valley and terraced hills of local farms as a backdrop and the magnific…
Music of the Batwa: video playlist News
In November 2011 the Singing Wells team travelled to Kisoro in SW Uganda to record the music of the Batwa, a marginalised group whose music and dance tells the story of their history, culture and the problems they face today. 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, including a grant from the Institute of In…
The origins of Singing Wells Story
…been invited to a local town for a simple recording. Singing Wells allows for the whole group to perform, singing and dancing in front of ten microphones and three digital cameras.’ Video engineer, Patrick Ondiek, adds, ‘I love producing the final videos and getting phone calls from my friends asking me ‘how did you find these musicians?’ I feel like I’m on the cutting edge of music, bringing these talented musicians to my Nairobi friends.’ In ad…
Day 10: File Management at Ketebul Studios Story
…avel plans must assume an average speed of 50 kph. It is simply impossible for two vans and 10 people to travel faster. Keep a running table of groups, songs and audio takes and camera times. This worked very well this trip and by circulating the table to everyone we could keep making corrections to everything as we went. The person who drives the clapper board should control the ‘final spelling’ of all and then work with Camera 2 to keep a log of…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…through another detector ourselves (#2) Once through this line we lined up for Kenya airlines. We are our own queue and it took a while to check in our 23 bags and convince them to let us carry our 11 carry on bags… Once checked in we then waited in visa line. No issues. By this time the flight is calling for boarding… There’s another line at the gate to go through Kenya security. Big queue and one very angry mzungu who was fed up. We all had to t…