Meet our ‘Influences’ artists News
…ith Ben Kisinja Eddie joined the Singing Wells team on the field recording trip to Kenya (Great Rift Valley). Akello Akello Jackie is a young Ugandan singer who writes and performs both African contemporary and urban music in languages like Acholi (her mother tongue), luganda, abit of Kiswahili and English, among other languages. Akello started her musical journey as a young girl in her junior school leading in school musicals. Later on at 13 ye…
Day 8: Entebbe to Nairobi and Ketebul Studios Story
…nting: Drove 8 minutes to Airport. About 600 meters outside airport we had to stop and all get out of van and go through a metal detector. There was a large sign telling us not to bring in pistols and rifles. The van was then searched. At airport, we had to unload bags at departures, take them by trolly to bottom of stairs. Take all bags up the stairs. Find new trolly and proceed to next stage. All this would be fairly straightforward except we ha…
Akello sings ‘Influences’ songs for Singing Wells News
…village near Gulu, Akello now lives in Kampala. She travelled with us back to the north of the country and was not only invaluable acting as a translator when we visited the Acholi communities in the area, but also performed some of her songs for the Influences series, accompanied by the local music groups. ‘Wan Wilobo’ performed with the Rubanga Kingom Awach Boys With just a few minutes to practice, Akello performed this song backed by the Ruba…
Day 7 (pm): Recording at the Airport Guesthouse, Entebbe Story
…th Akello who headed back to Kampala, then our drivers William and Emmanuel, then to Vicki who headed off London. The rest of us will leave tomorrow for Nairobi and more recording… Jimmy Entebbe…
Day 7 (am) – back to Kampala: Naguru to Entebbe Story
…an equal number of streets and houses piled up above us. There were cars, motorbikes and taxi’s driving past and planes flying overhead. Everything was for sale by everyone who walked by. No sleeping cattle. No flower beds. But, as always, there was wonderful music. The first group was the Adungu Cultural Troupe, masters of the Adungu. We had interviewed their leader on our ‘recce’ trip earlier. Here’s the band: We’ve had the odd adungu here and…
An Evening with Mserego Mwatela Group News
…village, but others need to hear his music. It is now almost midnight and we’ve recorded some fantastic music. The hotel restaurants are closed again, so we will be taking this group out for some food and then open up the studio tomorrow for the last day of this trip. We have asked the leader and his grandson back tomorrow for more discussions given they represent exactly what Singing Wells is trying to achieve. Until tomorrow then… Jimmy (Ketebul…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Kampala (a driving story) Story
…This also includes the role of our Influences Artist, which we’ll discuss tomorrow. Field Reports: this is the full set of output materials we publish on line. This involves production of soundcloud copies of audio, on line copies of 3 camera video performance, full publication of all interviews and finalization of all archiving. Studio Follow-up: our final repeatable model is our set of routines around bringing artists we’ve ‘discovered’ during…
Northern Uganda: Day 6 – Soroti to Obuell-Lira to Soroti Story
…Uganda Army then re-took control of the area. One of their first acts was to go to each village and accuse them of collaborating, typically killing the men under the assumption that they must have fought with the rebels. For Joshua, this was a terrifying moment because the band was known to have played to the rebels. Again, a group of soldiers came into their village and again their mission was to kill the men and boys of the village. And again,…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…dly random words, like Gorgeous, Amen, Big Mama, Jesus Love, Go! Go!, etc… Motorbikes are everywhere, mostly on the side of the road with someone lying beneath them repairing something. In Uganda,, on most of the roads we travelled, there wasn’t a huge problem with ‘passing’ because the roads were not that crowded. Then there are night roads. These are horrible things that will kill you. They are pitch black. They are filled with deep holes that s…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
…their website under the ‘ATTA Likes’ banner! Thank you ATTA – we will keep you posted on our travels in East Africa with news, photos and wonderful music! Victoria…
Reporting back on recording trip to Kisoro, SW Uganda News
…nvited ten of the Batwa performers to the Ketebul Music studios in Nairobi to record more songs, and in particular, collaborate with contemporary music artists to generate new material for ‘Influences’ – a series of new songs influenced and inspired by traditional themes. Our aim is to provide a lasting benefit for the Batwa community in Uganda and we are doing this through our continuing relationship with UOBDU. We were delighted to receive this…
A day in the field with Singing Wells News
…learn new techniques and face new challenges. For our next field recording trip to northern Uganda (December 2012), this is the list of everything we will be taking with us: 2 Apple 17″ 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 Micropho…
Northern Uganda: Day 2 – from Gulu to Acet Story
…sold in little packets, scooped from a large bucket. We knew Simba was jealous! We then ate a meal of Nile Special and Goat and Posho. We leave tomorrow at 7 to record more groups in the area… Jimmy (Acet)…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
…to rediscover their cultural glory. Now 90% of the Acholi tribe have been moved to displacement camps. Their cultural heritage has become even more important now as their homeland has been taken away. This is particularly prevalent in the documentary ‘War Dance’, which I recommend to any interested. WorldMap has benefitted Singing Wells greatly even leading us to create our own Music Map which archives our own raw data from our field trips. You…
Northern Uganda: Day 1 – Entebbe to Gulu Story
…ish in various sauces, accompanied by various carbs, including Posho (the Ugandan version of Ugali)… Then to bed. We’ve arrived. Tomorrow is music. Jimmy (Gulu)…
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
…ns made functional. The harp is constantly evolving, and while in the past tortoise shell was used to make it, it is now largely made out of wood. They come in a variety of different sizes and are often played as an ensemble: Tradition: Traditionally, the harpist was the only musician ever allowed to play in the room of the royal ladies, whilst there would often have been a harpist situated in the Kabaka’s palace (the chief of the Baganda tribe in…