How music archives can help communities News
…ng with Communities: Building Sustainable Models for Audiovisual Archiving into the Future’, Janet gives us some inspiring examples of how archived recordings have helped communities, one of which centres on the Batwa people of south west Uganda – the community we recorded for the Singing Wells project back in November 2011 (click here for field reports). In the mid 1960’s an ethnomusicologist called Peter Cooke recorded oral histories of the Batw…
Singing Wells – The Story So Far News
…nd share the unique cultural music heritage of East Africa. Support the Singing Wells project and buy a copy! You can buy a copy of the Singing Wells book at the Blurb Bookstore – just click this link: Singing Wells – The Story So Far The profits we receive from the sale of each book go directly to our UK charity The Abubilla Music Foundation which supports the Singing Wells project. Your donation will help give much needed financial support to…
Northern Uganda: Day 5 – from Pakwach to Soroti (a road trip) Story
…then laid down to dry, looking like long carpets. They are then bundled up into long packets, about 6 feet long and 18 inches thick. The bundles are tied with ropes made of other plants. Each woman then pops one on her head and marches into the local market to sell a packet for about 2,000 Ugandan shillings ($1). By our calculation, that is a 15-30 kilometer round trip the market, giving her time to make two runs. Most of the women carry empty bot…
ATTA is following Singing Wells News
…lfour and the Kenya Tourist Board continue to be wonderful ambassadors of Singing Wells, introducing us to interesting and interested people who we can talk to about the project. Earlier this month I was their guest at the World Travel Market at Excel and I met representatives from a number of organisations and companies in the travel and tourism industry operating in the East African counties we are visiting during our field recording trips. I me…
A day in the field with Singing Wells News
…Rest Hotel in Kisoro, Uganda!) We can also combine the two recording units into one to increase the number of inputs, while still working off battery power. The laptops use Avid ProTools recording software – an industry standard for recording and music production. The microphones we have chosen are industry standard models used in studios the world over but, most likely, not seen in the villages of East Africa. The equipment has been carefully sel…
Northern Uganda: Day 3 – from Gulu to Awach to Pakwach Story
…Here’s a video of their ‘magic moment’: Their first song was Kica Watimon Nining, which is a song of forgiveness. Two men start the song fighting (and it is a pretty good tussle) before they are encouraged by the band and woman dancers to calm down, solve their differences and forgive. Given the recent wars in Uganda and given that we are in formally held Kony territory, this song is pretty important. https://youtu.be/_u4-hVbcVV0 In the same vein,…
Northern Uganda: Day 2 – from Gulu to Acet Story
…ick up a generator, a bunch of electric cables and Big Jimmy our Acet Coordinator, below). It was a beautiful day with stunning blue skies and we drove for about 80 kilometers in glorious sunshine through village after village until we reached Acet, where we will meet Acholi musicians (hundreds, in fact). We landed in a field, pock marked with cement block buildings. Not the best site. But in the middle of the field was the most stunning tree that…
The Tribal and Musical Structure of East Africa – Worldmap Research News
To help us gain as much insight into the role of music in the areas we visit, we want to know as much as possible about the tribal and musical structure of East Africa. Over the last few months The Abubilla Music Foundation worked with Tati Kalveks and Rosie Balfour-Lynn to do this research. It was directed using WorldMap, an interesting way of visually displaying data. Here is a shot of the map below, the highlighted regions are the areas in whi…
Northern Uganda: Day 1 – Entebbe to Gulu Story
…ar stopped to pick up Akello, a lovely Ugandan singer/songwriter, who is joining the group as our Influences artist. The Emmanuel car headed into Kampala to pick up our press badges. We then headed off to Gulu at around 2PM (yes, we tend to spend a lot of time getting mobile phone cards!) and headed out on a 360 km drive to the town of Gulu in Northern Uganda. Within minutes we were deeply immersed in the ‘classic’ East African road scene: big tal…
African Strings: The Nyatiti and The Adungu News
…hed round the neck of the instrument, one to each string, which are pushed into position just close enough below the string to let it vibrate against the ring. The rings are made of banana fibre sewn into lizard skin. A small wooden wedge was then inserted between the ring and neck to make the fitting of the ring easier and to prevent it from shifting. The position of the rings also played a part in the tunings, along with tuning pegs which the Af…
Background on the Music of Northern Uganda News
…o tribal identity, as many villages were evacuated and millions were moved into displacement camps. Being away from home, the traditional music of one’s tribe and ancestors becomes much more important for recovery and a way of holding on to normality. (The Tribal Structure of Uganda) Lira: We will then visit Lira and listen to the music of the Langi tribe. Go here to learn more about The Langi. Unfortunately Steve and Patrick were told that the mu…
Lango Tribe Profile – Music of Northern Uganda News
…and. Origins: Their original homeland was north of Lake Turkana where they used to live along with the Jie and the Karimojong. This means, by implication, that the Langi are also related to Dodoth, Lotuko, Topsa, and Turkana of Kenya. Together with the Iteso, Kumam and Karimojong, they comprise the Atekerin family in Uganda. Customs: The Lango have a cultural distaste for witchcraft, and a strong work ethic. They live in small groups, and recognis…
Day 7: In Nairobi – sponsors, blogs and strategy Story
…and, we are artists, seeking musicians and styles that can be fed directly into the current music scene – we are ‘seed’ collectors looking for music that can be replanted and grown in different soils. Our obligation here is to judge, is to prioritise, to separate groups and find some groups that we should be bringing back to the Ketebul studios and supporting with contemporary studio musicians and sound engineers ready to bring new arrangements. T…
Day 6: Recording the Tugen & back to Nairobi Story
…at this recording business and have learned a lot. We have divided things into seven key roles, 3 on audio, 3 on video and one interviewer. All play secondary roles, the most important of which is our Influences artist who must be either a second assistant for audio or video. We have written a second blog on lessons – we felt it is important that if others want to launch a Singing Wells project of their own they benefit from our learning. The Sce…
Day 3 continued – an interview with Steve Kivutia Story
…bu because of his legendary status within Kenyan music. Tabu invited Steve into a meeting where he brought some songs he had worked on. Steve was still a big Hip Hop fan and loved R Kelley. He also liked Salif Keita, an afro-pop singer/songwriter from Mali, his only ‘African music’ influence. Steve’s first job at Ketebul was as an intern working with Jesse and Gabriel on the Spotlight on Kenyan Music series. His feature artist was Makedem who ‘ble…
Music of Northern Uganda News
…Odwar in 2005, transforming a former colonial golf club to a place for training and exchange and to promote and celebrate local cultural achievements. Joyce and David aim to engage people in post-conflict Northern Uganda in the creative arts; resuscitate local arts, crafts and arts education and recover, heal and develop local cultural traditions. With Joyce Laker Director TAKS Centre in Gulu Although Steve and Patrick were not able to meet a…