JumbieRecords

Cameroonian xylophone adventure

There's a new African xylophone in town. A Cameroonian named Francois Nnang has been performing in the subways, and today Famoro and I (Raul) went to go visit him in The Bronx. He is a really nice man, and a wonderful performer. He gave us a demonstration of his instrument, which he made:

Here is the link for the video above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU1Cwwn0ENk

Then Famoro picked up the instrument for the first time. Here is the ensuing duet with Famoro (of Guinea) and Francois:

Here is the link for the video above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeubUMScvJ4

Xylophones in Cameroon can be large– like those in Uganda– played by multiple musicians. It is played by the Ewondo people.

Koboz: The oud that time forgot

Bob Cohen's wonderfully entertaining blog Dumneazu has an article on the Koboz or Cobza. Here's an excerpt:

The instrument looks like an oud that was left in the wash machine and shrunk. In terms of tone... well, a good cobza functions like a drum machine - either knocking out driving east Balkan dance beats or picking out the intricate background rythyms (tiituri) patterns of Romanian lautar music. The problem is, there really aren't many good cobza players left. The cobza is an instrument that is dying out fast. Recorded examples of Moldavian Csango players of cobza were made during the 1950s and early 70s, by which time you could hear that the players had already lost their skill.

He also posts a video or two.

Video: Famoro meets Mamadou Djeng of Senegal

I use Dallam-Dougou as a way to take risks. When I met Mamadou Djeng, a ngoni player from Senegal, I didn't really know how it would work out. He joined Dallam-Dougou for our shows earlier this month, and I was really please with the results. Here is a video of him playing with Famoro.

You can also view this at YouTube.com/rauldougou.

Recreating the "Pan-Round-de-Neck" Sound

by Mark Stone
from Jumbie Journal, October 2005       

At the impressionable age of sixteen I heard the sound of a steel drum for the first time. While visiting Toronto on a class trip I bought a tape-recording simply titled "Steel Drums" with a picture of a man wearing a wild headdress, and the subtitle "The Native Steel Drum Band (A Live Recording)." I had no idea what to expect but quickly fell in love with the sounds on that cassette and listened to it constantly during my junior and senior years of high school. I was captivated by the instrument and its mellow yet percussive sound.

      

O.U. students using bowling balls to start their steel drums

My fascination with the steel drum continued through college, where I began learning to play the instrument. At West Virginia University I had the pleasure of studying with one of the instrument's original creators, pan legend Ellie Mannette. However, the instruments we played had a beautiful, clear sound, much different than the woody sounds on my old cassette tape. I learned from him that what I had on my recording was the post World War II steel pan tradition called "pan-round-de-neck". Over the course of more than fifty years, Ellie has significantly refined the steel pan's sound. He achieved his goal of giving the instrument an "orchestral tone" by precisely tuning its overtones and carefully blending every note. As a result, Ellie appropriately christened our university steel band The Symphony of Steel.   

As much as I enjoyed playing in Ellie's Symphony of Steel I was still drawn to the sounds of pan-round-de-neck. This older instrument had a clearly African sound that reminded me of the kalimba and gyil. I was excited to find out from Trinidadian panman Tommy Crichlow that there were still many groups in Trinidad playing the pan-round-de-neck style on instruments with the updated name "single-pan." Tommy invited me to travel to Trinidad, the birthplace of the steel drum, to perform with one of the country's leading single-pan groups, the Scrunters Pan Groove. He was the arranger for the group, and I was blown away by their playing. However, even though the Scrunters wore their drums around their necks, the drums that they played had the same "orchestral tone" that Ellie's band had back at W.V.U. When I asked Tommy why his group hadn't kept the pan-round-de-neck sound he said, "Yankee boy, that's the old sound, we have moved on and left that behind."

And he was absolutely right. Every pan-round-de-neck group that competed in the single pan category during carnival 2001 had chromed pans with the modern pan sound.

Although playing throughout the carnival festivities with Tommy and the Scrunters Pan Groove was an incredible experience, I returned from Trinidad still without having found the "old school" pan sound I was looking for. I revealed what I had learned to my friend Michael Kernahan, another Trinidadian panman who had helped me to establish two modern steel pan groups in Michigan. Michael felt the same way that I did and told me, "This is where pan came from; it's a pity we aren't preserving the older traditions."

The following summer when Michael and I got together in Michigan he brought something important to show me. With a look of satisfaction on his face he pulled out an old steel drum and said, "A friend of mine in Miami was throwing this away, listen...." He started to play and the long-forgotten pan-round-de-neck sound filled the room.

HEAR the sound of pan-round-de-neck

With the memories of his youth and his friend's discarded instrument as a template, Michael set out to recreate an entire set of pan-round-de neck steel drums. Meanwhile, I had been asked to teach a summer steel drum course for music educators at Oakland University. Realizing that making a steel drum and learning the history of pan should be central to this university class, I asked Michael to come to O.U. as a guest artist.

I also enlisted the help of my friend and university colleague, Kerro Knox. Kerro is a theatre professor and Pan-Jumbie who played a very important role in this project as that guy who "knows how to build stuff". Together we set out to gather the necessary materials. Our shopping list read:

12 Bowling Balls
4 cut-off sledgehammers
1 propane tank
1 torch
20 fifty-five gallon oil barrels
2 cans of paint
12 flexible rulers
8 ball-pen hammers
8 piece nail punch set
drafting pencils
markers
safety goggles
ear plugs

Gathering all of these items was an adventure in itself involving numerous phone calls to bowling alleys, confused looks from employees at hardware stores, and a trip in a beat up U-haul truck to an old

Detroit

warehouse. In typical fashion, we gathered the final items minutes before the first class began. We were ready to build our own steel drums.    

Mark Stone and Michael Kernahan at work       

Every student was given a fifty-five gallon barrel, a bowling ball, and a pair of earplugs. We spread out underneath the shade of the pine trees behind the theatre shop and Michael instructed us in the process of sinking the face of an oil barrel. Each barrel needed to be sunk approximately six inches to make the old pan-round-de-neck drum known as a "grundig." We all lifted our bowling balls high into the air and began slamming them into our oil barrels. This process was physically demanding yet the excitement of making our own instruments carried us on. Once he could see that progress was being made, Michael showed us how to finish sinking a drum with a sledgehammer.

      

Grundig

VIDEO clip of Michael sinking a drum

After the drums were sunk to the appropriate depth, we carefully marked where each of the drum's pitches would be placed.

VIDEO clip of Michael marking a drum      

Using different size ball pen hammers we began shaping the notes. Once these notes had the correct shape a groove was etched along the lines we had drawn in order to separate the vibrations of each pitch.

VIDEO clip of Michael shaping the pitches      

Finally, once all the notes had been correctly placed the barrels were cut in half and burned with a propane torch. Michael explained that the drums needed to be burned in order to temper the metal.      

Michael cutting a pan

VIDEO clip of Kerro burning a pan

Mark burning a pan       

Everyone was able to construct a drum after a week of intense work. However, this was the easy part! Although the drums had been correctly constructed the individual notes still needed to be tuned. Everyone quickly realized that tuning a steel drum was truly an art form that we could not expect to master in one week. Michael patiently showed us how by tightening and loosening the steel with a ball-pen hammer a note would eventually take shape. Some of us were able to get a few notes in tune, but this very challenging process was one Michael completed largely by himself.

I have always had a great respect for Michael Kernahan. Through a lifetime in pan he has proven himself to be an outstanding steel drum craftsman, tuner, arranger, and performer. His two weeks spent as a guest artist at Oakland University also proved him to be an incredible teacher. Michael's ability to patiently guide us all through the process of transforming a raw oil barrel into a musical instrument was nothing short of miraculous. In the end, every participant left the class with their very own grundig to proudly carry around their necks and share with the world.

VIDEO clip of O.U. students playing pan-round-de-neck       

Find out about the 11/18/05 concert of pan-round-de-neck at Oakland University   

      

 

Mission to Guinea: Supporting an 800-Year Xylophone Tradition

by Raul Rothblatt
from Jumbie Journal, April 2005

Last night at a bar in Brooklyn, something important happened. Raul gave Abou Sylla money from Jumbie Records to buy a generator for a small town in rural Guinea. It is worth our time and effort to explain why this matters.

With the help of Abou, Jumbie Records is giving the guardians of the Sosso Bala a generator. The Sosso Bala is the oldest balafon in the world - an 800 year old instrument that has been played and preserved by the Kouyate family in Niagassola, known as the Dokala association. Jumbie Journal readers are probably aware that in 2001 UNESCO declared this instrument one of the 19 "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."

But UNESCO was also explicit in stating the threats facing the Sosso Bala: "The Sosso-Bala and its site are at risk from rural migration, the difficult living conditions in Niagassola, trafficking in artifacts, and frequent fires." And they also suggest an Action Plan: "Proposals include balafon festivals and conferences...."

Luckily, there is going to be an international balafon festival at the end of April. Actually, it may surprise you to hear that there are going to be TWO different xylophone festival featuring the balafon. At the same exact time that Jumbie presents America's first African Xylophone Festival in New York, djelis (a.k.a. griots) from around the world will be gathering in Niagassola. And while they are there, Abou will make an announcement.

Abou knows something about the traditions of the balafon. He is not only widely respected in Guinea for his impressive musical skills, but he is respected by the Dokala association for his role in promoting the Sosso Bala. If you go to Niagassola, know this: you don't just kinda give them some gift like it is some sort of financial transaction. You have to act properly. And in case of giving a generator, you have to do it with a flourish. And Abou knows about flourishes.

So at the end of April, djelis from all around West Africa will know about Jumbie Records. They will know not only that we are aware that Niagassola needs a generator, but that we have taken it upon ourselves to provide it. And they will know that we are doing something about the balafon tradition. We have learned about the instrument, and we are spreading our knowledge.

It seems that everything valuable in the world is vanishing. All sorts of traditions are threatened, from the Buddhist statues in Afghanistan to opera houses in Berlin to CBGBs in the New York. Some of these threats are due to rigid ideologies, some due to rigid financial constraints. The Kouyate family has done an amazing job for 800 years, but poverty is a corrupting force. Niagassola cannot survive if all its young people leave to find work in the big cities. The Sosso Bala will be destroyed if the mud hut that houses it gets hit by lightning. As the centuries pass, this accident becomes more likely.

The Jumbie generator will provide a level of relief for Niagassola. They are protecting an instrument that dates back to the 13th century, so they deserve at least 20th century living standards.

We thank the Dokala association for preserving the Sosso Bala. We thank them for the strength that we get from honoring the Sosso Bala. We thank them for their preservation of one of the masterpieces of humanity. We thank them for preserving an intangible aspect of our humanity.

Elhadj Djeli Sekou Kouyate
the Bala Tigui, senior guardian of the Sosso-Bala

The Embaire of Busoga

by Mark Allen Stone
from Jumbie Journal, April 2005

On April 30, the AXF (African Xylophone Festival) will present the first-ever concert appearance in New York of the embaire xylophone of Uganda. This giant 21-key instrument, which takes 6 musicians to play, comes from the Basoga people of this East African nation.

Like many East African instruments, embaire keys are made from the very resonant ensambiya wood. The keys are struck at the end (not the center like balafon or gyil) with sticks made from a heavier wood called enzo.

Traditionally,         the keys of an embaire are laid on plaintain stems stretched along both sides of a large hole dug in the ground, aprox. eight feet in length and one and a half feet deep. Long thin bundles of elephant grass are then laid on top of the plaintain stems, creating a cushion for the keys to vibrate freely. Finally the keys are placed on this frame over the hole in the ground. The embaire keys are tuned to a relatively equidistant pentatonic scale spanning just over four octaves.

Because of the profound spiritual connection that music has in Busoga, there are many traditional religious beliefs connected with the embaire. For example, a chicken is sacrificed when the keys are tuned and a goat is sacrificed for every new instrument. It was explained to me by members of the Nakibembe xylophone group that these sacrifices are performed to remember the spirits of ancestors and late members of their group. In the ceremony for a new instrument, blood from a goat is splashed on the underside of the 15th key (from the top). This key is considered to be the heart of the xylophone.

There are six different interlocking parts played on the embaire by three musicians sitting on each side of the instrument. On one side the omusansazi, omuwobato, and omunene parts are played and on the other the omutabuzi, omudumi, and omugabe parts are played. Omusansazi can be translated as the "starter" because it typically begins each composition. This player performs a steady stream of notes in unison octaves. The performer sitting opposite of the starter is the omutabuzi or "mixer". This performer also plays a rapid stream of notes in unison octaves. However, his notes are placed exactly between the notes of the starter, literally mixing their notes together to create a dense stream of tones. This tonebank is at times played as fast as 10 beats per second.

The omuwobato or "player of the small keys" plays the embaire's highest pitches and listens carefully to the tonebank to create a resultant part. This player improvises patterns that he hears within this horizontal tonebank similar to the way jazz musicians improvise melodies based on vertically stacked chord progressions.

The         remaining embaire parts are played on the lowest keys of the instrument and are based on kisoga drumming. These musicans play the same rhythms that drummers would play for the popular kisoga dances irongo ("twins") and tamenhaibuga ("do not break my gourd"). They accomplish this incredible feat by playing the xylophone with their bare hands, often striking the edge of a xylophone key with a stick and the center of the key with their hand. The omugabe, or "player of the long drum," plays the lowest key of the instrument and performs rhythms normally played on the lizard skin drum of the Basoga people. The omunene, or "player of the big drum," performs the rhythms of the large enene drum while also at times shadowing the starter part. Finally, the omudumi is the "commander" of the group playing the offbeat endumi rhythms while shadowing the mixer part and leading the ensemble.

 

 

Instrument Corner: How Not to Dry a Gourd

by David Rogers

from Jumbie Journal, February 2005 Issue

In preparation for the APAP conference, we had this "great idea" to make a bunch of small gourd rattles to give out to folks who came by the Jumbie booth. Someone had heard that if you put a gourd in the oven on very low heat overnight, the inside will dry out and the seeds will form a perfect rattle - like an ensasi from Uganada or hosho from Zimbabwe.

No matter that the Connecticut farmer we bought our sack of gourds from confidently told us that the only way to dry them was to let them sit in a shed until February or March. "Don't mind the mold. You can rub that off in the springtime when it's ready." We had no time to spare waiting for spring.

A web search found inconclusive directions on how to handle the mysterious drying process. The first night of oven drying was fraught with questions: How hot? How do you keep them from cooking? Is it safe to go to sleep with your oven on?

Cautious heating yielded a gourd the next morning that was warm to the touch but otherwise unchanged. Then, our second gourd-drying laboratory (based in Michigan) decided to opt for puncturing the specimens with an ice pick to help let the damp air out. More heat! More holes! More cooking time!

Slowly, a strange smell started to fill the house. "Dad! WHAT IS THAT? Did a skunk get into our kitchen??" bellowed 9-year-old Abena, quick to detect an experiment gone awry.

Alas, the ovens were turned off, the gourds discarded except one, and the plans for our conference give-away nixed. Several weeks after the event, though, our lone un-cooked gourd was recently uncovered… mottled with green and black mold, but distinctly drier. A shake of its stem already brings a soft swishing sound, ready to accompany a small kalimba or horse-hair fiddle. By March it should be perfect for showtime.

The moral to aspiring rattle-makers: listener to your local farmer. (And don't rush Mother Nature.)

Instrument Corner: The "Kontra" of Hungary

by Raul Rothblatt

from Jumbie Journal, August 2004 Issue

The Kontra is a variation of the classical viola used in Hungarian folk music. It has a flat bridge and three strings, so it only plays chords, or in string parlance, triple-stops. It functions the same as the rhythm guitar in rock-n-roll. Since there are no drums in most Hungarian village traditions, the bass and the viola also function as the rhythm section, and so the kontra ends up playing lots of off-beats.

Unlike the viola or violin, the kontra is held vertically (see the pictures). The reason for this is that kontra players are usually drunk and can't sit up straight... uh, I mean this facilitates playing chords instead of one string at a time. Kontra players also don't like to wipe rosin off their instruments. It's part of the vibe.

(Pictured: Jozsef "Heki" Gartai of Eletfa.)