Archive for November 29th, 2007

Nov
29
Filed Under (Ethnomusicology, General) by Rob on 29-11-2007

A computer? An in-tray full of mail? A diary? A telephone? Various bits of paper, paperclips, pens etc?
Here’s what my desk at work looks like:

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A mixing desk, an MP3 recorder, a phantom power supply (small black box at back), a notebook with track titles, lengths and other important info about the recordings, batteries and headphones (although they’re on my head most of the time!) My desk can be anywhere in Togo or Benin, but most often it’s under some trees in a quiet location in a village far from anywhere! As there’s no electricity, I use rechargeable batteries most of the time. For my most recent recording in Bago, Togo, I used a step-up transformer connected to the car battery:

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Here are a few more locations of my ‘work desk’ (NB the table varies according to location, but the equipment remains the same!)

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(Boukoumbé, Benin, in October)

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(Dassa, Benin, in August)

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(Sassanou, Togo, in June)

There you go! Just thought you might be interested! Full report on the workshop soon…

Other news…

*Lois has recovered from a nasty bout of tonsillitis/laryngitis (not sure which!) and is fine now.
*Busy time of the year - school reports and Christmas shows.
*Rob is continuing to research traditional music used in church and is making some fascinating discoveries (sounds like a Facebook update!!!)
*We’ve had no electricity all day or most of lastnight. Even our phone line is down, so I’m at the cyber café typing this!)
*Part of the drive shaft on the Land Rover has broken, so she’s running on the rear wheels only! (If this car makes it till July…)