You MUST watch this video – I’ll tell you about it afterwards…

Recognize anyone? Did you laugh?!? Well, a local Christian musician, Mathieu Assogba, has been working with me a lot on my research here. So, when he came to filming his latest pop video he asked me to come along and play the cÉ›nkumÉ›n, a large gourd used in traditional music here. So, they sat me down in someone’s back yard, where there was a large blue sheet draped across a wall, and I played along to the CD.

When I’d finished playing, he said “You speak a bit of FÉ”n, can you mouth the words to it”, so, with difficulty I did! A couple of weeks later and this is the result. Incidentally, I also put him in touch with the white dancers too, who had a whale of a time learning the moves. Check what Lauren says about the experience here and here. Oh, and apparently it’s been on local TV already – scary! That almost qualifies me for Celebrity Big Brother!!!

That’s all for now. Bon weekend!

Week before last, Rob was on another workshop to Dapaong – the northern-most town in Togo, and only 20 miles from Burkina Faso…

It was a very long journey, about 700 miles from Cotonou. This was all the more tiring as I’d only got back from England two days earlier. Still, a colleague called Lois (the one who – curiously – is also married to a Rob!!) needed to make a trip up north, so came along and shared the driving.
After Kara, it’s about 3 hours’ drive further north, past the Gando turning, and then through a place called Mango:

Dapaong, I have just discovered, is twinned with the town of Issy in France. The name Dapaong actually means new market in Moba (the local language), although it’s an unlikely venue for horse racing (British joke!) I didn’t get to see the market or even much of the town, but this is what the area near the workshop looked like:

The weather was chilly for Africa and only about 10% humidity – quite different from southern Benin. Mid-morning felt like a British summer’s day, but then it got far to hot for that!

So, as ever, we began with some teaching. This was a little different from other workshops, as the aim was not only to compose new songs, but also to encourage folk to use traditional Moba song genres in their churches – something which is not happening across the board. There are, however, loads of traditional song genres. Here are a few:

Talkudg…………..Used for rejoicing and at funerals.
KÉ”nbenn……………Played at initiation ceremonies (male or female) and at celebrations.
JÉ”ug……………….For processions.
Naal……………….Sung when crushing millet.
Kpanbalgingann…..For singing the praises of the chief.
Saab……………….For the initiation of a boy (nothing to do with Swedish motoring).
Kpanjam……………Used when telling a story.
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Here are some photos of the workshop:

Composing a new song

Performing the song to the rest of the group

Recording the new songs on the last day

The percussion section

This was also a special workshop because we composed songs for the dedication of the Moba New Testament, which takes place in March. Three groups wrote a song each and one of these will be chosen to be sung by a choir at the Dedication Ceremony – wow! Exciting stuff! In fact, have a listen yourselves and let me know which song you prefer. (NB This will in no way influence the judges’ final decision!!) Here’s a short extract of each song:

Moba Dedication song based on Hebrews 4 verse 12:
joug-heb-4v12-extract.mp3

Moba Dedication song based on 2 Timothy 3 verses 16-17:
jaab-2tim-3v1617-extract.mp3

Moba Dedication song based on Romans 15 verse 4:
konbenn-rom-15v4-extract.mp3

That’s all for now folks – leave us a comment!

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:

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:

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

(Boukoumbé, Benin, in October)

(Dassa, Benin, in August)

(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…)

Last week, Rob did a song-writing workshop and recorded many songs of the Ditammari people of northern Benin/Togo and made some interesting cultural discoveries…

First off, here are some musicians (and one intruder – can you spot him?!?) dressed in a traditional costume: a ‘hat’ with animal hair coming out of it (goat, monkey or horse, I’m told), sticks, beards and glasses(?!?) I’ve no idea why!

Day 1
The journey north was tricky as ever, but nothing out of the ordinary – I must have been up and down this road at least 12 times now, and this journey was a round trip of over 1,000 miles! The Land Rover did well most of the way, until I got to Natitingou, when the front right wheel started making an awful noise. Thankfully, there was a garage right there, so I pulled in. “I think it’s your wheel bearings, Monsieur,” says the garagiste “we’re unlikely to find any replacements in Natti, but probably in Kara.” Kara is in Togo, but only a couple of hours’ drive away. I leave the car and get a lift to a hotel in the town and crash.

Day 2
The only way to get to my destination of Boukoumbé in time for the workshop is on a motorbike taxi, so the hotel calls one and we’re on the road by 7:15am, with my travel bag and recording equipment on the front of the bike, just behind the handle bars (only my mic stands I leave behind – that would be just too tricky!) It’s a bit chilly on this 35 mile journey over the mountains on a dirt road, but I still manage to get my camera out for a quick shot. Have a butchers:

I get there in time and meet Norbert, my contact there. Some folk are still arriving on foot from a village about 15 miles away, so we don’t get started until around 11:00am, looking at song genres and composition techniques etc. I quickly realize that this workshop is going to be different from most others in the following ways: (i) over half of those attending were not Christians, even though it’s a Bible song-writing workshop. Instead they follow traditional or animistic religion and (ii) because they are almost all men, with only about 5 teenage girls attending and (iii) there are NO DRUMS!!! Hang on, this is Africa – where are the drums?!?

Here are some of the folks reading one of the scripture verses in the local language. The Ditammari are fortunate, as they already have the whole Bible in their language, whereas the majority of Benin’s 52 languages only have some Bible or none at all.

There’s no mobile phone signal in Boukoumbé, but I find a cabine téléphonique and call the garage in Natti – to my amazement, the Land Rover is mended!! He found the bearings in the town and it’s all done! So, I decide to catch another motorbike back, stay in Natti, then drive back the next morning – that way I can have my microphone stands at hand. Unfortunately, there’s a HUGE thunder storm on the way back and I get completely drenched. In the end, the driver stops for shelter and I wring out my shirt. Click here to see the video of the storm. I get to the garage, but by then it’s closed, so I find a hotel …and crash.

Day 3
The garage is not open until 9:00am, so I get the car then and head back to Boukoumbé. The guys are already composing when I get there. Later, I present three parables: The Prodigal Son, The Good Samaritan and The Sower. These work well in Africa, where story-telling is such an integral part of the culture and where the way of life is still similar to that in Bible times. In fact, as I’m explaining the Parable of the Sower, I notice that, just outside the door, there is a field of maize, in front of which are weeds and then a path. Wow – how very fortuitous – shame there was no rocky ground! Dinner with Norbert then – finally – a night in Boukoumbé!

Day 4

Breakfast at a local joint with a colleague. No coffee or bread, but instead this:

Mmmm! Very nutritious, and all for 30p!! Back to the meeting place and folks are practising their songs. Today, we begin recording and the local school seems the best location as it’s still school holidays and the site is far from the road and has plenty of open spaces and trees for shade. It takes a while to get and extension cable and the key to a classroom. We also go on a wild goose chase for drums and find one small drum, which some local nuns lend us! Recording starts by midday and all nine new songs are in the can by 5:30pm. Although there’s not much drumming, there is other percussion, including these plaited palm leaves which act as shakers round the legs (a bit like Morris Dancers’ bells!)

Day 5
Although the new songs are recorded, there are several musicians here who have their own songs they would like me to record and that’s today’s job. I’m back at the school by 7:50am, setting up mics etc and we begin recording by 8:20 when the first folk arrive. Some of the songs are Biblical, but many are educational songs, on subjects such as deforestation, literacy, child trafficking and bush fires. By 12:30, we’ve recorded 22 songs – that must be a record! Other instruments they use are metal ‘castanets’ which they click together for percussion, a small 3-holed flute and…traditional gourd guitars:

I’m all packed up and off by 1:15pm and manage to get over half the way home before dark. Phew!

Videos of the trip:

Traditional Dance (men)
Traditional Dance (women)
Recording session

Audio files for you to listen to:

song-based-on-1-john-1v8-10.mp3

song-on-the-fruit-of-the-spirit-gal-5v22-26.mp3

the-parable-of-the-sower-song-disuori.mp3

Here (finally) is the report of the workshop I ran in Dassa in August, with the Ifè and Idaasha people groups.

The Ifè are from Togo and traveled over to Benin for the workshop. Here are the Ifè participants (+ one white face!):

The Isaasha participants, however, were all from close by, and many walked to the workshop! The two people groups have quite a lot in common in terms of culture – their languages are in the same family and (we discovered) they share several song genres.

Day 1

As I had transport problems at the time, I traveled up to Dassa by taxi (only 3 hours’ drive from Cotonou), leaving at around 5:45am to get there on time to start (and with one daughter, 2 nieces and a brother-in-law traveling with me!) So, straight into the work on genres by around (9:30). Here are the genres we noted.

Firstly, genres found in both Ifè and Idaasha:

Agbaja…………………………………………………………………………for rejoicing

Gɛ̀lɛ̀dɛ́…………………………………………………………………………for rejoicing

Akpokpo (also known as Ogu in Idaasha)………………………………used when hunting

Gudugbá (also known as Akoto in Ifè)………………………………….for parties and rejoicing

ShikpoÌ€ (AjikpoÌ€ in Ifè)…………………………………………………….for rejoicing (also the same as the Isikpe of the Aja people)

Ɔwɔ́-kpipka (Ɔwɔ́-OtsuÌ€kpá in Ifè)……………………………………..sung in the moonlight

Other Idaasha genres include:

Gumbé…………………………………………………..……………………………..for parties/rejoicing

Abérelé……………………………………………..…………………….…………..for rejoicing in church

Agbojalogan………………………………………..…………………….…………for mourning/funeral parties

Golù……………………………………………..………………………………..…for mourning/funeral parties

BoluÌ€ (or Obi)…………………………………………………………….………for parties at church

Ajogbagbeya………………………………………………………….………..for parties

Asha………………………………..…………………………………….………..for praising kings

Other Ifè genres include:

Atrukpe……………………………………………………………………..….for mourning

Here I am leading a discussion on song genres:

We discussed which of these genres were already used in church, which could be used and which ones it was best not to use (at least for the time being). Then onto composing, in 6 groups (3 Ifè, 3 Idaasha). First I present the verses – we start with 3 parables: The Sower, The Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. These work well, as story telling is a big part of African culture, and the settings of these stories are, in many ways closer to African experience than western. All back together just before lunch to share the songs composed and suggest improvements etc. Then onto 3 passages from Hebrews – chosen by the Ifè, on the subject of sacrifice (an important part of their culture).

Here’s part of the Good Samaritan song composed by the Ifè, using the Gudugba song genre (with some fab drone singing). Have a listen:

gudugba-ife.mp3

Day 2

More composing first thing, then presentation of the Hebrews songs. Lois, Alison and the others arrive mid-morning (thankfully, Lois has brought some more headphones for me, as the others gave out yesterday and I’d been using some ‘in the ear’ ones from Rachel’s IPod!) After lunch, I set up my equipment and we start recording. It begins to rain a tad but, thankfully, not too much, so we continue and get 7 of the 12 songs in the can. Here I am recording (NB can you spot Lois in the background too?):

The last 3 verses are then given out (2 Cor 5:17, Coll 2:6-7 and Galatians 5:22-26), all on the subject of Christian growth and living.

Day 3

Finishing off compositions, then start recording by 11:00am. Today, it’s much more rainy, so we set up under a paillotte (straw gazebo) with only the percussionists outside. Here are some folks warming up under the paillotte – notice the large gourd, or calabash, being used as a drum here:

Here’s an extract from the Idaasha composition on 2 Corinthians 5:17 (about being a new creation). It’s in the Abérelé song genre and has some neat cow bell playing (which Gary Wood especially enjoyed):

aberele-idaasha.mp3

All recorded by 5:30pm, when my taxi arrives to take us back. Altogether, 18 songs have been recorded, which will form 2 albums. Phew! We all stay the night at the Auberge in Dassa (aka my second home!) then pile into a 9-seater taxi and head back to Cotonou the next day! Thanks to the Wood family for coming along, and to Gary for taking all the photos you’ve just looked at!

Rob had a busy week with his computer cassette duplicator last week…

The song-writing workshops and recording sessions are only the start. Once he gets home, Rob uploads the MP3 recordings onto the computer and then edits them using a great program called Audacity, then he makes a master cassette, being careful to monitor the recording level for each track and to calculate the length of each side correctly. After this, it’s onto the machine, which copies 4 C60 tapes in under 5 minutes. Here’s a close up of the awesome device:

“Just as well, as I had 450 cassettes to copy last week” says Rob “and I have over 700 copied tapes boxed up and awaiting delivery.”

Remember, all of these contain Bible-based songs in the local language and musical style, using a variety of genres and traditional instruments, so pray for those who will be listening to the recordings in the coming months.

Next workshop: 8-10 August, with the Ifè and Idaasha people. Stay tuned!

Yes, we’ve finally got round to putting some videos onto www.youtube.com. Here’s one of some Ntcham ladies clapping:

[youtube eVBFTBjKBUw]

There are plenty more, mostly of ethnomusicology stuff, but not entirely. Have a look here:

Bakers’ Youtube videos

or just visit Youtube and search for ‘Robenin’. Happy viewing!

Last week, I ran a song-writing workshop with the Ntcham people in Bassar, Togo. The journey there takes around 7 hours with a boarder crossing. There are the predictable goats, chickens and daft dogs to circumnavigate, not to mention all those dodgy lorries! I finally make it by 5:00pm, just an hour before nightfall.

Bassar is located in a pretty part of the country, surrounded by hills. To get there, I even get to drive through one of Togo’s national parks, which was very pleasant. Here’s Bassar:

In an average three-day workshop I expect there to be around nine songs composed and recorded. However, when I met with the Ncam co-ordinator, he mentioned that there were two groups who spoke slightly different dialects of the language, so they’d like two cassettes making (= 18 songs!) Aaarrgghhh! How am I ever going to get that much done? Then came another shock – most of the ladies attending run market stalls and so would not be able to attend on Saturday. That leaves me two days to get all these songs done!

So, I’m met at 7:00am from my accomodation at the blind rehabilitation centre (nice room and running water some of the time). Here’s where I stayed (2nd house from the left, just behind the long wall):

The first job before the workshop begins is to get the tailgate of the Land Rover repaired. All those bumps on the way here have meant the screws have come loose and fallen out, and so the door will not shut properly and rattles like crazy. We find a local mechanic who sorts it out. That done, we have a flip chart to pick up, then it’s off to a disused hotel on the hillside to get started. Upon arrival, there’s a young man shouting. Another mad bloke, who’s likely to hinder our work. Eventually, he’s escorted away and we can get to work. I divide the attendees into six groups (three in each dialect) to compose. The first thing I tell them to do is pray together, then re-read their Bible verses. Here’s one lady reading theirs from the Ncam Bible:

Once they’re done composing, they regroup within their dialect to sing the new songs to each other. In this way, by midday on day one, we already have six new songs composed and I’ve introduced the next set of verses. By 3:00 on day one, we begin recording (unheard of to start this until at least the second day, but needs must!) and by 6:00pm we have eight songs in the can and the mosquitoes are starting to bite me everywhere!

Day two and we start at 8:00am by introducing the last three verses, making a total of nine verses/songs for each of the two larger groups. More recording from mid-morning and when we break for lunch, there are only five songs left to record. These are all done by 4:00pm. Phew!

One interesting instrument, not limited to the Ncam by any means, is the so called talking drum, which has strings along each side which are squeeze under the arm to alter the pitch. The guy to our right is playing one:

One instrument I hadn’t seen before was the two-stringed traditional guitar, made up of a calabash (gourd) and a long stick. This one also had metal lids from Coke, Sprite and Fanta bottles on the end of the head for added percussion! Here it is:

For those interested, the Ncam song genres are as follows:

Lawa – Used at weddings and funerals for rejoicing.
Dikpannol – Used after hunting.
Kinimpucambeeu – Sung by men at a wedding, for exaltation, rejoicing or proverbs.
Abaal – Wedding song sung by women. Same or similar to the Haraara of the Nawdm people.
Njeem – Sung after killing a ferocious animal
Googoo – For funerals, after an old person has died.
Atagbin – Also sung at the funeral of an old person.
Konkomba – For rejoicing after the harvest. Same as the Gumbe of the Tem people.
Ganga – For an old persons funeral.
Icaalan – For sadness/mourning.
Koncee – Sung at celebrations by old ladies with sticks.
Kurnyimaa – For weddings.
Tampa – The use of large drums and a horn for an old man’s funeral.
Kitamkpanbeeu – A piece using the traditional two-stringed guitar.

Other news…

• One week till the end of term. Yippee!
• Madelaine has had a nasty chest for the past few days, but is recovering slowly. We’ve managed to buy a nebulizer from somebody leaving Benin, which is a huge help.
• No internet at the house, so I’m typing this in the garden of the infants school.
• Rainy season persists, which means cooler weather. We recorded an all time low of 23 degrees C the other evening!
• We have spiritual retreat in Kara in late July, and Rob’s in charge of the worship.
• Lois’ sister and family are visiting in August.
• Rob’s next workshop is actually in Benin (wow!) and only three hours’ drive away. It’s in August during the Woods’ visit.
• We met a French bloke at our Sunday fellowship recently who’s in Benin until August. After that, he’ll be studying at Silsoe College, just down the road from Ampthill! Small world!

That’s all folks! Thanks for visiting. Please, please leave a comment from time to time!

Cheers.

The Bogo (who speak Igo) are the smallest people groups in Togo, with only around 6,000 of them. Furthermore, until last week they had no church music in their own language or genres. Ethnomusicologist to the rescue…

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I’d had an e-mail from a colleague a few weeks back saying: