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Archive for the ‘Ethnomusicology’ Category
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 Day 2
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 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
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) Audio files for you to listen to: song-based-on-1-john-1v8-10.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 Shikpò (Ajikpò in Ifè)…………………………………………………….for rejoicing (also the same as the Isikpe of the Aja people) Ɔwɔ́-kpipka (Ɔwɔ́-Otsùkpá 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 Bolù (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: 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): 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: 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:
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. Other news…
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… . I’d had an e-mail from a colleague a few weeks back saying: ‘We are losing our traditional songs in favour of Ewe songs, can you help?’ . Ewe is a much larger people group, but the Bogo also deserve to use their own music for God, so I agree to come along and help. After several hours’ driving a final hour of narrow, bendy, poorly-surfaced mountain roads, I make it to the village of Sassanou, situated in a pretty valley only 500 metres from the Ghana border. I was scarcely out of the car when I was met by a whole crowd of women singing a song of welcome. At the end of the song they all gave out a high pitched ‘Eeeee’ cheer and one lady promptly put a necklace round my neck. Wow! What a warm welcome!
So, over the 3 days we got 11 new songs written, some based on Bible verses and some on parables, which went well. In the Atungba, large barrel drums are usually played. They said they’d have to get the permission of the village to use them for these new songs. On the day of recording, they not only brought the drums but also an old man from the village came along to play his horn. Here are some of the Bogo folk, singing Biblical songs in their own style for the first time: I think you can tell how happy they are! . The Zoho zaha… One of the guys attending the course also brought along his zoho zaha, an instrument made of a wooden cane with grooves and a round seed pod which runs up and down. There is then a flat, dark seed pod held in the left hand acting as a sound box. Here’s a photo:
. New gear… This was the first workshop when I got to use my new Behringer Eurorack portable mixing desk, which worked really well. Here it is:
That’s all for now, cheers! Off again on Weds, 7th March for another song-writing workshop, this time with the Gangam people of northern Togo. Thankfully, an SIL colleague offers to come along to see the north and to help with the driving. Phew! We arrive in Kara on the Wednesday afternoon, then we’re off early the next morning, through Baga and further north. After about 90 mins driving, we turn right down a dirt track towards Gando, which seems to take an age. In fact, we begin to doubt this is the right road, so stop to ask a lady. She speaks no French (so definitely no English!) so I point forwards and say ‘Gando’ loudly. She nods and repeats ‘Gando’ so I figure we’re on the right road! .
However, nobody is there apart from the translators. I’ve had problems getting in touch with the guy here, so hope he’s remembered the workshop is on. The translators obligingly ‘phone the guy and he soon arrives and says he’ll round folk up! Two people arrive at 9:45 and by 11:00am we have five! Oh dear - will we have to cancel this workshop? Five is barely enough, but I guess we can do something, so we make a start (aware that lunchtime is not far away!) By 11:30, we have eleven people, which is encouraging. Ultimately, we end up with up to 15! One of the guys is wearing a ‘Britney Spears’ t-shirt. I keep looking at it and all I can think of is what she looks like now, with no hair!
At 12:30, we have a break for them to go home and eat. Although I tell them we’ll reconvene at 2:00, the first arrives at 2:30 and everyone by 3:00! I guess not many of them have watches. . We get into 3 groups and begin composing in different genres. These folks compose FAST!!! In fact, you could almost say that composing is a form of improvisation to them, as they start singing almost at once. For those interested, here are the main genres which exist in Nawdm music (scroll down is it’s not of interest!)
We finish at 5:00pm with 3 songs composed. We remind them of the prompt start (7:30am) and point out that that’s the time schools start, so they only have to watch when the school kids are leaving to be on time! Day 2 Our hotel is somewhat basic. The room has a tin roof, a bed (with mozzie net) a table and a chair. There is also electricity some of the time, but no running water. So, it’s bucket shower first thing and the loo, too, needs water pouring down it. Still, at £1 a night, who’s complaining??? Here’s the bar next to the hotel. The village is a decent size, but very village-like (ie totally different from Cotonou). Have a look:
(more photos on the gallery - click on either of these 2 to get there). Anwyay, back to the workshop. It’s 8:00am and I’m finishing breakfast, thinking we said 7:30, but they’ll not be there yet, when I get a phone call from the co-ordinator blokay saying ‘They’ll all here waiting.’ How embarrassing! So, 5 mins drive to the centre and we’re off. . Six more songs composed today. In fact, you could say seven! One of the groups composed a song identical in melody to one yesterday! Thankfully, I’d made short recordings of each group as they composed, so was able to play yesterday’s similar song to them. They agree to alter theirs! Another obstacle was that one old lady was late arriving, so the rest of her group - all very young - were unable to compose as only she knew the local music well! That’s why it’s always important to have some old people on courses such as this! Day 3 Off to an early start again and we begin recording. They have nine new Bible-based songs, in nine different genres (four of which have not been previously used in church, so it will be interesting to see how other folk react to them). Here’s a photo of me with the whole group which attended:
Also, some great drumming and a lady (LHS) shaking a baobab pod filled with stones:
Done by midday and time to clear up:
Back to Kara in the afternoon, then off early the next morning again. In Dassa, they were serving CROCODILE with ginger! Couldn’t resist ordering it, but was unimpressed with the taste (and - strangely - the amount of fat!) Here’s an account of the Nawdm workshop Rob ran in Baga, northern Togo from 1-3 March 2007 . Thursday, 1st March (Day 1)
Amongst the crowd that greeted us was an old man. That must be un vieux du village (old man of the village), I thought and quickly told my friend, Jon, to hold his right arm with his left hand when shaking his hand (a mark of respect). What I didn’t know then was that he was actually le fou du village (village madman!) who proceeded to enter the building where the course was run and interject at regular intervals, with barely intelligable French! The others were very patient with him, but he did stay until lunchtime, then we saw him no more! Here’s Rob doing some teaching on song genres:
If you’re interested, these are the main genres used in Nawdm music:
(NB I’m writing them in western script so you can all read them. If you have keyman and would like them with the exact sounds, I can send them to you). . Following this, there is an exegesis of Philippians, then they split into 4 groups (one for each chapter, roughly) and choose appropriate verses/themes for their songs. After lunch, composition begins. . Today is not only a baking hot day, but also extremely dry (10% humidity if you’re lucky) due to the harmattan. In fact, between 8:00am and 5:00pm, I drank 3 litres of water and only wee’d once!!! Back to SIL centre and we’re treated to a drive up Kara mountain with an SIL colleague - fab view and a great laugh! . Friday, 2nd March (Day 2) A bit more teaching and loads more composing! We start by singing through yesterdays songs again, with percussion. I encouraged folk to fetch more instruments, so today there’s also a large clay drum someone has brought. Here are the main percussion instruments they used: On to James: exegesis, then into five groups to begin composing. The songs are finished by mid afternoon and we once again reunite to share the songs and for everyone to learn the refrains of the songs (or sogdgm as they call them in Nawdm!) Jon, who’s a gifted percussionist, enjoys learning some of the local rhythms and takes plenty of video to help him remember them. He looks shattered by now, mind, and is finding the heat hot! Back to SIL once again. . Saturday, 3rd March (Day 3) Recording day is here! We meet up and go straight into groups to rehearse songs. The first thing to understand in this business is that there’s always something which hinders your recording! Be it goats, motorbikes, chainsaws, parties, the sooner you realize there will be something to make life interesting, the better! This time, it was the wind. The Harmattan was strong this morning, and many of the trees around our recording area had dried pods on them which made a terrible din. We wait (and keep rehearsing) and by 10:30 the wind had died down, so we set up and start recording.
The second thing to know is that there’s likely to be some kind of technical, equipment-based problem. Today, I accidentally set my phantom power to 12volts instead of 48 volts, which meant that the choir were far to quiet and not well balanced. So, we had to retake and some of the choir are not happy. We soldier on until lunchtime, conscious that the paillotte is needed from 3:00pm and desperately trying to get at least Philippians ‘in the can’ before dinner. The folks are tired. I realize thay probably haven’t eaten a thing all day (especially as they’ll know by now how copious the lunch will be!) As well as drums, an old man from the village arrives with his 3-holed flute (similar to this one) and some of the ladies put shakers round their legs, a bit like Morris Dancers. You can see both here: In the afternoon, we start again. The folks have been drinking millet beer over lunch (I’m offered some, but politely decline - not while I’m working and have to drive the LR home!) Predictably, they return for the afternoon session much more relaxed and the rest of the recording runs more or less smoothly and we’re away by 4:00pm, copyright forms signed and all. Millet Beer… Back at the SIL centre, we grab a Fan Milk and watch the lunar eclipse. Here’s a photo Jon took of it: Sunday, 4th March Up with the lark and back home to Cotonou. Thanks for reading! Rob Last week, from Thursday to Saturday, Rob ran an alphabet song-writing course in Togo, amongst the Tem people… The idea was to compose songs to aid literacy in the language. As music is such a prevelant and powerful ressource in Africa, this is a great way to get a message across! We started with alphabet songs, to familiarize folk with the letters and sounds in Tem. As there were 14 on the course, we split into 3 groups, each composing a song in different genres. The wording was different for each too: one choose to do: ‘A is for Apple, B is for Ball’ etc (but obviously not in English!), whereas another group did one which elicits a response from listeners: ‘The first letter of Apple is….A’ etc. Following the alphabet songs, we did 3 tone rule songs. Tem has two different tones a high tone and a low tone. The songs were to help people know which tone is which, with examples of words which go ‘high-low’ then another song for ‘low-high’ and finally one for ‘high-high’ and ‘low-low’. The final category of songs were to do with verb tenses and the tones used which, frankly, I didn’t fully understand (but didn’t need to as there were plently of Tem literacy experts present!) At one point, we were checking through the songs to see if everyone understood them and if they’d be clear in their message. ‘We all understand them, because we know the rules, but how can we know if anyone else will?’ they asked. One of the participants suggested we get a ‘man off the street’ to come and listen, so we did just that - and the groups sung songs to a 26 year old electrician who could neither read nor write in his language. He was very helpful and was indeed able to understand the information in the songs! We began recording on the Friday afternoon. African halls or large rooms are seldom good for this, and the paillotte where we were working (round gazebo, often with a straw roof) was too near the main road to be any good. So, I found a quite place under a tree in a meadow-like area behind the buildings, which was great, appart from large crunchy leaves on the floor. However, we had to plan our recording schedule carefully, as the call to prayer from several local places of worship kept sounding! Here I am looking pensive, with the choir and soloists in the background:
On the Saturday, we had a later start, checked the orthography (that means spelling!) of the songs, then set up for recording again. I’d just about set everything up when a loud chainsaw started up on a building site just behind our compound! Eeek! A couple of guys go round and ask ‘Can you stop as we’re recoring soon?’ The guys reply that they have to do the work today, but that they’ll be on lunch break from 12:00-1:00. So, we get the choir set up by 11:30, run through the songs then, at midday - when the silence returns - we begin recording. Thankfully, we’re all done just a few minutes before the saw starts up again! Here are some photos taken on Saturday (different shirt is the only way I can tell!) In this one, I’m giving the signal to start recording a song:
You’ll notice the percussionists are placed a decent distance away from the singers so as to get a better recording. Here’s another one of the choir:
All done by about 9:30pm. Back to my hotel for a sleep (disturbed, however, by mosquito bites!) then up at 5:00am to drive back down to Cotonou! Phew! My trip up north was to record three hours worth of choir music and readings of Philippians and James in the vernacular (Nawdm). Here is Philippians 1:12 in Nawdm. Have a listen/read: “Teelba-n, mà bo na n’ miig na bii b’ daan mà jugun bii hel n tɔr na Gohɔmt san n nɔngan.” philippians-1v12.MP3 (click on arrow to play, click on link to download) In English, the verse says: “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” and I believe this to be true regarding this recording visit. Please pray for the Nawdm, that the Bible and song recordings will indeed advance the gospel. . Once I arrived in Kara, I had about 45 mins to unpack before setting off to Baga, a small village about half an hour’s drive north of Kara, near Niamtougou. We arrived there at 3:30pm and had a look round. There were three possible venues for recording: the ‘main church’, which had a 2 second echo (not a chance!) and the ’small church’ which was, nevertheless, a little too resonant for recording purposes. Finally, there’s the paillotte or apotam (circular ‘gazebo’ with straw roof - but this one has a tin roof!) Because it is partly open, this is a much more suitable location for recording. So I set up to record by 4:00pm. . Head back to the SIL centre, where I upload and edit the recordings before hitting the sack (the reason for staying this far from the recording venue is its constant supply of electricity, which I need for editing). Thursday (19/10) Depart SIL centre 8:30am, to head to the Nawdm team office, where we record a reading of Philippians and then James, with 4 of the translation team. Due to inevitable human error, we have to do numerous retakes, which I will then digitally ’splice’ together later. This saves time during the recording, but takes me a while longer in the editing process! Time for a short nap before heading back to the Baga church to continue recording. We work from 6:00pm and, due to the choir’s professionalism (they rehearsed every day for two weeks prior to this), we have 45 minutes of music ‘in the can’ by 7:40pm! We are due to finish at 8:00pm, but give the choir the option of carrrying on later to finish the last 45 mins, which they agree to. By 9:45pm, we are all done. Increadible! This is undoubtedly the most professional, together and polished choir I have worked with so far. Here’s what they sound like: baga-choir-2.MP3 (click on arrow to play, click on link to download) As is characteristic of music in this part of the world, all the songs are ‘call and response’, with one soloist singing and the choir echoing. You’ll also hear a healthy percussion section going some! As well as singing, there is also ululation from one of the female choir members, which is always interesting to encounter. Finally, they had a recorder (played up the octave) and a two-note ram’s horn, which it was fun to try out afterwards! Listen carefully and you should hear all of these in this extract: baga-choir-1.MP3 (click on arrow to play, click on link to download) Friday (20/10) All morning spent editing the Bible readings, then after lunch I head to Codhani, a fab place in Niamtougou, where handicapped people make really nice clothes. Their website is excellent - click here to have a look. I find another loud shirt for my collection (actually, reasonably moderate!), a skirt of Lois and some t-shirts for the kids. Dinner in Kara, then back to SIL. I edit the song recordings until quite late and pack my bags. Saturday (21/10) Depart Kara 7:30am. Make it back to Dassa for lunch, then in Cotonou by 5:00pm. Thanks for reading. Leave us a comment! Cheers! |
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