String instrument | |
---|---|
Classification | plucked string instrument |
Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.31
Lutes in which the string bearer is a plain handle (handle lutes)
|
See also: Sub-Saharan African music traditions
Early common cultural bonds
editKingdoms and group associations in West Africa which interconnected cultures included the Mali Empire c. 1235–1670, Sosso Empire c. 1054–c. 1235, Gao Empire c. 7th century–1325, Ghana Empire c. 100–300–c. mid-1200s and Pre-imperial Mali. It was in the Mali Empire that Al-'Umari and Ibn Battūta mentioned the use of lutes.[1].
Later kingdoms inluded the Songhai Empire c. 1430s–1591, Jolof Empire 13-14th century–1549, Kaabu Empire 1537–1867, and Empire of Great Fulo 1512–1776.
Outside cultural influence includes contact with India, Indonesia/Malay culture, Muslim culture and European culture.
Characteristics
editLutes in Africa may be distinguished geographically, to include West Africa, the Maghreb, and the Rice Coast. They have been grouped by cultures and peoples that play them. They have been grouped by status such as instruments of Griots (a caste of professional musician) and folk instruments. They may be viewed in terms of their structural characteristics and the methods musicians use in playing the instruments.
321.31 spike lutes
editThese are lutes in which a handle passes through both side walls of a resonator, or through indentations at the top of the bowl. Handles tend to be rods or sticks.[1, p7] Among African lutes these are found along the rice coast.
321.32 necked lutes
editLutes in which the carved neck is attached to the resonator or carved from the resonator.[1, p7] Lutes in this category tend to be in countries bordering on the Mediterranean and with cultural connections to the middle east. Typical examples include the oud. This category also includes Coptic lutes (Egyptian), which have similarities to ancient Egyptian lutes, but also to Greek/Roman pandura and the rubab (Pamiri rubab, Seni rebab). The Coptic lute's neck is hollow, as are the rubabs.
In Africa these have been introduced from outside the continent. The Oud or Kwitra arrived with Muslims and is used in North Africa for Chaabi music. The Algerian mandole is a 20th century invention, modeled off the French mandola. The gabusi, an import from Yemen is played from the east coast of Africa to Indonesia. The guitar has been imported in modern times and some African lutes now are called guitar, as seen on postage stamps.
321.33 tanged lutes
editAlso called a semi-spike lute or internal-spike lute. These are instruments like the spike lutes, except that the handle touches only one side of the resonator body, the end remaining inside or poking through the soundboard. These do not piece the resonator body but rest in an indentation in the resonator; those like the Griot lutes are woven in and out through the skin sound table[1, p7] These are the typical lute of West Africa. Some non-Griot lutes have the handle lying on top of the sound table.
North Africa and Maghrib
editnames and variations of names | Description | Ethnic connections, regions | Picture | Picture |
---|---|---|---|---|
Guembri (الكمبري)
Gombri gimbri (Hausa) hejhouj (Hausa) Sintir (Arabic: سنتير) |
tanged, bass range. 1-1.5 meters long, oval or rectangular body of carved wood with untanned skin soundboard tacked on, sheep-gut strings attached to neck with leather straps
Moroccan lute is tanged, in which the handle ends inside the body of the instrument, the end visible through a hole. There are also spike lute in Tunisia, in which the handle pokes through the sidewall of the body, for strings to anchor on. Both use a u-shaped bridge that sits on top of the soundboard. |
Algeria
Morocco Tunisia Gnawa tradition, peoples linked to subsaharran Africa. Played in Maghreb countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria) by Gnawa for concerts and Haḍra (religious ritual).[1] May be present amplified with tbal drum and qarqabs.[1] Used in Morocco in possession ritual (Derdeba) to invoke spirits.[note 1][2] Tunisian possession ritual called Stambali.[note 2][3] Instruments may come with sersar (Moroccan Arabic for jangling bells, as on an alarm clock).[4][5] |
|
|
Lotar (لوتار)
Lothar Lutar Loutar hejhouj sentir |
A Guembri or Sintir with pear or oval shape and 2-4 tuning pegs, about 50-130 centimetes long.[7] Bowl back carved from block of wood with separate fitted neck, goatskin soundboard, 3 or 4 strings.[7] Largest version may have 8 strings.[7] Played with "long curved pick".[8] "Tuned in E-A-D-G over two octaves".[7] Sound is somewhat "muffled".[7] | Sufi tradtions. Berber peoples. A Lotar is a version of the Guembri. Largest versions, 4-8 strings are played by Amazigh bards of Atlas mountains.[7][9] A 4-string version is played by the Jebala people of Jajouka, Morocco. Amazigh, Amazighen, Berber peoples. Sufi religious traditions, "trance-inducing music".[10] Mohamed Rouicha popularized it. | ||
suissen
suisdi swisdi |
Pear shaped guembris, smaller than 50 cm length.[7] May have tortoiseshell resonator.[11][12] | Morocco. Sold as tourist souvenirs.[7] Used in Malhun orchestras to play Moroccan classical music.[7][12] |
West Africa
editJaliya, the Griot tradition
editWestern writers have made a habit of calling professional musicians from Sub-Saharan Africa, "griots," and have generalized all similar lutes as "ngoni" or "xalam" or "griot lutes."[14] The assumption is that since outsiders cannot see or hear the difference, then it isn't worth the effort to sort them. But late 20th century and early 21st century writers began to cast doubt on the assumption and to come up with ways to classify the instruments. One of the further classifications was to separate griot lutes from folk lutes.[14]
Griot lutes
editGriot traditions center on Mali, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea, among people in the Mande language family, Wolof, western Fulbe Songhai, Sereen, Lebu and Tukulóor peoples. Outside of these countries, griot tradition may follow relatives of these peoples living in Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau and Niger. As a term, griot is overused by western writers. The job of a griot is as a professional musician, praise singer and word artisan. The term applies to a rank in triparte Islamic caste systems, in which only members of that caste (nearly always the men) may play the griot lutes. Caste names vary by language and people and include: iherden (Kel Tamashek people), blacksmith caste; iggawin (Moors); jeserey wayborey (Songhai people), maabu'be (weavers and singers highest cast) and wammbaa'be (also play nyaanyoora), FulBe, jali, jeli, gewel.[15][16]
Griot refers to people in Muslim cultures with a tripartite caste system. Not every Muslim culture uses griots; an example of one that doesn't is the Hausa people. Calling musicians griots who are from non-griot cultures offends sensitivities linked to identity. When a culture has the "strict tripartite caste system" there are established standards for what constitutes a griot, what rules affect music and wat constitutes a griot lute and a non-griot lute. Only griots play griot lutes; nearly all of these are wood-bodied instruments with a stick neck installed as a semi-spike and a fan-shaped bridge. Non-griot lutes may be wood (such as the Hausa molo), but are more often made of gourd or calabash with a cylindrical bridge sitting on top of the soundboard; these may be semi-spike lutes or full-spike lutes.[15][16]
-fan shaped bridge feature of West African griot instruments[charry, p5]
" It is the special kind of bridge, shaped like a fan, that in combination with the features noted above, marks the lute played exclusively by griots as uniquely West African"[Charry, p9]
"The neck rests on the top of the body. It is "attached to the soundboard."Cite error: The <ref>
tag has too many names (see the help page).
Names and variations | Description | Ethnic connections, regions | Pictures | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gambare | Soninke people | |||
Hoddu | Carved wooden-trough resonator[19] Fan bridge.[19] | Senegal[20] |
|
|
Kambre[21]
Kambreh[21] |
Boat shaped wooden resonator, hide soundboard secured by lacing on bottom of instrument, 2 horsehair strings, dimensions about 52 cm long by 7 cm wide.[22] Also 3 strings.[21] | Sierra Leone Fulbe people[21] | Example photo at museum.[22] | |
Kerona | Fulbe people of Futa Jallon | |||
Koni
Kontingo Nkoni Ngoni |
Variants of Ngoni include Ngoni (small, high pitch), Ngoni Ba (smaller, lower pitch), Bass Ngoni (even larger, lowest pitch) | Mande, Mandinka, Bambara | ||
Molo | Djerma people | |||
Teharden
terhardent |
three strings | Tamashek
Kel Tamasheq (translation: veiled people) Tashigalt or takamba music. Paired with calabash (large calabash used for drum).[23] |
||
Tidinit | Four strings. | Mauritania
Moors, both (Beidane and Haratin). Muslims established emirates in south of country, in about the 18th century AD.[24] Griots of indigenous peoples employed for praise singing of Moors and to disparage their enemies.[24] Tidinit borrowed along with griot customs.[24] Today tidinit used in Azâwân music.[24] Griot music is called azawan, singing accompanied by tidinit, ardin and tbal kettledrum.[25] A form of music in which male and female griots may play together. Iggawin is the name of the lowest caste, in which musicians are part. These are the musicians associated with the tidinit.[Pestcoe, Emergence of the Griot Lutes] |
Example of a figure-eight shaped tidinit in the Quai Brandily Museum.[26] | Example photo at Philharmonie de Paris.[24] |
Xalam
Khalam Halam |
Wolof people | |||
Dambararou | Benin
Bariba people Traditional music includes "Griot music accompanied on the delicate dambararou lute". Other instruments include goge, gon and karou drums.[27] |
|||
Non-griot lute
editRice Coast The Rice Coast of Africa is the region on the Atlantic Coast, from Senegal to Liberia.[28] Many of its residents were enslaved in the United States because of their knowledge in growing rice.[28] The Rice Coast has lutes that may be closely related to the American banjo.[29]
Spike Lutes See also Music of Guinea-Bissau, Balanta people
The spike lutes of the Rice Coast have resonators made from gourds, with handles that poke through the side walls on both sides.[29] The handles or round necks are fretless, made from a papyrus stalk.[29] Typically they have 3 strings (a short drone string as on a banjo, and two melody strings).[29] The strings are attached at the neck with tuning rings and pass over the skin soundtable (tacked across the cut opening in the top of the gourd).[29] The strings pass over an upright bridge that sits directly on top of the soundtable's skin surface.[29]
Gourd resonator bodies are usually round, but a variant called entofer uses an oval or tear-shaped gourd, also described as "bulbous".[29]
-cylindrical bridge
-either full-spike lute or semi-spike lute
-folk lutes of western Sudan region
-folk and non-Griot artesian lutes of central Sudan region
-non-griot, artesian and folk of Western Sudan
-non-griot, artesian and folk of Central Sudan
Sudan region, divided into:
- Western Sudan subregion: Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea
- Central Sudan subregion: Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon
Rather than reflect a detailed study and knowledge of African lutes, the following table reflects the travels of individuals to Africa and their observations and their collections in museums. As such, the table cannot be considered either complete or authoritative. No systematic study of African lutes is available in 2024.
Names and variations | Description | Ethnic connections, regions | Pictures | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Djiguendi algara | Semi-spike lute. 3 strings.[30] Similar to kologo. Metal attachments on neck rattle as this lute is played.[30] | Chad | Photo on the album Anthologie de la Musique du Tchad[31] | |
Garaya | Semi-spike lute
2 strings, gourd body. |
Cameroon[20]
Nigeria (see photo) |
Picture of a semi-spike garaya or gurmiru, from the Peul Bororo culture of Chad (Peul is French for Fulani, Bororo is a nomadic subgroup of the Fulani).[33] | |
Garaya[34] | Semi-spike lute.[34]
2 strings.[34][35] Oval wooden soundbox, total length about 50 cm.[35] Duiker hide or goatskin covering.[35] Top has long metal attachment with jingles.[35] Plucked with "diamond-shaped pick of stiff cowhide."[35] |
Central Sudan
|
Example illustration on postage stamp.[36] | |
Babbar garaya (big garaya)[37]
Komo[38] |
Semi-spike lute.[37]
2 strings.[37] Oval shaped.[39] Lute constructed of gourd for the soundbox, skin soundboard with cylindrical bridge, about 75 cm long. Strip of metal with metal-ring jingles attached to top of handle adds another 22 cm to length.[38] Cow or rhinoceros hide pick.[38] |
Central Sudan
|
Photo of a probable babbar garaya at the Quai Branley Museum; dimensions 84 x 23 x 16 cm, 2 strings, oval shaped, Hausa people.[40] | |
Gullum[41] | Full-spike lute.[41] 3 strings.[41]
Body a "hemispherical calabash", cowhide soundboard laced to the instrument.[42] Nylon stings.[42] Horsehair strings traditional.[42] Longest string tuned first, then middle string ("tuned to a 4th), then the shortest (tuned to an octave of the first string).[42] |
Chad[41]
Cameroon[41] Northern Nigeria[43]
Played by men for entertainment or traditionally to "hunt spirits."[42] Played alongside a half-calabash (percussion, hit with two sticks).[42] |
Photo of Alhaji Amara Sahone, "a Jare, the Serehule word for the West African singer/historian" playing a gullum; c. 1970 postcard photo from northern Nigeria.[44][43] | |
Gurmi[45][46]
Kumbo[45] |
Full-spike lute.[48]
Body is a half calabash.[49] The handle or neck passes through both sides of the calabash resonator.[48] Sound hole in the top of the instrument. Cylindrical bridge[45] rests on skin soundboard. Strung with 2 strings that are tied on leather straps on the neck, pass over the bridge and resonator and are tied to the end of the handle below the resonator. Musician plucks the strings and strikes a metal slug on the body with the copper ring on his right hand.[49] |
Central Sudan
Versions in 1930 had metal jingles attached [Gurmy, Groves vol2]. These illustrated in photo from 1950s at Smithsonian.[51][52] |
||
Gurumi[53]
Gouroumi[20] |
Carved-wooden trough resonating body[53]. Cylinder bridge.[53] | Niger | ||
gzöpöli[54] | Semi-spike lute. Two strings. Gourd Body.
Handle is threaded through the soundboard, the same as the kakanza, kologo and kuban. This threading is a detail that ties these particular instruments to the Egyptian lutes.[54] Jingles on end of lute (same style as the Sersar on the guembri lute. |
Nigeria | Picture in Die materielle kulture by Wente-Lucas.[55] | |
Kaburu[56]
Kabulu |
Semi-spike lute[56]
3 strings.[57] Large lute (up to 100 cm long) with metal jingles on the top of the handle adding extra length.[57] Cylinder bridge wrapped in or constructed of leather cut from soundtable hole and rolled, sits under strings to lift them from soundtable. |
Central Sudan
Used in kabulu or kaburu music. Originally used for ritual music.[57] Played in multi-lute ensemble, up to 8 lutes together.[57] This was originally an instrument of the Kuta, Nigeria area Gbagyi, and has spread.[57] |
Photo of Kaburu lutes in 1969, instruments with an oval body. That year a Kabulu/Abwagyi Musical cultural Group from Kuta, Nigeria performed at the All-Africa-Cultural Festival held in Algiers.[58][59]
Photo of Nigerian musicians, circa 1916 (possibly as late as 1930) playing Kaburu style lutes, accompanied by goje fiddles.[60] Photo of Dr. Adamu WALO, also called Bwalo Shattan Gwari (stage name). Dr. Walo is shown holding an oval kaburu.[61] |
|
Kakanza | Semi-spike lute. Two strings.
Handle is threaded through the soundboard, the same as the gzöpöli, kologo and kuban. This threading is a detail that ties these particular instruments to the Egyptian lutes.[54] Jingles on end of lute (same style as the Sersar on the guembri lute. |
Nigeria | Picture in Die materielle kulture by Wente-Lucas.[64] | |
Keleli[20] | Two variants are found in the Quai Branley museum:
Full-spike lute[65] Semi-spike lute[66] Lute made with gourd (or wood or metal bowl) hemispherical body (about 20 cm diameter) and skin top, wood handle, 2 or 3 tendon strings (modern strings may be nylon).[20][67] Oval wooden soundbox, total length about 50 cm.[35]
|
Nigeria[20]
Chad[20] Libya[66]
|
Picture of a full-spike keleli at the Quai Brandley Museum[65]
Picture of a semi-spike keleli at the Quai Brandley Museum.[66] |
|
Kologo[69] | Semi-spike lute. Cylinder-shaped bridge. May use U-shaped bridge, like ekonting.
Handle threaded through holes in skin soundboard, in manner similar to Egyptian lutes. Also holes in soundboard as Egyptian and some other modern lutes (such as lothar). |
Central Sudan | ||
Kontigi[70]
Kuntigi[70] |
Semi-spike lute
One string lute, plucked.[70] Cylinder bridge, rolled up in skin cut from soundhole. Modern lutes use a oval shaped sardine can for the soundbox. Vulture's feather quill used for plectrum.[70] |
Central Sudan | ||
Kuban[71]
Kubangu[71] |
Semi-spike lute.
Two-strings with a gourd body.[71] The handle is threaded through the skin soundboard multiple times.[72] |
Bassari people.[71] | ||
kwamsa[73][74]
komsa[74] khamsa[74] kwafsa[75] kwabsa[75] |
A semi-spike lute[74]
2-strings, a gourd body, and cylindrical bridge. [74] Large.[75] |
Nigeria, Niger.[74] | ||
Molo | Semi-spike lute.
Usually 3 strings.[76] While same shape as xalam, has a cylindrical bridge instead of a fan-shaped bridge. Bridge wrapped in or constructed of leather cut from soundtable hole and rolled, sits under strings to lift them from soundtable. Shortest string is a drone string, plays only one note.[77] |
Central Sudan
|
||
Molo | Full-spike lute, calabash resonating body, skin top, wooden handle | Senegal
|
||
unnamed lute | Semi-spike lute
From a photograph,[79] the Ncam people appear to use a semi-spike lute, similar to the kologo of Ghana and Burkina Faso. It has a calabash resonator and wooden handle and jingles on the end of the handle. The observer said it has 2 strings.[79] There are no pegs for the strings in the photo, so they are held in place with leather straps on the instrument's neck.[79] |
Central Sudan
The lute was observed to play the music or genre Kitamkpanbeeu – A piece using the traditional two-stringed guitar.[79] |
Photo of Ncam man playing a lute in Bassar, Togo.[79] | |
Akonting[29] (English transliteration)
ekonting[29] (French transliteration} |
folk lute of the Jola people, found in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa | |||
bunchundo[29] | folk lute of the Manjak | |||
kisinta[29]
kusunde[29] |
folk lute of the Balanta[80] | |||
busunde[29][80] | folk lute of the Papel | |||
ngopata[29][80] | folk lute of the Bijago, Bijago Islands of Guinea Bissau.[80] |
More information needed
editFrom DEKKMMA database
edit- Biegu Ghana, Dagomba people. Possibly used in local music forms such as "Nag Biegu" (dance), Nag Biegu Praises (meaning "ferocious wild bull", praise singing for a king of Dagbon in the late 1800s, Naa Abdulai), and Nag Biegu Verse-chorus.[81], 2 string lute, made of gourd with skin soundtable, wood handle, tendons, nylon strings and iron.[81]
- Diéli (dyèli) Konou, Guinea, Malinké people
- Dumbo, Nigeria, Hausa people
- Egogo, Kenya, Kuria people, one string lute
Indonesian tradition
edit- Gabus, Comoros, carved bowl lute with carved handle, like or same as gambus. On side of Africa facing Indonesia/Malaysia.[DEKKMA databas]
- Gabusi everyone on island, same as gabus DEKKMA databas
Ancient Egypt
editLutes after addition of Nubia to Egypt in New Kingdom...Some depictions of lutes and harps in Egypt included the head of a goose, duck, falcon goddess or king on the head of the instrument.[7]
Similarly, trough zither from Africa sometimes include the sculpture of a person. The instrument has a voice, speaks and the sculpture implies it is a person.
-
Egyptian 18th Dynasty circa 1550 BC–1292 BC. - Two Musicians with lute and harp. The lute has 3 strings, indicated by the tassels made by tuning straps on the lute's end.
-
18th dynasty musicians playing zummâra double clarinet, lute and arched harp, circa c. 1422-1411 BCE
-
Lute player, tomb of Nakhtamun, TT 341, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna
-
:Egyptian lute, male musician, Rekhmire tt100
-
Painting of a lute player from an ostracon, Deir el-Medina. New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1292-1189 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 63805
-
Lute player, head of lute has bird head
-
lute has bird head. Nubian
Coptic lutes
editScholarship
editLutes have been played parts of Africa for millennia. Historical examples include Ancient Egypt (c. 1850 BC) and the Mali Empire (c. 14th century AD).[1] In spite of the possible history of the instrument there, musical historians have yet to create an extensive history of the lute in Africa.[1] Instead, historians have relied on early musicologists generalizations; Henry Farmer, Curt Sachs and Bernhard Ankermann generalized that African lutes were "are all essentially the same instrument".[1, page 1 and footnote 2] In this view, all lutes could be labeled gunbrī or gunibrī in spite of differences in body style, size and number of strings, in spite of different cultural uses (folk use versus professional Griots), and in spite of different names applied in different languages.[1]
In 1996, musical scholar Eric Charry called attention to a trend toward repudiation, questioning and refining of that assumption.[1] Charry focused on lutes of West Africa, but he noted that study needs to take into account cultures, tribes, regions, design features and history.[1] Cameroon musicologist Francis Bebey included the need to consider an instrument's cultural purpose (to speak or accompany speech rather than singing), language (different pitches in spoken language change meanings of words; musical instruments speak because they can mimic those pitches, songs in African languages are speech completely driven by pitches of words in language).[2] Bebey also brought up a spiritual or religious significance of African instruments: they speak, therefore in some cultures they may be treated with respect as beings.[2]
In 1996 Charry published a list of lutes, divided into similar physical attritutes, by name and culture or tribe.[1] That list was expanded further in 2018 by Shlomo Pestcoe and Greg C. Adams, who were researching the origins of the American banjo.[3]
Another banjo scholar's work that touches on specific African instruments and uncovering their history in the Mediterranean and Americas is Kristina R. Gaddy; Gaddy's research covers blending of African traditions (under European and American slave systems), the instruments' role in African religion as a conduit for spirits to speak, and the conflict between European Christianity and African religions over spiritual-device lutes in the hands of slaves.[4][5]
Chuck Levy interviewed musicians in Africa, revealing how music has changed between generations, how materials in instruments have changed, ritual songs, songs for entertainment, affects of language and dialects on instrument names, and playing techniques.[Banjo Roots, ch5] Nick Bamber explored W African tuning systems in Senegal.[Banjo Roots, ch4]
Bridges
edit- Fan shaped [1, p6]
- Cylindrical [1][banjo roots p 223]
- bipedal [banjo roots p 221]
Gallery
edit-
Ramkie
-
ribab
-
Folio 174v from Morgan Beatus (B Pierpont), showing musicians making a joyful noise for The Lamb (Jesus).
Notes
edit- ^ [From German Wikipedia:] Derdeba , pl . Dradeb, also Lila, Laila (Arabic for "night"), is a nightly religious ceremony of the Gnawa, a Sufi brotherhood in Morocco with origins in black African slaves. At the climax of the event, which is part of a possession cult, the spirits (jinn) that the patients believe are attacking them are supposed to be summoned and appeased through dances and the music of the plucked lute gimbri.
- ^ [From German Wikipedia:] The Stambali, also Stambeli, is the name of a religious ceremony in Tunisia that is part of a possession cult, and the associated style of music. The dancers, mostly female, reach a ritualized trance state, which is mainly triggered by the playing of a plucked lute (gimbri) and several hand clappers (qaraqib). This evokes and appeases the possessive spirits.
References
edit- ^ a b Langlois, Tony (1998). "The Gnawa of Oujda: Music at the Margins in Morocco". The World of Music. 40 (1). VWB - Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung.
the word might mean an informal musical get-together...I have also found it used to describe a kind of dance in which participants become entranced...and for the trance itself.
- ^ Sum, Maisie (April 2012). Music of the Gnawa of Morocco: Evolving Spaces and Times (Thesis). Vancouver, British Columbia: The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Music) The University of British Columbia (Vancouver). pp. 17, 66–67.
The entire derdeba [lila] rests on the gumbri that evokes the genies and directs them on a fantastic cavalcade marked by the qarqab. The genies come at the call of the instrument and the bared feet of the moqaddem when he dances. [A moqaddem refers to a ritual officiant who is often a seer-therapist and/or medium. A m'allem is a master musican, who is also male.] A good maalem and a good moqaddem are "hot" people that "induce ascent". Their quality is measured by the number of adepts that fall in trance and are possessed as soon as they begin.
- ^ "Watch: Tunisia's Stambeli Ritual (COSMOS Scene Report) Friday Mar 29th 2024 COSMOS". Le Guess Who.
The ritual dance practice of Stambeli is a centuries old method to induce trance-like states through sound...a religious ritual mostly connected to Tunisia, but its roots go back to Mali and Niger, from where enslaved people were brought to Tunisia...The musical part of Stambeli is played with the "gumbri" – a traditional Tunisian string instrument – over the rhythm of the "chkackek".
- ^ Richard S. Harrell (ed.). "Sersar". A Dictionary Of Moroccan Arabic Moroccan English & English Moroccan.
sersa pl. sraser bell (as in a telephone, doorbell, clock, etc)
- ^ a b Warner, Gary (3 September 2020). "Gnawa Guembri: Resonance of a lost past". Garland Magazine.
The third acoustic component of the guembri sound is a jingly rattling effected by the sersal, a thin, flexible metal plate fitted into a hole at the top of the neck. Often shaped like a stylised flame, the plate is encircled by rings or tiny bells that quiver in vibrational sympathy with the player's movements...insect-like buzz...
- ^ Pillault, Théophile (15 May 2023). "Stambeli 2.0: electrifying Tunisian ritual music". PAM (Pan African Music.
Stambeli, one of the last Tunisian rituals of possession....Also called yenna, this master of ceremony is at the center of the orchestra. His instrument – the gombri – governs the ritual
- ^ a b c d e f g h i D'Hérouville, Pierre. "Le lotar". akhaba.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013.
Nowadays, we therefore call these pear-shaped lutes with a skin table, with a length varying between 50 and 130 centimeters, lotar. Below this size, we will rather speak of suisdi (or suissen), a small two-stringed lute, persisting for example in malhoun orchestras.
- ^ "Instruments". The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar.
[Note: This variant played by Sufi musicians in Jajouka.]
- ^ "Africa". Atlas of Plucked Instruments.
A larger version, which is called loutar (or lotar - see under), is used in the Middle Atlas region by the Amazigh imdyazn (bards).
- ^ "Master Musicians of Joujouka". Joujouka.
drone-based music...energetic, frenetic sound....sufi trance music...a form of trance music which is used for healing
- ^ "Africa". Atlas of Plucked Instruments.
mall gunbri, with 3 nylon strings...body could be made like the gunbri, from hollowed out wood...[or] tortoise shell...fakroun or fakrun (= "tortoise")...The better quality ones - resembling more the proper gunbri - are sometimes called suissen
- ^ a b "Morocco 'Gunibri'". WORLD MUSIC, LLC. The Hartenberger World Music Collection of Historical Instruments.
The gunibri (gunbri) is a small 3-string long-neck spike lute used in Moroccan music...this one has a tortoise shell resonator. It is called fakroun or fakrun ("tortoise")...This gunibri is sometimes called suissen
- ^ Pestcoe, Shlomo. "Griot Lutes".
ngoni (Mande) (also nkoni, koni, konting, kontingo, etc.)
- ^ a b Charry, Eric (March 1996). "Plucked Lutes in West Africa: an Historical Overview". The Galpin Society Journal. 49. The Galpin Society.
- ^ a b Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "Griot Lutes". Shlolomusic.com.
- ^ a b Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The Emergence of the Griot Lutes". Shlolomusic.com.
- ^ "208 - AFRIQUE - SOUDAN - HAUT-NIGER - Chef Malinké".
[text on postcard:] 1089 Afrique occidentale - Soudan —- HAUTE NIGER Chef Malinké
- ^ Charry, Eric (March 1996). "Plucked Lutes in West Africa: an Historical Overview". The Galpin Society Journal. 49. The Galpin Society.
Griot lutes include the Mande koni complex (i.e. Maninka koni, Xasonke koni, Bambara ngoni, and Mandinka kontingo), Wolof xalam, Soninke gambare, Fulbe hoddu, and Moorish tidini. They are all wooden-trough lutes with fan-shaped bridges, and are all essentially the same instrument with minor variations, primarily based on size.
- ^ a b c d e Charry, Eric (March 1996). "Plucked Lutes in West Africa: an Historical Overview". The Galpin Society Journal. 49. The Galpin Society: 8, 23.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m <"Advanced sea rch for musical instruments". DEKKMMA Project (Digitalisatie van het Etnomusicologisch Klankarchief van het Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika).
[note: This is a database. Search under the advanced search option for the category "chorodophone" and the type "lute"]
- ^ a b c d Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes". In Robert B. Winnans (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. p. 48.
- ^ a b "Kambre; spike fiddle". Horniman Museum and Gardens.
- ^ "Al Bilali Soudan: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert". NPR Music.
the band is a torch-bearer of the quintessentially Tamasheq music style called tashigalt or takamba, which is shaped by a continuous exchange between the three-stringed tehardent (a kind of lute, also known as ngoni or tidinit in other areas) accompanied by percussive rhythm of the calabash.
- ^ a b c d e "Azâwân music from Mauritania". Philharmonie de Paris.
- ^ World Music Central https://worldmusiccentral.org/world-music-resources/musician-biographies/mauritanian-music/.
The music of the griots or troubadours of Mauritania is called Azawan, and is a truly scholarly form of music. It follows strict theory and is played by professional musicians who have undergone a long and specialist training. The songs are accompanied by three instruments: the ardin harp, a women's instrument made of a half-calabash and has eleven or fourteen strings; the tidnit, a four-stringed lute played exclusively by men; and the tbal kettledrum, a hemispherical drum made from a hollowed-out piece of wood that can reach a size of 1m in diameter.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help); Text "Mauritanian Music" ignored (help); line feed character in|quote=
at position 227 (help) - ^ "Luth".
Vernacular name: Tidinit Geography: Africa – West Africa – Mauritania – Tagant (region) – Tidjikja Culture: Africa – Idouaich ; Africa – Moors Date: early 20th century Materials and techniques: Wood, lambskin, leatherMade by local artisans. Dimensions and weight: 66 x 15 x 10 cm, 461 g
{{cite web}}
: line feed character in|quote=
at position 99 (help) - ^ "Bariba Music". Retrieved 14 September 2024.
[note: advertisement for recordings made by Radio France.]
- ^ a b Opala, Joseph A. "The Gullah: Rice, Slavery, and the Sierra Leone-American Connection". Yale MacMillan Center, Gilder Leherman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
The white plantation owners purchased slaves from various parts of Africa, but they greatly preferred slaves from what they called the "Rice Coast" or "Windward Coast"—the traditional rice-growing region of West Africa, stretching from Senegal down to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The Akonting & Other Folk Lutes of West Africa's "Rice Coast"". Shlolomusic.com.
- ^ a b c Duvelle, Charles. Anthologie de la Musique du Tchad. Ocora.
[note: Series of records; this is from OCR 38 populations islamisées]
- ^ Duvelle, Charles. Anthologie de la Musique du Tchad. Ocora.
[note: Photo of Djiguendi algara by Charles Duvelle.
- ^ Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes -". In Robert B. Winnans (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. pp. 47–48.
Semi-Spike Lutes...garaya [plural garayaaru, garayaaji] (Fulani [Fulbe]: Cameroon) (two strings; gourd body)
- ^ "Luth".
Common name: Gurmiru or Garaya Geography: Africa – Central Africa – Chad – Mayo-Kébbi – Pala Culture: Africa – Peul Bororo Date: before 1973 Materials and techniques: Wood, leather, nylon Dimensions and weight: 58 x 11 x 9 cm, 112 g...Inventory number 71.1973.45.74
- ^ a b c d e Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes -". In Robert B. Winnans (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. pp. 47–49.
Semi-Spike Lutes...garaya [plural garayu] (Hausa: Nigeria) (two strings)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gourlay, K. A. (1984). "Garaya". In Sadie Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 25. Cite error: The named reference "GroveGaraya" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "niger.. 35f république du niger.instrument de musique : garaya (haoussa) oblitéré" [niger.. 35f republic of niger. musical instrument: garaya (hausa) cancelled.] (in French).
[note: This is a stamp from Niger, showing the Garaya (Haoussa)]
- ^ a b c d e Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes -". In Robert B. Winnans (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. pp. 47–49.
Semi-Spike Lutes...komo [babbar garaya (literally "big garaya")] (Hausa: Nigeria) (two strings; gourd body)
- ^ a b c d e f Gourlay, K. A. (1984). "Komo". In Sadie Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 454.
- ^ "Komo". A Hausa-English dictionary by George Percy Bargery. 1934.
komo. I. [ko/mo/] {n.m.}...3. The musical instrument called garaya, because oval in shape.
- ^ "Luth".
Central Africa – Cameroon – Adamaoua – Tibati Culture: Africa – Hausa
- ^ a b c d e f g Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes". In Robert B. Winnans (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. pp. 46–47.
Full-Spike Lutes...gullum [gulom] (Kotoko [Mser, Moria, Bara, and Makari]: Chad; Cameroon) (three strings)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Brandily, Monique (1984). "Gulom". In Sadie Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 110.
- ^ a b c Banjo Roots: West Africa (30 April 2013). "untitled photograph".
A traditional music-artisan playing the 3-string calabash-bodied 'gullum' of the Kilba (northern Nigeria). Photo postcard, Nigeria, c. 1970. (Collection of Shlomo Pestcoe)
- ^ "Alhaji Amara Sahone". 26 December 2012.
- ^ a b c Charry, Eric (March 1996). "Plucked Lutes in West Africa: an Historical Overview". The Galpin Society Journal. 49. The Galpin Society: 8, 25.
- ^ a b Gourlay, K. A. (1984). "Gurmi". In Sadie Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 11.
- ^ a b "Introducing Mamane Barka". World Music Network.
[note: sleeve notes from album Introducing Mamane Barka.] As a nomad of the Toubou tribe, Malam Mamane Barka...born in Tesker, in the eastern part of the Niger Republic...also played the ngurumi, a traditional string instrument
- ^ a b Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes". In Robert B. Winnans (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. pp. 46–47.
Full-Spike Lutes...gurmi (Hausa: Nigeria) (two or three strings; gourd body)
- ^ a b Baker, Melvin. "The Harpist".
- ^ Visually Ethnographic Networks. "Salamatu Mai Gurmi [Female Hausa Gurmi Player]". YouTube. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "Hunters' festival during 10th anniversary of independence celebration, Niamey, Niger".
- ^ "Hunters' festival during 10th anniversary of independence celebration, Niamey, Niger".
- ^ a b c d e Charry, Eric (March 1996). "Plucked Lutes in West Africa: an Historical Overview". The Galpin Society Journal. 49. The Galpin Society: 8, 25.
- ^ a b c Baroin, Catherine. "L'odyssée africaine d'un cordophone rudimentaire, le « luth à pique intérieure »". Afrique Archéologie Arts.
In the documentation consulted on today's lutes, only two "inner-end" instruments with pinning in the middle of the soundboard have been listed. These are the kakanza of the Lamang (fig. 9) and the gzöpöli of the Bana (fig. 10), populations of northeastern Nigeria near the Mandara Mountains. These lutes described by R. Wente-Lukas (1977: 256-260) are characterized by a single broaching in the center of the soundboard.
- ^ Baroin, Catherine. "L'odyssée africaine d'un cordophone rudimentaire, le « luth à pique intérieure »". Afrique Archéologie Arts.
[note: this link is to the photograph of the instrument]
- ^ a b Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes". In Robert B. Winnans (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. p. 48.
Semi-Spike Lutes...kaburu (Gwari [Gbari, Gbagyi]: Nigeria) (three strings)
- ^ a b c d e f g Sadie Stanley, ed. (1984). "Kaburu". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 342.
- ^ Zubair Mubaraq (25 June 2013). "untitled". Gbagyi Youths for Change.
...Kabulu/Abwagyi Musical cultural Group from Kuta won for Nigeria her only medal at All-Africa-Cultural Festival held in Algiers in 1969?...a commemorative postage stamp of Ten Kobo (10Kobo) denomination was issued bearing their picture? COMPILED BY: Zubair Mubaraq
- ^ Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "West African Folk & Artisan Lutes". Shlolomusic.com.
Illustration credits: Traditional Gwari musicians playing large gourd-bodied kaburu and a goje fiddle, Nigeria.
- ^ "Photographic Print, Museum number Af,A68.21". British Museum.
- ^ "The Forgotten Legend of Gbagyi Traditional Music Nation in Nigeria". Galukwo Magazine.
[Note: instrument called a Mulo in the source; The New Grove Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments says molo may refer to any plucked string instrument in Hausa areas of Nigeria.]
- ^ Governor of Kaduna @GovKaduna (10 Jan 2019). "Malam Nasir @elrufai is receiving a delegation of the Gbagyi Federation Council, led by the Wakili Gbagyi Nupe, Alh. Awaisu Mohammed Kuta".
[Note: photo 4 has 3 men with kabulu lutes]
- ^ "The Kabulu drums". Gbagyi/hub-Culture.
I bring to you the kabulu drums, which is mostly found among the Gbagyi Kuta people of Niger State.
- ^ Baroin, Catherine. "L'odyssée africaine d'un cordophone rudimentaire, le « luth à pique intérieure »". Afrique Archéologie Arts.
[note: this link is to the photograph of the instrument]
- ^ a b "Luth". Quai Brandley Museum.
Common name: Keleli Geography: Africa – Central Africa – Chad – Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti – Tibesti ; Africa – Physical and cultural geography – Sahara Culture: Africa – Teda
- ^ a b c "Luth". Quai Brandley Museum.
Geography: Africa – Northern Africa – Libya – Fezzan Culture: Africa – Teda
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
GroveKekeki
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Grove
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Sadie Stanley, ed. (1984). "Kologo". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 453.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gourlay, K. A. (1984). "Kuntigi". In Sadie Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 2. London: MacMillan Press. p. 486.
- ^ a b c d Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes". In Robert B. Winnans (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. pp. 47–49.
kuban [kubango] (Bassari:Togo) (two strings; gourd body)
- ^ a b c Ankermann, Bernhard. Die afrikanischen musikinstrumente.
- ^ "Kwamsa". A Hausa-English dictionary by George Percy Bargery. 1934.
kwamsa (Go.) = kwafsa I q.v
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: line feed character in|quote=
at position 7 (help) - ^ a b c d e f g Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes". In Robert B. Winnans (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. pp. 47–49.
kwamsa [komsa, khamsa] (Hausa:Nigeria; Niger) (two strings; gourd body)
- ^ a b c "Kwafsa". A Hausa-English dictionary by George Percy Bargery. 1934.
kwafsa. I. [kwafsa"] {n.f.}. A large stringed musical instrument. (= kwabsa.).
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: line feed character in|quote=
at position 8 (help) - ^ "Molo". A Hausa-English dictionary by George Percy Bargery. 1934.
molo [mo/lo/] {n.m.; pl. mo/la"ye/+}. 1. A kind of guitar, usually three-stringed. (= maulo; (Go.) maulu.)
- ^ a b Diamond, Stanley. Music of the Jos Plateau and other regions of Nigeria (PDF). Folkways Ethnic Library FE 4321.
Anaguta man singing and playing the molo. The molo, a small, three-stringed Hausa lute...its third string (producing the highest tone)...is fastened at a point so high on the fingerboard that the left hand cannot reach it...it plays only one note.
- ^ Diamond, Stanley. Music of the Jos Plateau and other regions of Nigeria (PDF). Folkways Ethnic Library FE 4321.
Tiv--male, singing and accompanying himself on the molo...itinerant professional...Although the Tiv people are not Islamic, this man's style betrays much Islamic influence; he slaps the strings, attacks each not with a slide, sings in throaty embellished manner...that of the Islamic Hausa-Fulani singers...
- ^ a b c d e "22 Production-line song-writing! Filed Under (Ethnomusicology, General) by Rob on 22-06-2007". Adventures in West Africa with Rob & Lois.
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!
- ^ a b c d Bamber, Nick (1 February 2009). "Two Gourd Lutes from the Bijago Islands of Guinea Bissau". Shlolomusic.com.
- ^ a b "African Music".
Nag Biegu Verse-chorus The piece is in a verse-chorus form (verse = A, chorus = B) [where] A [is] - the vocalist and leading lunga drummers praise Naa Abdulai [and] B [is] - drummed chorus
- [1] Charry, Eric (March 1996). "Plucked Lutes in West Africa: an Historical Overview". The Galpin Society Journal. 49. The Galpin Society.
- [2] Bebey, Francis (1975). African Music, A People's Art. Lawrence Hill Books. ISBN 1-55652-128-6.
- [3] Pestcoe, Shlomo; Adams, Greg C. (2018). "3 List of West African Plucked Spike Lutes". In Winans, Robert B. (ed.). Banjo Roots and Branches. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. pp. 45–54.
- [4] Gaddy, Kristina R. (2022). Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393866803.
- [5] Kristina R. Gaddy — Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History.
[note: Interview with author Kristina R. Gaddy]
- [6] Ankermann, Bernhard (1901). Die afrikanischen musikinstrumente. Druck von A. Haack. pp. 1–12.
- [7] [1]
- [8] Electronic reference
Catherine Baroin , « The African Odyssey of a Rudimentary Chordophone, the « Lute with an Inner Spike » » , Afrique: Archéologie & Arts [Online], 7 | 2011, published on 01 November 2015 , consulted on 27 August 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/aaa/625 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/aaa.625
- Catherine Baroin, « L’odyssée africaine d’un cordophone rudimentaire, le « luth à pique intérieure » », Afrique : Archéologie & Arts [En ligne], 7 | 2011, mis en ligne le 01 novembre 2015, consulté le 27 août 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/aaa/625 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/aaa.625
- Lutes of Africa
- details of egyptiN lute bridges and soundboard
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (20 November 2007). "Banjo Ancestors". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "West African Lutes In a Nutshell". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The Ngoni/Xalam Hypothesis". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "West African Folk & Artisan Lutes". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The Origin of West African Lutes". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "From Ancient Egypt to West Africa: The Lute Connection". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The First West African Lutes: Gourd-Bodied?". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The Origin of West African Lutes". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The Ngoni/Xalam Hypothesis". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The Harp-Lutes of West Africa". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The Early Banjo in the New World". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "Banjo Ancestors Detectives: Daniel Jatta & Ulf Jägfors". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "Introduction On the Trail of the Banjo's Lost Roots: A Personal Journey". Shlolomusic.com.
- Pestcoe, Shlomo (1 February 2009). "The 5-String Banjo". Shlolomusic.com.
https://youtube.com /L6X3q1TetpU